Poppyseed Chicken
2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts - cooked and cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 - 16 oz. container of sour cream
2 Tablespoons of Poppyseeds
1 sleeve ritz crackers- crushed
white rice - prepare 8 servings for whole recipe.

Combine soup, sour cream, and poppyseeds. Mix in chicken. Put in 9 x 13 greased pan. Top with crushed crackers. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees or until hot and bubbly. Serve over or stir in rice. serves 8.

My favorite way to saute chicken -

In a heavy bottom pot - you want to turn the heat on Medium high to high. Let it heat up for about 4 - 5 minutes. Add a few tablespoons of EVOO then add the chicken to the pot. It will sizzle instantly - if it does not your pot is not hot enough. I cut my chicken into tiny pieces so they cook pretty fast I contantly move my chicken for about 4 -5 minutes and it is done. I love the brownness that my dutch oven adds to chicken when I saute it this way.

Menu for the week...

I just got done baking healthy pumpkin muffins with cinnamon chips and banana bread. This can be used as breakfast or dessert this week.

I will add pictures as I make the meals and add them into the recipe. I am worried if I don't do this now I may not get to it every day this week.




















Black Bean and Corn Salsa

For lunch Jeremy and I went to his co-workers house and I brought black bean and corn salsa - oh my goodness is this YUMMY and they thought so too. My friend Margo gave me this recipe. I always double this recipe because it is such a huge hit. I do not double the red wine vinegar because I like to taste the other stuff better. You may want to add more if you double it!
3 Roma tomatoes - diced
3 avocados - diced
1/2 purple onion - diced
1/4 C. cilantro - chopped
1 can shoe peg corn- drained
1 16oz. can black beans - drained and rinsed
4 Tablespoons of lime juice. - I always use 2 limes - even when I double this recipe I still just use 2 limes.
2 T. EVOO
2 T. Red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt, 1tsp pepper - or add to taste - I usually add a little more.

Mix this all together and serve with multi-grain chips - YUMMY!

An easy way to cut avocados - cut them length wise and twist open. Scoop out the meat from the non pit side. CAREFULLY push your knife into the pit and twist the pit out of the avocado and then scoop out the meat and dice up!

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 jars pasta sauce
• 8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 lb. ground beef
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Brown ground beef and add pasta sauce, mushrooms and reserved cheeses.
   
4. In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined. I refrigerate this for about 10 minutes so it is easier to stuff in the shells. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and place in a roasting pan - it never fits in a 9x13 dish for me.
   
5. Pour beef and pasta sauce mixture over stuffed shells.
6. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, until edges are bubbly and shells are slightly set.

Best Banana Bread Recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Homemade Granola

What you need:
3T - EVOO
4 Cups slow cook oats
Put the 3 T EVOO in a large skillet and warm it up - pour the oats in and cook for about 5 minutes on medium until the oats start to toast - very light brown. I usually stir this a lot.

Pour the cooked oats on some wax paper

In the same skillet - still on medium
1 stick of butter
1/4 Cup honey
3/4 C brown sugar
Cook this together until bubbling - let bubble for about 3 minutes.

Add the oats back into the mixture above.
Also add in:
3/4 C. sliced almonds
3/4 C. dried fruit ( I use dried cherries and blueberries) - I usually add more then 3/4 C because we love it.

Stir until it is all mixed together and then cook on medium for 5 minutes.

Pour it out onto wax paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray - and spread it out evenly. It will take about an hour to dry and cool.

This granola is chewy and amazing over yogurt and fruit!

Amazing Spaghetti Sauce

I made the best spaghetti sauce tonight. This is my best friends Dad's recipe and I must say it did not disappoint! I doubled the recipe so I could have left overs and I am planning another pasta dish at the end of the week.

What you need: - This is the original recipe.
2 pounds ground beef
1 onion finely chopped
2 - 15 oz. cans of Contadina Extra think and Zesty tomato sauce
1 6oz can of Contadina tomato paste
1 handful of basil leaves - I used fresh. - 12 leaves
1 handful of Italian seasoning - about 2 Tablespoons
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. garlic salt
6 cloves of garlic
1 T. crushed red pepper
2 T. parsley flakes
1 pinch of sugar - no more!
3 T. EVOO
3 T. grated Parmesan


Brown the beef until fully cooked, add onion while browning.
Remove from the burner and add all the other ingredients, stir well and return to the burner on low. Let simmer for at least 1/2 hour stirring once in a while.
This will cover a pound of spaghetti so you can have left overs.

Holy Guacomole

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe and I can honestly say it is a HUGE HIT every time I make it.

What you need:
6 large avacados - chop into small pieces and mash just a little - we like chunky guacamole!
1/2 red onion - diced small
1 lime - squeeze over avocados - sometimes I even use 2 limes!
1 - 2 jalapenos - deseeded and diced super fine
1 big bunch of cilantro- chopped
salt to taste

combine all the ingredients and mash together with a fork until desired consistency.