Quick and Easy Broccoli Chicken Divan

So we are leaving for a week's vacation and I am trying to use everything fresh in the fridge that I need to cook. I still had a good bit of fresh broccoli from on on the large Costco bags that I buy, and I had some rotisserie chicken strips that needed to be used as well, and I ran across this recipe. Must say that it took me all of about 10 minutes to prepare and we were eating about 20 minutes after that - not too bad! It was really, really good too, so even after we get back this may have to go into rotation. It's a little more rich that I prefer to cook currently, but with reduced fat ingredients, it really isn't so bad! I am giving my slightly tweaked version of the recipe, but the original can be found here. Served it with a salad, of course, and I'm really looking forward to my leftovers.

Quick and Easy Broccoli Chicken Divan

• 1 pound chopped fresh broccoli (I used a couple of ounces more to finish off what I had)
  
• 1 1/2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup - Campbell's Healthy Request
  
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
  
• 3/4 cup 2% shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  
• Garlic powder
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Mrs Dash, Original blend
  
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
• 3 tablespoons dried seasoned bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Steam broccoli in microwave (I use chicken broth, but if you use water, I suggest seasoning the water a little), for 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
3. Place the cooked broccoli in an 8" square casserole dish. Top with the chicken. In a bowl, mix the soup, sour cream and milk, 1/2 of cheese, garlic and pepper and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the cheese.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly brown.

Fall weather, how I love thee (and thy vegetables)

So as anyone from Alabama knows, it is RARE that we get fall. We usually go from 95 degrees to 50, and that 50 doesn't usually happen until just before Thanksgiving. This year is different however, and we have been so lucky to have this nice fall weather the last two weeks. It has made me crave EVERYTHING fall. What screams fall more than butternut squash? This has been on my wish list since the thermometer fell below 85. So, so simple, but oh, so fabulous. We had it with a balsamic pork tenderloin and I'm about to heat my leftovers (can't wait)!!!!

Roasted Butternut Squash

• olive oil to coat
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt
• fresh, ground pepper
• 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I'd suggest buying the already peeled and cubed or you can microwave your squash for about 8 minutes to make it easier to peel and chop)
  
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425
   
2. Toss squash in olive oil, salt & pepper and garlic
3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spread squash evenly on it.
4. Cook for 20 minutes, and then gently stir squash and return to oven.
5. Check squash again after 20 minutes more (repeat at 5 or 10 minute intervals until done - if needed)
6. Remove squash from oven and sprinkle with parmesan
7. Let rest for a couple of minutes and serve!
   

All I really need is love but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt! — Lucy, “Peanuts”

When I think of chocolate, I think of chocolate cake or brownies - nothing else, not candy, ice cream, truffles, etc. And as far as brownies go, these things are good. Not great for a healthy diet, mind you, but incredibly good and worth the splurge now and then. Luckily, I'm now in the habit of bringing the leftovers (if any) to work, to keep me honest.

These are super easy and I've been asked for the recipe each time I've made them, so I figure that warrants a post. I also have to say that of all the brownie recipes I've made and/or tried, I believe that they are my favorite too and given the ingredient, I usually only have to buy one ingredient. They are chewy, so if you are a "cakey" brownie type person, you may or may not like them. Also, since they are pretty rich, I cut them up to be bite-sized. Here you go! And by all means, if you can - PLEASE eat at least one warm from the oven with some good vanilla bean ice cream. Holy chocolate cow, they are gooooood.

Perfect, Gooey, One-Bowl Brownies

• 4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon (The original recipe doesn’t call for this, but I always add it, it just gives them more depth of flavor)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Microwave chocolate and butter or margarine in large bowl at HIGH for 2 minutes or until butter or margarine is melted.
3. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts.
4. Spread in greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake for 35 minutes (do not overbake). (**I suggest lining the pan with foil and then spraying with cooking spray like "Baker's Joy". It makes for super easy cleanup and the brownies just look a lot better because they are so easy to get out because after cooling, you just lift the foil out of the pan and onto a cutting board.)
   

Mexican fiesta! Old faves and new friends!

So it was my turn for supper club and I've been craving my cheesy chicken enchiladas. Not that they are really MY chicken enchiladas, because I got the recipe from Vanessa from bunko around 10 years ago. I do have to say that I've been making them ever since and they are always good and I can't count how many people have asked for the recipe. So anyway, when we do supper club, the host does all the food, so we keep it simple. And what is easier than Mexican? I can get make and assemble the enchiladas ahead of time, so all I have to do is bake while the beans and rice are cooking. The rice recipe is just really basic and I'm guessing on the amounts. The black beans were really good (I love cilantro), and will definitely keep this combination of dishes together. A little guacamole and homemade salsa and voila (or "Ole", or something like that).

Mexican Rice

• 1 c chicken broth
• 1 ½ c of salsa (or rotel) and tomato sauce (basically, I put the tomato sauce in the measuring cup first and then pour in the salsa or rotel until it measures 1 ½ c total)
• 2 tbs cumin or taco seasoning (if you use the taco seasoning you won’t need to add salt, but if you use the cumin, you will probably need to add salt before serving)
• 2 c rice
• 1 small can of corn (drained)

1. Bring chicken chicken broth and tomato mixture to a boil.
2. Add the rice and seasoning and follow the cooking time on the bag of rice (different rice varies)
3. In the last few minutes of cooking, add the corn.

Best Black Beans

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• 2 tbs (approximate) fresh lime juice

1. In a medium saucepan, combine beans, onion, and garlic, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.
2. Season with cilantro, cayenne, and salt.
3. Simmer for 5 minutes, and serve.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

• 2 ( 10 oz. ) cans diced tomato and green chilies, undrained
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken, I usually put in twice that much
• 1 ( 8 oz. ) package cream cheese, softened
• 5 green onions, chopped
• 1 ( 8 oz. ) container sour cream (I tend to use more, probably more like 12 oz)
• 8 ( 12 inch ) flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese

1. Stir together 1/4 cup diced tomato and green chilies, chicken, cream cheese, and green onions.
2. Stir together remaining diced tomato and green chilies and sour cream; set aside
3. Arrange chicken mixture evenly down center of tortillas; roll up, and place, seam side down in a lightly greased 13 X 9 inch baking dish.
4. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Pour sour cream mixture over enchiladas and top with cheese.
5. Bake 10 more minutes; let stand 15 minutes.

Stuffed Pork Chops (a new fave)

I buy boneless chicken breasts and center cut pork chops (thick cut) in bulk at Costco. I trim the fat if needed, and bag them all individually, and then put them all in two good gallon size freezer bags. This way, when I am about to leave in the morning, I can pull out however many I need and they are neither stuck together nor freezer burned. So anyway, since these two things are pretty routine dinner items, I'm always looking for good, easy, healthy ways to cook them. If it is something he likes, Richard could eat the same thing every night of the week, I however have to have some variety.

I have been looking for some new pork chop recipes and upon reading about some yummy stuffed pork chop recipes that didn't include stuffing (you know I''m low-carbing it). I ran across some recipes that used smoked gouda and some different cheeses, and then some others that sounded good too, so I decided to try something based on some of the different elements of the ones I likes, and the finished product was way easy and totally fabulous!

Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

• 4 thick, center cut pork chops
• 4 wedges of Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb cheese
  
• 4 tbs crumbled bacon pieces (see, yet another use for my handy-dandy bacon pieces)
• 1/2 c beef broth (or 1/2 c water and beef broth granules or beef bullion)
• 1/2 c red wine
• McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning
• Nonstick cooking spray
• toothpicks
  

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cut a slit in the side of each porch chop to make a large pocket
3. Season the pork chop (inside and out) with seasoning
4. Brown pork chops in skillet (sprayed with cooking spray) for 2 minutes on each side
5. Stuff each chop with cheese wedge and 1 tbs of bacon and secure opening with toothpick
6. Place in chops in baking dish (sprayed with cooking spray) and add beef broth and red wine.
7. Bake at 375 or until pork chops for 20 minutes, or until the internal temp of the meat reaches 175.
8. OPTIONAL - add the pan juice back to skillet and thicken with corn starch or flower.

Here's the nutritional breakdown(approximate, based on 4 oz chop, with fat removed)

4 Servings - Amount Per Serving

Calories 272.0

Total Fat 14.6 g

Cholesterol 74.2 mg

Sodium 923.1 mg

Potassium 451.1 mg

Total Carbohydrate 1.5 g

Dietary Fiber 0.0 g

Sugars 1.0 g

Protein 26.7 g

Pantry Stockers

So I've been putting together a list of my "pantry stocker" must-haves for a newly married friend of mine, so I thought I would share! And after making my list, I see that I need to buy stock in McCormick's if it is publicly traded. Anyway, this is SUCH a basic list, but it's what I've got for now. I don't want to put anything like 'salt and pepper", I'm just trying to put things on here that I use ALL THE TIME, but you might not have.

Herbs and Spices

• Cumin
• Onion powder
• Minced onion - This is great to have on hand when you don't need to chop a whole onion, and just need like a tablespoon)
  
• Garlic powder
• Basil - If you find that you use this a lot, I actually have started using the kind you can buy in a tube in the produce section, it tastes WAY better, fresher, and still keeps for like two months
  
• Oregano
• Dill Weed - Steam some baby carrots, add a little butter and sprinkle a few tbs of this and you have yourself an EXCELLENT side dish. Same thing with coating a piece of salmon and grilling, or just grilling the salmon and mixing the dill weed with either plain yogurt or ranch dressing for a great sauce for the fish.
  
• Rosemary - toss some new/red potatoes (or potato wedges) in olive oil and rosemary and roast and you've got an excellent side dish.
  
• Thyme
• Cinnamon
• Curry Powder
• Chili Powder
• Red pepper
• Vanilla extract
  

Seasoning Mixes

• Italian Seasoning
• Old Bay Seasoning
  
• Cajun seasoning (Like Tony Chachare's, Emeril's, whatever you like)
• Jamaican Jerk seasoning (again, take your pick, I'm partial to McCormick's Caribbean Jerk)
  
• Mrs Dash Garlic and Herb - I probably use this most for steamed veggies, but I really use it for just about anything from eggs to lasagna or canned spaghetti sauce. It is a great addition to something I'm trying to boost the flavor a little more.
  
• McCormick Montreal Steak and Montreal Chicken - best every on steaks, chicken and even fish. Just sprinkle it on and pat it in. I even put a little in vegetables from time to time.
• Spike Seasoning - Much like I use Mrs Dash Garlic and Herb for anything and everything, Spike is another go-to for different flavors. This is an everything but the kitchen sink seasoning. It has a million ingredients, and is just good to add to just about anything. I add it to my eggs when making our daily omelets, I add it to casseroles and steamed veggies for an extra flavor boost. It's a good all-purpose seasoning.
  

Misc.

• Bacon bits/pieces - the real stuff, not the imitation. These are so good at adding flavor to so many things. I use in omelets, salads, and lots of recipes.
  
• Reduced sodium chicken broth - I always keep this on hand for ANYTHING savory
• Chicken bullion granules - Comes in a jar, you just add what you need to water. Takes up less room and if you just need a little sometimes it isn't worth opening chicken broth. The only difference is that this has a good bit of salt in it compared to the broth, so just adjust your additional salt accordingly
• Balsamic vinegar
• Red Wine Vinegar
  
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Olive oil cooking spray
  
• Corn starch (great for thickening sauces into gravy, etc)
• Soy Sauce
• Ranch dressing dry mix
• Onion soup dry mix
• Splenda Granulated sugar substitute - Comes in a resealable bag or box depending on size and is used for baking and measures cup for cup like sugar (if you are a sugar watcher, and for those who aren't they can't tell)
• Splenda Brown Sugar Blend - Comes in a resealable bag, and is used for baking and cooking and is a blend of real brown sugar and Splenda (if you are a sugar watcher, and for those who aren't they can't tell)

Sauces and Marinades of Note

• Thomas Sauce and Thomas Marinade - Fresh Market got me hooked on these, they use them for their kabobs I'm in love with. I haven't tried the dressing yet, but I'm sure I will love it too.
• Yoshida's Marinade - Costco carries the Original flavor and I use it all the time on pork chops and it is also delish on salmon. I also use it in recipes that call for teriyaki sauce. If you look at their recipes, it makes sense to use it as a sauce for meatballs, Hawaiian chicken etc.
• McCormick's Grill Mates Marinade packets - these are on the isle with all of the packets for making gravy, sloppy joes, chili, beef stew, etc. You add the contents of the packet to a ziplock with some oil and water and marinate the meat of choice. We are both partial to (in order) the Chipotle, Southwest, and Tomato Garlic & Basil. I'm sure if we tried more, we would love them just as much. I have to say too that these rock the house if you use bone-in chicken breasts and cook them outside on the grill. They are soooo juicy and fabulous.
• Cindy's Kitchen Rosemary and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette - You can find this in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods and Fresh Market. It ROCKS as a marinade and is all natural and organic. It is probably our FAVORITE way to prepare boneless skinless chicken breasts - just marinate (I usually throw the frozen ones in a ziplock, with about 1/2c of this and let them marinate while they are thawing out overnight, and just grill, bake, cook on the George Foreman, etc.)
  

Tools

• Garlic Press - this is my favorite one because it can hold pretty much any size head of garlic, or even fresh ginger. It comes with the little tool attached, that cleans out the little heads that minces the garlic.
• Instant Read Thermometer - This is INVALUABLE to me. The one that I have (and have linked to) is backlit, quick read, and has a setting for all meat types and "doneness", so you don't have to remember what temp your food should be. Keeps the food from being over or under-cooked.
• The Ove Glove - Holy guacamole! I have no idea what I did before my sweet mother-in-law bought me these. Get two of these and throw away any pot holders or silicone mitts you have. You can find them pretty much anywhere in the "As Seen on TV" section or kitchen section.
  
• Microwave veggie steamer - couldn't even begin to live without this thing. The top acts like a colander for draining off the water too. I have both sizes, but if you were going to buy just one, buy the larger one - it's not too large at all. FYI - you can find these on ebay if you aren't on your way to a Pampered Chef party.
• Crockpot with cooking timer - This is a set it and forget it kind of thing because once the timer goes off, it goes to the keep warm mode automatically. I prefer the one that I have linked to, but I'm sure other brands make something similar.
  

Savory Turkey Roast

OK, so I have a new favorite quicky meal. It takes about 10 minutes from beginning to end. I have tried several of the pre-marinated turkey tenderloin things (looks just like a pork tenderloin package, but it is turkey), and I was completely underwhelmed with them. That is until I tried the Jenny-O "Savory Roast" Turkey Breast Tenerloin. It is quite yummy, and think that it might even have crack or something else addictive in it. Although it is shaped like a pork tenderloin in the package, it is two large (boneless, skinless) turkey breasts and they go very easily right out of the package onto the George Foreman grill. I can't tell you the exact cook time because they can vary in thickness (although the package is always 24 oz), so I just use my handy little digital, instant-read meat thermometer at about 6 minutes and go from there.

Before I put my turkey on the GF, I roughly chop a couple of yellow squash (with or without some zucchini). OK, this isn't any real "recipe", I know - just telling you what I do. I chop enough to fill my small Pampered Chef Micro-steamer (if you don't have one of these, my heart breaks for you). I add about 1/4 cup water, a clove of fresh minced garlic and some Spike seasoning (I have found both the original and salt free varieties at Publix). When I put the turkey on, I put the squash in the microwave for 6 minutes.

While the two are cooking, I make a fresh salad and when I'm through with that, the two are pretty much done. Make sure the turkey rests for a couple of minutes on a plate (so the juices stay in). While turkey is resting, I remove the squash from the microwave and drain (leave the lid on, it has holes), sprinkly a little more seasoning if needed and toss in some grated parmesan (about 1/2 oz), and toss. Isn't it funny how when you are typing you say remove, but in real life, can you imagine saying "Honey, will you remove the squash from the microwave?". I don't know, maybe it is just me.

Dinner is healthy and ready! I feel almost guilty that we have this like once every week and a half now, but we are so in love with this turkey and squash is yummy and in season right now (and cheap). In my book, that's the trifecta (Yummy, healthy and quick).