Chicken and Blue Cheese - Stuffed Portobellos

Call it Girl Scount Cookie remorse but I've been cooking healthy.  We are not "clean eaters" at our house but my friend is the queen of yummy, healthy recipes.

I was able to find the recipe online:
http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/chicken-blue-cheese-stuffed-portobellos/

Notes:
-This is a good make-ahead meal.  Most of the work is in the prep of the ingredients.  You can even assemble and refrigerate.
-6 HUGE portobellos will feed 6 people.  One of these is filling!  I may halve the recipe next time. 
-We don't like quinoa so we substituted equal amounts farro (my new obsession).  That is why mine might look different.
-Used blue cheese (I had it leftover).  Hunter isn't a blue cheese eater but loved it.
-Winco had MASSIVE portobello mushrooms.  The ones at Albertsons were half the size.  So mine made 6 huge ones (literally the size of my hand)!

Diane's Blondies

 

 

 

I first had these blondies around the holidays at the Hodges'.  Their family friend, Diane, made them for the family.  They are one of our favorite treats.  AND, most the time when I make them I don't even pull out the mixer! 

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks melted butter
1 lb (box) light brown sugar or 2 cups firmly packed
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 c. all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1 c. pecans (even for Hunter who doesn't like nuts)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I throw in what I have - sometimes add butterscotch for fun.  The TJ baking chips work well in this recipe, too!)


DIRECTIONS:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Grease 9x13 glass baking dish.  

-Note: I mix the entire list of ingredients in an 8 cup pyrex.

-Melt butter in pyrex; add brown sugar, and vanilla.  Mix well with a whisk.

-Add baking powder and salt; mix again.

-Stir in flour with a spatula; batter will be stiff. 

-Crack eggs in small bowl; beat well; add to batter; stir. 

-Add nuts and chips.  (Even Hunter will eat nuts in this recipe!)

Note: I tend to put aside some of my chips and poke them in the top of the dough before I bake.  It helps with presentation but is totally unnecessary!

-Bake @350 in greased 9x13 dish until top becomes golden brown (35 minutes for my gas oven).  I don't spend a lot of time spreading the batter to the outer edges since it will spread during baking. 

-Makes about 2 dozen.

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I had to include this picture from when Hunter made these before we were married.  His old dishes! AND his clever make-shift cooling rack (engineer ingenuity).
 

Almond Butter Chicken Salad

This is for all of you who are scared, loathe or despise mayo.  It might also be paleo (I am no expert since we certainly aren't at our house :).   Even though this recipe might be different than the all-time, most popular recipe Julie and I created...I love it just as much!  

This recipe is from my friend, Ashley.  It's the same Ashley where I got the amazing ice cream recipe I use monthly to this day.

Recipe:

2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped (~1 lb)

Granny smith apple, chopped

Clump red grapes, quartered

1/2 Red onion, diced

1 T almond butter

squeeze of lemon or lime juice (just enough to get it to mix)

I struggle when preparing chicken but for this recipe I had success with the thin sliced, hand trimmed chicken breasts from Albertstons.  I placed the salt and peppered chicken slices in the oven at 350 (pan covered with foil) for 18 minutes.  They were moist and cooked to perfection.

The rest of the recipe is a lot of chopping and dicing of the ingredients you see above.  The lighting was so pretty I had to snap a picture.  

Mix all together using just enough of the lemon or lime juice to help the almond butter mix.  Work through it for awhile.   Enjoy.  Hope you love it as much as I do!

Dinner Favorites

Hunter and I came up with our "dinner favorites list." I thought I would share them, linking all I can. These are our "go-to's."

In no particular order:

Broccoli and Beef Stir Fry

Shrimp and Grits Casserole

Mushroom Patties

Crockpot Pork Tenderloin

Spinach Pasta Bake

Shrimp Scampi with Roasted Red Peppers

Corn and Shrimp Chowder

Herbed Chicken Parm

Chili

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Steak and Purple Taters - all Hunter

Lasagna

Poppyseed Chicken with Mushrooms

Fajatas

Pot Roast

Pizza

Suzie's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

We are in week 2 of an inversion.  Typically I wait for sunny days for betters pictures but of all days to make soup, today is the day!  This recipe is from my wonderful coworker, Suzie.  She made it for a work shower and I had no less than 3 servings. I had her write it down because it was in her head. Tweak it to your liking.  You cannot go wrong!

Suzie's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup:

Ingredients:

4 (3/4 to 1 lb) thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
Chives to taste (I use freeze dried ~2T)
Parsley flakes (I omit)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pint half and half
Carrots (1/2 lb matchstick or baby carrots sliced...like I do)
2 T onion
8 oz fine egg noodles

Serves: 5+

Directions:

-Place chicken breasts in a dutch oven.  Add water to cover the chicken (plus some).  Salt and pepper.  Simmer until chicken is tender.  Remove the chicken and let it cool.  When it cools, chop or shred.  

Albertsons spoils me.  I cannot imagine trimming chicken anymore!

-Add the can of cream of chicken to the broth/water in the dutch oven.  

-Add can of chicken broth, pint of half and half, parsley (I omit), onion and carrots.  

-Simmer until carrots become tender.

-Add the egg noodles and continue to simmer.  When noodles start to look done, add the chopped/shredded chicken. 

-If it’s not “soupy” enough, add more water and stir to heat.  The longer the soup sits, the more chunky it will become. 

Enjoy.  Hope you love it as much as we do!

*Note: For a lower-fat version you can certainly use less half and half and more broth.  This recipe online looks like another similar and good alternative:   http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/08/creamy-chicken-noodle-soup/