Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

 

Ahh, what an unexpected gift to have time to kitchen-craft,
AND if I hurry...blog about it!

 

 

 

Trim and butterfly 4 boneless chicken breasts. Set aside.

 

 

In a large pan:

     drizzle olive oil (or coconut oil)

     Lemon or lime zest

     diced onion (about half a large onion)

     chopped mushrooms

     several cloves of garlic-crushed

Sautee until it starts to turn transparent.

Then add:

     1bag baby spinach

     squeeze about half a lime over

Sautee until wilted and let cool.

 

 

In bowl combine:

     1 cup lactose-free cottage cheese

     about 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

     fresh ground black pepper

Use immersion blender to mix and smooth consistency (like ricotta cheese)

Stir in:

     fresh chives (or dried)

     fresh parsley (or dried)

     1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

     chopped artichokes (not marinated)

     cooled spinach mixture

 

lightly spray (or rub) outsides of chicken with olive oil

dust lightly with flour (optional)

and quickly sear in a hot pan (use the same well flavored pan you cooked the spinach in)

 

Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.  Place the chicken (bottom half) in the dish, and spoon the filling over them, put the top pieces of chicken on, add some slivered mushrooms and cover with sauce.  Top with some cheese if you want.  I used a little bit of finely shredded raw milk cheddar cheese.

 

Bake at 350 about 45 min or until your chicken is completely cooked. (Might be longer if your chicken breasts were thicker.)

 

Another version...in a similar dinner a while back, I opted for lemon oil, lemon zest, cilantro and more garlic combined and brushed over chicken (just brown them a little longer) then wrap with prosciutto and bake in a baking dish at 350, about 30 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Chicken Soup

 

It all started last week with a roasted organic chicken...

 

Delicious with carrots, red potatoes, onion, roasted garlic and sweet potatoes.

 

Then I took the bones, and some vegetables and

slow simmered some delicious bone broth.

 

Now...

 

Chicken Soup!

 

 

Add chicken meat removed from the bone to the broth

 (I added some roasted breast meat since we ate most of the meat from the whole chicken I had done earlier! Roasted boneless breasts in some of the broth along with fresh basil, chives, cilantro, black pepper and lime juice.)

Chopped Organic carrots,

One large diced leek

One medium peeled and diced turnip

several stalks of celery with leaves

Crimini mushrooms-sliced

chopped chives

chopped baby spinach (about half a bag)

season with sea salt and ground pepper, a bay leaf, 

cayenne pepper, lime zest

 

Planning to top with a squeeze of lime juice, a dollup of plain, greek, whole milk yogurt and some slivers of avocado

 

Is it dinner time yet, because it smells wonderful!!

 

 

Ham and Bean Soup

Ham and Bean Soup

Post Christmas...I have a hambone, so of course I'm thinking SOUP!!

In typical fashion I browsed some recipes, including one from my friend Jeannine, and one from my cousin Kelly...then I just started creating my own version.

 

I started by stripping the hambone pretty clean and then I put it in a pan of water with some crushed garlic, chopped celery, Rosemary, dried or fresh lime zest, and some fresh cilantro.

Next, I sautéed some chopped onion with a bit of red pepper flakes.

 



 

One of the recipes had included escarole...I used spinach instead! 

 'Threw it in on top of the onions to wilt.

 

Into the pot it went...simmer away soup...simmer away!

(Covered, on LOW, hours...)

 



 

Let's see...what else do I have in the crisper drawer???

Carrots!

 

 

oooo...radishes will add a little zip!

 



 

 

Mushrooms sound good!

 



 

 

Oranges?  Nah, just kidding...I needed a snack! LOL

 



 

So, here's my school of thought...

I pick the bone well before I start the soup (chicken and turkey too).

Then, as the bone simmers, what meat is left lends it's flavor to the broth.  I find the meat on the bone

rather tasteless and bland after, so instead of simmering a short time and stripping the meat for the soup, I simmer it a long time and then discard the whole bone (all the flavor left in the broth) and

and use the meat I had set aside.

Also...

at this point it was bed time.  I cooled the broth over night and skimmed off the fat in the morning...

I know the fat makes it flavorful, but I needed healthier! (and there was very good flavor anyway!)

 

Warmed the soup again, added the ham

(what was in the bag is what I had set aside for soup)

 and several cans of beans!

 



 

I rinsed all the beans well to reduce the salt.  I also used my immersion blender to

puree some of the soup with the tomatoes and the larger beans--pintos and butter beans. 

(My family doesn't particularly care for large beans in their soup.)

It gives the soup a nice thick consistency and flavor.

 

Mmmm....simmered until dinner (no lid so it reduces slightly)

 

Some toppings??

 

 

Kris's Ham and Bean Soup:

 

Strip hambone and set aside meat to add to soup later

Place bone in deep pan with water and seasonings of choice:

   crushed fresh garlic

   Rosemary

   lime zest

   fresh chopped cilantro

Add veggies etc...

   Diced celery (with leaves)

   chopped carrots

   chopped radishes

   diced mushrooms

Sautee and add:

   diced onions

   red pepper flakes

   baby spinach

Cover and simmer on LOW until well flavored (couple hours)

Remove bone (optional add in any meat from bone that has retained flavor-sometimes there is some deep between the bones that is still worth adding)

Cool until fat floats to top and solidifies.

Skim off fat with a flat spoon and discard.

Remove a portion of the soup and puree with low salt diced tomatoes, a can of pinto beans and a can of butter beans (or Great Northern beans)- Rinse beans well to reduce salt.

Warm soup and add ham previously set aside.

Add rinsed Small White Beans and Black Beans.

Simmer uncovered to reduce.

Serve with grated cheese and sliced green onions. (Hot sauce and crackers optional)

 

Tuna Lettuce Wraps

Something Different...

Tuna Lettuce Wraps!

 

     I'm tired of salad for lunch everyday, and tired of making them too.  I sent my husband to the store and he came home with iceberg lettuce...blech!  I have dubbed it the "polyester of all vegetables."

 

 

so...here is what I came up with to shake up lunch and use up that iceberg...

 

     I took an envelope of light tuna in water, added about 1 tablespoon chopped onion, a dash of cilantro and parsley, one chopped hard boiled egg, 1 stalk of celery with leaves, and 1-2 tablespoons of greek yogurt ranch dressing.  Spooned it onto a half lettuce leaf  and rolled it up.  It made about 5 or 6 rolls.  I put them in a container, and into my lunch bag it went with a few cherry tomatoes, an apple and some homebrewed and chilled green tea...LUNCH!!! (well, except for the one I ate...it ripped, I had to eat it!)

According to My Fitness Pal, the lettuce rolls are about 200 calories, 2.7g carbs, and 24g protein.

Happy Lunch, Kris

Sauerkraut Salad

 

Sauerkraut Salad

 

 

Sauerkraut is a probiotic, and low in calories...

but not so much when you pair it up with Polish Sausage in your crockpot. 

So here is an alternative good for Cycle 1! 

 

*Actually...

Rinse the sauerkraut (to cut down on salt),

add a dollop of local honey, a bit of seasonings,

and use Turkey Kielbasa.

Cook on low in crockpot. 

1 cup of Sauerkraut and I link is only

140 calories...but NOT a Cycle 1 dinner (good for Cycle 3)

 

Sauerkraut Salad:

Ingredients:

1 (32oz) package of Sauerkraut

1 Cup diced Celery

1/2 Cup chopped onion

1/2 Cup chopped green or red pepper

6 packets Truvia (1 Cup sugar)

5 Tablespoons Olive oil (1/3 Cup cooking oil)

5 Tablespoons Vinegar

Herbs of Choice (oregano, pepper, parsley, celery seed, garlic...NO added salt)

Directions:

Rinse and drain Sauerkraut. Squeeze out excess moisture.  In a large bowl, combine the sauerkraut, celery, onion, and green/red pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, sweetener, and vinegar.  Add herbs of choice.  Add to the sauerkraut mixture and stir well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).

1/2 cup = 52 calories, and counts as one probiotic serving for the day.

 

I also adjusted to make half a bag (and used the other half in the crockpot) 3 packets of Truvia, 2 Tbs oil, 2 Tbs vinegar, 1/4 cup onion and pepper, 1/2 cup celery.

Sautéed Cabbage

Sautéed Cabbage

       

so...I had used a big, beautiful head of cabbage brought to me fresh from a friend's garden, to make some delicious cabbage rolls (see previous post)...but, I only used the large outer leaves.  What to do with the rest of the head of blanched cabbage???

 

I started with a little flax oil (you could use olive oil) in my pan, warmed it up, chopped up the cabbage and got busy chopping and adding what ever else I had on hand (see suggestions below). Toss it well with your hands.  Then I sautéed it until tender and starting to brown up (about 5-8 minutes) and stirred it every 30 seconds or so.  When done, I added a bit of lemon oil (Tastefully Simple or Wegmans) and seasoned to taste. PS: the above picture is BEFORE I sautéed it.

 

Suggested Additions:                            

cabbage of course!*

onion (red*, yellow, white)

green peppers                                

red or yellow peppers*                              

leeks or green onion                               

mushrooms 

rapini (or broccoli rabe)*                             

spinach 

garlic* 

carrot shavings*

Flax seeds*

Kale or other dark greens

Suggested Seasonings:

course sea salt*

black pepper*

cilantro*

oregano

chives

Parsley

Basil

lemon juice

lemon or lime zest

 

*these are the things I used (shown in picture)

 

went nicely with the cabbage rolls as a side dish...

 

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

 

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Galumpki)

 

Cabbage Leaves:

I wasn't sure how to do this, but this worked for me...

 

Set a LARGE pot of water to boil

Cut the core out of the head of cabbage

Once the water boils, submerge the whole head of cabbage

Bring back to a boil

The leaves should soften and start to pull away from the head

Drain and rise in cool water just so you can handle it to remove full leaves
 

Sauce:

In a bowl whisk together:

 

1 (8oz) an tomato sauce

1 (12oz) can tomato paste

1 to 1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire  sauce

1+ Tablespoons of Agave (or 3 Tablespoons brown sugar)

Spices or fresh herbs of your choice (I added cilantro, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley)

 

Filling:

In large frying pan, heat slight amount of olive oil or flax oil.  Add 1/3 cup chopped red onion and several cloves of fresh crushed garlic.  Then add 1-1.5 pounds lean ground turkey. (You could use, lean beef, venison or your ground meat of choice.) Cook until turkey is browned, and onion is tender.  Drain. Set aside to cool slightly.

Mix in to meat:

  1 (8oz) can tomato sauce

  1egg-beaten
  1/4 to 1/2 cup medium chunky salsa (gave it a nice flavor kick!)

  pepper (and other seasonings of choice-I found no salt was necessary because of the salt in the canned sauce I used)

  about 1 cup cooked rice (I used ready to serve brown and wild rice)

  1-2 Tablespoons flax seeds (optional)

 

Putting it all together:

lay out the cabbage leaves (trim off the tough end if necessary)

put about 2 heaping Tablespoons of filling in the center of each leaf. 

Fold over the ends and roll up (mine ended up more like squares then rolls)

Place a little of the sauce and some carrots sliced thinly by length (optional) in the bottom of a baking dish.

Place the cabbage rolls in the baking dish-Seam side down.

  I ended up with about 6 BIG rolls and 8 medium rolls, so I used two dishes and froze one!

Cover evenly with the sauce. (Be sure sauce gets between them and around the edges too)

Bake It:

Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 (preheat oven) for about an hour.  Remove foil last 10 minutes.

Serve with a bit of fresh grated parmesan

 

What to do with the rest of the head of cabbage???  See my next blog for a great side dish idea to serve with these cabbage rolls.