Buffalo Chicken Soup

I am obsessed with soups this fall, thus I have decided it is the year of soup lol.  This soup is amazing!  I ate a bowl almost everyday the week that I made it.  It kept well for a week in the refrigerator, but I am not sure how well it would freeze with the orzo in it.  If you like more spice in your buffalo chicken, you can always pick a spicier wing sauce then I used.  For all you local central PA people, they now sell Arooga's wing sauces in the grocery store and I bet that the Kangarooga sauce would be wonderful in this dish; I used their mild sauce.  I also did not use blue cheese because I do not like it, but I sprinkled shredded mozzarella cheese on it.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and it comes from a blog called Mi casa is your casa.  For this recipe you will need the following:

     1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
     2 tsp olive oil
     1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
     1 clove garlic, minced
     2 medium carrots, peeled & cut into half moon shapes
     2 tsp ranch dressing seasoning mix
     3 tbsp fresh cilantro, divided
     32 ounces chicken stock
     2/3 cup the wing sauce of your choice
     4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
     4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
     2 cups cooked chicken shredded
     1/4 cup green onions, chopped & divided
     1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

   Cook the orzo according to the package directions, until it is about half way done.  Drain and then set aside.
   In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil.  Saute the onion, garlic, and half of the green onions in the oil for 2-3 minutes until the yellow onions are opaque and tender.  Add the carrots, ranch dressing mix, and 2 tbsp of cilantro.  Stir to combine and cook until the carrots begin to soften.
   Add the chicken broth, wing sauce, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, and shredded chicken.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender, but still have a slight bite. 
   Bring the soup back up to a boil, over medium high heat.  Add the orzo and stir frequently until the orzo is al dente.  Top with remaining green onions and cilantro, and blue cheese crumbles. 

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

This is a great baked oatmeal recipe.  I have struggled finding good baked oatmeal recipes that are a solid consistency....or maybe I just do not make them correctly lol.  Anyways, this is great for those who like pumpkin flavored dishes and it is easy to make.  It is not a sweet dish, so I did sprinkle brown sugar on top to make it a bit sweeter.  I modified this recipe from one I found on Pinterest, and you can find the original on my pinterst page, where there is the recipe to make a one serving amount of this.  The recipe I posted here makes four servings.  In addition, that recipe uses almond milk instead of regular milk.  I kept the dish in the frig for up to about 5 days and it was still good.  For this recipe you will need the following:

     2 cups regular rolled oats
     2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
     1 tsp baking powder
     1/8 tsp salt
     1 cup milk
     1/2 cup water
     1 cup pumpkin puree
     1 tsp vanilla extract
     4 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 8x8 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.  In a small bowl, mix oats, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until combined.  In a medium bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, milk, water, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.  Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.  Stir until they are combined.  Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for 25-27 minutes. 

Spinach Stuffed Tilapia

The hardest part about doing this blog is figuring out what to write as a little blurb before I write the recipe.  I mean it is boring just to say this recipe is good lol, but it is!  I was surprised at how filling it was since Tilapia is is light, but it is very filling.  For this recipe you will need the following:

     2 tilapia fillets
     1 egg, lightly beaten
     2 tbsp panko bread crumbs
     2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
     1 tsp Italian seasoning
     1/2 tsp garlic powder
     1/2 tsp paprika
     salt and pepper, to taste
     1 tsp olive oil
     1/2 cup onion, small diced
     2 cloves of garlic, minced
     5 oz baby spinach
     1/2 tbsp fat free cream cheese (I used the new Greek yogurt cream cheese)
     1 tsp crushed red pepper
     1 tsp basil

   Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a small baking sheet or pan with parchment paper; set aside.  Heat oil in skilled over medium-high heat.  Saute onion for 3-4 minutes or until softened.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add spinach and completely wilt down.  Season with crushed red pepper, basil, salt, and pepper.  Remove from the heat and stir in cream cheese until it's coated all the filling. 
   In one shallow pan, place beaten egg.  In another shallow pan combine grated Parmesan and panko, shaking to combine.  Season both sides of the fish with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Place the filling on fish fillet and fold fillet over, securing with toothpicks.  Dip in beaten egg, and use hands if needed to ensure the egg is all over the fish.  Move fish to the breading mixture.  Shake pan back and forth in order to ensure the bottom of the fish is nicely coated.  Then use your fingers to press the breading mixture to the top and sides of the fish. 
   Place in baking sheet, spray the top with nonstick cooking spray, and bake for 15 minutes, or until fish is flaky and cooked through. 

Homemade Tomato Soup

With the cold winter weather on the horizon, there is nothing like a good homemade soup to keep you.  This is a very easy recipe to make your own homemade tomato soup, free of the preservatives found in canned tomato soup.  In addition, it is easy to freeze for another time.  I made one change to the recipe which came from Taste of Home magazine.  I used chicken stock instead of chicken broth to make it thicker.  This does however change the calorie count, which with the broth is only 120 calories.  For this recipe you will need the following:

     2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes with or without additional seasoning, undrained
     1/4 cup of butter
     1/2 cup of finely chopped red onion
     2 garlic cloves, minced
     6 tbsp all purpose flour
     48 oz of chicken broth (I used chicken stock)
     optional: grated cheese of your choice

     In a blender, process tomatoes with juices until pureed; set aside.  In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium high heat.  Add onion; cook and stir until tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. 
     Remove from the heat; stir in flour until smooth.  Place back on the heat and cook for 1 minute.  Gradually whisk in the broth.  Add pureed tomatoes; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with your favorite flavor of cheese and enjoy. 

Firey Tomato-Braised Tilapia

I was really happy when I found this recipe in my Taste of Home magazine because tilapia, while good, can become boring when you are eating it prepared the same ways.  This recipe is very light and flavorful, as well as easy to make!  I did make a couple of changes to spice up the flavor, but it is by no means too spicy!  This recipe is also easy to divide in half if you are only feeding two people.  For this recipe you will need the following:

     4 tilapia fillets (about 6 oz each)
     1/4 tsp of season salt
     1 tbsp of lemon juice
     2 tbsp of olive oil
     1 small red onion, chopped
     1/2 a green pepper, chopped
     1 10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained (I use Rotel)
     3/4 a cup of chopped roasted red peppers
     1/2 cup of low sodium chicken broth
     1/4 cup of tomato paste
     1 tsp of garlic powder
     1 tsp of dried oregano
     1 tsp of dried basil

     Sprinkle the fillets with the season salt and then drizzle with lemon juice.  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and green peppers; cook and stir until it is tender.  Add the diced tomatoes, roasted red peppers, broth, tomato paste, garlic powder, oregano, and basil to the onion and pepper mixture; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes longer.
     Place the fillets over the tomato mixture, cover with lid, and cook for 6-8 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.  Serve over a 1/2 cup of brown rice or whole wheat pasta and enjoy!

Better than Take Out Chinese Chicken

It has been a long time since I posted on the blog!!!! I have decided to take the blog in a bit of a different direction and show how to make recipes healthier than they might originally be!! And of course Chinese take out is never that great for you, so those recipe is a great way to get delicious Chinese food, without all the MSG's and you know what your are getting!!  I am not lying when I say this is as good as General Tso's take out from your local Chinese place!! This recipe uses one of my new favorite cooking ingredients - Sriracha!  For those of you not familiar with this, it is Chinese hot sauce!! You can find it in any grocery store in the Asian food section!  For this recipe you will need e following:

     3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
     1/2 tsp of salt
     1/2 tsp of pepper
     1 cup of cornstrach
     2 egg whites, beaten
     1/4 cup of canola oil
     1/4 cup of sugar
     4 tbsp of ketchup
     1/2 cup of white vinegar
     1 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce
     1 tsp of garlic salt
     Sriracha (depending on your level of spice, 1-4 squirts)
     Red Pepper Flakes

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish and set it aside.  Make the sauce for the chicken by mixing sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic salt, Sriracha, and red pepper flakes together in a bowl; set aside.  Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.  Heat half of the oil (2 tbsp) on medium high in a large skillet.  Place the cornstarch in a shallow pie pan and the beaten egg whites in a bowl.  Dip half of the chicken pieces, a couple pieces at a time, in the cornstrach, coating all sides.  Then dip them into the egg whites, and place in to the skillet.  Brown the chicken pieces on all sides and then place in the baking dish.  Repeat process until all the chicken in your first batch is done.  Then wipe out your pan and repeat the process with the second half of the chicken.  Once all the chicken is in the baking dish, pour the sauce all over the chicken; stirrng it around to ensure it is evenly coated.  Bake for one hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.  Serve with some brown rice and enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

I am not a big fan of regular lasagna, but I could eat this lasagna once a week it is that good.  For a lasagna, this recipe is not too bad for your diet.  While I adapted this recipe from Taste of Home's recipe to make it more healthy, you could make even more changes to make it healthier.  Now as I am not a blue cheese fan, I did not use the blue cheese, but I will include the blue cheese in the post for those blue cheese lovers!  I also used shredded chicken because I am not a fan of working with ground chicken.  If you want to get creative, you could make this with a different kind of wing sauce every time you make it!  This recipe is also easy to divide in half, which I did because a whole lasagna is a lot for me.  And I would like to make a shout out to my cousin Kristen for the fact that I am typing this post on my wireless IPad keyboard that she got me for my birthday!!

For this recipe you will need the following:
     1 tbsp of canola oil
     1 1/2 pounds of shredded chicken (see note below on how to make shredded chicken) OR
         1 1/12 pounds of ground chicken
     1 small onion, chopped
     1 celery rib, finely chopped
     1 large carrot, grated
     2 garlic cloves, minced
     1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
     1 bottle (12 ounces) buffalo wing sauce
     1/2 cup of water
     1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
     1/2 tsp of salt
     1/4 tsp of pepper
     9 lasagna noodles (you can use whole wheat noddles too)
     1 carton (15 oz) of fat free ricotta cheese
     1 3/4 cups of crumbled blue cheese (I used Italian cheese blend)
     1/2 cup of fresh minced Italian parsley
     1 egg, lightly beaten (or two egg whites)
     3 cups of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
     2 cups of low fat shredded cheddar cheese

     In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the ground chicken, onion, celery, and carrot; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink and veggies are tender.  If using shredded chicken, cook the veggies first until they are tender and then add the chicken, heating it through until it is warm.  Add garlic and cook 2 minutes longer.  Stir in the tomatoes, wing sauce, water, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.
     Meanwhile, cook noodles according to the package directions; drain.  In a bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup of blue cheese, parsley, and egg.
      Once the chicken mixture is done, spread 1 1/2 cups of chicken sauce into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.  Layer with three noodles, 1 1/2 cups of sauce, 2/3 cup of ricotta mixture, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 cup of blue cheese.  Repeat the layers twice.
      Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

I feel like 2012 was the year of the stuff pepper recipe because every where I looked there was a new take of stuff peppers.  Of all of the recipes I found, this was the most creative and it tastes fabulous!  Basically, this is all the ingredients of a stuffed pepper in a casserole.  The original version of this recipe, which I found on Pinterest, was a vegetarian recipe, but since I do enjoy meat, I modified it some for that change.  While it took away the totally vegetarian part, it still remains a healthy recipe!  As you will see it calls for an orange bell pepper, but mine was rotting inside when I cut it open, so I used a green instead.  For this recipe you will need the follow:

     1 lb of ground turkey

     2 cups of shredded cabbage

     1 small red bell pepper, chopped

     1 small orange bell pepper, chopped

     1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped

     1/2 a medium sized onion, chopped

     1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa

     1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt

     1 1/3 cup of the marinara sauce of your choice

     1/3 cup of low-fat mozzarella cheese

     2 garlic gloves, minced (about 1 tsp already mince garlic)

     2 tsp of basil

     2 tsp of oregano

     1 tsp of rosemary

     1 tsp parsley

     Sea Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the quinoa according to package directions; set aside.  Cook the ground turkey on medium high heat until browned.  In a large mixing bowl add half of chopped peppers, quinoa, ground turkey, cabbage, onion, garlic, and other spices.  Stirring well to combine. 

In another mixing bowl whip together the plain yogurt and marinara sauce, then add it to the veggie mixture; stir well.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish, then pour the mixture into the dish, and spread evenly.  Top with the remaining peppers.  Sprinkle with cheese and parsley.  Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for several minutes before serving!

    

Spaghetti Squash Boats

I loved this recipe and found it to be an almost twist on chicken parmesan  It is also one of the best spaghetti squash recipes I have cooked and it is compliments of skinnytaste.com.  If you have never tired spaghetti squash and are trying to eat healthier, you need to try one.  Cooked right, it has the same texture as spaghetti, and not nearly the same amount of starch!!  When you roast a spaghetti squash, the insides will shred into the form that they look like spaghetti noodles.  This recipe has you cut the squash in half prior to cooking it.....you will need a very sharp knife for this!!!  I struggled to cut it in half lengthwise, so I cut it widthwise and then cut those halves in half, so I had four pieces, per squash.  Odd shaped boats, but work just the same! For this recipe you will need the following:

     2 small/medium ripe spaghetti squash

     Salt and pepper, to taste

     4 thin chicken cutlets, about 3 ounces each

     Pinch of garlic powder

     1/4 tsp of oregano

     2 cups of low fat marinara sauce (the flavor of your choice)

     1 cup of part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

    Preheat the oven to 350.   Cut the squash in half lengthwise, or as I described above.  Scoop out the seeds and fibers with a spoon.  Place the squash on a baking sheet, cut side up and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about an hour or until the skin gives easily under pressure and the inside is tender.  

    While the squash is roasting, sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano.  Heat a pan over medium-high heat, when it is hot, grill chicken on both sides for about 3-5 minutes a side, or until cooked through.  I cut my chicken into chunks and cooked them that way.  Either way works.  Set aside in a dish.

    Remove the squash from the oven and carefully fluff the spaghetti like strands on each half with a fork, leaving the squash in the shell.  Season with salt and pepper, then spoon about 1/4 a cup of sauce in each boat.  

    If you cooked the chicken as whole cutlets, slice them diagonal and place one cutlet on top of a squash half.  Top each boat with another 1/4 cup of sauce, then top with cheese.  Place boats back in the oven and cook for about 12 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy!!

Cashew Chicken

Now this is no Cafe Fresco cashew chicken, but it is pretty darn close!  I can only aspire to make food as good as theirs!!  I would not have thought such a fancy tasting dish was so simple to make!  The recipe uses Hoisin sauce, which can be found in the Asian section in your local grocery store.  For this recipe you will need the following:

     2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped
     8 cloves of garlic, minced (4 tsp of pre-minced garlic)
     1 cup of cashews
     4 tbsp of Hoisin sauce
     8 green onions, sliced
     2 tbsp of white wine vinegar
     2 tbsp of corn starch
     3/4 cup of chicken stock
     2 tbsp of olive oil
     Salt and pepper
     The rice of your choice

     Cook the rice according to the package directions.  Preheat a large skillet or wok over low heat.  Add olive oil, garlic, and cashews to skillet.  Saute over low heat until the garlic becomes golden, but don't let the garlic brown!
     Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken.  Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until the chicken is no longer pink.  Add corn starch to a small bowl with the stock and mix well.  Add the  corn starch mixture to the chicken.  Then add Hoisin sauce and vinegar.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until sauce has thickened.  Just before serving, add the green onions and serve over rice!!!