Chicken Pot Pie

We love to use up those leftovers and often find ourselves with extra turkey or chicken.  One of our favorite ways to use up some of the leftover white or dark meat is chicken pot pie.  Its a classic, makes the whole house smell yummy and everyone eats it.  It's also a great way to use up those extra veggies you pick up at farmers stands in the summer.  I have made this so often that I don't use a recipe but did my best at creating one so others can enjoy this easy meal.  We like to try to lighten up our dishes so we stay healthy and have room for the the baked goods and desserts we all like so much!  That being said I only use a crust on the top, where it crisps up and has the most flavor.  

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil or butter

4-6 cloves garlic

1 small onion
8 ounce package of mushrooms sliced (variety your choice)

4-5 medium parsnips

4-5 medium carrots

3 small red potatoes

6 stalks celery

1 refrigerated prepared pie crust

4 cups chicken broth or stock (I prefer stock)

2/3 cup flour

parsley, sage, salt and pepper 

Recipe

1. Pull out pie crust.  These usually need a few minutes at room temp before you use them.
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. Chop veggies, dice potatoes, mince garlic
4. Heat oil or butter in large skillet.  Add garlic and onions and cook for two minutes.
5. Add mushrooms and cook 4 minutes, or until they soften.
6. Add parsnips, carrots, potatoes and celery.  Cook 4 minutes.
7. Whisk flour and 1 cup of stock.  Add this to pan along with remaining stock.  Heat until the sauce thickens.  Whisk in more flour if necessary but you shouldn't need to.  
8. Add spices to taste.  Around 2 tsp parsly, 1 tsp sage, dash or two salt and 2 tsp pepper for us.
9. Pour mixture into deep pie pan and top with prepared pie crust.  Cut slits in top to vent steam.  Bake for about an hour.  Let sit 10 - 15 minutes before serving

Individual Pumpkin Cheesecakes

My mom spent most of the week with us so we got to celebrate a little bit of Mother's Day each day.  One cake she really likes is cheesecake and I ran across this recipe that is super yummy, pretty and actually very light on the calories for a dessert so no guilt!  Everyone who tried it liked it and I have to say my girls loved it.  We ate the first batch still warm and the second batch chilled.  If you're looking for an easy recipe to wow your mom this weekend try this out  

Recipe Modifications

• Used 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• Used graham crackers and honey in the recipe
• Made homemade whipped cream.  Whip with mixer until light and fluffy and a little bit denser.  1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 tbsp confectioners or powered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla.  Refrigerate any leftovers or whipped cream if you make it early.  This will keep for a few days.

Ingredients

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened (I softened mine on a plate for 20 seconds in the microwave)

1 15 oz Can Pumpkin Puree

2 Eggs

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

1/2 Cup Agave or Honey

Accompaniments: Crushed Gingersnap Cookies or Graham Crackers, whipped cream or ice cream

Recipe

This recipe comes from weelicious 

Click Here for Recipe

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich and Veggie Stocked Pasta Salad

We have been making this meal since June of 2006 when the pulled chicken recipe came out in Cooking Light.  This is one of Michael's favorite spring/summer time meals and the girls love it too!  This time I tripled the sauce and rub so I could freeze the extra sauce and store the extra rub.  Now next time the mood strikes I'll cut my prep time way down.  And if you really want to cut the time down you can use a rotisserie chicken and just mix in some of the rub for flavor.  You won't get the same smokey BBQs taste but the result is still so good and the meat will be ultra moist.

Recipe Modifications

• We always double the pasta salad recipe because we love it and eat it for days!
• I never use thighs for the chicken.  I will either use a rotisserie chicken and shred it adding just a bit of the rub or use chicken breast (bone in or boneless).  And we just grill outside uncovered
• Tripled the rub and sauce.  Saved the extra rub and froze the extra sauce.
• Added extra red pepper to sauce, we like it a bit more spicey
• We serve with Aged Canadian Cheddar, pairs perfect with the BBQ chicken

Ingredients for Pasta Salad

Tricolor Curly Pasta (12 or 16 oz box)

4 small salad cucumbers chopped

4 medium carrots chopped

3/4 cup halved or quartered grape tomatoes

6 celery stalks chopped

1 large can of black olives sliced

1 small container of feta or more to taste

Robust Italian Dressing

Recipe for Pasta Salad

1. Cook noodles according to manufactures instructions.  Do not overcook you want these more firm than mushy.  Drain when done and rinse with cold water to stop cooking proces
2. Chop or slice all veggies and olives and add to noodles in large bowl.  Add feta.  
3. Add just a bit like 3 tablespoons of dressing and mix.  Don't add all your dressing, serve it on the side.  The noodles will soak it up and you'll have to add more and won't get that nice flavor for all the calories your eating.  Your pasta salad will also keep better if you don't soak it in dressing

Ingredients Sandwich

Chicken:

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Cooking spray

Sauce:

2 teaspoons canola oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon molasses

Remaining ingredients:

8 (2-ounce) sandwich rolls, toasted

16 hamburger dill chips

Sandwich Recipe

This recipe comes from my favorite source Cooking Light. Not diet food, but food that is conscious of health without losing any flavor. Food for life! 

Click Here for Recipe

Mini Sour Cream Pound Cake Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

I was looking for something not too heavy but still decadent to have after our Easter feast and decided to try out my new mini-cupcake pan.  I also got to try out my new cake decorating tips.  Birthdays can be a good thing ;-)  Adding a single colorful jellybean to the mini cupcakes gave them a spring feel and an extra treat for the little ones to enjoy.  These got rave reviews from everyone who tried them and I will for sure make these again.  They are the perfect little sweet ending to any meal.  And the ideal size for little tots that you don't want to go into sugar overload!

Recipe Modifications

• Halfed the cupcake recipe, as an added bonus the half stick of butter and half cream cheese was just the size I needed for the frosting
• Didn't have 16 oz package of powdered sugar so measured it out with measuring cup and added a tablespoon at a time until I got the consistency I wanted
• Added jellybeans for a touch of spring

Ingredients Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (8-oz.) container sour cream

Ingredients Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar

3 to 4 Tbsp. milk

Recipe

These recipes come from Southern Living.  They have amazing desserts and baked goods!

Click Here for Cupcake Recipe

Click Here for Frosting Recipe

Banana Nutella Muffins

I had left over bananas and a wanted some nutella and thought wouldn't a banana nutella muffin be so good.  A quick search later and I had multiple recipes at my fingertips.  Less than an hour after that I had hot out of the oven muffins.  Don't you just love how that works!  The girls absolutely loved these and gobbled them up.  Michael is gunning for a nutella pie so he won't admit to loving anything until we make that pie ;-)  I'm now inspired to create my own banana nutella muffin that's a bit healthier so we can enjoy these all the time.  And as an added bonus I got to use my new sifter for the first time.  Prior to this I just sifted with a mesh screen used to drain fat or prevent splatters

Recipe Modifications

• Only used 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1 teaspoon nutella for center and top of muffin.
• Only used 1 cup of sugar.  In future would try to substitute 1/2 cup brown and 1/4 cup white, I love the taste of brown sugar with banana

Ingredients

2 ripe, mashed bananas

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup Nutella

Recipe

This recipe comes from Lets Dish Recipes a food blog I just discovered.   

Click Here for Recipe

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Who hasn't had some version of chicken and rice casserole.  The classic version is full of fat and sodium but still so tasty.  I was not sure how this version would compare as it's much healthier, but the taste surprised me.  It was amazingly moist, flavorful and invoked happy childhood memories.  This is not your mom's casserole, it's a grown up healthy absolutely scrumptious take on that childhood classic.  We will be making this again and again.  The leftovers, if you have any, heat up really well too!

Recipe Modifications

• Used portion of large white onion instead of whole small onion
• Cooked Rice to package instructions
• Used Sharp Cheddar, I think it tastes better than a mild cheddar in a dish like this and a bit gives allot of flavor
• Added a whole 8 ounce package of mushrooms sliced

Ingredients

1 Tbsp plus 1 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Small Onion, diced

1 Cup Mushrooms, sliced

1 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Lb Chicken Breasts (about 2), boneless, skinless, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

1 Cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded (plus additional for sprinkling on top)

3 Cups Cooked Wild Rice (I cooked 1 cup uncooked wild rice in 4 cups water for 50 minutes)

Recipe

This recipe comes from weelicious.  She does an incredible job of putting out healthy and fun recipes.

Click Here for Recipe

Muffin Cup Meatloaf with a Kick

Growing up I hated meatloaf.  It seems people usually either love it or hate it.  Years ago I ran across a recipe in my monthly Cooking Light magazine for mini turkey meatloaves and decided to give it another chance.  Michael is a meatloaf fan so he offered some encouragement.  The result was an amazing juicy individual meatloaf muffin with a kicked up ketchup topping.  I am now a huge meatloaf fan and we make these routinely in the cooler months.  You can make the meatloaf the night before or in the am and make a satisfying easy evening meal after a busy day. We keep it traditional with the sides, corn and mashed potatoes are a must.  And I like to throw in some wilted spinach if we have any fresh spinach because the girls love it and two veggies are better than one!

Recipe Modifications

• Added hot sauce to meat mixture, around 1 teaspoon
• Doubled the recipe
• Used extra large muffin pan, so doubled recipe made 6 meat muffins
• Used 1 teaspoon dried parsley instead of fresh
• Used 1/2 cup pasteurized eggs instead of egg whites.  These are made from 99% egg whites
• Squirted ketchup on muffins then added a dash of hotsauce to each and swirled with a spoon
• Cooked 40 minutes due to increased size of muffins instead of 30 minutes
• I have to admit that I no longer measure anything when making this recipe but I did for this meal and it turned out extra yumm!

Ingredients

Cooking Spray

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces ground turkey breast

1 large egg white

3 tablespoons ketchup divided

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Recipe

This recipe comes from my favorite source Cooking Light. Not diet food, but food that is conscious of health without losing any flavor. Food for life! 

This recipe is not online but was originally printed in Cooking Light April 2007 under Turkey Mini Meat Loaves.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add onion to pan and saute 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3. Combine onion, breadcrumbs and next 7 ingredients (through egg white) in a large bowl.  Stire in 2 tablespoons ketchup.  Spoon about 1/2 cut meat mixture into each muffin cup coated with cooking spray; place muffin tin on baking sheet.  Combine remaining 1 tablespoon ketchup and hot pepper sauce in small bowl.  Brush ketchup mixture over meat loaf tops.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165 degrees.  

Yield: 3 servings.  Serving size 1 loaf.  Calories 142 (10% from fat); Fat 1.5 g (sat 0.4g, mono 0.1g, poly 0.2g); protien 20.2 g; carb 12g; fiber 0.8g; chol 30 mg; iron 1.2mg; sodium 508mg; calc 28mg