Mystery Spice Monday! #4

Today is rainy, and I'm still feeling the effects of my cold. I'm improving, but I'm certainly not 100% yet. So I'm taking my vitamins, drinking lots of water, eating chicken noodle soup, and basically taking it as easy as I can with twin toddlers. Right now it's nap time, and as soon as I'm done posting this I'll be curling up with a good book. Can't hardly wait!

And since I've been taking it easy this week, I thought I'd post a super easy chicken recipe that is full of flavor, but not full of fat or unnecessary calories. Perfect for those of us who are doing the 30 Day Shred and trying to cut back on our eating. Yup, I'm very proud of myself for sticking with my work out routine while I'm still on the mend. I'm on day 4 of the Shred, and goin' strong! I will admit that after the first day was when I came down with this cold so I did yoga instead, but I'm ok with that. Better to do something different than give up altogether. :)

The recipe comes from one of my absolute FAVORITE cook books, Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas: For People Who Say They Don't Have Time to Cook Healthy Meals. If you're stuck in a rut and you really are determined to eat healthy, then get this book. It will save you SO much time, effort, energy, stress... plus it'll get you eating healthy in no time flat. I've made a bunch of recipes from this book, and all of them take roughly 20-30 minutes to prepare and are downright delicious AND family friendly!

Each recipe also has a nutritional breakdown, this particular recipe I'm about to share has.. check this out... 205 calories per serving!!! You really can't get much more low-cal than that!

Chicken Breasts in Mushroom Sauce
Adapted from Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas: For people who say they don't have time to cook healthy meals

Preheat your oven to 350.

First you sautee 2 cups of sliced mushrooms and 2-3 green onions. If you're really trying to trim the fat you can use cooking spray as a medium, but I used a tablespoon of olive oil.



While your mushrooms get goin' get out some sort of plasticware with a lid, you're going to shake up the sauce. Add 2 T of flour to 1/4 cup of water.



Put the lid on and shake it up to mix.



Then add 2 T of wine. I used red, but I've made this before with white and it's also really good that way. If you don't like the way wine tastes in food then you could always use chicken stock or balsamic vinegar, either option would be good.



Then you add 1/2 cup of non-fat plain yogurt.



Add some salt and pepper to taste, if you're like us you'll use quite a bit. Feel free to omit the salt if you have high blood pressure.





Then you add 1 t of instant chicken bouillon or 1 cube crushed.



Put the lid back on and shake it all up.

Be sure to check your mushrooms while you make the sauce, stirring as needed until they look like this.



Then pour in the sauce... ooooooh yeah...



Let it simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce gets thickened and the flavors get all happy with the mushrooms.



Place your chicken in a baking dish, I only used 2 chicken breasts because... there's really just 2 of us. But the recipe in the book calls for 4 breasts, and there is plenty of sauce to cover 4, so make however many chicken breasts you'll need.



Then pour the mushroom sauce on top of the chicken, and sprinkle the Mystery Spice: Paprika generously over it.



I know... Paprika isn't really a mystery spice to me. Just check This out. But I've got a lot of it hanging around that I'd like to use up and part of the goal of this challenge is using things in your spice cabinet that need to be used.

Like I said, I'm takin' it easy this week. :)

If you don't like paprika, or if you're like a friend of mine who is allergic to it, then you can certainly leave it out. You won't hurt my feelings.

But it really does add something to this chicken... and it is scrumptious!



Even if it is only 205 calories!

Chicken Breasts In Mushroom Sauce

2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 T flour
1/4 cup water
2 T dry sherry or wine
1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1/4 t salt (optional)
1/8 t black pepper
1 tsp. instant chicken bouillon or 1 chicken bouillon cube crushed
1 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp. paprika

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Sautee mushrooms and green onions in a non-stick skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray (or use 1 T olive oil). Shake flour with water in plastic container with lid. Add next 5 ingredients to flour/water mixture, shake again. Pour into mushrooms, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Place chicken in a baking dish, pour mushroom sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until chicken reaches 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer.


Have a Mystery Spice recipe that you'd love to share? Then Link up and tell the world! And be sure to visit other linkers to get more great meal ideas!

Mmmmmm.... pancakes....

I was planning to make pancakes for the girls yesterday, but then my mom called and said, "Hey, why don't you come over with the girls. Dad will watch them during nap time, and you and I'll go get pedicures." And since I never turn down such offers of free babysitting and pampering I jumped at the chance! It was great. A much needed break, plus an excuse to get out of the house.

So I made pancakes this morning instead. :)

This recipe is taken (again!) from Feed Me I'm Yours, which is quickly becoming my go-to cook book for meal ideas for the girls. If you have toddlers, you should rush on over to Amazon and order a copy, it's only $5!

The recipe is called Cottage-Cheese Pancakes. Are ya droolin' already?

I didn't get a cast of characters shot for this one... what can I say, I hadn't had my first cup of coffee yet.

Ingredients are: 3 eggs, 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 T salad oil or melted butter, 2 T flour or cornmeal. Super simple!

I used my food processor to make the batter, you could use a blender if you want.

First I cracked the eggs into the food processor.



Then I pulsed them for about 30 seconds, and added cottage cheese.



Then I pulsed again until there were no more cottage cheese clumps.



Then I added the oil.



And 2 tablespoons of flour.



Mixy mixy...



Then I broke out my new Griddler... I'm really lovin' it. You'll hear more about it in the weeks to come. :)

You'll know they're ready to flip when they start to look like this:



Mmmmm... I'm gettin' hungry already!



Stack them on a plate and cover with foil to keep them warm until they're all done.

Oh lordy... these turned out wonderfully!



These are definetly a light/thin pancake as opposed to a cakey/thick pancake. I thought they were delicious. They're more of a saverey pancake as opposed to a sweet pancake, they have that tang of cottage cheese. Ziva wasn't a huge fan, but Anya ate 3 of them, and her smile was a great reward.



Because these are mostly cheese and egg, and only 2 tablespoons of flour for the whole batch, they're actually very low-carb! So if you're trying to watch your carbs, or if you're diabetic, this would be a very healthy alternative to regular pancakes. Use cornmeal instead of flour and it becomes gluten-free!


Cottage-Cheese Pancakes

3 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tablespoons oil or melted butter
2 tablespoons flour or cornmeal

With a small mixer or blender beat eggs. Add cottage cheese and mix until fairly smooth. Add shortening and flour. Make cakes on the "smallish" side. Bake as usual for pancakes.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

You know that wonderful potato and sausage soup they serve at Olive Garden? Oh, it's so creamy and decedant, with a nice bit of spice to keep you coming back for more. Well, I could tell you where I got this recipe folks but then I'd probably be tracked down by the big wigs at Olive Garden corporate. But lets just say, it's out there, it's available, if my Grandma who doesn't own a computer tells me about it then it's pretty clear that EVERYONE has heard of it. Not that she DID tell me about it... wouldn't wanna get granny into any trouble!

So lets get down to business, shall we?

First you put 1 qt. of water and 2 14.5 oz. cans of chicken broth into a pot.

I forgot to do action shots of me pouring the chicken broth, but if you REALLY need picture instructions for that then please... STEP AWAY FROM THE STOVE! lol

Sorry, I'm getting a little punchy... it's late... bare with me. :P



Then you scrub 2 large potatoes and cut them up into chunks. I forgot to take a pic of me cutting potatoes. I was just getting SO excited about eating Zuppa Toscana Soup that I couldn't WAIT to get those potatoes into the pot! Here's what they look like, I left the skins on because that's how Olive Garden does it. I suppose it makes the soup seem more rustic or something.


Maybe that's how the Italians do it.

Then I chopped 1 onion. And then I was a mess of tears and snot for a few minutes, it was a STRONG onion! In the midst of my sniffles Hubby asked, "Oh, do you want me to chop an onion for you?" "Kinda late for that honey!" I then tossed the onion into the pot along with 1 tsp. of garlic. If you're a really good chef you'll use 2 fresh cloves instead. I'm sure it would taste better that way.



Then I went to work on the sausages. I bought a pack of raw Italian Turkey Sausage, it was in large links. I really wish they had it in bulk, but I was trying to be healthy... sort of. :) The recipe I received called for just normal Italian pork sausage, but I really didn't notice any difference in flavor when it was finished. Oh, and I'm getting good and removing sausage from casings. Especially after I made 2 batches of this for Christmas.


While I was removing casings and browning sausage I started to boil the soup. And oh man was it starting to smell good!


And mmmmmm MMM! Was that sausage lookin' and smellin' good too!


Once it was thoroughly cooked I added the sausage to the soup with a slotted spoon. I wiped the grease out of my skillet and started on the next level of flavor...


BACON!!! Oh Baby... ooooooh baby! I used about a 1/2 pound altogether. Just what I had left over in the fridge from Christmas... yup, I'm still working on those left over ingredients.

There's a whole bunch of odd people on the internet who are totally in LOVE with bacon. If you don't believe me check this out... but don't say I didn't warn you.



So since it was going into soup, and not my Hubby's mouth, I decided to cook it extra crispy. When it was done I let it cool then crumbled it into the soup.


Then I brought out the Kale. Kale is a highly underrated veggie if you ask me. Just look at it! It's absolutely resplendent.



For those who don't know what to do to prepare kale, you wash it off, and then take it like this:



You see that think stalk in the middle? You want to cut that out. It's tough and not to be eaten.



Then once that's outta there you just give it a rough chop. Then set it to the side for a minute.



And get out your heavy cream! Yup, this is how much I have in my house right now. I'm nearly ready to start using it in my morning coffee. Please save me! If you have any ideas of what I can do with it besides pouring it down the sink (or slathering it all over my bod) please let me know!!! Does whipping cream freeze? I'm guessing no.



Sigh. In any case, pour yourself a cup of it and dump it into the soup.



And then you can throw that kale in there too. Mix it on in.



It's a pretty tough veggie despite it's flowery appearance. So don't be afraid that you'll hurt it or something.



There now! Isn't it GORGEOUS! Even Hubby decided he could give some a try after seeing how pretty and harmless it was. But secretly... it was the bacon that attracted him. :) He can't fool me.



Aaaaaahhh... now there's a comforting soup good enough for company! It's somewhat healthy too, with all that kale and turkey sausage. And you didn't have to wait for a table or pay $5 a bowl either! For a low-carb alternative you could use califlower instead of potatoes and you probably wouldn't even notice the difference.



Zuppa Toscana Soup (like Olive Garden's, except better because YOU made it!)

Serves 12 (I plan to eat it for lunch for the next few days)

1 lbs. spicy Italian sausage
1/2 lbs. smoked bacon chopped
1 qt. water
2 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth
2 large russet potatoes (or cauliflower for low-carb option)
2 garlic cloves (or 1 tsp. of the stuff in the jar)
1 medium onion - chopped
2 cups chopped kale OR swiss chard
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt & pepper to taste (I didn't use any, but feel free)

-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.
-In a skellet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside.
-Place water, broth potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender. (Or until you're done with the above mentioned steps.. sorry, I hate following directions.)
-Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.
-Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt & pepper; heat through.