Parmasean Risotto Peppers, Panko Breaded Zuchinni, and Italian Cheese Stuffed Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Dear sweet baby Jesus - my legs feel like they did after the first week of soccer preseason in college...DEAD! I've ran almost 25 miles in 5 days...and as proud as I am of meeting fitness goals I never thought I would, I'm really craving a 2 hour massage! Anyway- this food made it all worth it at the end of the day...a bit of comfort food with an Italian feel to it. Its still "good for you" too ;)

Picture Below: Hollowed out an bell pepper...filled it with the prepared parm/garlic risotto (boxed) and cooked in the oven for about 15 minutes. The recipe for the Panko Breaded Zuchinni can be found at http://prouditaliancook.blogspot.com/2010/08/zucchini-tomato-gratin.html - made a few adjustments (like using chopped Roma tomatoes and seasoned Panko breadcrumbs.

Yummy veggies full of seasoned flavor! 

 Okay this chicken I am pretty proud of! I kinda made the recipe up because I love stuffed chicken of any kind. 

Instructions: 

1) Marinate chicken breasts (2) overnight in Italian dressing.

2) Saute red and orange bell peppers on the stove in a skillet with 2 tablespoons Italian dressing and couple tablespoons of olive oil.

3) Cut chicken breasts in half long ways...just enough to stuff with the cheese mixture. Place in a glass baking dish.

4) Mix together: 1/3 cup cream cheese (low fat), Italian or Mozzerella cheese blend (1/2 cup), tablespoon of chives,  chopped sauteed peppers, and a teaspoon of garlic. 

5) Stuff the cheese mixture into the halves of the breasts.

6) Cover both breasts with two cups of marinara sauce.

7) Place in heated oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked fully. 

Summer Time Shish Kabobs!

So I ran my first 10k race this past weekend. It was a great experience. The Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City is a very pretty run along the shore of Lake Michigan. I went with a couple of my girlfriends and we had a fantastic time in Traverse City! It was a weekend filled with gluttony after the race- testing out the good eats of Traverse City of course! If you ever venture up that way, you absolutely need to check out Soul Hole- best food I've eaten in a long time! So good! We were in a food coma for hours afterwards literally. So after meeting my 10k goal, I'm now training for a half marathon in September! I'm stoked. Now Austin is actually working out with me too...starting slow of course because he's not a runner. However, it is so nice to come home and walk and run with him. Now its something we share in interest in! I never thought I'd see the day ;) I'm proud of him though. 

This is a fun weeknight meal or weekend meal. We've been trying to be really health conscious of what we eat...eating loads of protein and veggies with whole grains on the side. Austin and I have been working hard at this weight loss thing. It's really nice to work at it together and plan meals together based on our diet goals. Trust me that this meal is lacking nothing taste wise.This is so filling and full of flavor!

 We used a variety of veggies: tomatoes, green pepper, red pepper, red onion...

 Marinated the chicken overnight in a honey ginger sauce...you can use any sauce you'd like of course.

Pineapple adds a sweet flavor to everything!

 Grill em' up! They don't take terribly long...15 minutes maybe.

YUM! Enjoy :) Love summer food!!!

Rachel Ray's Mexican Corn Salad

I admit...I have been slacking in the food blog posting as of late. Life has quickly become insane with work, school, and wedding season kicking off last weekend. So much fun, but so much to do! I am so excited for summer as I begin my internship in about a month- eek! It will be a summer of lots of learning, being crazy busy, as well as more weddings! With all that going on, I hope to stay dedicated with the meal posting. Austin and I have begun to dedicate ourselves to healthy eating. I enjoy eating healthy anyway, but we're kicking it up a notch by doing it together. I'm hoping it will be easier to meet fitness and weight goals if we work at it together ;) We'll see how it goes!! So far so good, but this is literally day 2 of the Lettinga team efforts of eating healthy.

 So I love me some good quality Mexican food. This salad is everything you need for a little quick fiesta during the week. It is a fun, healthy, and colorful summer salad. It's actually a great dip for tortilla chips as well...but seriously what isn't good with a tortilla chip?! I found this recipe on Rachel Ray's website...steered away from Pinterest for a change...so liberating! Austin has been actually looking at my pin boards to tell me what to make next...I figured we needed a change! haha

 Recipe is as follows...
 1 can, 14 ounces, black beans, rinsed and drained
 2 cups frozen corn kernels 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped - I chopped 7 green onions instead
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, half a palm full
 2 teaspoons hot sauce, just eyeball the amount (recommended: Tabasco)
1 lime, juiced 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, eyeball it
 Salt and pepper (I also added garbanzo beans and a can of tomatoes and green chilies)
**I also chopped an avacado, added a can of tomatoes with chilies, and a can of garbanzo beans too and added that in there...yum!

  Directions Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Let stand at least 15 minutes for corn to fully defrost and flavors to combine, then toss and serve. The corn will also place a quick-chill on this easy side-salad as it defrosts -- no need to refrigerate!

All the ingredients set out ready to go!

Draining & rinsing the beans, corn, and tomatoes...

Choppin up the veggies!

Stir it all up...and its litterally that easy.. Add in seasonings, lime juice, olive oil, S&P, cumin, and hot sauce...

                        Served ours on a hamburger patty...its pretty much delicious with anything!

Red Pepper Alfredo with Pan Seared Chicken

I always sit down to write my blog posts absolutely exhausted, but on the upside i have ALWAYS had a tasty meal worth sharing with everyone who looks at these posts :) Life has been crazy busy as usual. I'm looking forward to summer when I can start my internship, although that will likely mean more of a hectic schedule than I am accustomed to now. Probably won't be posting as many recipes come July and August, but I will still try! Right now I'm on "spring break" which is quite the joke compared to the spring breaks I was used to as a high school or college student. Grad school spring break- especially in an excellerated program- is just a tease for 2 weeks. No Florida sun, no frozen drinks in Cancun, nope just me at home livin' the dream. Ah well...I've been promised by my husband that we'll travel at some point when our schedules permit it. We'll see.

Anyway, more to the point here, TASTY FOOD! Found this recipe on Pinterest of course. I'm not the biggest red pepper fan, but I lovvved the way this looked in the picture. I figured it had to be good. It is a recipe adapted from www.laurenslatest.com (a food blog). I have pinned quite a few of her recipes, but this is the first I've tried...and I will definitely be making it again! I was skeptical about goat cheese...its probably the most expensive thing necessary for this dish...but well worth it I must say. I did a few things differently than the recipe called for, but I was happy with the result overall.

Red pepper(s) in the oven for 30 minutes at 500 degrees...

saute onions and garlic for about ten minutes

roasted peppers combined with melted cheeses, milk, onions and garlic...

Sauce should be transferred to a food processor because I don't have a fancy immersion blender like the recipe calls for...blend for a few seconds or as thin as you'd like your sauce...then transfer back into the pan to keep warm before serving...

Served ours over whole grain thin spaghetti, topped with parsley, and pan seared chicken breasts. YUM! It was really really good. I actually liked not using two peppers...I feel the sauce would have been too strong...this way it was still very creamy with a red pepper flavor.

Ingredients

2 whole red bell peppers (only used one)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (used about a tablespoon or more of garlic powder)
1 cup fat free half & half (used 3/4 cup of 2% milk + 1/4 cup of premade alfredo sauce)
4 oz. garlic & herb goat cheese (used regular goat cheese - still really good)
2/3 cup grated parigiano reggiano cheese (I did not go with the fancy stuff..Kraft works!)
1/2 cup artichoke hearts (optional) (didn't use these..blah)
1/2 lb. linguine, cooked to al dente (whole grain spaghetti instead)
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place red peppers on baking sheet and bake 20-30 minutes until peppers are charred. Remove from oven and cover with foil 10 minutes.
In the mean time, saute onions and garlic in olive oil 7 minutes or until tender. Pour in half & half, goat cheese, salt & pepper. Stir to melt goat cheese into sauce and keep warm over low heat.
Uncover peppers, peel off skin and remove stem and seeds. Chop into large pieces and place into sauce along with parmesan cheese. Stir to melt cheese and remove from heat. Pour sauce into food processor and puree, or use an immersion blender. Place back into hot pan and toss with cooked pasta. Taste and adjust seasonings. Top with more parmesan cheese, pepper, salt and parsley, if desired.

Easy Enchalada Casserole

This week has been horrendously busy already. I vowed to do at least two posts this week. I will post yesterday's recipe tomorrow..hopefully! I think I've found two winner staple dishes from Pinterest this week. This enchilada recipe had me skeptical for a minute because of the corn bread mixed in, but I still really liked it. I seem to be attracted to all things spicy and mexican-ish in nature, no matter what they do to my stomach afterward- don't worry this one is only as spicy as you make it! I end up making something like tacos or fajitas every week or at least think about making it! Anyway- this recipe is surprisingly easy to throw together in about 30 minutes. It turned out really delicious! I made a few adjustments to the blog recipe found at
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2012/03/23/chicken-tamale-casserole/

This was my second helping. I added fresh avocado pieces and chopped green pepper on top. Not the prettiest picture, but it shows how good it was!

Ingredients

4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
4 ounces Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese, grated
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (I used Paprika)
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn (I used Southwest Corn w/ beans n' peppers in it with extra milk)
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (Jiffy works great)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
1 pound ground chicken (turkey or beef work just as well) - I used ground lean turkey
salt and pepper, to taste (I seasoned with about 3/4 pkg of taco seasoning)
fresh chopped cilantro or parsley, to taste

Heating the ground turkey prior to baking the casserole...

Bottom of the casserole...the corn, cheese, chilis, cumin, red pepper, egg, and cornbread mix.

After baking for about 15-20 min until set on the bottom, poke holes in the cornbread and top with enchilada sauce, meat, cheese and cilantro. Bake for another 15 minutes. Serve!

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.
Combine the cheeses in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of the combined cheese, the milk, egg, cumin, red pepper, corn, muffin mix, and the green chiles. Stir until just combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes or until just set.
While the cornbread is baking, cook your ground chicken in a skillet over medium heat until cooked completely through. Drain, if necessary, and salt and pepper the chicken.
Remove the cornbread from the oven and pierce all over with a fork.
Pour the enchilada sauce over the corn bread.
Top with the chicken and remaining cheese.
Return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro or parsley and serve.

Jerk Chicken con Red Beans and Rice

I admit, I'm making chicken and finding new ways of making chicken like its my JOB. I've started a low carb, low fat diet with some of my co-workers as I'm training for a 10k at the end of May. Therefore, obviously this has affected meal making at home. Austin's not complaining thus far...I've been able to adapt meals to fit my dietary needs as well as his tastes. It works out well for everyone. However, tonight I tried this pinterest inspired recipe for grilled jerk chicken. Can't say it was like the authentic jerk chicken I've had from Jamaica or any other caribbean county BUT it was still a realllly good rub and chicken was delicious! Top it off with red beans and rice and you've got a protien packed meal with very little fat and carbs. This recipe called for Mango Salsa...didn't have any of THAT on hand so I actually drove to Quodoba because they have some amazing mango salsa when its in season for their salads, but unfortunately they weren't promoting that at this time...lame. So I drove home and waited for my hubby to come home to grill up our chicken. I actually grilled some lemon pepper cod too because I only marinated a few small chicken breasts.

This recipe was adapted from the following food blog: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/06/jerk-chicken-with-mango-cilantro-relish.html

Jerk Chicken with Mango Cilantro Relish
recipe adapted from Bobby Flay

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 scallion, coarsely chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper, stem and seeds removed - Instead of pepper, I used about a teaspoon of hot sauce.

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated - ginger powder

3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped - garlic powder works just fine

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves - didn't use this...bc frankly I didn't have them.

1 teaspoon ground allspice - also didn't use this

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice - probably used more like 2 table spoons of this

4 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in - I used skinless boneless chicken breasts...still good!

4 drumsticks, skin on - did not try this with drumsticks

Serve with Mango Cilantro Relish...or don't, either way :)

Red Beans N' Rice courtesy of Uncle Ben's box brand. Yummy and filling!

Puree all the ingredients, except the chicken, in a food processor until almost smooth. Piece the chicken with a fork to make tiny holes. Place the chicken in a large shallow baking dish and rub the marinade into the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours, depending on how intense you want the flavor to be.

To grill - preheat grill. Grill chicken on each side for 5 to 6 minutes or until cooked through.

To bake - preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken on baking sheet lined with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees.

So good! Served mine with a sweet potato pureed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 TB olive oil based butter.

First step, puree all ingredients for rub...I use my knock off brand, Magic Bullet...works like a charm...especially blending the raw onion up.

Rub onto the chicken...

Cover and marinate for 24-48 hours in fridge...you can also freeze this ahead of time.

Happy Cooking and grilling! Can't wait for more summer recipes to come :) Also love that my hubby helps me out with dinner now...its like a team effort...so should have started doing this before!

Healthy Mexican Skillet

This recipe has always looked amazing to me. Now that spring and summer are approaching quickly, I'm all about integrating the fresh veggies and fruits back into my diet. I've missed them oh so much! Therefore, this healthy mexican skillet was perfect for a weeknight dinner. It was relatively quick to throw together too. :)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
1-1/2 cups quartered lengthwise, sliced zucchini
1-1/2 cups sliced squash (yellow)
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper (I used about 1 cup)
1 can (15 oz each) Whole Black Beans, drained, rinsed - (I used less..probably 1 cups worth...I'm not a big fan of beans)
1 can (14.5 oz each) Diced Tomatoes with Garlic, undrained
3/4 cup water
1 cup instant white rice (substituted brown instant rice)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend
1 small can of green chilis
1 packet of taco seasoning or similar seasoning blend...(garlic, cumin, salt/pepper)
3/4 cup of sliced onion (white)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, bell pepper, squash, and onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans, undrained tomatoes, chilis and water. Increase heat and bring to a boil.
Add rice (make sure rice is cooked ahead of time if not instant...I still cooked my rice ahead of time and added it in); stir well. Cover; remove from heat and let stand 7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with cheese. *We added lettuce, LF sour cream, and avocado as side dishes to this...very tasty!

(yum, peppers, onions, zucchini and squash...cookin' away!)

Veggies minus the rice

All together!

I added cheese, low fat sour cream, some smushed up ripe avacado seasoned with cilantro, salt and pepper, and whole wheat/white tortillas (Austin eats white, I eat wheat...we're still a divided household!)

We had lots of left overs which makes for a great lunch for work tomorrow! The end product was delicious! The fresh veggies are so good and leaves you feeling full but not overstuffed. Great quick, healthy meal!