Veggie & Cheese Quiche

Ingredients:
chopped onions, mushrooms, and green peppers (or whatever veggies you like)
shredded swiss cheese
shredded parmesan
1 frozen pie crust
4 eggs
1 c. fat free half & half

Directions:
Mix veggies and cheeses and place in unthawed pie crust. Beat together eggs and half & half and pour into pie crust. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 and bake another 35 minutes.

Fresh Spring Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs. young green beans, whole with tips removed

• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped

• Cherry tomatoes, halved

• Spring greens mixture (from bag or salad bar)

• ¼ lb. feta

• ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

  (Also good with meat added such as Chicken)

Preparation

1. Earlier in the day, cook beans in boiling salted water for 3 minutes or until tender crisp. 

2. Drain; run cold water over beans and refrigerate until ready to use. 

3. To assemble salad, toss beans, onion and tomatoes together with Lemon Vinaigrette; spoon onto spring greens. 

4. Top with crumbled feta and walnuts.  

Ingredients

• 3 T. fresh lemon juice

• 3 T. white wine vinegar

• 1 T. Dijon mustard

• Pepper to taste

• ½ t. sugar ( I put in a little more)

• ¼ t. salt

• 1 cup light veggie or canola oil ( I used much less then this)

Preparation

1. Whisk all ingredients except oil until well blended. 

2. Add oil gradually, whisking until combined. 

3. Makes 1 ½ cups

Broccoli Cheesy Soup

Broccoli Cheesy Soup

1 1/2 Cups choppped Broccoli
1/4 Cup Chopped celery
1/4 Cup chopped onion
1 Cup chicken broth
2 Cups milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 Cup shredded swiss cheese (I used cheddar)

1. Place vegetables and broth in saucepan. Bring to boiling; reduce heat, cover and cook until vegetables are tender.
2. In medium bowl combine milk, cornstarch, thyme, and salt and pepper to tast; add to cooked vegetables.
3.Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Cook 1 minute more.
4. Remove from heat. Add cheese; stir until cheese melts.

*(I threw it all in a blender for a really creamy soup) Serves 4

[Pumpkin Waffles]

Pumpkin Waffles w/ Buttermilk Syrup

Pumpkin Waffles

Dry Ingredients:

2 C. flour

2 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated

1 ½ C. milk

1 C. canned pumpkin

¾ C. margarine, melted

1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.Beat egg yolks lightly and combine with remaining wet ingredients, except egg yolks.Combine wet and dry mixtures.In separate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form.Fold whites into combined wet/dry mixture.Prepare waffles in a Belgian waffle maker (regular waffle maker works just fine).

Buttermilk Syrup

1 stick butter

1 Tbsp Karo light syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 C. sugar

½ to 1 C. buttermilk

1 tsp. baking soda

Bring butter, Karo, sugar, and buttermilk to boil in a large pan (mixture fixes and doubles when remaining ingredients are added!), stirring continuously. Add vanilla and baking soda, stir, and serve warm. I would recommend serving these recipes with a protein (bacon, sausage, eggs with cheese) because they’re so rich!

Baked Sweet Potato Sticks

(I halfed the recipe and it was enough for my family or 4)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
8 sweet potatoes, sliced lengthwise into quarters

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix olive oil and paprika. Add potato sticks, and stir by hand to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 30-40 minutes in the preheated oven.

Chicken Tortellini Casserole

5 T butter
6 T flour
3 c chicken broth
1 c light cream
pepper
5-6 frozen or fresh tortellini, cooked
1 c chicken, diced
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 c mozzarella cheese

Melt butter and blend in flour. Stir broth into flour mixture. Add cream. Cook until mixture thickens and bubbles. Add pepper to taste. Add cooked tortellini and chicken. Pour into a 9X13-inch pan and sprinkle with cheeses. Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden. (I halve this recipe and we leftovers for Blake's lunch!)

Crock pot Italian Chicken

3/4 cube butter
1 pkt Italian dressing mix
3 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken
2 large spoonfuls of softened cream cheese

Place butter, chicken and dressing mix in crock pot and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 4-5 hours. Take chicken out and shred. Combine cream of chicken soup and cream cheese with drippings in crock pot. Put shredded ckn back in crock pot and cook for 1/2 hours more on high. Serve over cooked rice.

I {Apologize}

I was making dinner for tonight, and I was wondering why I have never posted this recipe! It is undoubtedly the YuMmIeSt recipe that I've got, and I'm sorry for not posting it sooner! It's FAST, EASY, TASTY & HEALTHY, you can make it in the morning and let it cook all day, or cook it up just before dinner, and you can FREEZE a bunch of batches for those extra busy days. What more can a girl (& mom) ask for?

Chicken Chile

3 cans low-sodium chicken broth

2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed

2 cans great northern white beans, drained & rinsed

1 can white corn, rinsed (can substitute with frozen)

1 LARGE can of chicken, drained (or 1 grilled, chopped chicken breast)

1 jar salsa (I like to use pico de gallo)

1 10oz block frozed chopped spinach, thawed, rinsed & drained (I am in love with spinach, so if you don't love it, it can be halfed)

1 cube of cream cheese, softened (I use nufachatel cheese)

Mix all of the ingredients together in crockpot, cook until heated through.

Garnish with:

Tortilla Chips

Cheese

Sour Cream

Lime Wedges

Pasta Milano (Macaroni Grill)

This is what I order everytime we go to Macaroni Grill. This is a copycat recipe from recipezaar.com the recipe isn't exactly the same but it's still yummy!

Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Pasta

36 ounces bow tie pasta

4 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes

1 lb. mushroom, sliced

Cream Sauce

1 quart heavy cream

1 head garlic, roasted

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup parmesan cheese

Garnish

fresh parsely

parmesan cheese

1. Wash and dry chicken breasts

2. Mix garlic powder, salt, and pepper and sprinkle on chicken.

3. Grill chicken on the stove top in a skillet ot outside on the barbeque grill, until it is done all the way through. Set aside.

4. Place pasta in salted boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

5. Meanwhile saute the mushrooms and tomatoes in butter until soft.

6. Place heavy cream, roasted garlic, pepper, salt, and parmesan cheese in food precessor (or blender) and puree.

7. Place cream mixture in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

8. Mix in mushrooms and tomatoes to cheese sauce and add to cookes pasta.

9. Slice grilled chicken and place on top of the pasta.

10. Garnish with fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese. Serves 4+

Maple Salmon

I found a really yummy and quick Salmon recipe!

(If you haven't checked out Allrecipes.com, do so!)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup maple syrup (I used the fake syrup I had in the cupboard)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

Spanish Rice

This is one of our favorite side dishes. I make it to go with anything Mexican.

2 cups white rice
1 Tbsp oil
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 large can V-8 juice
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp salsa
cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add rice and stir constantly until rice begins to turn light brown. Add water and let the mixture bubble down. (Don't add the tomato sauce until it's under control or you will end up with a HUGE mess.) Add tomato sauce, V-8 juice, salsa, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and top with cheese. Serve once cheese has melted.

Texas Two-Step Chicken

I got this recipe off the back of a Pace Salsa bottle. It was surprisingly good and ridiculously easy.

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups salsa
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Pour combined salsa, brown sugar, and mustard over chicken breasts. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. (My chicken was pretty thick so it took longer to cook... about 35 minutes.)

You can eat this as is, or shred it for tacos, fajitas, or taco salad.