Chicken and Butternut Squash Quinoa Stew

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts
• 1 can (14-oz) petite or regular diced tomatoes
• 3 cups chopped butternut squash (about 1 medium squash, peeled and seeded)
• 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1-2 cups chopped fresh spinach

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large 4 quart pot heat the olive oil until hot. Add the chopped onions, oregano, and garlic. Saute for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is softened. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and boil until the chicken is cooked, 7-9 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
2. Add the tomatoes, butternut squash, and quinoa. Simmer for 15 minutes until the squash is tender and quinoa is cooked. If desired, scoop out some of the squash, mash it and return it to the pot. Shred the cooked chicken and return to the pot. Add the salt and pepper, adding more salt to taste, if needed. Stir in the spinach. Cook 1-2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Serve warm.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/chicken-and-butternut-squash-quinoa-stew/

Split Pea Soup with Ham

Split Pea Soup with Ham
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 lb. dried split peas, rinsed and sorted
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth or 8 c. water + 8 tsp. chicken or vegetable bouillon or soup base
1 lb. bone-in ham, diced into small pieces and trimmed of excessive fat
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
pinch of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. malt vinegar

Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. You can also cook it on high until it starts to boil and then turn the setting on low until you’re ready to serve the soup. Top with Sourdough Garlic-Herb Croutons. Makes 8 1 1/2-cup servings.

Nutritional Information
Per 1 1/2 c. serving

Calories: 165
Fat: 5.2
Fiber: 5.5
Carbs: 17.6
Protein: 19
Weight Watchers Points: 51/8 Recipe of Croutons: 2 points

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken

adapted from: Mels Kitchen Cafe

Chicken Breading:
3-5 chicken breast
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

Rinse chicken, trim off fat or extras and then cut into 1 inch cubes. season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken into cornstarch and coat all the way and then into eggs. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken until browned. Place in baking dish. 3 chicken breasts can be in a 9x9 but 5 chicken breasts fits better in a 9x13.

Sauce:
3/4 cups white sugar
4 Tablespoons ketchup

1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Whisk until smooth. Then pour evenly over chicken. Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides and then put in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. turn chicken and then cook for 15 more minutes.

http://madeitateitlovedit.blogspot.com/2012/03/sweet-and-sour-chicken.html?m=1

No Touch Shredded Chicken

3-6 lbs Frozen Chicken (boneless, skinless, breast or tenderloins)
Salt

Open your frozen chicken and dump the entire bag into a crockpot.  Sprinkle some salt over the top of it and put the lid on.  Cook on high 5 hours.  You don't need to add any water cause the frozen chicken is already infused with juice.

Once the chicken is cooked use tongs to put chicken in your kitchen aid mixer.  Only pick out the good pieces, leave all the gunk and gross fat stuff in the crockpot juices.

Once the chicken is in the kitchen aid mixer use your dough hook to mix the meat on a medium speed.  It will shred the meat for you.  Stop the mixer, stir the meat with your tongs and mix one more time to finish the shredding.  (If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook you can use a hand mixer in a big mixing bowl.)

Use the tongs to put the shredded chicken into freezer zip lock bags.  Label the bags and freeze!

After the chicken juice has cooled, dump the chicken water and gunk down the garbage disposal.

That's it!  Freezer bags full of cooked, shredded chicken without touching the meat!!!

Caramelized Sweet Onion Dip

4 cups chopped onion (2 large sweet onions should do it)
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese
4 tablespoons low fat sour cream
3 tablespoons low fat mayo
1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place onion in a heavy dutch oven and toss with butter and olive oil.  Cover pot and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes, until a caramel brown color.  Tip: You might want to decrease oven temperature after about 45-60 minutes to 350 degrees, and start stirring every 15 minutes to avoid burnt edge bits.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

- OR -

Put onions with olive oil in crockpot on high for 11 hours.

Place cream cheese in a microwave-safe mixing bowl and heat for 15-ish seconds until warmed enough to be easily stir-able.  Add sour cream, mayo, Worcestershire, salt, thyme, and garlic.  Stir to combine and then mix in caramelized onions.  Chill overnight before serving.  Yields about 1 1/4 cups dip.

Nutritional Info per Tablespoon:
Cal: 26, Fat: 1.8 g, Carbs: 2g , Fiber: .3 g, Protein: .6 g

Recipe from Our Best Bites 

Guacamole (that Jake actually likes)

Ingredients
3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions
In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/guacamole-recipe.html#?oc=linkback

Sweet, Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

• sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced into fries
• coconut oil (melted in the microwave for like 30 sec)
• salt
• cinnamon
• chili powder
• paprika

Preheat oven to 400degF.  Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Toss the sweet potatoes in a bowl with the coconut oil and seasonings (sorry I don't have measurements, I just sprinkle til I think I have enough...).  Mix til well coated.  Spread the fries out on the baking sheet.  Bake for ~30 min, flipping them half way through.  I like to cook mine til the edges blacken a little and they kind of caramelize.  These are a delicious side dish and so sweet - without added sweeteners!

Coconut Ice Cream (no dairy!)

Ingredients

• 2 13 oz cans of regular, full-fat coconut milk (find in Asian section), chilled overnight in fridge
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 cupish Sweetener (sugar, stevia, honey, etc) 
• (or for Whole30 use 100% frozen juice concentrate, just a few spoonfuls, like white grape or pear)

Optional Additions

• Sunflower Seed Butter (or peanut butter if you can eat that stuff without dying)
• Sliced bananas
• Frozen blueberries
• Other fruit

Mix the cold coconut milk, vanilla extract and sweetener in a blender.  Note, the coconut milk will separate when it's cold and all the fatty milk will be at the bottom.  This is totally normal and you'll be blending it together anyways.  If you're adding the butter stuff, add it to the blender too.  I never measure the ingredients, I just taste the mixture after it's blended and add more of whatever I think it needs.  

Pour the mixture in your ice cream maker and mix for like 25 min.  If adding fruit, add it in the last 5 min or so.  Enjoy right away for a soft treat or move to an airtight container and freeze for a more firm texture.

To freeze without an ice cream maker

No ice cream maker? No sweat.

You can make this without an ice cream maker, though it won’t be exactly the same consistency. Ice cream makers basically work by churning a ton of air into the mixture. If you beat the ice cream mixture by hand, it’ll be denser and a little coarser, because you won’t be able to get as much air into it by hand. That said, here’s what to do:

1. Make the coconut ice cream mixture.
2. Pour it into a large, freezer-safe bowl.
3. Freeze for about 30 minutes. Take it out of the freezer and whisk it briskly (or churn using an electric immersion blender). Return to the freezer.
4. Repeat step 3 every 30 minutes until your ice cream is creamy and frozen through.

Lebanese Mjudra

from Laura Sawaya

Syrian Bread (flat bread)
2 ¼ cups warm water
2 T. shortening, melted
1 T. yeast
1 T. sugar
1 T. salt
2 cups wheat flour
3 cups white flour

Let raise. Knock down and form balls. Roll out balls of dough until flat. Broil in oven until baked, flipping half way through.

Note from Steve’s sister: As for the bread; I was surprised to note that if my flatbread was too crunchy instead of soft it was because I did not add enough flour, not because there was too much flour. I make my dough really sticky and then when I am rolling it out work in a lot of flour until I can handle the dough without it sticking to things. Also, just FYI; Liz and I have different bread recipes. Mine calls for 2 cups wheat flour, 2 cups white flour. Hers calls for 2 cups wheat, 3 cups white, which might explain why my bread was so crunchy to begin with. I have done a lot of experimenting, and you can make the bread with as much wheat or white as you would like. My favorite is 3 cups wheat, 1 cup white. All wheat makes a yummy, nutty tasting bread but it is not very good the next day. Everyone I have ever taught to make the bread eventually use a cookie sheet to cook the bread on because it bothers them to have a pile of flour in the bottom of the oven to vacuum out when they are done.

Tabouli
Cut into small pieces: parsley
  Lettuce
  Tomatoes
  Green onion

Dressing: 2/3 cup lemon juice
 2 t. salt
 ½ t. pepper
 1/3 – 2/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Can add bulgar wheat.

Mjudra
6 cups water brought to boil
Add: 2 t. salt
 1 cup lentils
Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes
Add: 1 large onion, chopped
 ½ cup rice
Simmer another 25 minutes (covered). Add pepper to taste after cooking is done.

Tsatziki sauce (yogurt dipping sauce)
2 cups plain yogurt
1 cucumber; peeled, grated and drained
1 clove pressed garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Homus recipe:
2 cups cooked chick peas
1 Tbsp tahini
1 whole pressed garlic (no joking)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper

Souvlaki
2 lbs chicken
5 cloves chopped garlic
1 Tbsp oregano
olive oil

stir fry until cooked, add salt and pepper and lemon juice.

Lentil and Ham Soup

From Laura Sawaya

Lentil Tacos

From Laura Sawaya

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oil
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese
sour cream
chopped tomatoes
whatever else you like on your tacos!!

1.  In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender.  Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute.  Add broth; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.  Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened.  Mash lentils slightly.

2.  Stir in salsa or just add to tacos.  Either way works well.

3.  Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell.  Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream and whatever else you like!

Two Ingredient Pancakes

Two Ingredient Pancakesoriginal source unknown, tutorial by Our Best Bites

Ingredients
1 large banana (it should yield abt 1/3-1/2 cup, mashed)
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon baking powder (optional but recommended)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional but recommended)
*When I add PB2, I do 2 tablespoons, and I find the powdered peanutbutter blends best if I pulse the mixture in the blender just a few times.

Instructions
Heat a skillet on the stove top to medium heat.  While pan is heating, mash banana well and then mix in eggs, baking powder, and cinnamon.  When pan is hot (water droplets should sizzle) Spray pan lightly with non-stick spray.  Pour 2 tablespoons of batter at a time and cook until bottom appears set (30-60 seconds) flip with spatula and cook additional minute or less.  Serve warm with butter and syrup.  Yield: 10-12 3″ pancakes.

Nutritional Info (per 1 pancake alone)
Cal: 22  Protein: 1.2 g Fat: <1 2.6="" carbs:="" g="" p="">

NO DOUGH PIZZA!!!!!!!

From Karry Seaver

We've eaten this a few times and really like it-  

NO DOUGH PIZZA!!!!!!! This one is a WINNER!!!!

Gluten Free, Low Carb, Diabetic Friendly!!!!!!

For when you absolutely want pizza but not all the carbs!!!!!!!

Crust

1 (8 oz) package of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Topping

1/2-cup pizza sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Toppings - pepperoni, ham, sausage, mushrooms, peppers

Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly spay a 9×13-baking dish with cooking spray. With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese until combined. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes, ou until golden brown. Allow crust to cool for 10 minutes.

Spread pizza sauce on crust. Top with cheese and toppings. Sprinkle pizza with garlic powder. Bake 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Eggs on the Golden Rod (Seaver Style)

INGREDIENTS

• 8-10 Eggs 
• Bacon
• 2 White Country Gravy Packets (and the ingredients called for on the package)
• Pillsbury Biscuits (I like the peel apart layers)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

COOK EGGS
Hard boil the eggs.  Cool them off in the fridge or in ice water.  Peel (by cooling them off first the egg inside the shell will shrink, making them WAY easier to peel).  After peeling, cut the eggs in half and remove all the yellow egg yolk into a separate bowl.  Cut the egg whites into small pieces.  Smash up the egg yolk so it resembles yellow sprinkles.

COOK BACON
We like to cook our bacon in the oven.  Put foil on a cookie sheet.  Then set a cooling rack inside the cookie sheet.  Line the bacon on the cooling rack.  Cook on 400degF for 17-20ish min (Jake likes it really crispy).  Cool off then crumble the bacon.

COOK GRAVY 
Cook the gravy according to the instructions on the package.

COOK ROLLS
Bake the rolls according to the directions on the package.  I like to cook them on the low end of the time range so they're still soft and fluffy instead of crispy.  When you remove them from the oven, take them off the cookie sheet right away so the bottoms don't continue to overcook.

ASSEMBLE
Throw the egg WHITE pieces and the crumbled bacon into the white gravy.  Mix.  Break apart a roll and put it on a plate.  Scoop some gravy mixture on top of the roll halves.  Sprinkle with egg yellow on top.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is our traditional Christmas Morning Breakfast.  I love how filling it is (we usually don't even eat lunch that day cause we're so full) and it's super easy to make -especially cause the bacon and eggs can be made the day before.

This is the only picture I have of the finished project - with our messy kitchen and Scarlett making an attractive double chin face...  At least she has clothes on!  :-)