Italian Chicken Stew

Here's another recipe that my husband picked out for me. It's a nice stew to keep you warm this winter. Plus, it's a clean recipe. :)

Ingredients:
2 Uncooked Boneless, skinless Chicken Breast Halves
19oz Can of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
15 1/2oz Can of Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
14 1/2oz Can of Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1c Celery, chopped
1c Carrots, sliced
2 Garlic Cloves
1c Water
1/2c Dry Red Wine or Lowfat Chicken Broth
3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning (I used 1/2 oregano and 1/2 basil)


Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker and mix well.

Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours.

I didn't cut the chicken before cooking. After the stew was done cooking, I used a large spoon to break up the chicken.

Dinner is served. :)

I would suggest cooking the stew longer than 5-6 hours to allow the beans to get softer.

My family liked the stew. I liked mine topped with parmesan cheese since I prefer creamier soups.

Nutrition:

409 Calories

3g Fat

18g Fiber

35g Protein

65g Carbs

10 WW PointsPlus

Recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly

Garlic Shredded Chicken

Today I made a shredded chicken that I could use for salads during the rest of the week.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken
5-6 cloves of garlic (I love garlic!)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon seasoning salt

Finely chop all of the garlic.

Mix together the water, garlic and seasoning salt.

Place all of the chicken in the slow cooker and pour the mixture over it.

Before work I placed this in the Crock Pot on low for nine hours and then it sat on warm for about two more hours.

When I got home it looked so weird!  It had all cooked together so much that it wasn't touching the sides of the pot at all.  Now you just need to shred it and it will fall right apart!

I measured it out into snack sized ziplocks so that it would be easy to grab and use in the future.

Nutritional Info
51/2 Servings (4oz)
WW Points Plus: 3
Calories: 110
Fat: 2.5g
Fiber: 0g
Protein: 23g

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I've always heard so many great things about Chicken Tortilla Soup but I've never tried it.  I decided it would be a great healthy dish to start off the new year!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
15 oz stewed tomatoes
10 oz enchilada sauce (red)
1 onion, chopped
4 oz chopped green chilies
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 can fat-free chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 whole bay leaf
1 cup frozen corn
6 hard taco shells
cilantro, chopped

Spray a frying pan with Pam and cook the chicken completely.  Once this is done you will be able to shred it with a fork.

While this was cooking I chopped the onion and garlic and added all of the other ingredients to the slow cooker, except for the taco shells and cilantro.  After the chicken is shredded it can be added to slow cooker.  This was all done the day before so I could wake up and just set it to cook.

I set the slow cooker on low for seven hours and then warm for an hour.  When my friend arrived for dinner I realized I had a big blonde moment when grocery shopping.  I had been told to buy corn tortilla's to cut into strips and bake before adding them to the soup.  I bought hard shell tacos instead and couldn't figure out how I was going to cut them into strips without them crumbling.  We decided it would be the same if we just baked the tacos and crumbled them into the soup.

While these are baking you can chop up the cilantro to sprinkle on top of the soup.

The soup was really good except for how spicy it turned out.  Neither of us are big fans of spicy food so it was a little tough for us to handle.  We had to add a spoonfull of sour cream to calm it down a little.  I'm pretty sure this is because I bought the chopped green chilies.  I normally add the crushed green chilies to my white chicken chili and there isn't a problem.  Next time I will only add half of a can (if that)!!

Nutritional Info
6 Servings (Not including the Sour Cream)
Points Plus: 8
Calories: 233
Carbs: 20g
Fat: 5g
Protein: 25g

Hungarian Goulash

My husband is back home for a little while now that he finished his clinical rotation in Florida. So he helped me pick out this recipe. :)

Ingredients: (Serves 6)

1lb Extra-lean Ground Beef

1 Large Onion

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1/2c Ketchup

2T Worcestershire Sauce

1T Brown Sugar

1-1.5t Salt

2t Paprika

1/2t Dry Mustard

1c Water

1/2 Bag of Frozen Corn

1/4c Flour

1/4c Cold Water

Instead of browning the beef before putting it in the slow cooker, I figured it would be better to put in raw. Then break it into pieces after it cooks. First of all, then the meat would be chunkier for the goulash. Second of all, it takes less time. :)

Slice the onion. Once it was done the onion pieces were a little larger than we liked. I suggest chopping it more than slicing.

Place onion on top of ground beef.

Combine garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, paprika, mustard, and 1c water

Pour sauce over meat and onions

I added my own ingredient to this meal. I figured corn would add volume and mix well with the goulash. Add corn to slow cooker


Cover and cook on Low for 5-6 hours.

Dissolve flour in 1/4c cold water.

Stir into meat mixture.

Cook on high 10-15 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Siver over noodles or rice.

This version of goulash was pretty good. It had an interesting flavor. I didn't expect it to be a little sweet.

Nutrition: (Doesn't include noodles or rice)

156 Calories

3g Fat

1g Fiber

17g Protein

15g Carbs

4 WW PointsPlus

Recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly

Chicken with Pearl Onions and Mushrooms

This meal was simple to make with only 4 ingredients. :) I had made something with pearl onions in the past and it was delicious. So I wanted to try this recipe out.

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)

4-6 Boneless Chicken Breast Halves (I used 8 tenders)

10 3/4oz Can of Cream of Chicken or Cream of Chicken and Mushroom Soup (Reduced Fat)

8oz Sliced Mushrooms

16oz Bag Frozen Pearl Onions

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Mix the soup, mushrooms, and onions

Put the chicken in the bowl. The recipe said to cut into 1 inch strips, but I did not have a lot of time in the morning. Plus, it is easy to cut when the chicken is cooked.

Spoon the mixture over the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours.


If you didn't cut the chicken earlier, use a spoon or spatula to cut the chicken into pieces.

Serve over rice or with potatoes.

This meal was delicious. My dad loved it too. :)

Nutrition: (Does not include rice or potatoes)

150 calories

3g Fat

2g Fiber

18g Protein

11g Carbs

3 WW PointsPlus

Recipe from Southernfood.about.com

Pulled Beef

Yesterday, we had a potluck at work for Christmas. I wanted to make some kind of real food so that I didn't eat chips and appetizers all day long. I figured pulled beef sandwiches would be perfect for my coworkers. :) This is the recipe that my family has always made.

Ingredients:

4lb Chuck Pot Roast

1 Onion

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Aldolf's Tenderizer

Minced Garlic

Hamburger Buns

Sprinkle the tenderizer and seasoning salt on each side of the roast. Then place in the slow cooker.
Cut the onion in quarters.

Place onion in slower cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

It was very juicy after cooking. Once it is done cooking, use a fork to shred the beef. It may take a few minutes to get it started, but then it gets much easier. Just be patient in the beginning.

We ate the pulled beef on hamburger buns. My coworkers loved the pulled beef sandwiches!

Chicken Pot Pie

The other day when we were out to dinner Jessica and my parents were talking about how much they loved Pot Pies.  I hadn't had one in forever and I normally try to stay away from them because the frozen ones are so bad for you.  I figured making it at home would be a lot healthier!  I found a recipe on the Crock Pot Guys website and decided to try it out.  I made a few adjustments when I made it..

Ingredients:
1 lb Boneless Chicken, cubes
3 large Potatoes, small cubes
3 cups Baby Carrots, quartered
1 1/2 cups Frozen Peas
1 cup Frozen Corn
8 oz Sliced Mushrooms, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dried Onion (I forgot I used my onion in the Hawaiian Chicken)
2 cans Cream of Chicken
3 cups Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Butter
3/4 cup Milk

Chop all of the vegetables into little cubes and mix them together in the slow cooker.

Next I had taken my chicken right out of the freezer so I had to defrost it for a couple minutes.  While it was still mostly frozen I cut it into little cubes and then covered the vegetables with it.

After the chopping is complete cover the mixture with the cans of condensed soup and it is ready to start crocking.

Before I left for work I set this on low for seven hours and then it sat on warm for two and a half hours.

This looked so good I was ready to eat as is! lol Spray a 13x9 baking pan and spoon the vegetables and chicken into the pan.  Try to mix everything together as you do this.


Sorry this one is so blurry.

Heat the oven to 425 while you work on the next step, which is a little more tricky.  I didn't realize this recipe called for a rolling pin, but I made due without it.  Add the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and stir them together.  Next cut the butter in until it looks like it is evenly spread throughout.  Pour all of the milk in and mix it all together.  I had to start using my hands because it got so thick.  Since I didn't have a rolling a pan I used my fist in the bowl and tried to flatten it out as much as possible.  Then I held it up in the air and stretched it out as much as I could.  Lay this on top of the mixture.  The recipe said to brush melted butter over top the dough, but I forgot about this step and it turned out fine.

I baked this at 425 for 22 minutes.  This was just enough time for me to boil some noodles to go with it!

I let it cool for a few minutes and then sliced it into eight servings.

My mom always served the frozen pot pies over noodles.  I don't think this really needed them because the top crust was thicker than normal.  I loved it!!