Sunday, January 10, 2010

Chinese Cashew Chicken

Source: Crock-Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients:
1 16oz. can bean sprouts, drained
2 cups sliced cooked chicken
1 10 3/4oz. can healthy-request cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped green onions with tops
1 4oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup whole cashew
Hot cooked rice

Directions:
Combine bean sprouts, chicken, soup, celery, onions, mushrooms, butter and soy sauce in slow cooker; mix well. Cover; cook on low 4-6 hours or high 2-3 hours.

Stir in cashews just before serving. Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings.

Greek Yogurt Parfait

Source: Oxygen magazine

1/4 cup dry oats
1/4 cup raspberries
7 walnuts
1 cup 0% greek yogurt

Add oats, raspberries and walnuts to yogurt and stir.

Chicken Taco Soup

Source: Unknown

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 16oz. can chili beans
1 15oz. can black beans
1 15oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid oz) can or bottle beer
2 10oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 1.25oz. pkg low-sodium taco seasoning
3 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:
Place the onion, beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer and diced tomatoes in slow cooker. Add taco seasoning; stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Cook on low for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the slow cooker and shred. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and cook for 2 hours.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and/or crushed tortilla chips if desired.

Cream Cheese Chicken with Broccoli

Source: Crock-Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients:
4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken tenders, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1-oz. pkg italian salad dressing mix
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 10 3/4 oz. can low-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 10oz. bag frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 8oz. pkg reduced-fat cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup dry sherry

Directions:
Toss chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle with italian salad dressing mix. Place in slow cooker. Cover; cook on low 3 hours.
Coat large skillet with cooking spray. Add mushrooms and onion; cook 5 minutes over medium heat or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally.
Add soup, broccoli, cream cheese and sherry to skillet; cook and stir until hot. Transfer to slow cooker. Cover; cook on low 1 hour. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

Tuna Salad

Source: Oxygen magazine

Ingredients:
4 oz. canned tuna in water
2 hard-boiled egg whites
3 tbsp diced celery
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice


In a bowl, mix all ingredients.

Spicy Italian Beef

Source: Crock-Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients:
1 boneless chuck roast (3-4 lbs.)
1 12oz. jar pepperoncini (or pickled, mild peppers)
1 14.5 oz. can low-sodium beef broth
1 12oz. bottle beer
1 onion, minced
2 tbsp dried italian seasoning
1 loan French bread, cut into thick slices (or any rolls)
10 slices provolone cheese

Directions:
Trim fat from beef and discard. Cut beef, if necessary, to fit in slow cooker, leaving beef as large as possible.
Drain pepperoncini. Pull off stem ends and discard. Add pepperoncini, broth, beer, onion and herb blend to slow cooker; do not stir. Cover; cook on low 8-10 hours.
Remove beef from slow cooker; shred with 2 forks. Return beef to cooking liquid; mix well. Serve on French bread, topped with cheese. Add additional sauce and pepperoncini, if desired.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Creamy Chicken Italiano

Source: Fix It and Forget It
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope dry italian salad dressing mix
1/4 cup water
8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened (I use low fat)
10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup (I use healthy request)
4 oz. can mushrooms, drained

Directions:
Place chicken in slow cooker.
Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. Cover. Cook on low 3 hours.
Combine cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken.
Cover. Cook on low 1 hour.
Serve over rice or noodles.

Sloppy Joes

Source: Fix It and Forget It
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup ketchup
2 TBL chili sauce
1 TBL worcestershire sauce
1 TBL mustard
1 TBL vinegar
1 TBL sugar
Whole wheat burger buns

Directions:
Brown beef and onion; drain.
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.

Cooked Chicken for sandwiches, etc.

This is a great, convenient way to cook chicken for fajitas, tacos, chicken salad, quesadillas, etc. I shred some of it and dice the remaining and put in freezer bags for later use.

Chicken (i use boneless, skinless breasts, but any chicken will do)
1 onion, sliced
seasoned salt
pepper
minced garlic OR garlic powder

Layer onion in bottom of slow cooker. Add chicken and sprinkle with seasoned salt, pepper and garlic. Cook on low 4 hours or until done, but not dry.

Protein Pancakes

Source: Cleaneating.com

Ingredients:
Olive oil cooking spray
3/4 cup quick cook oatmeal
3/4 cup egg whites
1 TBL low-fat cottage cheese
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBL agave nectar
1/4 cup berries

Directions:
Mist pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except agave and berries. Pour into pan in pancake form. When sides start to brown, flip, cooking for about 3 minutes per side. Serve with agave and berries.

Curry Chicken Salad Pockets

Source: Biggest Loser Cookbook

Ingredients:
1.5 TBL low-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
3/4 cup (4 oz.) chopped, cooked chicken breast
1.5 TBL chopped cucumber
1.5 TBL chopped red onion (optional)
Whole wheat pitas, cut in half
Spinach or green leaf lettuce

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the mayo, lime juice and curry. Whisk to blend. Add the chicken, cucumber and onion. Mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the pita halves. Add the lettuce and serve immediately.

Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Source: Kraft Foods

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 green peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 26oz. jar spaghetti sauce (It has more flavor if you use something spicy)
1 2/3 cup water
1/4 cup zesty italian dressing
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
1 cup shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Brown meat in large saucepan; drain.
Add peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water and dressing; bring to a boil. Stir in noodles; cover.
Cook on medium-low heat 10-15 minutes or until noodles are tender; stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

Ingredients:
4 cups shredded chicken breast (you can use canned chicken breast meat also)
8 oz. bottle of ranch or blue cheese dressing
2 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 oz. hot sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot)

Directions:
Put chicken in bottom of a baking dish. (I use an 8x8). Mix softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese, hot sauce and salad dressing. Pour over chicken.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve with celery or tortilla chips.

Overnight French Toast

Source: Mccormick

Ingredients:
5 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 TBL pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 loaf french bread, cut into 8 slices
1 16 oz. pkg frozen, whole strawberries (thawed)
4 ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon sugar

Directions:
1. Mix eggs, milk, vanilla extract and baking powder. Pour over bread to soak; turn to coat well. Cover. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 450. Mix strawberries, bananas and granulated sugar in 13x9 baking dish. Top with soaked bread slices. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
3. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Ziplock Omelets

Ingredients:
Quart size Ziploc freezer bags
eggs
omelet ingredients of your choice. I've used cheese, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Directions:
Write your name/guests names on freezer bag with permanent marker.
Crack 2 eggs into ziploc bag. Shake to combine.
Have each person add their ingredients to their bag and shake. Squeeze extra air out of the bag and seal.
Place bags into boiling water for 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot.
Cut the bags and the omelet will roll out.

Stromboli


Ingredients:
1 loaf frozen bread
1/4 lb. virginia brand ham (or any other meat)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 lb. pepperoni
1 small can tomato paste

Directions:
Thaw bread and let rise for approximately 8 hours. (Be sure to spray pan with cooking spray if thawing in a pan). Roll out dough in flour. Spread tomato paste over dough. Layer ham (or other meats), pepperoni and cheese. Sprinkle with oregano. Roll it up; baste with olive oil or egg. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss

Source: Adapted from Kraft Foods

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat penne pasta, uncooked
1/2 lb. hot or mild turkey sausage, casing removed
1 6oz. pkg. baby spinach leaves
1 14.5 oz. can italian diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, crumble meat into large, deep skillet. Cook on medium-high heat until cooked through. Drain.
Add spinach and tomatoes; cook 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
Drain pasta; place in large serving bowl. Add meat mixture and cheese; mix lightly.

Zesty Lemon Pepper Tuna Cakes

Ingredients:
1 pouch StarKist Zesty Lemon Pepper Tuna
1/4 cup red and green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBL. dijon mustard
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Cooking Spray

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix tuna with 4 remaining ingredients. Shape mixture into 4 equal size patties. Spray a medium size skillet with cooking spray. Cook and brown tuna cakes 3-4 minutes per side, until hot and golden brown.

Makes 2 servings, 2 patties each

Meatballs in Burgundy Sauce

Ingredients:
60 frozen, fully-cooked meatballs
3 cups chopped onion
1.5 cups water
1 cup red wine
2 8oz. packages beef gravy mix
1/4 cup ketchup
1 TBL. dried oregano leaves

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker; stir to blend. Cover; cook on High 5 hours. Serve over noodles.

*As an appetizer, serve with cocktail picks and remaining sauce as dip.

Tasty Beef & Noodles

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs beef stew cubes
1 can french onion soup
15 oz. can diced tomatoes (I use no salt added)
1 can golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 - 6 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve over hot noodles.