Recipe: Cheesy Chicken & Stuffing Bake

I've finally gotten back into the groove of cooking dinner on a regular basis and I am trying to build my repertoire of easy to throw together meals that are both fast and somewhat healthy.

While this meal isn't exactly what one thinks of when you say healthy, it's definitely not that bad, and it's what I made for dinner tonight. I know it doesn't LOOK particularly appetizing, but trust me on this.

Cheesy Chicken & Stuffing Bake (Basic Version)

1 lb of chicken breast, cut into small pieces

1 box of stuffing (I used Stove Top Low Sodium)

1 1/2 cups of cheddar jack cheese

1 can of cream of chicken soup

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cook stuffing according to directions, leaving a bit dry.

Put chicken, soup, and cheese in a 9 x 13" baking dish and mix together. 

Put cooked stuffing on top.

Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Serves 6

That's it. It's the easiest recipe ever. Want to jazz it up? Toss in some veggies. I had some leftover chopped onions on hand, so I tossed those in this time around. It would also be great with broccoli, corn, cauliflower, carrots, peas...anything you want, really! Or you can always serve the vegetables on the side, which is what I did tonight.

And if I did the calculations right, it should only be about 6 WW points. Not too shabby!

Recipe: Healthy Corn Chowder

This is a recipe post. But first I want to point you all over to Casey of Girl in the Poodle Shoes because I hung out with her last weekend, and it was an absolute blast, and she wrote all about it. So until I get around to writing my own re-cap, go check hers out! :)

Onward...

I freaking love corn chowder. It's creamy, it's buttery, it's sweet, it's salty. Oh mama.

Of course it is decidedly un-healthy due to the aforementioned reasons. Luckily, Weight Watchers stepped in and created a more healthful and lower fat version that is pretty darn good. It may not completely take the place of delicious corn chowder in a bread bowl (hold me!) but it has satisfied my corn chowder cravings on more than one occasion.

Here's the recipe, taken from WeightWatchers.com:

Ingredients:
1 medium Yukon gold (or yellow) potato
1 spray cooking spray
1/2 cup uncooked celery, chopped
1/4 cup uncooked onions, chopped (or one shallot, chopped)
4 pieces corn on the cob, kernels removed (or just some corn...really however much you want)
1 cup red pepper, diced
4 oz Canadian bacon, diced
2 cups fat free skim milk
salt & pepper
1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Directions:
1. Pierce potato in several places with a fork; microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool; peel and mash. *I've also done this without mashing and instead just cutting the potato into small pieces, leaving the skin on. It was equally tasty.

2. Meanwhile, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Add celery, onion, corn and red pepper; sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.

3.  Stir bacon and milk into saucepan; stir in mashed potato and mix well. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; stir to combine. Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil). Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

For 6 points a serving, that's not too shabby! Enjoy!

and the snozzberries taste like snozzberries!

I just had a thought, you guys.

You all know the scene in Willy Wonka when they lick the wallpaper because it tastes like whatever is printed on it?

What if this was real. What if they put this to use in cookbooks. "Hm, this recipe looks good, but will I like it? Should I take the time to procure these ingredients and then slave in my kitchen for hours trying to make this happen? Let me just lick the page first to make sure it's worth it."

How amazing would that be?!

Because come on guys...don't you all just want to lick this right now?

French Toast with Berry Butter

via Pioneer Woman

fool proof food: steak and cheese

This is another new section I am giving a try on the old blog. On occasion, I like to cook. Typically I enjoy things that are simple and not super unhealthy. Very occasionally I'll feel really inspired and knock out a really stellar, complex dish. By "very occasionally" I mean that happened once. But it was amazing. I thought I would share some of those recipes here in case anyone wants to add some simple, yummy meals into their usual repertoire.

Today we have Steak and Cheese. Some of you may way to call it Cheesesteak. You would all be wrong. But feel free to debate that amongst yourselves, since I am firmly in the Steak and Cheese Club.

Ingredients:
Butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
Shaved steak
Mushrooms
One medium onion
American cheese (or really, any old cheese you want)

Step 1: Chop up your onion. I like mine in little strips. Feel free to chop yours however you want. Or even omit it all together! I wouldn't do that though, because the onion makes it extra delicious.

Step 2: Add some olive oil to a large fry pan. About 1-2 tablespoons should do it. Toss a pat of butter in there too. Because olive oil and butter taste delicious together. Turn the heat on to medium.

Step 3: Wait until the pan gets nice and hot and your oil and butter starts to bubble slightly. Toss in those onions.

Step 4: Cook the onions over medium to medium low heat until they get nice and brown. This may take awhile and requires constant vigilance. I am easily distracted and often burn onions, but you really have to cook them slowly and carefully. Remove them from the pan and set aside. I used a slotted spatula so some of the oil would drip off.

Step 5: Put another small pat of butter into your pan.

Step 6: Dump in your nice clean mushrooms. Don't forget to make sure they're nice and dry like I did. That's why mine look so soupy. But they did get nice and tender, which is what we are aiming for.

Step 7: So cook those 'shrooms until they are nicely browned and tender. Remove from pan, using the slotted spatula again and put them in with the onions.

Step 8: Add a little bit more butter to the pan (okay, so this isn't one of my super healthy recipes. Still better than the sub shop!). Toss in your shaved beef and begin to pull it apart using two forks.

Step 9: Cook through, over medium heat. Season it up with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder. Drain off a bit of the grease.

Step 10: Add your cheese. We only had the processed Kraft stuff, but deli American cheese makes this so much better. Let it melt and mix it all up in there. Add more if you're feeling sassy. Or like cheese as much as I do.

Step 11: Mix in your onions and mushrooms. I know that last picture looks completely disgusting, but trust me people. I'm drooling thinking about this sandwich.

Step 12: Place the mix in a roll. Eat. Sigh with delight.