Chicken Sausage Soup

March 31st, 2010

I love this soup, I made it last week for dinner one night. I think it took me a whole 1/2 hour to make from start to on the table. Since I have a full time job, a full time commute and a family quick healthy meals are a must in my life. My daughter started eating soup when she was about 10 months old so she loves homemade soups, I think this is one of her favorites.

Chicken Sausage Soup

  • 1 can of diced tomatoes including the juice
  • 3 ribs of celery ~ chopped into small pieces
  • ½ medium onion diced
  • ½ bell pepper diced
  • ½ teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1 cup of broccoli ~ chopped
  • 1 cup of cauliflower ~ chopped
  • ½ baby carrots cut into small pieces
  • 1 ½ cups of beans (I like black eyed peas) rinsed and drained
  • 3 chicken dinner sausage links (Sam’s Club Member’s Mark Spinach Asiago Chicken Sausage)
  • Chicken broth

In a large soup pot on medium heat cook the onion, garlic, bell pepper and carrots for about 2 mins. You want them to start to soften but not take on color. Add the sausage that you have removed the casing and cut up into pieces about the size of a grape. I normally cut the links in quarters long ways then cut them again into small pieces going the opposite direction.  Cook or another 2 or 3 minutes then add the remaining vegetables including the beans cover with chicken broth. Cook till all the vegetables are warmed thru and the soup is warm. Since the sausages are already cooked this is really a quick soup to make. You will notice I did not put an amount of chicken broth, I did that intentionally since you really can make this more like a stew than a soup if you want ~ but as much broth as you like or as little as you like, I normally keep this soup fairly thick since it has no pasta or grain.

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Chicken Alfredo ish???

March 30th, 2010

This is my version of a Chicken Alfredo; it has a few twists one of which is NO PASTA.. I hope you enjoy it!

  • 2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small chunks (about the size of a grape)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • ¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup fat free half and half
  • ¼ cup skim Milk
  • 2 cups of broccoli florets
  • 1 cup of cauliflower florets
  • ½ cup baby carrots quartered
  • 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
  • Black pepper and salt to taste

Spray a large non stick skillet with cooking spray, over medium heat cook chicken with pepper and salt (if desired) till almost cooked thru.  Add beans, vegetables and garlic ~ cook for about 2 or 3 minutes then add the milk and half & half, stir till it bubbles and starts to thicken before adding cheese.

I served this to my family with just a green salad for dinner. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.

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How to cook dried beans

March 29th, 2010

Well I am all about the beans these days, I don’t really know why but I have been cooking them a lot!

I recently decided to use dried beans in place of more expensive and less flavorful canned beans.

In case you have never cooked dried beans this is the process, I know it takes more time but they are less expensive and taste so much better.

Pour the bag of beans in a large dish or baking sheet to look thru them and make sure there are no rocks or bad beans. After you have looked them over put them into a large bowl and cover with HOT water, put the lid on and let them sit overnight. I leave mine on the counter and in the morning I rinse them again and add fresh hot water. At night drain and rinse the beans again and put in a pot and cover them with water and spices. I like to add Garlic powder, a few black pepper corns, a bay leaf or two, onion powder and a few red pepper flakes ~ please don’t add salt till the beans are almost done cooking or the skin on the bean will be tough.  Cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes about 2/3 way thru add a nice pinch of salt (cooking times will vary depending on the bean, check the directions on your bag). After the beans are cooked, drain the liquid and rinse the beans again ~ store in a zip top bag in the fridge.

Tomorrow I will have a few ideas for your cooked beans….

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Beans, beans the musical fruit… you know…

March 23rd, 2010

In our house we eat beans at least once a week. I have many variations on bean salad but this is my basic recipe. I am sure I will post more variations this summer since it is one of my favorite side dishes.

I buy beans canned and dried but to make this easy I will post it using canned beans. An important thing to remember when using canned beans is to please drain and rinse them well; it helps to remove some of the excess starch.

Basic Bean Salad

  • 1 can of garbanzo beans
  • 1 can of black beans or small white beans
  • ½ pint of grape tomatoes quartered
  • ½ cucumber peeled and cut into small pieces (about the same size as the cut tomatoes)
  • ¼ small red onion diced
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil (fresh is not in season yet)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 3 oz sliced olives
  • 3 oz artichoke hearts cut into small pieces
  • ½ cup of balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Dash of salt and pepper

Mix all of the above in a large bowl, refrigerate for one hour before serving.

Small tip of the day… if your onion is to strong slice it into rings and soak in ice water before you use it. The cold water will remove some of the heat from the onion and keep it crisp.

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Green Enchiladas

March 7th, 2010

Green Enchiladas

  • 1 ½ lbs of ground beef
  • 10 low carb whole wheat tortillas
  • 12 oz of grated cheddar cheese
  • 15 oz  of small white beans
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 2 teaspoons of garlic crushed
  • ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 can of green enchilada sauce (you can make your own I just didn’t have time today)
  • 6 oz of small black olives

In a sauté pan cook the beef with the onion, when the beef is almost done cooking add the garlic and red pepper flakes continue to cook till juices run clear. Drain off any fat and add beans, stir to combine.

While the beef mixture is cooling take a large glass baking dish and spray with non-stick baking spray, pre-heat your oven to 350.

Use a large plate to wrap enchiladas, the traditional way to make the tortillas pliable is to fry them but that adds too much fat. I wrap mine in a dish towel that I have moistened (just a little bit) and nuke tortillas till warm.  On the plate pour some of the sauce, place the tortilla in the sauce and turn it over once so it is coated on both sides. Place some of the cheese, olives and meat mixture then wrap it up, make sure you pull it tight, the way I do it is to fold the piece closest to me up over the mixture then pull back to make tight then roll it forward.  Place into baking sheet, after all are wrapped place remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with any extra cheese. Bake till they are bubbly about 25 mins.

To make your own sauce, take 10 to 12 tomatillos (they are the strange looking green things by the tomatoes that have a brown husk on them) that have the husk removed and quartered place them in a sauce pan with one onion that has been chopped into rough pieces, add two jalapeno peppers, three cloves of garlic that have been crushed and about 3 cups of chicken stock. Cook till all the vegetables are soft. Let it cool then transfer into a food processer or blender and blend till smooth. If it needs to be looser add some extra water, it depends on how long you cook if you will need more liquid.

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Chili

February 23rd, 2010

Cold weather and snow call for Chili here is my take on it.

Beef Chili

  • 2 lbs of ground beef
  • 1 small onion chopped (if you want to cheat you can buy chopped onion and bell pepper in your freezer section ~ I buy it for my pizza and keep it on hand)
  • 1 large bell pepper chopped
  • 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
  • 2  ~ 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes in juice
  • 2 cans of your favorite beans drained and rinsed, I like small white beans the best
  • 3 tablespoons of chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon of cumin
  • ½ package of sliced mushrooms
  • Salt and Black pepper

Place the mushrooms, onion, bell pepper and beef in a large stock pot and cook till the beef is no longer pink. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, beans and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste, if you want an extra kick add a few sprinkles of crushed red pepper flakes.  Cook over low heat stirring occasionally for about an hour.  I normally serve over quinoa or dreamfield pasta with cheese and sour cream.

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