Seasoned Chicken Spinach Roll Ups

I have been wanting to make roll ups since I saw them pop up in the food blogging world but I hardly ever have lasagna noodles. Odd I know, but it's just not a meal I go for.

However, when the recipe came back into my mind, I found exactly 6 noodles left from a lasagna dinner I had made for some friends months earlier and was overjoyed that I could make this for my husband and I for dinner.

It's so easy and a fun alternative to the lasagna noodle stacking method.
It's also quite versatile. I've seen classic beef lasagna roll ups, alfredo chicken roll ups, veggie roll ups, caprese roll ups, even enchilada roll ups!

So don't be afraid to experiment and make this meal a fun one!


Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cooked & seasoned
6-9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 cup pasta sauce
1 cup spinach, shredded
~ 1cup shredded cheese, your choice
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Cook lasagna noodles according to package.
Shred cooked and seasoned chicken--I used my stand mixer!
Season shredded spinach with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven 350 F.
When noodles are done gently remove them from water and place lengthwise on a clean surface.Pat dry with towel.
Non-stick a 8x8 pan and pour 1/2 cup pasta sauce on the bottom, spreading it out evenly.
Spoon about 2 tbs of pasta sauce onto each lasagna noodle, spreading it out evenly.
Add shredding chicken, then spinach, then ~1/4 cup cheese, on top of noodle strips.

Gently roll up noodles, lifting slightly as you roll to keep it from smooshing out its inner parts. Lay seam side down in pan.
Pour some more pasta sauce over the top of the rolls, and sprinkle with cheese as desired.
Bake for 25 min or until cheese is melted and has a lightly golden top.

Serve with a side salad and roll

Sorry my photos are lame, my camera battery died so I had to use a regular digital...

ENJOY!!!

Healthy Mexican Pizza

When I was a young girl, I loved Taco Bell's mexican pizza.
I could eat one whole paired with hard-shelled 1-2 tacos and soda. 1000+ calories without a blink of an eye. 

Thank goodness I have learned different eating habits.

But I still crave the layered beefy and bean entree. 
So using some healthier food ingredients I created this delicious alternative that tastes PHENOMENAL. 

Ingredients:
2 corn tortillas
1 tsp olive oil 
2 oz 93% or more ground beef
2 tbs salsa of choice
3 tbs black beans
1 tsp sriracha
1/8 cup shredded cheese
chopped lettuce

Directions: 

Cook ground beef to your liking (I had left overs from tacos earlier in the week)

Preheat oven to 400
Spray, wipe olive oil on both sides of the corn tortillas
Bake in oven until crispy and golden brown, turning once

Smash black beans in a bowl and mix with sriracha

When tortillas are done. Top one tortilla with warm beef, salsa, and 3/4 of the cheese.
Top the other tortilla with the smashed beans mixture. 

Microwave for 30 sec. 
Top cheese tortilla with lettuce, then place smashed bean tortilla on top of beef tortilla and top with 1 tsp of either salsa or sriracha (if you like it extra spicy) and the other 1/4 of the cheese. 

Enjoy!!!!

Nutritional Info:

all approx depending on the ingredients/brand you use. 

257 cal * 28 carbs * 4 sat fat * 19g protein* 5 fiber

Slow Cooker Chicken Quinoa Chili

I love fix it and forget it meals. 

This one in particular because it's perfect for those cool weather days, those days when you don't want do anything but snuggle under the covers, watch tv, or read a good book. 

This wasn't one of those days for me, but a girl can dream. 

However, it did turn out wonderfully delicious!

If you've been following along with my blog you've probably noticed new food addiction to quinoa. It's such a wonderful seed full of great health benefits and best of all KEEPS YOU FULL!

But the real truth as to why this recipe? 
Not that it was easy (it was), not that I could make it and forget it (I did, until the timer went off), not because it's healthy (it is!), but because I made a small loaf of french bread in my NEW bread machine and needed a good hearty soup to eat it with. 
Oh yeah!

So fix it, forget it, remember it, eat it!

Recipe adapted from Sweet Treats and More

Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts (mine were frozen!)*
1 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can of Rotel
1 can reduced sodium black beans
1 cup of frozen corn (or 1 can or corn) 
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped (I used 3 small sweet peppers: 1 yellow, 2 red)
1-2** tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp crushed red peppers
1 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

* If using frozen chicken, follow directions below. 
   If using thawed chicken reduce time to 3-5 hours. 
** I used 2 tsp for everything because I love spices!
 
Directions:
Place chicken on bottom of slow cooker, dump liquids first, then solids, then seasonings. Stir. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. 
When time is up, either remove chicken and shred, or shred in  pot.
Stir well to combine. 
Top with shredded cheese, and/or a dollop of plain greek yogurt if desired!

Enjoy!!!!

Chicken Piccata W/ Greek Yogurt Cream Sauce

 

Lemon and chicken go well together, 

but what makes it even better is whole wheat pasta and a creamy sauce. 

I put this dish together in a short amount of time and it turned out wonderful. My husband even stopped before he left the room--well after his second bowl--to tell me he "really liked the dish"; and thus it is going on the blog. 

This is a multi-tasking meal prep dinner. There is no lag time. But everything is timed pretty well and ends warm and ready to be eaten. 
So put on your apron and cook away!

Adapted from Lifeasalofthouse and plainchicken.com
Ingredients:

Chicken
2 Large chicken breast or 4 small (I seriously had GIANT chicken breasts so I used 2 and cut them in half)
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (plain works just add oregano, basil, salt pepper, rosemary, and thyme)
1 tbs butter (I used parkay)
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Pasta
2 cups whole wheat penne pasta + 3 1/2 cups water to boil (This is more than enough for 2 people--adjust amount based on amount feeding)
*OPTIONAL 1 quarter of a chicken bouillon cube (just kicks it up a notch)

Creamy Cheesy Sauce
2 tbs butter (I used parkay)
6 tbs lemon juice (the juice from 2 lemons or just the stuff from the bottle)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt/ pepper/ basil, to taste
1/2 cup Plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese ( I cheated here, I only had the powdered stuff that comes in the bottle and used a little more than half a cup. STILL TURNED OUT AWESOME!)


Directions:

Whisk egg in a shallow bowl
Place bread crumbs in separate shallow bowl
Heat Large on Medium skillet with 1 tbs butter and 1 tbs olive oil
Pound breasts into a fillet using your fist or a meat mallet. Approx 2 inches thick
Pat dry and then  dip in egg mixture and then bread crumbs. 
Place in skillet and cook for 4-5 min each side. NO TURNING.
-- you are welcome to cut your chicken breast in half once this time is up to make sure they are cook through (they really should be) but if not just leave  them in the pan, cover with a lid, turn the heat down, and let them "cook" while your continue the rest of the meal--

While breasts are cooking....make pasta

Bring a small sauce pan with 3 1/2 cups water to boil, add quartered bouillon cube and then pasta. 
Boil for 7 min, or al dente.

While pasta is boiling.... start sauce

Mince garlic and place in a bowl with 6 tbs lemon juice.
Measure out 1/2 cup greek yogurt set aside. 

Chicken should be done  now...turn pan to low, with lid, to keep warm or place on plate and cover with foil.

Once pasta is done, set aside 1/2 cup pasta water and then drain the rest. 

Dump pasta in a small bowl with a drizzle of olive oil to keep from sticking and cover to keep warm 

SAUCE TIME: 
In the same sauce pan that you made the pasta melt 2 tbs butter on medium high heat. 
Whisk in minced garlic and lemon juice and then add greek yogurt, salt, pepper, and basil to taste. Whisk until warm. 
Add cheese and stir until melted.--if you see your sauce thickening too much add some of the reserve water to loosen it.

ALL DONE!

Toss pasta with sauce and top with sliced chicken.

ENJOY!!!!

Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce Chicken

Sun dried tomatoes are a luxury food for me. 

I love them on anything and everything 

(Well maybe not cereal). 

Most Italian restaurants have some dish with sun dried tomatoes and I usually go for that dish.

So when I found this recipe from Gabbi's Kitchen for a cream sauce chicken that had sun dried tomatoes I said "MAKING" and added the ingredients to my grocery list. 

Of course I adapted the recipe to fit this healthy foodies lifestyle by dropping the heavy cream and using plain greek yogurt 1:1.

Turned out wonderful!

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts, 
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tbs butter (I used Parkay) 
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup onion, chopped (I used half of a small onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (I used sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, worked just fine!)
1 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
Whole wheat pasta

Directions: 

Heat skillet with 1 tbs olive oil
Rinse and pat dry chicken. Pound breast flat and then rub with salt and pepper as desired. 
Place chicken breast, ugly side down (you'll know) in heated oil and saute for 5 min on both sides, until chicken is NO LONGER PINK, COOK THROUGH. 
Remove from heat and place to the side, covered. 

Chop onion, and mince garlic. 
Melt butter in large sauce pan, then add onion and garlic. Cooke until soft. 
Add sun-dried tomatoes. Blend
Add 2 tbs flour and with whisk in hand slowly add chicken broth. Constantly whisk to remove lumps. 
Whisk in Greek yogurt. Stir for 3-4 min.
Take off heat and stir every once in awhile while it continues to thicken. 
Make Pasta. 

Serve chicken over pasta. 

ENJOY!!!!

Savory Chicken Tacos (Spicy!)

      Eating these chicken Tacos, aka Fajitas without the peppers, exposes your palate to unbelievable amounts of explosive flavors.

      The aroma, while cooking, will be so tempting you'll have to restrain yourself to not pick the chicken straight out of the pan and eat it. 

      I encourage you to perform self discipline and place the chicken in a warm homemade tortilla topped with any extra toppings that suit your taste buds, sit down at a table and then take a savory bite and enjoy a moment of foodie euphoria.

Did I mention it's super easy to to make. Oh yes. It is. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 chicken breasts, fat cut off
•  1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 generous tsp chili powder
• 1/2 " " tsp cumin
• 1/2 " " tsp oregano
• 1/2 " " tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp minced onion flakes
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:

Slice chicken breast into 2 1/2-3 inch pieces.

Add all the spices and 1 of the tbs of olive oil to a freezer ziplock bag.

Add chicken pieces and shake/mix till well combined. Let sit.

                                                                  

Heat the other 1tbs of olive oil in a medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add seasoned chicken.

                                                                                                   
Cook till chicken is no longer pink. 5-7ish min.

Enjoy in a warm tortilla topped with other delectable ingredients of your choice. 

Bite. 

*You can easily make them fajitas by adding in 1 cup sliced bell peppers of your choice. 

*You can easily double the batch to allow others to experience the magic of this recipe.

Two Tomato Pasta with Mozzarella, Basil & Pine Nuts

Want a healthy, light, fresh pasta for dinner? TRY THIS!

Recipe curtousy of theitaliandishblog.com
Ingredients

• 10 ounces of grape tomatoes
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• salt & pepper
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 10 ounces spaghetti
• 14 ounces very small tomatoes (about 8 to 10), cut into chunks
• 8 ounces mozzarella, cubed
• about 10 basil leaves, julienned

Instructions:

For the slow roasted tomatoes: 
 Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with foil.  Slice grape tomatoes in half and place on baking sheet with the garlic and 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Season with some salt and pepper.  Toss well. Bake for about two hours or until the tomatoes are reduced down and have lost a lot of their moisture. (WARNING: this will make your house smell like sweet tomato heaven and when they're done you're going to have to control yourself from eating them all)

Toast the pine nuts:
Place pine nuts in a small skillet.  Cook over medium high heat just for a few minutes, until lightly toasted. 

Make the Pasta:
Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil.  Cook the pasta just until al dente. Remove with tongs and place in a large serving bowl (don't drain- you want a little pasta water still on the pasta so it doesn't stick).

Putting it together:
Add the slow roasted tomatoes, the toasted pine nuts, the fresh tomatoes, the mozzarella, 4 tablespoons olive oil and the basil leaves.  Season generously with salt and pepper and toss well. 

*p.s. you can also make this as a side dish for a dinner party and impress all your friends :)

ENJOY!!!!

Nutrition Information

339 cals * 31 carbs * 21g Fat  * 10g Protein * 3g sugar * 4g Fiber

Slow Cooker Honey-Glazed Garlic Chicken

Mouthful of a title I know, but it did make your mouth water so keep reading and maybe no one will notice the drool. 

This was my FIRST crock pot/slow cooker recipe! 
Now, since I moved out to the mid west it was almost a taboo to say that sentence since its a staple cooking machine out here. 
So I knew it was time to break it out!

Thanks to one of my new favorite websites: myfoodfridge.com I was able to find this recipe at 6 am in the morning (I had been struggling for a few days with not having an ingredient or two and didn't want to run to the store; this website solved my dilemma) and had it cooking all day, allowing the house to smell like honey glazed deliciousness.

It was enjoyed on top of brown rice with side of mixed veggies. 

It's SUPER EASY so have no fear...

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (they can be frozen)
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup natural ketchup
1/2 cup honey 
3 minced garlic cloves


Directions:

Place chicken at bottom of slow cooker/crock pot. Mix soy sauce, ketchup, honey, and garlic in a small bowl. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4. I found it was done at or before 6 hours ( I mean when I pushed on the chicken with a fork it just fell apart:See picture below). So I turned it to warm until dinner time!

 Serve over rice and spoon extra sauce from pot onto chicken. 

ENJOY!!!!

Sweet Potato Chili

I loved this so much. Seriously ate 2 bowls every sitting..and well with the nutrition info like this it was not a problem.  

Recipe Credit: ChocolateCoveredKatie.com

Ingredient: 

• 2 cups sliced onion (1 large)
• 20 oz peeled and cubed sweet potato
• 2/3 cup diced zucchini
• 1-2 cans black beans (or another bean)
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp orange zest
•  1 cup corn
• 1 cup water (or broth)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a big pot, and bring to a boil. Then lower and cook until the sweet potatoes are soft. The chili tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have had a chance to combine.

 ENJOY!!!! 

Nutrition Info:

1 Serving (about 1 cup): 136 cal * 1 g Fat *6g protein; 26 carbs* 7 g fiber*

Healthy Chicken Parmesan

I'm all about the "nothing is off limits" rule for dieting because for me that is deprivation and my body just wants it more if I deny it.... 

So I found a healthier way to eat this normally FAT and CARB loaded dinner

for easy cost of only 255 cal a piece of chicken: smothered in bread, sauce, and cheese...I know, just trust me and read on...

Healthy Chicken Parmesan

adapted from Feedingmytemple.com

Ingredients:

• (4) 4oz chicken breasts thawed

• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs  (I just used plain and seasoned myself with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and paprika)

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (if you did what I did above add if you like the extra taste!)

• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings (same....add if you want extra)

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (make sure if using fresh they are grated small...I had to break mine into small pieces)

• 1 1/2-2 tbsp butter, melted  (I used Parkay...you can use 2 egg whites to sub)

• 3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (OR just more Parmesan. that's what I did)

• 1 cup marinara or your favorite spaghetti sauce (Again I made my own with tomato paste, Italian seasoning, minced garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.)

• cooking spray ( used our MISTO!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°.
 Line large baking sheet with foil (easy clean up) and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings in a bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave in another bowl (this is usually melted after about 20 seconds, so watch it closely.) If using egg whites just place in bowl. Lightly brush the butter or egg whites onto the chicken, then dip into breadcrumb/cheese mixture. 

Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of chicken.

Lightly spray a little more cooking spray on top (this makes it nice and crispy) and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. 
 Remove chicken from oven and spoon sauce over each piece and top with mozzarella or Extra Parmesan cheese and bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

ENJOY!!!!

Healthy Cream Sauce Chicken

Well I was in search of  healthy wine cream sauce chicken recipe...wine+cream=healthy? yeah right.

SO I made my own!

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs butter (I used parkay)
• 2/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• Sea salt (Rub)
• Table salt and Pepper to taste (sauce)

Directions:

Swirl olive oil and butter in a large skillet on Medium-High heat. Let melt till the butter has little to no bubbles left (not brown!).
Meanwhile, Cut any fat off chicken breasts, then pat dry with a paper towel (helps them brown) and rub sea salt on breasts.

When ready, place chicken breasts (pretty side down first) in skillet and leave for 5 min. Then flip and leave for 4 min.
Check chicken is done with temp reader (165 deg) or slice the middle and look to make sure not pink.
Take out chicken, place on a plate, and  keep warm.

Add chicken broth and lemon juice to skillet (leave left behind chicken bits and juices) and and let boil to a little more 1/4 cup of liquid. (so the sauce is not thin in the end) stir every once in awhile.

Reduce heat to low and stir in 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt.
Slowly add brown sugar and salt and pepper taste.
Stir every once in awhile.

Cook any other things may want and then spoon sauce over chicken and serve!
(I chose red potatoes and broccoli) :)
ENJOY!!!!