spinach chicken

This is something I really like all year round.
There are only 2 of us in the house, but we usually make enough for 4 portions so that we have lunch for the next few days.

• Make 2 cups rice (dry) we have a rice cooker, but however you cook it is fine.
• Cut up 2 chicken breasts and cook through in wok
• While chicken is cooking cut half a medium onion into strands or however you like your onions and through in walk
• When chicken and onions are cooked through add 1/2 bag fresh spinach or 1 package frozen spinach
  
• Put in 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil, and about 1/4 cup soy sauce ( I use low salt).
• Mix until spinach is limp or thawed and warm.
• Add more seasoning as needed.
• Serve over warm rice.

**Different proteins can be substituted or excluded.

rosemary balsamic chicken

I have been wanting to experiment with chicken and balsamic. I bought some balsamic with rosemary in it. I preheated the oven to 350 F and cut 2 chicken breasts in half so 4 pieces total. In a bowl I mixed about 1/2 C balsamic with 1/2 packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix. After pouring the mix over the chicken and mixing it around so that the chicken is covered the chicken was baked approx. 40 min.

Variations:
*Marinate the mixture
*Bake potatoes with chicken in the mixture

Flourless Chocolate Brownies/ Cookies

I tried these last night...I really wanted brownies, but we didn't have any flour. Instead of cookies, like the recipe was for I made them into brownies by just putting them in a square 8" X 8" pan. I am going to give you the tweaked recipe. The original came from Self Magazine.

Flourless Chocolate Brownie/ Cookies

• Heat oven to 350 F
• In a bowl mix 3 Cups confectioners' sugar*, 3/4 C cocoa powder, 4 egg whites and 1Tbsp. vanilla
• Beat (I used a wooden spoon) until mixture is slightly moist.
• A. I then poured the batter in a greased 8" X 8" pan and baked it for approx. 20 checking on it frequently since I didn't know when it was going to be done.
• B. The directions say to then drop teaspoons of the batter on cookie sheets (60 cookies) and bake 15 minutes.

* The only thing I would change about this recipe is to use probably about 1/2 Cup-1 Cup less confectioners' sugar. The brownies definitely taste like confectioners' sugar but still really really yummy!

**If you go the cookie route each cookie only has 55 calories, 3.3g fat, 6.2g carbs, and 1.2g protein

spinach pie

As you may know by now I try to tweak recipes I use to be more natural and healthy. So here is my recipe for spinach pie:

Spinach Pie
preheat oven to 350 F

• In the bottom of a square 8" pan put 3/4 roll of Pillsbury crescent creations (or a pie crust if you have the time to make it-recipe on bottom)
• In a bowl mix 1 package thawed spinach, 2 eggs, 1 handful mozzarella cheese, and 15 oz. ricotta cheese (I use fat free)
• Pour mixture in pan and place more crescent creations on top (the 1/4 left plus another 1/2 a roll) I brushed the top with pesto (optional)
• Bake 20-25 minutes or until center is bubbly and top is golden brown.

**Pie Crust
This is a pretty common recipe for pie crust and is so good!

raw food?

I have a friend who is doing a majority raw food diet. I had never really heard of this until recently when she started. I think the concept is pretty interesting, and the food is not as boring as one might think. I think starting next month I am going to try some of the recipes. They sound really good and I will be sure to post the recipes on here. if anyone does not want to want until January to try the recipes you can try this blog (my friend previously mentioned). She puts recipes up about once a week and also mentions other sites to find them.

Cranberry Chicken

One of the recipes that get requested the most often in my house is Cranberry Chicken, which I got from my mother-in-law. I started using sparkpeople.com and realized what I was actually putting in mine and my husband's body. I decided to cut down the amount of the Catalina dressing, which is the least nutritious part of the meal.

Cranberry Chicken:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F

*In a 13X9 inch cake pan put two cubed chicken breasts. (I use Perdue chicken breasts. They are seperated into packages of 2 breasts per package so it is easy.)

*In a bowl mix 1 packet Lipton onion soup mix, 1 can WHOLE cranberry sauce, and 1/2 bottle of Catalina dressing.

*Pour mix over chicken and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink on the inside.

Cranberry Maple Meatballs (Crockpot)

I made these for a recent party and didn't want to have to buy a lot of groceries. I looked in my refrigerator and I had this cranberry maple drizzle. I substituted that for the grape jelly...

Cranberry Maple Meatballs (Crockpot)
Makes 30-40 meatballs

• Combine 1 1/2 C chili sauce*, 9 oz. cranberry maple drizzle, and 1tsp dry mustard in crockpot, stir well. Heat on high for 10 minutes or until meatballs are ready to be cooked.

• Add meatballs to sauce, stir to mix, and cook on low 5-7 hours.

*instead of Chili sauce you can use this recipe:

• Combine 1 C tomato sauce, 1/4 C brown sugar, 2 tbsp vinegar, dash of ground cloves, 2 tbsp minced garlic, 3 tbsp chili powder.

This is a site that carries cranberry maple drizzle although I'm sure you can make up a recipe for it. If I try it again, I will try to create my own cranberry maple drizzle.