Savory Bean and Spinach Soup from Fitness magazine

Makes: 6 servings

3 14-ounce cans of vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can tomato puree
1 15-ounce can small white beans or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
8 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach or kale leaves
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. In a 3.5-4 quart slow cooker, combine vegetable broth, tomato puree, beans, rice, onion, basil, salt, pepper and garlic.

2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting 5 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting 2.5-3.5 hours.

3. Just before serving, stir in spinach or kale and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition facts per serving: 150 calories, 9g protein, 31g carbohydrate, 3g fat, 8g fiber.

Apple Dip, perfect fall snack

Apple Dip


This is my most favorite apple dip any time of the year. Its beyond simple to make!


1 bag Butterscotch Chips
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. White Vinegar
2 tsp. Cinnamon

Microwave Butterscotch Chips, Salt and Condensed Milk for 2-3 minutes. Take out and stir in Vinegar and 2 tsps cinnamon.

And wah-lah, the most yummy apple dip ever!

Easy Pasta Primavera

3 cups (8 oz.) rotini pasta, uncooked

1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen vegetable blend

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) velveeta (2% milk) pasteuized cheese product, cut up

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 black pepper

make it:

add pasta to 2 quarts (8 cups) boiling water in a large sauce pan. boil 3 minutes. stir in vegetables; cook an addtional 7 minutes or until pasta is tender. drain; return to saucepan.

add velveeta (made with 2% milk) and seasonings. cook until velveeta is melted, stirring frequently.

 
*I cook up some cubed chicken breast and add that in, too....more hearty....and a little more poly friendly :)

Cilantro Lime Marinade

I love this recipe and it's so EASY!! It's great on chicken, I have never tried anything else with it, but I am sure it work on anything.

Cilantro Lime Marinade

1 Bunch of Cilantro(Chopped)
6 Limes
6 Cloves of Garlic(Diced- or however big chunks of garlic you want)
1 Tbs of Olive Oil
1 Tbs of Honey
Salt and Pepper to taste
4-6 Chicken Breasts

Cut up the Cilantro, add lime juice, diced garlic, olive oil, honey and salt and pepper.
Mix it up and pour over thawed chicken breasts. Let it marinate for 3-4 hours or longer. If you are in a hurry 1 hour works, it's just not as flavorful. So, try and marinate as long as you can. Once it has sat for a couple hours, fire up the grill and enjoy!!!!

Enchiladas

I think these are fairly easy. They are my mom's recipe and I have been afraid to make them thinking they'd be difficult, but I was surprised at how easy they are. For just me and my husband I only make about 1/2 of what this calls for and we still have leftovers for lunch. It's really flexible, so if you don't have all the beef it calls for just do a little less in each enchilada.

Enchiladas

Sauce:

1 10 oz. Las Palmas Enchilada sauce

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

Mix and warm

Beef Filling:

1 ½ lb. ground beef

1 tsp. salt

½ bunch green onions (bottoms)

Other ingredients:

1 small can chopped olives

1 ½ lb. sharp cheese (grated)

Corn tortillas

Green onion tops

Cook meat, onions, and salt until meat is well broken into small pieces.

Dip tortillas into sauce. Fill with meat, olives, cheese. Turn rolled side down into baking pan. Put remaining sauce, a few olives, chopped onions (tops), and cheese over all. Bake 450 for 15 mins.

Garlic Lemon Baked Salmon

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons light olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (or dry parsley conversion)

2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon

1. If cooking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), otherwise after step 2.

2. In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour (optional), turning occasionally.

3. Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal. Place sealed salmon in the glass dish, and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.

Peach Crisp

We made this the other night and the crisp part was amazing. We used canned peaches because it's all we had, but it was great. We also did not make the maple cream sauce because I did not have all of those fancy ingredients. And I cheated and used pancake syrup because I don't have real maple syrup. And I used concentrated lemon juice and no zest from a lemon. So basically I can tell ya that if you work with what you've got, it still turns out great. :)

Here's the link to it with pictures.

Peach Crisp Serves: 6-8

5 - 6 Fresh Peaches or 2-3 cans peaches

1 cup Flour

½ cup Sugar

½ cup Brown Sugar, Packed

½ teaspoon Cinnamon

½ teaspoon Nutmeg

¼ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Butter

½ whole Lemon (or lemon juice-look at the bottle for conversion)

2 T Real Maple Syrup (or pancake syrup, it it's all you have)

Maple Cream Sauce:

1½ cup Whipping Cream

3 T Light Corn Syrup

5 T Real Maple Syrup (or pancake syrup)

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt using a fork or pastry cutter. Cut butter into small pieces and gradually add to flour mixture until evenly mixed.

Peel peaches into a bowl. Add the zest from half a lemon. Squeeze juice from lemon half and stir in with peaches and zest. Add 2 tablespoons real maple syrup to peaches, stir well.

Pour peach mixture into a small pan (8” or 9” square) and cover evenly with crumb topping. Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crisp and brown on top.

Maple Cream Sauce:

Pour whipping cream into a saucepan. Add 5 tablespoons real maple syrup, 3 tablespoons corn syrup and stir over moderate heat until thickened and reduced by about one-third, about 15 min. Refrigerate mixture until it is cold and thick, or set the saucepan into a small bowl of ice. Stirring your mixture, it will cool and thicken in about 15 minutes. Drizzle sauce over peach crisp. Serve warm.

Nyholm Family Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My mom used to make these for us so we'd have them when we got home from school.  It makes a TON, so I usually half the recipe and still have plenty left over to give to neighbors.  Happy Baking. :)

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies


2 c butter
2 c sugar
2 c brown sugar

Cream together, then add:
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Measure out:
4 c flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

Add dry ingredients, then add:
5 c quick oats
24 oz chocolate chips

Bake 375 for 6-8 min

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

Just posted a really easy Crock Pot Recipe with only 4 ingredients!

Cheesy Chicken Casserole (Campbell's)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)

1 1/3 cups water

3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cup frozen mixed vegetables

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast half (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

• Heat the oven to 375°F. Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and vegetables in a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
• Top with the chicken. Cover the baking dish.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with the cheese. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes. Stir the rice before serving.
  
  

Alternatives....

• Alfredo: Substitute broccoli flowerets for the vegetables and substitute 1/4 cup grated Parmesan for the Cheddar cheese. Add 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese with the soup. Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Lower Fat: Use Campbell's® 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup instead of regular soup and use low fat cheese instead of regular cheese.
• Mexican: In place of the onion powder and black pepper use 1 teaspoon chili powder. Substitute Mexican cheese blend for the Cheddar.
• Italian: In place of the onion powder and black pepper use 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed. Substitute 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan for the Cheddar.

Triple Layer Mud Pie (by Kraft)

What You Need!

3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

1/4 cup canned sweetened condensed milk

1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)

1/2 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans, toasted

2 cups cold 2% milk

2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Make It!

MIX chocolate and condensed milk; pour into crust. Sprinkle with nuts.

BEAT 2% milk and pudding mixes with whisk 2 min.; spoon 1-1/2 cups over nuts. Stir 1/2 the whipped topping into remaining pudding; spread over pudding layer in crust.

TOP with remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate 3 hours.

(Kaitlin suggested this recipe to me because she said it was easy and it is. Thank goodness. Though somehow I did manage to still burn the chocolate. Oops, I'll remember to stir it next time while melting.)