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Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Pasta

This recipe was super easy to make- my husband helped me and we got this on the table within a half hour!  

Here is the recipe:  (note, this only serves 2 since there are only 2 of us- adjust recipe accordingly)

1 Chicken Breast 

2 C. fresh spinach

Olive Oil

2 Garlic cloves, minced (or garlic salt/powder if you don't have fresh garlic on hand)

1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 C. shredded white cheese (almost anything will work- I had an italian blend of parmesan, mozzarella, and romano on hand and used that) (you could use ricotta if you're into that)

Slice of cheese for top (I used mozzarella- again, most white cheeses will work here- provolone, white cheddar, american, or you could use your shredded cheese)

Pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat rotini)

Pasta sauce of your choice (I used Bertolli Tomato & Basil)

(seasoning of your choice- I used and italian seasoning, salt, and pepper)

Preheat oven to 350.  

Use a food processor to finely chop your spinach into small pieces.  Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in pan.  Add chopped onion and garlic and leave to saute for a few minutes, moving around so nothing gets burned!

Cut the chicken breast in half lengthwise so you have 2 long skinny pieces of chicken.  (butterfly chicken and just cut the whole way through).

Place chicken between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound them out until they are fairly thin (or use a can of green beans like I did).  Season both sides of the chicken with italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Add your spinach to the olive oil/onion/garlic mix.  Continue to saute for a minute or two until your spinach starts to look 'wet' or cooked.  Add the shredded cheese to the pan and mix until cheese is melted.

Place 1/2 spinach mixture on each piece of chicken.  Cover the entire piece of chicken with mixture and then fold in half.  

Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and place in 350 degree oven.  Let bake until juices run clear (15-20 minutes, they don't take long because they are thin pieces of chicken).

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions and heat up pasta sauce.  

When chicken is done, place 1/2 slice mozzarella cheese on each piece of chicken and leave in the oven to melt.  

Layer pasta, sauce, and then stuffed chicken breast and enjoy!  We enjoyed this served with a green salad and garlic toast.  This has been one of our favorite recipes so far and it was easy to make and relatively healthy!  

Cold-Fighting Pasta (Lemon, Roasted Garlic, and Brussel Sprouts)

It was one of those nights- we were fighting colds and I didn't know what to cook.  The few thoughts running through my mind-
1.  I want soup.
2.  I want to use as many items in the fridge as possible.
3.  What else is good for colds?

This pasta is what resulted.  It was flavorful and delicious! (our colds weren't so bad we couldn't taste)  I used spaghetti, left-over ham, and brussel sprouts because that's what happened to be in our pantry/fridge.  However any pasta, any meat (well, within reason), and I would think even some different veggies would be good.  However, if you're new to brussel sprouts- give them a try.  They're SUPER high in Vitamin C (great for cold-fighting) and actually turned out to be delicious.

Don't hate me if my proportions aren't exact or very specific, I just kind of throw stuff together!

Lemon and Roasted Garlic Pasta with Ham

Ingredients:

1 C. ham chopped medium-sized
1 lemon
1 head of garlic
olive oil
6-8 brussel sprouts (or so)
spaghetti noodles (I made enough for 4 servings and had quite a bit left over)
1 C. finely shredded Italian cheese blend (plus some for garnish)
fresh ground pepper
sea salt

Heat oven to 450.  Chop off head of garlic and drizzle some olive oil inside.  Sprinkle with salt.  Wrap in tin foil and roast in oven while you prepare the rest of the meal.  (probably 25 minutes or so)  (if you can do this ahead of time, I would recommend it so you aren't dealing with a super hot head of garlic)  You can also just peel your garlic and roast individual cloves on a cookie sheet or you can saute them, but I love them roasted!

Throw your ham in a fairly large saute pan.  Let it heat and start to crisp up a bit.  Heat it thoroughly and it will almost start to caramelize a bit.  Remove ham from pan and put to the side.

Heat some olive oil in a fairly large saute pan (1-2 Tbsp).  Zest lemon into olive oil while it is heating up.  Let this saute (on low-medium heat) for a few minutes while you prepare your brussel sprouts.

Prepare brussel sprouts by cutting off the bottoms and peeling off the leaves.  Peel off as many leaves as you can easily (I tossed these in a bowl as I did this so they were confined).  Chop the inside (hearts) of the brussel sprouts.  Throw these in with the leaves and discard the bottoms of the sprouts.  Add the brussel sprouts to your oil/zest.  Add the juice of the whole lemon into this mixture.  Let the brussel sprouts cook for a few minutes on low-medium heat.

Hopefully at this point your garlic is done.  Pull it out and unwrap it so it cools to the touch.

Meanwhile, it's time to prepare your pasta.  I used my "fasta pasta" (some contraption I got that cooks pasta in the microwave- it's actually pretty neat).  However you're doing it, cook your pasta until it is barely al dente (firm to the bite, but cooked thoroughly)  (make sure you don't over cook your pasta)

As your pasta is cooking, add your ham back to the lemon/brussel sprout mixture and heat through.  Hopefully your garlic has cooled enough to touch it.  Squeeze/pop the garlic out into the mixture.  I used my spatula to break up the cloves of garlic a little after I did this so we weren't eating TOO huge of chunks of garlic- but I left them pretty big!  While this is all heating together, add your cheese. I wasn't too scientific about how much cheese I added, maybe a handful and a half or so.  Just enough that it covered everything quite well.  Let the cheese melt over the top of everything else.  When your pasta is al dente, add it directly to the saute pan.  I didn't drain my pasta, but used silicone tongs to grab bunches of it.  I just added as much as I thought looked like a good ratio and stirred it around, making sure the cheese was well-incorporated.  I wanted to lighten things up a little at this point, so I added some of my pasta water (it was already the right temperature) and stirred things up really well.  I probably added 1/2-2/3 C. water.

At this point, grab the plates and plate it up!  I added some fresh shredded cheese on top as well as some fresh ground pepper.  This served the two of us easily (my husband had 3 solid helpings of this and I had 2 pretty decent helpings) and there was a pretty big serving left over for the next day.  (it still tasted good, by the way)  This recipe is easy to adapt to smaller/bigger crowds- just use different ratios for the meat and pasta and then make small adjustments accordingly!  If I would have had green onion on hand, I probably would have added some, but I didn't.  Just an idea!  Also, I know a head of garlic seems like a TON for two people, but it has a much more subtle flavor when it's roasted and it's so good for fighting colds!

Garlic bundle- ready to be tossed in the oven!

Finished product- pretty delicious!

The Easiest Fruit Dip(s) in the World!

The other day I was craving some fruit dip.  Naturally, I went to Pinterest (like I google stuff anymore) and typed in a search.  Nearly every recipe was the same- add 1 thing of marshmallow cream to 1 thing of cream cheese.  Delicious- but I would rather eat a legit dessert than ruin my healthy fruit-eating attempts with that crap.  So...I crafted a few MUCH healthier versions on my own and I have to say- they turned out quite nicely!

Orange-y Fruit Dip

1 Fat-Free Vanilla Chobani Yogurt (lots of protein, no fat, low calories, low sugar- good deal)
1 orange
1 packet stevia (or other sweetener)

Oh yeah, did I mention this only has three ingredients?  Seriously- and it was so good.  I threw the Chobani in a bowl and stirred it around a little to get it nice and smooth.  I zested the orange right into the bowl (pretty much the whole thing) and then cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl.  I only used the juice from half of my orange because it was very ripe and juicy.  Upon tasting, I thought it needed a little sweetening up, so I added the stevia packet.  Perfection.  I mixed it all together and threw it in the fridge until it was time to eat it.  Result= so yummy!

Orange Dip- this picture is weird and dark, but really the dip is light orange in color!

Strawberry-licioius Fruit Dip

1 Plain Chobani Yogurt
1/2 tub fat free strawberry cream cheese (I would recommend Philadelphia brand)
2 packets stevia

Same as above, basically.  Add ingredients together and mix well.  I ended up adding a little bit of orange to this one because I liked it better.  (orange juice and zest)

Dips generally taste better after they've had time to chill for awhile and the flavors have mingled a bit.  We ate the orange one right away and let the strawberry one sit.  It was definitely better the next day.
 

Strawberry Dip- so yummy!

Serve these with any fruit you feel like, but we ate what we had on hand (fresh pineapple, red grapes, kiwis, and strawberries).  Other good recommendations: apple slices, any grapes, bananas, oranges, etc.  We actually tried some mango in it on day 2 and that was pretty tasty!

The fruit/ingreds

The finished product(s)

Healthy Broccoli (not-so-cheesy) Soup!

If you know me, you likely know how much I love my immersion blender.  If you like soups- get one.  It will change your world.

This is a pretty picture of mine that I graciously borrowed from the Wal-Mart website.

I started planning to make this soup a cheesy broccoli wonder because, well, I literally had 2 huge bunches and a gallon baggie full of broccoli.  (in a weird turn of events- thank you mom and thank you Bountiful Baskets)  I ended up making this delicious healthy creamy soup with very few ingreds- promptly placing it in a bread bowl with cheese on top (ok, those guys weren't too healthy) and it turned out fab.  Since the batch was so big, we ate it two nights in a row.  Delicious!  

Here is the recipe:

Healthy Creamy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1 onion (I like white for this the best, but yellow will work fine)

1 head garlic- fresh

1 ton broccoli (I used 2 big bunches)

1 lb. carrots (I used matchstick carrots because they were the same price as regs and I felt lazy)

Chicken stock or bullion

Salt 

Pepper

milk

water

Shredded cheese (cheddar or monterrey jack) (optional)

green onion (optional)

First, get your garlic ready to roast.  I love roasting garlic because it enhances the flavor, but makes the garlic not quite as strong.  I like to do this by chopping off the whole top of the head of garlic, drizzling in a little olive oil, and sprinkling with salt.  Wrap this little bundle in some tin foil and pop in the oven at 450 for 25-30 minutes (until you squeeze it and it feels a little squishy)  If you would rather saute your garlic with your onion, feel free.  If you would rather peel each clove of garlic before roasting, go ahead. I just hate it when my hands smell super garlic-y and this tends to be the case if I deal with it too much while it's raw.  

Next, heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in large pot.  Chop onion (doesn't have to be tiny, see picture below) and add to olive oil.  Saute onion on medium heat while you chop up other ingredients.    

Chop carrots (if you aren't using matchstick) and broccoli.  This doesn't have to be uniform, it doesn't have to be pretty.  I use a portion of the stalk of broccoli- you don't taste it in the soup and it makes it bulkier.  I experimented and used my chopper to chop the broccoli- bad idea!  All of the little broccoli guys got caught down in the chopper grates and I had to pry it out of the bottom.  Lesson learned.

After onion is sautéed, (slightly translucent white), throw in all your veggies.  At this point you have some options.  I always add some chicken bullion cubes (4-6 for a large pot) for flavoring and cover my veggies with water.  This time, I added probably 5-6 C. water and 1 C. skim milk (it makes it a little bit creamier), but really, you'd be fine with just water.  (especially if you're using an immersion blender)  Season with salt and pepper (I prefer fresh ground- it really is more flavorful), cover, and simmer on medium-ish heat for 30 minutes or so.  At this point, you can make whatever side dish you are wanting to serve with the soup.  (in my case it was fruit with fruit dip)

Check on your garlic- don't forget it's roasting.  The garlic isn't anything scientific- when you squeeze that little pouch you can tell if it's soft.  If it's soft at this point, take it out and unwrap it.  Let it cool down for a while now so you can touch it later. 

After your veggies have simmered away (simmer until you can poke them with a fork and they're cooked thoroughly) take them off the heat and it's time to blend!  You'll need to add your garlic at this point.  The benefit of roasting the garlic head whole is that you can just sort of pop/squish the garlic cloves out and into the soup directly.  Don't worry if they're huge- that's what the immersion blender is for.  If you're doing this is a regular blender, be careful, the soup is hot and you'll probably have to do it in batches.  If you have an immersion blender, I usually transfer the soup to a large metal bowl that I have just for immersion blending.  This way if I get a little carried away with blending, I'm not scratching up my non-stick finish in my pot!  Blend away!  You'll see that the soup expands a little bit and get sort of frothy looking.  This is where the false creaminess comes from!  

I had planned on adding a bunch of shredded cheese at this point and making it a cheddar broccoli soup, but after I tasted it, I thought it was perfect!  We love bread bowls around this joint, so I scooped out the insides and filled 'em up with the soup.  I topped them with a little shredded cheese and some chopped green onion and threw them whole thing under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.  (until things are lightly toasted and brown)  This toasted the bread I had scooped out form the bread bowls, melted the cheese, and just gave everything that finishing touch.  

Enjoy!

This picture is included so you can see my chopper- my other best friend in the kitchen!

I literally had a ton of broccoli- this all went into the soup!

Garlic head with the top chopped off- all ready to roast.

Onions- ready to saute.

The carrot/broccoli/water/milk/bullion mixture.

The finished product- a real delight!

How do you speak Jackanese?

Let me just say that creating a blog is tough, confusing, ugly-at-times, and most of all intimidating.

Let me give you the reasons:
1.  My husband is the numero uno blogger extraordinaire.  Have you met him?  Read his blog?  Probably.

Receiving his "Blogger of the Year" award- check the blog out here

He is a skilled writer/blogger, he is a renowned podcaster, and, according to the stats on his blog, he has hairy feet.  (I'll vouch for that- you get used to it)

2.  All of my friends have blogs that are quite entertaining.  Granted, they have kids, lives, and families to write about.  I lack most of these items.  I live in a basement.  I work from home.  I have no children.  Also, they have been blogging/children-ing for several years, I'm severely behind the trend.  

3.  Pinterest.  Not that I'm really creating this blog for people to read, but who even reads blogs anymore?  

Nonetheless, the time has come.  Here it is.  Hopefully this will be a place where I can post about my life and what it's like to speak Jackanese.  (because heaven knows I'm one of the worst journal-keepers ever)