Chicken Parmesan Soup

A couple of nights ago, I went to a friend's Pampered Chef parties. I was flipping through the recipe books and saw one entitled "Chicken Parmesan Soup." I didn't have time to look at the recipe closely and I ended up not buying the cookbook, but the title of that dish stuck with me and so I made my own creation of Chicken Parmesan Soup! One of my daughters asked for seconds so that is always a good sign!
-Amanda

Chicken Parmesan Soup

1 chicken breast
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
3 tbs butter
lots of garlic, dried basil and oregano
2-3 cups of chicken stock
1 baguette of bread
Olive oil
Mozzarella
Parmesan cheese (have about a cup of loosely packed, fresh grated)
fresh basil (optional, for garnish)

In a skillet (or I just used my soup pot and then rinsed it out) put at least 1/4 cup of olive oil and heat it up. Quickly cube up the baguette (reserve enough to make 1/2 cup of bread crumbs) and add it to the hot oil. Stir it around letting it toast. Add some of the parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper. Remove to a bowl once it is toasted.

Slice chicken into thin pieces, like in a chinese stir fry. In a cleaned out soup pot add more olive oil and start browning chicken. Before it is cooked through, add the tomato paste, seasonings (salt, pepper, dried basil, oregano and garlic) Then add the can of tomatoes and the chicken stock. Bring to a very gentle simmer DO NOT BOIL or your chicken will be rubber. Add 1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs. (This thickens the soup a bit.) Add the butter cubed up to the soup. The butter is a trick I learned from Food Network, it mellows out the tangy tomato flavor and adds an awesome depth of flavor to any tomato soup or marinara sauce. Last, add more parmesan to the soup and stir to melt it in.

Serve in a bowl with cubed up mozzerella (this starts to melt and gives you strings of cheese as you eat. YUM!) And a few pieces of the toasted baquette. Enjoy!

Enchilada Casserole

 Is there ever a good way to photograph a casserole?

This dish was inspired by a pin off of pinterest. The original recipe was called something like Texas Ranch Casserole. But as soon as we ate my dish the family exclaimed, it tastes like enchiladas! Like I said, I took the original recipe as an inspiration point and made several changes. The biggest was to replace the canned soup with real cream. I kept this very mild since my kids don't like spicy food, but feel free to throw in some jalapenos or other favorite peppers to add some heat!
-Amanda

Enchilada Casserole
12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded chicken
2 cups heavy cream
1 pablano chili
1 red bell pepper
3 stalks of celery
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp celery seed
1 can roasted tomatoes, diced
1.5 - 2 cups shredded cheese
1/4 cup cornmeal
butter for sauteing in and for greasing casserole dish with

Dice onion and start it sauteing in a pat of butter. Chop celery and add it to the onion. Next dice up the bell pepper, pablano chili and garlic. Add all of that to the onion and celery. Saute until vegetables soften. Add celery seed and chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir well. Next sprinkle in the cornmeal and toss all the vegetables in it. Quickly add the heavy cream and stir. Bring to a boil. Add the can of tomatoes, undrained. Let it simmer, stirring frequently until everything thickens up. Add 1/2 to a 1/3 grated cheese. Once thickened, turn off heat and add in cooked shredded chicken.

Grease a casserole dish with butter. Cut tortillas into strips. Line one layer of dish with tortillas and some of the grated cheese. Spoon in some of the chicken-vegetable mixture. Add another layer of tortillas and repeat until you get to the top of the dish. Top with extra cheese. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

By the way, my husband came in and tasted the dish right before I added the chicken. He thought I was making a nacho cheese dip. He grabbed a tortilla chip and dipped it in and said, that it was a GREAT dip and for me to write down what I did so I could replicate it for him. So I'm obliging his request. :)

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac N' Cheese

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac N' Cheese. Say it with me. Yum. Seriously my favorite flavors all wrapped up in one yummy casserole. I think this may be my new potluck dish.
-Amanda

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac N' Cheese

3/4 pound of pasta
1 large chicken breast
3 pieces of bacon
8-10 button mushrooms
1 tbsp flour
1. 5 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8-1/4 onion
2 cups grated cheese
1/2 cup grated cheese for top
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder

Cook your noodles to package directions.
Butterfly open your chicken to make it thin so it'll cook quickly. Get a grill pan hot and grill chicken that has been salted and peppered. Set aside.
Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and put them in a medium size pot. Cook on medium heat stirring frequently. When bacon is about half cooked add chopped mushrooms. When bacon starts to get crispy, remove it and the mushrooms from the skillet and set aside.

Sprinkle flour over the bacon grease adding butter if you don't have enough grease to cook bacon. Whisk to remove all the lumps. Add milk and heavy cream. Add dill and garlic powder, salt and pepper. Keep on medium to medium high heat and whisk until the sauce starts to thicken. Add grated cheese and stir to blend the cheese in.

In a casserole dish put the cut up chicken and mushrooms. Drain pasta and add it to the casserole dish. Pour in cheese mixture and stir to get all the noodles cheesey. Sprinkle with bacon and extra cheese. Put under the broiler for 8-10 minutes until cheese gets bubbly and brown on top.

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Tonight was Menu Planning night for the week. But instead of going to the grocery store after the girls were in bed, I took an opportunity to go before dinner. But I didn't have anything planned or prepped and I walked in the house with all the groceries with t-minus 30 minutes until our very prompt 5:30 dinner. I walked in, popped 4 potatoes in our convection oven, quickly put away the groceries with hubby and whipped together a fast cheesy bechamel sauce to make this fast and tasty dinner.
-Amanda

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli stuffed Potatoes

4 baking potatoes
3 slices of bacon
2 tbsp flour
1.5 cups of milk
3-4 oz cheese
1 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup shredded leftover chicken

Bake your potatoes in a convection oven at 400 for 35 minutes (yeah, dinner was a bit late tonight.) Or you can microwave them. A regular oven you'd probably have to add another 10 minutes to the baking time.

Cut up bacon into thin strips and cook it in a small pot over medium high heat. Stir frequently until crispy. Remove the bacon but leave the grease. You need about 3 tbsp of grease, if you don't have enough add some butter or other oil. Sprinkle in flour and whisk for a few minutes. Add milk and continue to whisk until sauce starts to thicken. Add shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and remove from heat. Steam broccoli in another pot or in the microwave. In a small bowl, add shredded chicken, broccoli and enough cheese sauce to coat. Reserve the rest of the cheese sauce to pour on top of potatoes. Cut potatoes open, dallop with butter and salt. Smoosh in cheesy chicken broccoli. Pour extra sauce on top and then sprinkle reserved bacon. Enjoy!

Easy Cheese Bacon Chicken

File this recipe/idea under easy, fast and tasty! It was perfect for tonight where I didn't want to do anything super complicated. Took less than 10 minutes to assemble and then it cooked in the toaster oven for another 20 minutes, not even having to heat up the entire house with my big oven. Win/win!
-Amanda

Easy Cheesy Bacon Chicken

Chicken tenders (or chicken breasts cut into thin strips)
1 piece of bacon per chicken
1 slice of cheese (I used colby jack) per chicken
avocado

Salt and pepper each chicken breast. Wrap with bacon and place in a very hot skillet for about 3 minutes per side. If you are using an oven proof skillet, top each chicken with cheese and place in the oven to cook all the way through and cheese gets bubbly and browned at 350 for 20 minutes. I transferred my chicken to a small brownie pan (one layer of chicken) and cooked it in my toaster oven for the same heat and time. Serve with sliced avocado and homemade ranch dressing to dip!

Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

The last two weeks we've been trying to do some menu planning around here. It's not my normal way of cooking, but things have gotten so busy this summer that it really has helped to at least scratch out a semblance of a menu on a scrap of paper before heading to the grocery store. (I also rarely use a grocery list.) I just normally buy what looks good and then come home to "create." Well this week I had "stuffed bell pepper" on the menu. I normally make these with green bell peppers because they are cheaper but the red ones were on mega sale and they are so pretty. I also normally make stuffed bell peppers with rice, mushrooms and sausage. But this time I decided to make them "pizza" style. Although I did forget to add the olives which bummed me out when I remembered as we were eating! The good thing was that I had leftover stuffing. You can serve it on the side or freeze it to make a quick spaghetti dinner another night, which is what I did.
-Amanda

Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

4-5 bell peppers - look for ones with pretty flat bottoms
1 lb of hamburger meat
2-3 cloves garlic
1.5 cups of your favorite Italian seasoned tomato sauce- I had some leftover that I'd made for pizzas.
Block of mozzarella, cubed up in 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 onion
8-10 button mushrooms
basil, oregano, salt and pepper

Cut the tops off the bell peppers and scoop out the insides. Rub with oil and set either on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish.

Saute onions in a bit of bacon drippings. Let them get really good and caramelized and then remove from the skillet. Add in hamburger meat and some seasonings. Cook about halfway and then add garlic and mushrooms. When meat is almost cooked through add the tomato sauce.

Add a few cubes of mozzarella in the bottom of each bell pepper. Fill each bell pepper half way with the meat mixture. Add more mozzarella. Then fill to the top with the meat. Add a few more pieces of mozzarella to the tops of each one. Put the "lids" back on the bell peppers and cook at 375 for about an hour. Scoot the tops off and cook a bit longer until cheese browns. (We didn't have the patience for that!)

**Olives, diced (nitrate free) pepperoni or any other favorite pizza topping would be great in this!

What's For Dinner at My House: Nachos!

No recipe, but a quick and easy dinner idea. Homemade nachos really hit the spot for us tonight. I bought the corn chips, store bought tortilla chips are a treat for us lately, but when I do buy them I get the organic ones now because GMO corn is just scary. I topped them with some grass fed beef that I seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning blend of oregano, cilantro, chili powder and cumin with sauted onions and garlic too. Added in some of the roasted tomato salsa I just made and then whipped up a very quick "queso." The queso was basically a very thick bechamel sauce with lots of cheese! A dallop of sour cream on top and it was a yummy quick dinner. John added a bit of lettuce to his, but I went just ooey gooey tonight. The girls ate this UP.
-Amanda

Enchilada Suiza

 

I have a confession. Enchilada Suiza used to be one of my favorite tv dinners back when I bought those things. This is SO much better than any tv dinner. I wish I had tripled the recipe and froze it though. It'd be great for taking to a new mom. This was a project though. I did not end up making my own tortillas, but that would have just made it that much better. I did cook the chicken for 24 hours to make stock from it. Chicken pulled from the bone after being simmered for that long is so moist and it shreds so easily. Plus I got about 6 quarts of rich stock to use for another recipe. The roasted tomatillo salsa that went into the recipe was really great too! I used anaheim peppers for flavor and no heat, since I wanted my toddlers to eat this and they don't like spicy foods (yet!) I made the salsa the day before. It'd be a great one to make and lacto-ferment and serve with chips, but I didn't ferment this batch since I knew it'd be baked in the oven which would kill of any beneficial bacterias that I would have gained from fermenting it. Then I stirred together a quick white sauce to pour over the enchiladas with the green sauce and they went into the oven. Here is the method broken down a bit more:

-Amanda

Chicken Enchilada Suiza

Tomatillo Salsa

6-8 tomatillos, huskes removed

3-4 cloves of garlic with skins still on

4-5 anaheim peppers or a mixture of your favorite peppers. If you go with a hotter pepper you can either add it with the anaheims, bell peppers or just increase your amount of tomatillos so you get the same amount of salsa at the end

1 small white onion, peeled and quartered

cilantro (optional)

olive oil

salt

On a baking sheet, spread out the tomatillos, garlic with skin still on, onion and peppers. Liberally drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt. Put in a 425 oven for about 25-30 minutes until everything starts to turn a bit brown. 

In a blender, place the onions and tomatillos in the blender, add the garlic removing the skins at this time, they should just squish out. Cut the top of the peppers and squeeze out the seeds and add them to the blender. Blend on high for a minute or two until everything is well blended. The tomatillos should have enough liquid that you don't need to add water, but you can add a bit if needed. Add cilantro if using and blend one more time. Store up to a week in the fridge. Makes about 1 quart.

Cream Sauce

1 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup heavy cream

1./2 tsp cumin

salt

Mix together and set aside.

Enchiladas:

1 quart of tomatillo salsa

1 recipe of cream sauce

3 cups of shredded chicken meat

12 oz (ish) of shredded cheese, I used colby jack

10 tortillas

Spread about half of the tomatillo salsa on the bottom of a large baking dish. Roll up each tortilla with a bit of shredded chicken and shredded cheese and roll it up. Place with the seam down in the salsa. Finish all 10 tortillas squishing them together. Top with the rest of the salsa. Pour white sauce over the green salsa and top with leftover cheese. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until cheese gets all nice and bubbly.

Sausage Stuffed Pablano Peppers

This isn't a very glamorous looking dish I'm afraid. I'm made shrimp stuffed pablano's a while back that were very delicious, but tonight I wanted to try sausage. They came out great too! I wish I had taken a photo of my girls dish, but I forgot. I used a cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape sausage patty and heart shaped bell pepper. I cooked the sausage and bell pepper and stacked them with a bit of cream cheese smeared to hold them together. They ate the sausage and took one tiny bitty bite of the bell pepper... obviously a vegetable that we need to work on around here.
-Amanda

Sausage Stuffed Pablano Pepper with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

2 pablano peppers
1/2 cup freshly grated cobly jack cheese
4 oz cream cheese
1 tbsp heavy cream
4-6 oz breakfast sausage
1/2 small onion

Blacken the outside of the pablano peppers. You can do this either by sitting them over the open flame of your stove or under the broiler turning every few minutes. When they are completely blackened remove to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them steam until they are cool enough to touch. Remove skin (which peels right off) and cut a slit into each pepper. Remove seeds carefully and set aside.

Saute breakfast sausage and onion in a small skillet until onion is carmalized and sausage is cooked through. In a medium size bowl, mix grated cheese, cream cheese and heavy cream with a fork. Mash it up to combine, the heavy cream helps mix it together. When the sausage and onions have cooled a bit, add them to the cheese mixture. Stuff each pepper with half of the mixture. Place in a baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. You can wrap them in foil to help keep them together or use toothpicks. I didn't bother this time around.

Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

1 can of Fire Roasted Tomaotes (I use Organic because the non-organic kind had some ingredient that I don't want to eat... MSG or some chemical, I don't remember)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh oregnao or 1 tsp dried
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil

Combine everything in a pot and simmer until tomatoes break down and make a nice sauce.

Shrimp in a Cream Cheese Sauce

This dish tasted good, but I learned a lesson today. Cooked spaghetti squash does not freeze well. I had this meal planned out in my head for tonight dinner and the flavors came together except for the squash which didn't taste bad, but it disintegrated into mush. So if you make this dinner, either serve it over noodles, freshly cooked spaghetti squash or even brown rice. And if you make too much spaghetti squash in the future, well... don't freeze it.
-Amanda

Shrimp in a Cream Cheese Sauce

2 cloves of garlic, minced
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 lb shrimp
8 stalks of asparagus, cut into one inch pieces
10 tablepsoons of butter, divided
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp arrowroot powder
1 tsp of dried basil or a few leaves of fresh

Saute garlic in a tbsp of butter in a large skillet. Remove to a large bowl before it browns. Add mushrooms and a bit more butter, and them until they are almost browned. Put in your cut asparagus and saute them with the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper. Remove mushrooms and asparagus to the bowl with the garlic. Put your shrimp and more of the butter in the skillet and cook almost all the way through. Again, remove it to the bowl with the vegetables. Put the rest of your butter and cream cheese into the skillet on medium and stir it to help it melt. It will look like a curdled mess. Once it is all mostly melted whisk the arrowroot into 1/2 cup of water. When it has dissolved pour it into the cream cheese and it will magically come together. Add some fresh or dried basil. Pour vegetables and shrimp back into the sauce and simmer until shrimp is all the way cooked through. Serve over noodles, rice or freshly cooked spaghetti squash! Serves about 4.

Maddie's Recipe

Not the best photo, but I was in a hurry to leave for a meeting. Last Tuesday, I had a PAMOM meeting to go to and I was looking to make a quick dinner for the kids. John was going to eat leftovers so I didn't have to worry about him. Izzie was off in the other room playing and Maddie was with me in the kitchen. As I was staring in the refridgerator for inspiration I asked her what she wanted for dinner. She said, "I want broccoli, carrots, hot dogs, cheese, and bananas. Mix it all together. Okay... that's what I want."

So I quickly chopped up the carrots, broccoli and hotdog. I sauted the carrots and broccoli in a pat of butter until soft. Then I tossed in cut up hotdog. I added a tbsp of flour, a bit of cream and half a cup of freshly grated cheddar cheese. Luckily I was able to convince her that the banana would taste better on the side. So here  you go, my three year old's first recipe! Enjoy!
-Amanda

Low-Carb Lasagna Muffins- Work in Progress

I love the idea of meals in muffin tins. I've successfully made meatloaf in a muffin tin, which is sad, since I really don't even like meatloaf... but it was good. I've tried twice to make macaroni and cheese in muffin tins (which I know can be done, since I've seen it before!) But the two times I'm made the mac'n cheese muffins, they fell apart. And tonight I was going for lasagna in muffin tins. This was REALLY tasty, but they did not hold their shape either. I think the starch in a noodle would help hold them together. Or maybe the meat should have gone on the top or bottom instead of the middle? I'll post what I did, and if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know! You do need a mandolin (you can buy them as cheap as $20) to get the slices as thin as possible on the zucchini.
-Amanda

Maddie and Izzie's plate.

Low- Carb Lasagna Muffins (Work in Progress)

3 zucchini
ball of fresh mozzerella (I used half the ball)
 6 tbsp cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (I prefer cottage cheese in my lasagna, but ricotta is more traditional)
melted butter to grease muffin tins with
Meat Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb ground hamburger or ground turkey
6 cremini mushrooms, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning 
1 small can of diced tomatoes
Bechamel Sauce
1.5 tbsp butter
1 tbsp arrowroot
1 cup heavy cream
pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper

Start browning your meat in a small skillet with the olive oil. Add seasonings, garlic, mushrooms. Continue cooking until mushrooms are cooked. Add diced tomatoes and simmer on low while you prepare the bechamel sauce.

In a separate small pot, melt butter and add arrowroot. (I no longer use cornstarch*, since it is a processed food.) Whisk the arrowroot into the butter until incorporated. Whisk in the heavy cream, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Boil until thick, remove from heat.

Slice the zucchini as thin as you can with your mandolin. Crisscross three slices in the bottom of each muffin tin. The zucchini will go up the sides and over a bit. Put 1 tbsp cottage cheese, 1 tbsp meat sauce and 1 tbsp of bechamel sauce. Then cut the next layer of zucchini into 1 inch squares. Layer the cut zucchini over the bechamel. Top with thinly cut mozzerella. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until mozzerella is bubbly and brown. (I recommend putting a cookie sheet under the muffin tin so you don't boil over and make smoke in your house. I'm just talking from experience here!) Let cool a bit before trying to remove.

Mine got saggy in the middle, so if anyone has any advice for making them more firm, I'm all ears!


*The majority of the corn starch on the market is GMO (genetically modified organism) and cornstarch is a highly processed food ... here's an excerpt from an article on the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) website: "Corn starch is processed and refined from the kernels of corn by using a series of steeping (swelling the kernel), separation and grinding processes to separate the starch from the other parts of the kernel (which are used for animal feed.).The starch is hydrolyzed using acid, acid-enzyme, or enzyme-enzyme catalyzed processes

Vegetable Cheese Casserole with Chicken (Grain Free)

Is there a good way to photograph a casserole? I meant to take a photo of an individual portion, but it got gobbled up too quickly. This was a hit for the entire family and we didn't miss the pasta or rice that is traditionally in a chicken & cheese type casserole. By the way, I really didn't measure on this recipe so go with your instinct on this. It is pretty forgiving.
-Amanda

Vegetable Cheese Casserole with Chicken

1 head of cauliflower (or one bag frozen)
2-3 carrots, chopped in circles
1 head of broccoli (or one bag of frozen)
1/2 onion
1 tbsp oil/bacon grease
1.5 cups shredded or diced chicken - I used leftover from my homemade stock
cheese- LOTS of cheese About 3 cups of your favorite types
6-8 oz of cream cheese OR strained yogurt to make it thick
1 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp of oregano
2 tsp basil
3/4 cup of heavy cream or raw milk
1 heaping tbsp of arrowroot (I prefer not to use cornstarch, since it is highly processed)
salt & pepper to taste

Dice onion and saute it until it is very caramelized in oil or bacon grease. Cut up one head of cauliflower and one head of broccoli, boil both is a pot of water with the chopped carrots. If you are using any frozen vegetables, add them after the fresh ones start. You want all the vegetables to be about the same amount of "fork tender" in the end.

While the vegetables are cooking, start grating your cheese. I always use block cheese, because chemical additives are added to pre-shredded cheese to make it last longer. (One thing I'm learning about labels, is if it is an industry standard it does NOT have to be put on the label!) Plus, I love using Raw Milk Cheddar and Raw Milk Monterary Jack. You can only get cheese that is aged past 60 days raw in America. So you won't find Raw milk mozzarella or any other softer cheeses. At the most you can look for Whole Milk Mozzarella. (Learning how to make it on my own is one of my future projects!) Anyway, for this recipe I used: Cotija, marble jack, Parmesan & cheddar. Then I grated some mozzarella and more Parmesan for the top. All in all I used about 3 cups (including the cream cheese) for the filling with just a bit on top.

In a bowl, mix your cheeses, cream cheese, cooled onion, spices and mustard in a very large bowl. When vegetables are fork tender, drain them very well and return them to the hot pot. Keeping it on the flame, gently stir them a bit to dry them out some more. Add the vegetables to the cheese mixture. Add 1.5-2 cups of shredded or diced chicken and stir some more. Pour into a casserole dish and pack it down. In a small bowl, mix heavy cream and arrowroot. Pour heavy cream over vegetable cheese mixture and encourage it to seep down into the dish. Top with a bit more cheese and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes.

Leftovers become Easy Chili Mac

Today my family is having a pajama day. This means little or no cooking (or much of anything else productive) takes place. It's a wonderful time to have a mini-staycation and just bond with family. The problem is that I don't have much "quick" lunches in my refridgerator (except for all the soup!) but my toddlers will only eat soup occasionally. So digging deep within the fridge, I found some leftover taco meat, some left over buttered noodles and then there is the always handy block of cheddar cheese. I combined these three items in a small oven safe bowl and popped it in my toaster oven for 10 minutes. Easy, tasty and eaten all up! (My husband and I worked on even more of the leftovers!)
-Amanda

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Another day, another soup it seems. I just love the warm comfort of a bowl of soup. Broccoli Cheese Soup is one of my husbands favorites (besides Campells Creamy Parmesan Tomato Bisque, much to my chagrin.) I can't make Campbells from scratch, since I don't use the preservatives that are in a canned soup. Although, to his credit he did say he'd try my tomato soup again, if I could just make it smoother and less chunky. But I digress... I made this soup for him because he wasn't feeling well yesterday and with the drizzly rain outside of course it was just calling to be a soup day!

-Amanda

Broccoli Cheese Soup

4 pieces of bacon, cut into bits
1 small onion, diced
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
1 pint of heavy cream
4 cups of chicken stock (homemade is best!)
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
2 head of broccoli, chopped into small bits. The stem works well in this recipe too!
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch of hot pepper flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric (adds color, naturally)

In your favorite soup pot, brown the bacon. When bacon is almost crispy add onions. Saute until onions are translucent. Add butter and melt. Add seasonings: salt, pepper, tumeric, thyme & hot pepper flakes. Sprinkle flour across bacon, onions & butter; stirring quickly to wet it with the butter. Stir the flour for a few minutes to let it cook for a bit. Pour in heavy cream and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Melt in grated cheese. Add broccoli and let simmer until broccoli is tender.

Butternut Squash Pizza

I was reading my favorite cooking/nutrition blogs a few days ago, and came across this idea for a recipe. I wish I could give credit, because these are REALLY good. I did add caramelized onions and tomato sauce to the recipe, but the idea to use the squash this way wasn't mine. Anyway, this is a must try recipe, it is really terrific!
-Amanda

Butternut Squash Pizza

1 butternut squash with the longest neck possible
1 lb of bulk sweet Italian sausage (no nitrates added, no high-fructose corn syrup)
1 block of feta cheese
1 large onion
olive oil, salt and pepper
favorite tomato sauce

Pre-heat oven to 375. Peel butternut squash and cut into 1/2" disks, be careful to make them the same thickness so they cook evenly. Rub each disk with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake on a cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes until you can easily pierce with a fork. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a skillet. Slice onion into very thin slices and saute them in a little olive oil (or bacon grease) while the sausage is a different skillet. Cook the onions on medium  heat for 20-30 minutes.

Remove butternut squash from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Assemble the pizzas by placing a bit of sausage on each disk, top it with a bit of onion and then the feta cheese. Place under the broiler for 4-5 minutes until feta starts to brown. Serve on top of some tomato sauce. It'd be great with some fresh basil on top, but I'm not sure if butternut squash and basil are ever in the same season? Anyway, this was a huge hit for our family and I think I'll hide the leftovers!

Bacon and Spinach Quiche

I attended a brunch playdate with some of my fellow moms of multiples yesterday and I brought this Bacon and Spinach Quiche for everyone to try. I almost forgot to snap a photo, but made everyone stop for a quick shot!
-Amanda

Bacon and Spinach Quiche

1 lb of bacon (nitrate free!)
1 bag of loosely frozen spinach (I find this is better than the frozen box spinach because you don't have to thaw and squeeze all the liquid out.) Fresh spinach would work perfectly fine too!
1.5 cups of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of cheese (swiss or cheddar)
6 eggs from free range chickens
1 crust*

Roll crust out and place it in a pie dish. Stick it back in the refridgerator to stay cold. Cook bacon using your favorite method. I found that if you have the Pampered Chef Bar Stoneware, it cooks bacon great in the oven and you don't have to turn it. Just lay the bacon out on the stoneware and bake at 400 for 25 minutes for crispy bacon. Let bacon cool. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and heavy cream. Add salt and pepper. Grate your cheese and have it ready. Remove pie shell from refridgerator and layer bacon, spinach, cheese, and then again with another layer of bacon, spinach and cheese. If you have the loose spinach, you can place it frozen in the dish. Pour egg mixture over the layers and shake to make sure it gets evenly distributed. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Crust

8 tbsp butter
1 cup flour (I used white wheat)
1 tsp salt
4 ice cold tbsp of water

Place butter in freezer for 15 minutes. Put flour in food processor and add salt. Pulse to mix. Remove butter and cube it into small pieces. Add to food processor and pulse 6-8 times until the butter is pea sized in the flour. Add 1 tbsp of ice cold water at a time pulse until dough starts ball up and pull away from sides of processor. Pour dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate 1 hour before rolling it out.

Chicken Enchilada Chili

Currently I'm doing a weightloss program called The Liberation Diet that falls in line with the principles set forth by the Weston A. Price Foundation and the Real Food Movement. The Liberation Diet is a very low carb diet that focuses on good quality high fats and oils. When I first was reading some of the literature it was quite mind blowing to see how the journey our culture took to leave behind butter, lard, ghee and other quality, vitamin-rich fats for the likes of margarine, soy-oils, canoloa and vegetable oils. If you follow the history it is all about making money and marketing.

For instance, the makers of Crisco were just trying to find a way to get rid of their industrial sludge leftover from making candles. Some one along the way thought it looked like lard (not too unlike the time my very own Mema thought she could substitute a bay leaf for basil in a pasta dish since they were both leaves and started with ba... they might have looked similar but they were definitely NOT similar!) This person took this lard look alike and baked a pie with it. Surprisingly it worked out okay and tasted okay. Viola! A new (cheaper) oil was introduced to the market. What they didn't know then was that it is very damaging to humans in a very slow and unapparent way. For more of the whole story on Crisco, please see: The Rise and Fall of Crisco. Here is a link that talks about fats in depth, with several other informative links at the bottom of their page: Know your Fats

Well back to my recipe... I love mexican food! I often have made burritos and quesidallas and other tex-mex delights. But since I'm going low carb, I needed to find a way to have my favorite flavors without the tortilla. Then the other day when I was picking up my Kombucha scoby from Nicole she had a dish similar to this bubbling away on her stove. I told her I wanted the recipe but since she left for vacation the very next day she hasn't had time to post. So I made something up myself.
-Amanda

Chicken Enchilada Chili

2 tbsp ghee or butter
1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 cans of organic fire roasted tomatoes
1-2 pablano or other favorite chili
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch (or more) of red chili flakes
sea salt
2 chicken breasts, previously cooked*

cheese sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1.5-2 cups whole milk (I use raw milk)
1.5-2 cups lightly packed shredded cheddar cheese
sea salt
pepper

Make cheese sauce first, in a medium size pot, melt butter. When butter is melted, add whole wheat flour and whisk until all of the flour is wet. Continue to whisk to cook the flour a bit. Add milk a little bit at a time. Start with just a splash and whisk lumps away. Add a little bit more and keep whisking keeping lumps away. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Add cheese and continue to whisk until sauce has thickened and cheese melts. Set aside, keeping warm.

In a large skillet melt ghee or more butter. Dice an onion into small pieces and add to butter. Chop garlic and add it to the onions. Chop chili peppers and add them. I like to add my spices at this time to toast them and make them more flavorful before adding liquids. So add the cumin, oregano, red chili flakes, sea salt and pepper. At this point the onions should start to be soft and brown bits may be accumulating on the bottom of the skillet. Open tomatoes and add them. When the tomatoes start to come to a boil, take a ladle and ladle some of the tomato-onion mixture into the cheese sauce to temper it. Stir it into the cheese and add a few more ladles of tomatoes. Then pour all of the cheese sauce into the tomato sauce. Add diced chicken and cook until warmed through. Serve with fresh guacamole and organic sour cream.

*If you don't have any chicken cooked, you can add raw chicken in after the onions, just be careful not to overcook when you bring the tomatoes to a boil.

Shrimp & Cheese Stuffed Pablano Peppers

About a week ago the idea for this dish popped into my head and I went to the store to buy the ingredients. I wasn't 100% sure how I wanted to make it and with all that was going on, it  had to be shelved until last night. But over the weekend while hanging out at my Mother-in-Law's house, we were flipping through tv channels and we saw someone make something almost identical to the dish I had created in my head. The exciting thing is it gave me confidence that it would work out. I know that stuffed pablanos aren't anything new, but it was the first time I attempted it! They were easy to put together and definitely something I'll be doing again in the future. I made two big pablanos and a very small bell pepper for my toddlers to split.
-Amanda

Shrimp & Cheese stuffed Pablano Peppers

2 large pablano peppers
1/2 block of cream cheese (sorry... I don't remember how many oz and I threw away the package.)
1/2 cup of shredded colby jack or other favorite cheese
1.5 cups of small shrimp
1/4 of a red or yellow onion
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp oregano

Roast pablano peppers. If you have a gas grill you can do it right over the flame. If you have electric, you can put them right under a high temp broiler. Either way, turn them every few minutes until the skin is blackened. Remove from heat and place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or foil. Let sit for about 15 minutes to steam. Meanwhile chop onion into small pieces and saute them in butter. Add shrimp and cook until almost done. Remove onions and shrimp to a small bowl to cool. In a second bowl, use your hands to mix oregano, cream cheese and shredded cheeses. Add shrimp and onions and keep mixing with your hands until you have everything well incorporated.

Remove peppers from the bowl and peel off the blackened skin. Running them under cool water helps pull the skin off. Cut a slit in the peppers lengthwise and gently remove the seeds. Divide the cheese mixture in half and gently stuff each pepper with it. Bring the sides together. Place each pepper on a small piece of foil and wrap tightly. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes to melt the cheese.