Hot Caprese Dip

Gooey. Cheesy. Good. This dip is so easy and SO yummy. We ate it as a late night snack with slices of whole wheat french bread and I slightly died at how good it was. You can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge for when you're ready to use it! A great way to use up those tomatoes from your garden, too!

Ingredients:

16 ounces part-skim mozzarella, cubed
6 oz low fat cream cheese, cubed
2 cups tomatoes, diced, seeded and juiced*
3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil (or about 1 tablespoon dried)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Spray a medium oven safe dish with cooking spray. Put about half of the mozzarella on the bottom of the dish. Top with tomatoes, basil and spices. Top with cream cheese cubes and remaining mozzarella.


Bake for about 15 minutes on 375 and then broil until cheese is bubbly. (There will be liquid at the bottom of the dish from the cheese. using a lower moisture mozz will decrease this!)

Serve with your favorite cracker, bread or spoon!

*A great way to get excess juice out of your tomatoes is to sprinkle them with salt and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Then rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

Recipe adapted from How Sweet Eats

Buffalo Chicken Chili

This recipe was absolutely delicious (and low cal/fat)! My only complaint is that it didn't make a lot so that I could freeze half. Next time I'm going to double it, or triple it! This is perfect football food -You can make it in advance and then keep it warm in your crockpot for the day. We ate ours with multi-grain scoops as "nachos" but it is also great with a spoon! I enjoyed mine with crumbled blue cheese and Rich topped his with sharp cheddar. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

 

1 pound ground chicken

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup celery, sliced

1/2 cup carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground

1 can of light beer beer or chicken broth (use the beer!!)

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup hot sauce (or to taste) - Franks Red Hot!

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings: crumbled blue cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese

 

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken in a large pan over medium heat and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in the pan, add the onions, celery and carrots and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the beer or broth and deglaze the pan.
5. Add chicken, tomatoes, beans, paprika, oregano, cayenne and hot sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Serve with topping of your choice.

Recipe comes from Closet Cooking

Veggie & Hummus Wrap

Meat is expensive lately so I wanted to make a healthy satisfying meat free dinner full of veggies.  This wrap was so very tasty, easy to make and healthy.  We were shocked by how filling it was.   You can customize this any way you want with whatever veggies that are in season or that suite your taste.   Definitely going on the menu rotation!  We served the wraps with sweet potatoes.  The only thing I would change is that next time I think I will make my own hummus instead of using store bought. This recipe makes 6 wraps. 

1 med-large zucchini, peeled and quartered
1 small red onion, sliced (divided)
1 red pepper, cut in small chunks
1 green pepper, cut in small chunks
1 cucumber, peeled and quartered
10-12 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups baby spinach leaves
black olives, halved (optional)
banana peppers (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less depending on taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (more or less depending on taste)
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (more or less depending on taste)
1 TBS Olive Oil
3-5 TBS hummus (depends on how creamy you want the wrap to be)
6 whole wheat tortillas (6"), warmed

Add the zucchini, 1/2 of the red onion, green & red pepper to a pan on medium heat.  Add the olive oil, salt & pepper (to taste) and italian seasoning.  Stir to coat.   Let cook until tender crisp, about 3-5 minutes.  (Be careful not to overcook.) 
Add the spinach leaves to the pan and stir to coat.  Cook one additional minute. Remove from heat. 

Spread a layer of hummus on one side of the tortilla, next add about 1/4 cup veggie mixture.   Top with cucumber, tomato, the uncooked red onion, and the optional black olives and/or banana peppers.  Roll up and enjoy! 

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Mini Muffins

This recipe came from Everyday with Rachel Ray and has circulated around Pinterest. My kids have been complaining about their almost daily lunch of PB&J so I decided to give these a try, with my own changes, to give them a lunchtime variety. One great thing is they freeze so you can make them whenever and then just pop them in the microwave or toaster oven when you're ready to use them!

This recipe makes 48 mini muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt (my addition, optional)
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 cups 1% milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten (can use egg substitute)
2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup turkey pepperoni, diced into small pieces
1 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

To Freeze
Arrange pizza muffins on a cookie sheet. After they are completely cooled, freeze for 1 hour. Then place in air tight freezer safe container or zip-lock bags.

Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

These taquitos rocked!  Every time I think I spend too much time on Pinterest, I find an awesome recipe that has me going back for more!  lol.    As soon as we tried them, we thought of the perfect occasion to serve them - football season!  I actually think they were even better the 2nd day so you can definitely make them ahead of time and just warm them up.   They were crunchy and full of flavor.  So good!  (I added kid friendly directions under cooking instruction #4 below).  

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups of chicken, cooked and shredded
12 flour tortillas
2 cups of mozzarella cheese, grated
4 oz cream cheese (we used neufatchel)
1/3 cup of Frank’s hot sauce or something similiar
1/3 cup of milk
2 TBSP of butter (we used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light and it worked fine!)
1 tsp. of Mrs. Dash
1 tsp. of garlic powder
2 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a small sauce pot over medium low heat, melt butter.
3. Add Mrs. Dash, garlic powder. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add cream cheese and stir until melted and completely combined with butter and spices.
   
   ** To make some taquitos kid friendly, we added only the milk from the next step and let it simmer for several minutes and then put it aside so we could keep some NON spicy.  Then just stir in a handful of chicken and the non spicy ones are ready to assemble. **
   
5. Whisk in hot sauce and milk and simmer for about 3-5 minutes.
6. Combine chicken and sauce.  Simmer several minutes or until the sauce thickens up a bit. 
7. Lay out a tortilla; fill with about ¼ – 1/3 cup chicken and 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese.
8. Tightly roll up taquito and place on a greased baking sheet; repeat until chicken is gone.
9. Brush taquitos lightly with EVOO on all sides.  (We brushed very lightly and used way less than the 2 TBSP it called for and they still came out very crispy.)
10. Bake for 15 – 18 minutes; rotate them every 5 minutes, until golden brown.

*recipe adapted from here

 

Baked Tortellini

I've never had baked tortellini, but have wanted to try it because it sounds so yummy. I found this recipe and it seemed like just what I was looking for. WARNING: Make this recipe on a night when you aren't counting calories. It isn't terrible for you if you watch portion control (which you won't have a choice because it's very rich) but it's not light or "skinny." I usually go full steam ahead on Friday night with the carbs and filling foods because I run so much on Saturdays. I digress...make this. It's GOOD.

Ingredients:

3 cups or 1 (13 oz) bag fresh cheese tortellini (I used 20oz and shared with the neighbors. It made a ton)
1  (24 oz) jar of marinara sauce of your liking
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup fresh grated reduced fat Parmesan cheese, divided
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 11 x 7-inch baking pan.

In a pot of boiling water, cook tortellini for 3 minutes. You don’t want it fully cooked because it will cook more in the oven. Drain and place in a bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoons of butter to prevent sticking.

Combine the the marinara, cream, and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Then add to the pasta and gently toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Place the tortellini into the greased baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and mozzarella. Then bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly browned.

Serve with a nice hunk of french bread of garlic bread. YUM!




recipe adapted from: http://realmomkitchen.com/6852/easy-baked-tortellini/

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Gorgonzola

We are huge pizza eaters around these parts. I always make my own pizza crust, which you can find here, and then I vary the toppings. Tonight I wanted something a little more 'grown up' than the cheese pizza topped with broccoli that I usually make. I have always loved barbecue chicken pizza so I threw this together and it was DE-LISH. I highly recommend using the Gorgonzola cheese but you could substitute sharp cheddar and sit on the lame side of the table. Enjoy!

This recipe makes 1 medium sized pizza. If you follow the whole wheat pizza recipe above, cut it in half.

1 pre-made or homemade pizza dough
1/2 cup barbecue sauce of your choice. I used Kraft Original.
1 medium red onion, sliced thin and caramelized
1 cup of shredded chicken
1 5oz container of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Spread dough on a well greased baking pan or pizza pan. Top with barbecue sauce, chicken, onions and cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes on 425 until the sauce is bubbly. The cheese will not melt so don't wait for that to happen!