Chicken Tortilla Soup

I had some left over chicken from a cookout on Mother's Day this past Sunday. Since, it's been kinda rainy and cold the last few days I decided why not make some Chicken Tortilla Soup! It ended up tasting wonderful! :) Here's what I had around and used to make it:

(Serves 4)

2 green onions (chopped)

1-2 regular carrots or 8-10 baby carrots (chopped)

½ onion (chopped)

1 cup chicken (shredded)

1 clove garlic or ¼ tspn garlic salt (minced)

¼ packet taco seasoning

2 cups or 1 can chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes (I used hunts fire roasted diced tomatoes)

¼ cup milk

¼ cup cheese

1 handful tortilla chips (broken)

1 avocado (optional)

Steps:

1. Sauté onions, garlic, and carrots in sauce pan with a little chicken broth.

2. Add Chicken broth and boil for 10 minutes.

3. Add chicken and diced tomatoes.

4. Simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add Taco seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes

6. Add broken tortilla chips, milk, and diced avocado. Simmer for 5 minutes or until carrots are soft.

7. Melt some cheese into soup and then ladle into bowl. Sprinkle some additional cheese and broken tortilla chips if desired :)

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Chicken

Ok so it’s been forever since I have actually cooked a meal! It’s been a ridiculous two weeks and Justin has been on several longer trips, so he’s not home for dinners. So I’ve been going to the in-laws for wonderful meals or munching on a sandwich for dinner. Justin was home tonight though, so yum yum dinner it was!! Tonight’s menu: Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Chicken with Asparagus!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

¾ cup ricotta cheese

2 slices deli ham

¼ Tspn Olive Oil

1 bunch Asparagus

Salt & Pepper

1 cookie sheet

Here’s what to do!

1. I always start with cutting any excess fat off the chicken breast, and prehear oven to 375°F. Then you need to use a sharp knife and “butterfly” the chicken- sounds complicated but it’s not! Cut it through the middle (not all the way) and it will open it like a book. See this video if you need extra explanation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqjfQP3Mp2k)

2. In a separate bowl mix the thawed spinach with the ricotta cheese.

3. Keep chicken open like a book and layer some of the cheese spinach mixture onto the bottom side. Then fold the chicken closed again. Don’t over stuff to where the chicken doesn’t stay closed on it’s own. It’s okay for the top “flap” to be raised a bit of course but it should still stay closed.

4. Finish off the chicken with a sliced of ham top and glaze with some olive oil to prevent burning.

5. Bake on cookie sheet (covered in foil) in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the chicken breast reaches 180°F. Be sure to check it periodically as it does depend on the thickness of your chicken breast.

6. Prep your asparagus by breaking off the harder ends. Simply hold up a piece and see where it naturally breaks- and there you go!

7. When there are about 10 minutes left on the chicken sauté the asparagus on the stove top with some butter or olive oil, or you can steam them. Season with salt and pepper or some garlic salt, if desired.

8. You may also choose to add a starch to the meal and I would recommend some potato wedges. I didn’t make any because our chicken breasts were pretty thick and I thought it would be too much food for us tonight.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! It’s an adaptation from something I saw on Rachel Ray’s “30 Minute Meals” almost a year ago. She made it with some more expensive ingredients and a few other additions. I wanted to find the recipe online and link it for you, but I couldn’t find it anymore. So if anyone saw it too and knows where to find it, please comment with the link! Thanks! ENJOY!

Vegetable Soup with Couscous

I know it's not weather appropriate. However, I had leftover couscous from the fish dinner on Wednesday, so I tried to use it. The couscous is nice switch up to using noodles, and maybe even better for you, not sure about that one though! Here's what you need:

Ingredients:

1. Couscous (I used all that I had leftover)

2. Chicken or vegetable broth

3. Vegetables (I cut up some baby carrots and threw in some extra broccoli and cauliflower)

4. Salt& Pepper

Steps:

1. Heat desired amount of broth to sauce pan.

2. Add vegetables and allow to boil, especially if you are using fresh vegetables. I used carrots, so those take a while to get cooked.

3. Add couscous and salt & pepper to taste. If you have an other soup spices or like to add a bouillon cube that always adds a little more taste.

4. Let simmer for 5 minutes to re-warm the couscous.

That's all! A super simple recipe again! :) Enjoy!

Baguette, Cheese & Wine

Ahh! La France, tu me manques! This reminds me of Nice, France so much! Justin's not home tonight, and I bought half a baguette at Kroger during my last grocery trip, so I figured why not! I added some cheese and wine for the perfect touch. So, simple dinner it is tonight.

And I threw a quick side salad in there to attempt to make it more nutritionally balance! :)

This is sooooo yummy, eeassssy, and definitely worth a dinner meal!

Tilapia Vegetable Pouches with Couscous

Ingredients:

2 fillets tilapia (or other fish)

1 carrot (4-5 baby carrots)- quartered

1 hand full of mushrooms

1 handful Broccoli

½ onion sliced

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 Box of couscous or rice

2- 1’ by 1’ pieces of parchment paper

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425°

2. Slice vegetables and onion.

3. Lay out parchment paper and start lay

ering with onions and carrots first. (You can layer both “pouches” at one time)

4. Then place tilapia on top of onions and carrots and season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Add broccoli and mushrooms on top and around the s

ides- ensuring that the vegetables remain on top or closely around the fish.

6. Finally drizzle ½ tbsn olive oil over the fish and vegetable combination.

7. Pull the left and right sides of the parchment paper together, like forming a tent, and roll closed.

8. Then take the top and bottom and roll towards the center, closing the “packet”. (see picture but please leave a comment if the folding sounds too confusing)

9. Place on cookie sheet in preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.

10. In the last 10-15 minutes, cook the couscous (or rice) Simply follow the directions on the box. Boil water, add couscous, remove from heat, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. That’s all!

This will result in steamed vegetables and yummy fish, an extremely healthy, yet filling dish! It’s super easy- takes about 15 minutes of prep time and looks like a difficult meal. The hardest part is making the pouch or package, but if you practice once it’s not too difficult. After all, it’s just paper, so you can re-roll it until it is sealed properly.

Here’s a link on how to fold the parchment paper too. It seems a little more difficult than the way I described, but if you feel my directions are too vague, try this: http://macrobiotic.about.com/od/seafoodentrees/ss/SteamFish.htm

Tofu Stir-Fry

This is from Wednesday! I didn't have time to post it, so here it is:

I know this sounds unappetizing for most of us, myself included-at first. I am not a vegetarian, far from it. My future sister-in-law loves it however, and she cooked me this wonderful mushroom tofu stir-fry when I stayed with them. I never actually thought I would attempt to make it, but then I ran across tofu at Kroger and was amazed at the price! Haha :) I’m a bargain shopper, and I had no idea that tofu was so inexpensive! Justin was out of town (he would never try tofu!), so I thought I’d try it out. Here’s a super easy recipe I came up with, inspired by my future sister-in-law:

Ingredients:

3 oz. Tofu (about ¼ of a block)

1- 6oz package of bean sprouts or 1 can

1 tps Olive oil

Fresh or Frozen Vegetables (I used broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms)

Water or Vegetable broth

Salt & Pepper

Steps:

1. Pour olive oil in sauté pan and set on medium high

2. Cut Tofu into smaller rectangles and begin to brown in pan

3. Add bean sprouts and vegetables

4. Stir frequently ensuring that the Tofu doesn’t burn, but rather browns nicely

5. Cover with lid, if possible, add a little vegetable broth (about 3-4 tpsn) and let vegetables soften

6. Add salt & pepper to taste!

That’s all! The bean sprouts take place of the noodles or rice, making this a simply, extremely healthy recipe! And it's surprisingly filling. Of course you have to like bean sprouts, and be willing to be adventurous with tofu if you’ve never had it before. Let me know what you think!

Turkey Quesadilla with Side Salad

I came home starving from class tonight and almost made some canned ravioli for an easy meal. (Afterall, Justin wasn’t home, so no one to enjoy dinner with.)But they are sodium filled and basically empty calories, and since I’m trying to be better about food choices I regretted to fall victim to an easy solution. So, I blankly stared into our fridge hoping for some kind of inspiration. All I saw was deli meat and some lettuce, and thought I didn’t want to eat the identical sandwich I had for lunch. Then I saw the lonely tortillas in the back, and my idea! I didn’t have any sliced chicken breast, but lunch meat is no different, right?!

Ingredients:

1 flour tortilla

2-3 slices deli meat (I just Sara Lee Turkey)

¼ cup shredded cheese

1 green onion, chopped (optional)

That’s all I had but you can add anything else you like- such as- spinach, bacon bits

Steps:

1. Set sauté pan on medium and spray with some nonstick spray

2. Lay flour tortilla in pan

3. Scatter pieces of deli meat and green onions (or other ingredients) on one half of the tortilla

4. Add shredded cheese on the same half as the deli meat

5. Fold the empty side of the tortilla on top of the “topping side”

6. Let cheese melt, turning the quesadilla over as needed so that both sides are equally brown

For salad- I doubt you need instructions J - I just added all kinds of veggies I had in the fridge- celery, carrots, green onions, and of course lettuce. Then I sprinkled some feta cheese I got on “manager special” for the perfect touch! It all tasted great and was filling! So now some relaxation and maybe some wine! I hope you enjoy!