Never too late to post some recipes!

Sorry about the lateness of this. I've been trying to get swole. </end corny internet meme>

Sunday's menu was pretty easy, but time consuming.

• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
• White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
• Cake Truffles
• HOT-HOT-HOT Buffalo wings

 Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
(SOOOO EASY!)
4 thin, frozen chicken breasts

1 (15 ounce) an diced tomatoes w/chiles

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

1. Place chicken breasts on the bottom.
2. Dump all other ingredients into slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.
4. About an hour before finish, take out the chicken and shred with 2 forks.
5. Place the chicken back into the pot and let it finish cooking.
6. EAT IT! 2 tablespoons of light sour cream with a tablespoon of guacamole is delicious! Or, crumble in some tortilla chips and low-fat shredded cheese.

 HOT-HOT-HOT Buffalo Wings
1 bag of frozen wings, thawed
2 jars of your favorite wing sauce
1 t hot sauce (optional.... if you like it super, duper, steam-pouring-out-of-your-ears hot!)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Line a baking sheet with foil (for easier cleanup!)
3. Lay out all of the wings on the baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10-20 minutes, or until tops begain to brown a little.
5. Flip, and bake the other side for an additional 10-20 minutes.
   
   
6. Once both sides of crisped, place wings and wing sauce into a slow-cooker.
7. Cook on high for 1-2 hours. Then, put on warm.
   
   

Recommendation: thin the wing sauce out with a little bit of water. I didn't even add any additional hot sauce to our recipe and it was still super hot. Both DH & I broke out in a sweat and had swollen lips for a little bit.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
(These are huge hit with everyone!)
1 stick of butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
1 bag of white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. 
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Combine oats, flour, salt, and baking soda; stir into butter mixture one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. (or use a cookier scooper to make tiny little cookies that you can't stop eating!)
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. 

Cake Truffles
(People think these are so fancy.... little do they know that it takes 4-6 ingredients!!)
1 box of cake mix (your choice)
1 can of frosting (your choice)
Either: 1 can of diet pop, 1 cup of applesauce, or ingredients listed on cake mix to make cake
2 trays of melting chocolate (Almond Bark)
Parchment paper

1. Bake cake according to directions or by using the low-fat methods listed above (replace all wet ingredients with either a can of diet pop or a cup of unsweetened applesauce).
2. Let cake cool COMPLETELY
3. Crumble up cake into a large bowl. Add 3/4 or the entire can of frosting to the crumbled cake. Stir well.
4. Spoon out clumps of cake mixture onto a baking sheet (again, i used my nifty little scooper... seriously... invest in one. They're ~$5 at Wal-Mart).
   
   
5. Freeze cake for 30 minute to an hour OR leave in fridge overnight. The basis for this is to harden it up to make it easier to dip into the chocolate.
6. Once the cake balls have firmed up, start melting the chocolate. NOTE: If you get almond bark, it takes about 2 minutes to melt the entire tray in the microwave. Follow the instructions.
7. Lay a large sheet of parchment paper out.
8. Once the chocolate has melted, start dipping the balls into the chocolate. I prefer placing the balls on a fork and dipping them into the chocolate. That way, you can tap excess chocolate off.
   
   
9. Place dipped cake balls onto parchment paper and let chocolate harden.
   
   
10. EAT THEM!!!!!!

And, for your random viewing pleasure.... We had deer in our backyard. We live in a heavily populated suburban city. There is creek behind our house, followed by a PARKING LOT. It was just so odd to see these guys in our backyard.

Until next week....

As always, would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions you may have for me.

What's on the menu today?

This was a simple Sunday for me, unlike last week. I was looking to really get rid of a lot of stuff that I have in the fridge. So, I decided to make the following:

• Cheese, broccoli pasta (a Hungry Girl favorite of mine!)
• Sundried Tomato Hummus
• "Crack" pico de gallo (really, DH made it, but I'm going to take the credit for it since it's my recipe ;))
• Ground Turkey Stir Fry
• Chocolate Chip Muffins

Cheesy, Broccoli Pasta

12oz back of Green Giant Broccoli in Cheese Sauce

1 1/2 C Rotini Pasta (or whatever you like)

2 Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges

 1. Prepare pasta according to package

2. Prepare broccoli according to package

3. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

4. Eat it.

Sundried Tomato Hummus

Remember when I made this last week? Well, this "new" version is pretty easy. Just add sundried tomatoes.

I'll give you a few pointers though:

**be sure to reserve some of the chickpea liquid because you'll need to add it when you're blending**

2 15oz cans chickpeans (garbanzo beans)

2 t lemon juice

1 t salt

~1/2 C Sundried tomatoes

1. Process sundried tomatoes first (unless you like chunky, then you'll want to process last)

2. Add the chickpeas and process.

3. Add the lemon juice, salt, and chickpea liquid as needed until you reach the desired consistency.

4. Plate it

5. Or, enjoy it with your favorite dippers, like pretzel crisps

"Crack" Pico de Gallo

We call this "crack" because it's so addicting... once you start, it's SO hard to stop!

Tomatoes (as many as you like... the juicier the better... we typically use 4 large)

Onion

Bunch of cilantro

1 large lemon

1 T garlic

Salt to taste

1. Chop tomatoes, onion, and cilantro into tiny little pieces

2. Dump all ingredients into bowl & mix. Add salt to desired taste.

3. Eat it.

Turkey Stir Fry

I had a leftover bag of frozen stir fry vegetables that I really wanted to get rid of. I also had a box of ground turkey. Oh, and some low sodium soy sauce. Hmmm.... An idea!!

~1/2 - 3/4 bag of frozen stir fry vegetables

~1/2lb lean ground turkey

2 T soy sauce

1. Brown turkey. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce for flavor. Drain.

2. Add stir fry vegetables. Mix. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Cover & let steam a little.

3. Enjoy it on it's own or with a little bit of brown rice.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I used the same ingredients as last week, but replaced blueberries with 72% cocoa chocolate.

1 bar of chocolate
1 c quick oats
1 c lowfat buttermilk
1 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 whole egg
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
3/4 c brown sugar

 

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Spray muffin pans with nonstick spray or line with paper liners.

3. In a small bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk, and let stand at room temperature for five minutes.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix with a fork to blend and set aside.

5. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the egg, applesauce, brown sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes.

6. Blend in the oat-buttermilk mixture.

7. Stir in the flour mixture only to combine, try not to overwork the mixture.

8. Chop up chocolate bar. Fold in chocolate into the mixture.

9. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

10. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

I also attempted to make parmesan crusted shrimp, but unfortunately that was a complete failure so I won't be sharing the results. However, here are the ingredients used in case you want to try something yourself:

Have a great week everyone! If you try any of these recipes, I'd love to hear your feedback on them!!

Heavy Day of Cooking Yesterday

[Please excuse the poor quality pictures since these are all from my phone. Next week it will all be from a better camera!]
But first, lets discuss Saturday night dips!

2 of our friends had a joint birthday bash on Saturday, and it was requested that I make my cheesy dips. So, I did (I just love my 3 pot crockpot!)

First, we had Pizza Dip!
8oz package of cream cheese
1 tub of garlic & herb cooking cream cheese
1 bag of shredded mozzarella & parmessan
1 bag of shredded Velveeta
1 bag of turkey pepperoni
[this was seriously super cheesy]

1. Dice up the pepperoni.
2. Throw everything into crockpot
3. Set on high for 1 hour. Then, set on warm for the rest of the evening.
4. Eat it like it's going out of style.

Next we had Sundried Tomato Dip!
Jar of sundried tomatoes
8oz package of cream cheese
1 tub of plain cooking cream cheese

1. Throw everything into the crockpot [don't miss!!]
2. Set on high for 1 hour. Then, set to warm.
3. Eat it with wheat thins. OM NOM NOM NOM

And the 3rd pot contained White Queso Dip!
1 package of velveeta white queso
8oz of sour cream
1 can of salsa (or Rotel) [I completely forgot about this step on Saturday!]
~1/2 lb of ground turkey [shhhh, don't tell the guys!]

1. Season and brown the ground turkey the skillet.
2. Dump all ingredients into the pot, including the turkey.
3. Set on high for 1 hour, and then on warm.
4. Eat like a fat kid.

And finally, a surprise favorite of everyone's..... CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH DIP!
Adapted from What Megan's Making blog...
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar (*to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar until it dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.
2. In a separate bowl, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar together for 60 seconds.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar and butter mixture. Mix until combined.
4. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
5. Garnish with additional mini chocolate chips.
6. Serve with animal cracker, nilla wafers or graham crackers.

This is what was left of it 4 hours later...

 

And there were nothing left the next day. Vultures! :D

Ok, ok, getting to the fun stuff on Sunday...

Every Saturday, I create my meal plan for the next week and then write out a grocery list. I do all of my shopping on Saturday & use most of Sunday to cook (and do laundry, and watch tv, and be lazy).

On the menu for this week, I had:

• Salmon
• Edamame Salad
• Jambalaya
• Blueberry Muffins
• Hummus [which I found out is super easy & cheap to make! Seriously... I'll make this all of the time now!!!]

I started out the day with salmon. Sorry, no ingredient list this time since it was a bunch of stuff that I mixed together & forgot to write down. I will, however, tell you how to pan sear salmon beautifully.
1. Spray a cooking pan with nonstick spray or a dab of olive oil
2. Set on high. Wait for it to heat up.
3. Place salmon and cook for 1 minute on high.
4. Lower temperature to medium and cook for 2 more minutes.
5. Flip. Cook on the other side for 3 minutes for medium-well or 4 minutes for well done.

 

 

Edamame Salad

1 package of frozen edamame, thawed (shelled if possible-- I couldn't find any shelled so my happy little butt shelled edamame for about 20 minutes)

2 roma tomatoes

2 green onions

1. Mix all ingredients together

2. Garnish with your favorite low-fat dressing (I used an asian sesame I had on hand)

 

It's the thing in the top left corner [this is my Monday lunch, by the way... more details below]

Jambalaya

[not as hard to make as you may imagine!]

[Recipe to be announced later... I actually have to drag my butt up from this chair an get the recipe book... I KNOW!]

But here are pics to make you drool

Blueberry Muffins
1 T flax seeds
1 c blueberries
1 c quick oats
1 c lowfat buttermilk
1 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 whole egg
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
3/4 c brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Spray muffin pans with nonstick spray or line with paper liners.
3. Use a clean coffee grinder to roughly grind the flax seeds, trying not to process them into a mealy texture. (You can use pre-ground flax if that's what you have on hand.)
4. Wash and dry the blueberries.
5. In a small bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk, and let stand at room temperature for five minutes.
6. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix with a fork to blend and set aside.
7. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the egg, applesauce, brown sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes.
8. Blend in the oat-buttermilk mixture.
9. Stir in the flour mixture only to combine, try not to overwork the mixture.
10. Fold in the blueberries.
11. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and top with a sprinkle of flax seed.
12. Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

This original recipe called for 12 mini muffins, but who honestly gets satisfied after eating a MINI muffin (the size of a cupcake)?! Yeah, not me! So... I busted out my large muffin pan and made 6 delicious muffins.

 

 Ok, and now for the super easy, super delicious hummus!
2 cans of canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 cloves of garlic (or 1 T of minced garlic for us lazy folk)
4 tbsp lemon juice (or less to taste)
1 tsp of salt 

1. Put it all together
2. Process it
3. Effin eat it with a spoon (or Triscuit thin crisps... om nom nom)

I want you all to also know that I made this while watching Dirty Dancing. Lil trivia for you all.

 

Ok, and now to end this giant rambling of a blog with what I had for my Monday lunch...

Snack 1: 1oz turkey jerky, 10 slices of cucumber, mini babybel cheese in white cheddar

Lunch: salmon, edamame salad, FiberOne brownie [they're seriously not that bad], nectarine

Snack 2: hummus, triscuit thin crisps, grapes

Anddddd... I'm out!