Chicken & Veggie Soup

Oh, look at that!

It's been almost a year since our last post!

My apologies!!

Since we live a crazy life of traveling,

I decided to make a large pot of soup to last us

a few days until we leave on an extended Thankgiving trip. 

I wanted something seasonal and hearty but not something

that was going to make me feel guilty after eating it.

What's better than a delicious warm bowl of veggie soup!?

Contrary to this photo there are LOTS of veggies in there

and not as much pasta! :) 

This recipe makes enough to split and freeze for 

another night or to share with a friends family.

Ingredients:

6 cups of low sodium chicken broth (about a box and a half)

1- 8 oz can of sliced carrots (drained)

1- 15 oz can of black beans (rinsed and drained)

1- 15 oz can of small lima beans (drained)

1- 15 oz can of italian cut green beans (drained)

1- 11 oz can of crispy corn (Publix brand or frozen corn will work)

2- 10 oz cans of original Rotel (do not drain.)

1- 15 oz can of sweet peas (drained)

3 chicken breasts (baked and shredded)

2 cups ditalini pasta (or any whole wheat pasta)

1/2 yellow onion diced

1 1/2 cups of water

Directions:

For the chicken breasts, I just rubbed them down with olive oil and a seasoning salt.

You could also use Tony's, just make sure it is heavily seasoned on both sides.)

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

Once done, I placed them in my KitchenAid mixer and let it do the shredding! 

If you do not have a mixer- I'm sure you have two forks!! 

You know what to do...

While my chicken was baking I diced my onion and sautéed it in 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a 5 quart pot.

Once the onions become clear, add all of your canned ingredients, water and broth. 

Bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring every now and then. 

Add your chicken and pasta.

Add a little salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika.

Stir all the ingredients making sure to get the seasoning mixed really well.

Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until pasta is tender.

Take off heat.

Let soup sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

If you have a little extra time to cook- cornbread would be delicious served on the side! ;)

Enjoy!

Natalie

(Easy) Semi-Homeade Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cans tomato sauce

1/3 cup of chicken broth

1/2 small onion diced

2 roma tomatoes diced

1 jalapeno (de-ribbed & de-seeded) diced

Italian seasoning

Salt/Pepper/Garlic to taste

Directions:

(I am going to give these as if you are adding it to the 

meatballs cooking in that pan from the previous post!)

Add your chopped onions, jalapeno & chicken broth to 

your meatballs and turn your heat on high.

Once that start simmering add your tomato sauce and your diced

roma tomatoes.

 Add your seasonings! 

Turn on low.

Stir every 10 minutes for 30-40 minutes.

That's it!

Easy squeezy!

Tonight I am serving the meatballs and sauce over angel hair pasta for Ryan 

and spaghetti squash for me. YUM.

Natalie

Jalapeno Tukey Meatballs

 {Meatballs pictured with sauce and spaghetti squash.}

Okay, guys... 

Don't panic just yet, contrary to the title

these are not spicy!

Ryan and I are crazy about jalapenos and 

put them in just about anything we can.

Feel free to leave them out if you are not a fan.

Ingredients:

1lb. ground turkey

1c seasoned panko crumbs

1 egg

1/2c grated parmasan

1 jalapeno, (de-ribbed& de-seeded) finely diced

1/2 small yellow onion minced

salt/pepper

Directions:

Put all of your ingredients into a large bowl and mix with your hands.

TAH-DAH! 

You're done!

Well, not really but almost...

I make my meatballs about an inch in diameter.

 This recipe makes approximately 20 meatballs.

I place them on a large plate and cover them with Saran wrap.

Toss them into the freezer for a few minutes while you are prepping the next step. 

This will make them firmer and easier to cook.

Heat up a large deep pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on med-high heat.

Toss in 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and stir until browned.

You can now toss in your meatballs.

I usually just eye them and roll them around until they are a light-medium brown.

NOTE: I do not cook them all the way.

After about 5-7 minutes and once they are browned you can pour in any spaghetti sauce!

Jarred is easiest and pretty dang good if you doctor it up with extra seasoning.

Now... 

If you are really in the Italian chef spirit, refer to my next post "Semi-homemade Spaghetti Sauce."

:)

Natalie

Spicy Turkey Meatball Soup with Chickpeas, Zucchini & Quinoa

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 small onion (minced)
1 fresh jalapeno (ribbed & minced)
      *ribbed means taking out the seeds and white "ribs" inside the pepper, this is the part that makes the pepper HOT so removing it allows you to enjoy the flavor with out the heat.
1 egg
1 cup Panko
Salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder

In a large mixing bowl mix these ingredients together. Start rolling 1"-1.5" meatballs. Place them on a platter and let them sit in the freezer for 10 mins.

Heat up a large sauce pan and drizzle your olive oil so your meatballs don't stick. you can add your meatballs carefully rolling them until the outside is nicely browned. Then turn off heat and start on your sauce.

Sauce:
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 zucchini (diced)
2 roma tomatoes (diced)
33.5oz tomato sauce
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 cup quinoa elbow pasta (al dente)

In a large pot pour in your olive oil and turn on heat to med-high. Once hot, saute your minced garlic, tomatoes and zucchini.
Season with salt, black, pepper, onion powder & italian seasoning. (I like to add cayenne pepper to everything but if you are not a fan of heat then skip that!)
Once those are about halfway done pour in your tomato sauce, meatballs, chickpeas, chicken broth and (cooked) quinoa pasta.

I added a little extra seasoning once everything was finally in the pot, you can decided what you feel it needs more of!

Let simmer for 30 minutes. Stir very carefully every 10 minutes.

I love to serve this soup with shredded parm on top!

Enjoy!!

Grill Fresh

I just love experimenting with foods on the grill!  This one tops the list:  Grilled peaches. I love to grill veggies... and now I can add fruit to the list. So delicious!  When grilling my veggies, I like to keep the seasonings and preparation simple.  I only use sea salt, black pepper and olive oil.  For fruit, I only drizzle a touch of olive oil. 

Here are the vegetables I enjoy grilling.  You may want to experiment with your own favorites. Enjoy! 

-Trudy

Eggplant

Broccoli

Zucchini

Green Tomato

Poblano Peppers

Bell Peppers

Onions

Asparagus

Mushrooms

Squash

Stuffed Peppers

This is one of my favorites!  There are so many ways to make stuffed bell peppers, but I chose the simplest path.  I wanted to see if I could keep all of the flavor with a healthier version, and it worked! Yum!  Don't let the word "healthy" misinterpret this meal! -enjoy    Trudy

1 1/2 c cooked brown rice
1 lb ground venison (lean ground beef if you are not a fan of venison)
1/2 chopped med onion
4 bell peppers (slice off the top and chop, save the "cup" for baking)
3 T bread crumbs
salt/pepper to taste
1 t cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's)
1/2 t garlic
1/2 t oregano
1/4 t cumin
2 T EVOO
parmesan cheese (to top peppers before baking)

Brown your meat in EVOO(extra virgin olive oil). Add onions and peppers.  Season with all spices.  Add bread crumbs and cooked rice.  Stuff pepper cups with mixture and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 min or unitl peppers look wilted and wrinkly.

Zucchini Lasagna

                                             (Not pictured: eggs, flour and spaghetti sauce.)

           This recipe is pretty easy. It requires a good bit of prep work but it only takes about 60 minutes from start to finish. It's also low-carb and has much less calories than your traditional lasagna.


Ingredients:                                                         

• 3 medium sized zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick (This part is a bit difficult but save your "ugly" slices for the first layer of your lasagna.)
• 1 lb lean ground turkey (You can use lean ground beef if you aren't a fan of turkey.) 
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 2 small tomatoes, cut up
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 15 oz low fat ricotta (I used part skim ricotta. You could also use cottage cheese instead.)
• 2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use 8 oz. divided. You can use any shredded Italian cheese mix if you cant find mozzarella.)
• 1 tsp flour
• Italian seasoning (This is an easy/cheaper way to season your Italian dishes.)
• salt/pepper/garlic
• 1/2 a jar of spaghetti sauce (I use this because the original recipe doesn't call for it and you will not have enough sauce, However I will use it every time from now on for a little extra zing! You could JUST use this jar of sauce but I actually really enjoyed the fresh tomato verses soggy jarred ones. Ha!)

Directions:

Saute zucchini in olive oil until tender, season with salt, pepper and garlic and set aside. Fry meat and onions until meat is brown and onions are tender. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and italian seasoning. Add tomatoes, paste, water and 1/2 a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. I like Bertolli's spicy italian.

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered 10 minutes.

In small bowl slightly beat egg.

Add ricotta cheese, bag of shredded cheese and flour.

In a 9x13 casserole dish (sprayed with Pam) arrange half of the meat mixture. Top a 1/3 of all the cheese mixture, then a layer of 1/2 the zucchini. Repeat leaving the last 1/3 of the cheese mixture out.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
Spread remaining cheese mixture. Bake 10 minutes longer.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Tah- Dah!!

P.S. This was even MORE delicious the next day!

-Natalie