Slow Cooker Beans and Sausage

Northern Beans with Turkey Sausage

It's like 100 degrees in Oklahoma right now, not your typical hot soup weather, but easy 3 ingredient dinners are always in season! It just doesn't get any easier than this.

The slow cooker is the simplest way to cook beans, no soaking required! Dump it in, and let it cook on low for 8-10 hours. Come home to a house filled with the aroma of food and dinner ready. This recipe only has 3 ingredients and takes less than 5 minutes to prep, perfect for a workday. 

I'm a huge fan of beans, all beans, even Lima beans. If you have a great bean recipe, I would love for you to share it with me!

Northern Beans with Turkey Sausage Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound dry Northern beans, rinsed and sorted

1 pound turkey polish sausage, sliced

6 cups water

2 teaspoons onion powder

Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Rinse and sort beans, removing any stems or pebbles. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Cheers!

Lighter Chicken Pot Pie

Lighter Chicken Pot Pie with Phyllo Dough

I made a chicken pot pie sometime in the last year and it was too sweet. I was on a mission to find one that was a little more savory and didn't break the calorie bank. Martha Stewart has done it! This version has no canned ingredients, and uses an easy unfold and pop on top phyllo dough from the freezer section. It's creamy, flavorful, and nothing short of tasty Southern comfort food.  

Believe it or not, it was surprisingly easy! The most time consuming part was prepping the vegetables. The sauce didn't require a roux, that took out some of the fat, and made it a pinch easier too. 

Lighter Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or 2 large chicken breast)

3 carrots, cut into 1/4" slices

1 medium onion, diced

1 10 ounce bag of frozen peas, thawed

1 sheet phyllo dough, thawed

2-1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or reduced fat milk)

1/4 cup flour 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out phyllo dough to thaw on the counter top at room temperature.

Salt and pepper the thighs. Cook thighs on a baking sheet for about 25 minutes, or until the internal temp reads 165 degrees. Shred chicken and set it aside.

While chicken is cooking, heat olive oil in a sauté pan, add carrots, onions and thyme, cook for about 8 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly soft, add salt and pepper. Add flour, stir and cook for one minute. Gradually add milk. Remove from heat, add chicken, peas, and lemon juice to the mixture.

Grease a square baking dish or pie pan, fill with mixture. Unfold phyllo dough and lay it on top of the pan. Use wet fingers to smooth out the folds if they crack. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and puffy.

This recipe was adapted, with a few minor changes. The original recipe can be found here: Martha Stewart

Cheers!

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers with Mozzarella

Just look at them, enough said.

My husband said they taste like a mix between spaghetti, goulash, and lasagna, he loved them. I just fed my kids the inside filling topped with cheese and they were big fans too!

Stuffed Peppers with Mozzarella Recipe
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 bell peppers
1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
3- 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
3/4 cup water, divided
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 diced onion
1/2 cup instant brown rice
1/2 teaspon garlic salt
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a stock pot full of salted water to a boil.

Season ground meat with garlic salt, and saute it with the onions in a medium saute pan, drain the grease. Add two 8 oz cans of tomato sauce, rice, and 1/2 cup water to the cooked meat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cover until the rice has absorbed the water, and the mixture has thickened.

Slice the top off the bell peppers, remove the seeds from the insides.  Boil the peppers whole for 5 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup water and one can of tomato sauce to the bottom of a baking dish.

Fill the peppers with the meat and rice mixture, top each with 1/4 cup of mozzarella, place them in the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes (I used extra foil to make a tent so the foil didn't touch the tops of the peppers). Broil on high for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

*To make them a little more 'clean', you can use lean ground turkey, and omit or reduce the amount of mozzarella.  You can also use a regular brown rice, cook it first and then add it to the meat mixture, but omit the 1/2 cup of water.

In the Kitchen- Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes

Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes Recipe

My sister in law Jen, has made this for us a few times, as a side dish with grilled food.  It is so fresh & so easy!  Our cherry tomato plants from last year came back this year & they have been producing an abundance of beautiful, tart, red tomatoes.  We built our raised beds last Spring & felt like our little crop was a dud, so I am very excited about this years!

 This is so simple, I wouldn't even call it a recipe, it's really just instructions.  Wash the tomatoes, drizzle them with olive oil & balsamic vinegar, & sprinkle with sea salt.  This is a perfect side dish, or an appetizer alongside an antipasti or cheese platter.  Enjoy!



In the Kitchen: Chicken Tortilla Soup with Roasted Corn

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Roasted Corn

Sharing my Version of Chuy's Chicken Tortilla Soup on the Moms of Tulsa blog today!

Get the recipe here: Moms of Tulsa

Cheers!

In the Kitchen- Chicken Enchilada Soup

Chicken Enchilada Soup

(Tastes just Like Chili's)

Heat 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil in a stock pot.  Brown 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast.

Remove chicken, set it aside.  Add 1 small diced onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Cook until the onion becomes translucent.

Add 4 cups of chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer.

Mix 1 cup of masa harina with 2 cups of water.  It will have the consistency of thin cream of wheat.  This is corn flour and is what really gives it that enchilada taste and texture.  It was really hard for me to find at the grocery store.  I ended up finding it in the Mexican food isle and it was labeled as masa for tamales.  It comes in a paper bag like regular flour. 

Add the masa harina mixture to your stock.  Then add 1 small can of red enchilada sauce, and 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 tablespoon of cumin to your stock pot.

Dice your chicken breast and add it to your stock pot.

Bring it back to a simmer and slowly add 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Add one small handful of cheese at a time to keep it from sticking together, stir it, let it melt and add another handful, and repeat, until you are done.

It's not very pretty, but it is DELICOUS!!!

Top with diced tomatoes, sliced green onions and corn tortilla chips.  I pan fried corn tortillas in coconut oil, sprinkled on some coarse sea salt, cut them in half and added a piece to each bowl.  They looked nice and the were good for dipping.  They were also a little chewy, I really liked the texture.

Adapted from Top Secret Recipes

Recipe
Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast
1 small diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 cup masa harina
1 small can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Garnish:
Diced tomatoes
Sliced green onions
Corn tortilla chips

Instructions:
Heat coconut oil in a stock pot over medium heat, add chicken breast and brown for about 6 minutes on each side.  Set chicken aside.  Add onions and garlic to the stock pot, cook for a few minutes, until onions become translucent.  Add chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine masa harina and 2 cups of water, then add it to the onion and stock mixture.  Add the enchilada sauce, seasonings, additional cup of water to the stock pot.  Dice the chicken breast and add it to the stock pot.  Bring to a simmer, add cheese slowly, one small handful at a time, stir as you add it.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Garnish soup bowls with tomatoes, green onions, and tortilla chips.

Ole!

In the Kitchen: Roasted Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus with

Olive Oil and Lemon Pepper

Seriously, seriously, the best way to eat asparagus, THE BEST!  I was never an asparagus fan, neither was my hubs, UNTIL I saw Rachael Ray do it like this.  My entire family, 2 year old included, can't get enough of it!  We usually eat it straight off the pan before we can even get it to our plates.

Ingredients: 

Fresh asparagus 

Olive oil (I prefer using a mister)

Lemon pepper 

Instructions:

Set oven to broil.  Since these are thin stalks I set it to low, if they are thicker, set the broiler to high.  Rinse the asparagus, then snap the ends off, where the bottom inch or two, snaps off easily.  This will ensure you don't have rough, chewy, stringy ends.

Lay it out on a sheet pan in a single layer.  Drizzle or mist with olive oil. Sprinkle on lemon pepper generously. 

 

Broil for 10 minutes or until it starts to shrivel, but doesn't turn black/dark.

 

Take it out of the oven, and try not to eat it all off the pan!

 

 

Yum!!!

In the Kitchen- Grilled Chicken Burritos

Grilled Chicken, Bean, and Cheese Burritos

 

I  made these for dinner last week, they were really good, so I thought I would share!  I threw them together with what I had on hand, and could fix quickly (since I waited till an hour before dinner to start thinking about a dinner plan).  These are pretty clean, and are perfect for a quick throw together dinner.  You can use rotisserie chicken, or leftover grilled chicken if you have it, that would save even more time. 

 

Burritos that are high in protein, low in fat, tasty, and easy, sounds like a winner to me! 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 whole wheat tortillas

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded 

1 can fat free refried beans

1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup jarred red salsa

1/2 cup jarred salsa verde (you could sub with a small can green chilies)

Cooking spray (or olive oil mister)

Instructions:

Combine refried beans and red salsa, heat in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Combine shredded chicken and salsa verde.  Place a large heaping spoonful of refried bean mixture onto the center of a tortilla, add a layer of the shredded chicken mixture, then top with shredded cheese. Fold the tortillas, sided in first, then roll, tucking all the ingredients in neatly.  Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, spray the outside of the tortillas with cooking spray, and sear on two sides until golden and slightly crispy.

Cheers!