Taco Pasta

What do you get when an Olive Garden receives Taco Bell's shipment of ingredients?
TACO PASTA!

There's a short little clip about the steps of taco pasta... as you can see it's pretty darn simple. It's also a great roll-over meal to have after you make tacos!

What you're going to need (for 3-4 servings)

-2 cups dry pasta (whole wheat works great)

-1/2 cup ground beef

-1/2 cup beans (can have more, this is just what I had after taco night)

-1/2 cup corn (again, give or take depending on what you have)

-2 tomatoes, chopped

-1/2 cup salsa

The steps to supper:

1. Boil pasta until nearly done, then drain all but aout 1/4 cup of the water

2. Heat the salsa, tomatoes, corn, beans and beef

3. When hot, add to the pasta and place on a burner

4. Reheat, stirring often. It may not seem like the sauce is thick enough, but it should thicken as you heat - if not you can always add a little sour cream or cream cheese to thicken

~Serve with chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream-anything you'd regularly add to a taco!

Perfect for a quick and easy (not to mention healthy) supper, and kids LOVE it!

Sunday Family Dinner - Chicken Not-Fried Steak and Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes

Does anyone in this country still believe in the beautiful, nostalgic idea of a big Sunday Family Dinner?

...of course followed immediately by a nice Sunday nap!

Well I do!

And I hope all of you do as well, why?

Well... I'm sure you all know the benefits of eating healthy meals, and everyone has heard the advantages of eating as a family. So.... if you have a family dinner that is healthy think of how awesome you'll be!?  

So just in case you need a new and delicious idea for a family meal that doesn't take long to prepare, uses everyday ingredients, is food for the soul and healthy - I've provided you with one of my favorites! 

Let me present - in it's healthy-fied version:

Chicken 'Fried' Steak and Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes with White Gravy and Peas

...now showing at a family dinner table near you.

So let's get started, shall we-

First, let's go over what you will need to make EVERYTHING for this smile-inducing meal.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

-Red skin potatoes (I recommend one per person)

-2-3 TBSP. Greek yogurt 

-Garlic (I prefer to use the pre-minced stuff that comes in a jar, more economical)

~add to your preference, but I usually do 2 TBSP. of the minced kind when I make 8 potatoes worth.

-2-3 TBSP. Milk

-2-3 TBSP. Sour Cream (fat-free kind works just fine, if you want a lower fat version)

-1 TBSP. butter (light butter, again if you want it even lower fat)

-Seasonings: garlic salt, onion powder, pepper

Peas

Chicken not-'Fried' Steak

-Chicken Breast (one per person)

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1/3 cup whole wheat flour

-1/3 fiber one original cereal

-1/2 buttermilk (regular milk works too in a pinch)

-2 TBSP. cornstarch

-egg white of 1 egg

White Gravy

-2/3 cup milk

-1/3 cup chicken stock - at least (can just use water if you don't want to open a whole can of stock)

-2 TBSP. flour

-1 TBSP. butter

-Seasoning: onion salt/powder, pepper

Ok! Let's get down to business... (well now I have the Mulan song stuck in my head!)

First things first, start de-thawing your chicken breasts if they were frozen. 

Then you will want to pound them flat - do this by placing them in a ziplock bag and using your pent-up aggressions and a rolling pin to squash 'em!

Then get them into a nice bath of 1/2 cup buttermilk

while they are soaking...

For the potatoes:

First, you will want to wash, but DO NOT peel, your red skin potatoes

Then cut them into small chunks, try to make them equal in size

While doing this, you can start bringing a pot of water to boiling

When the water is boiling, add your chopped potatoes and let them cook until a fork can go through them, but not so long that they are mush

Remove the pan from the stove and drain immediately, then rinse with cold water (this stops the cooking process so all the starch doesn't make the potatoes sticky)

Place aside, we're now moving on to the chicken.

For the chicken not-fried steak:

Place your fiber one in a blender/food processor-or just throw in a ziplock baggie and smash with a rolling pin! You want the cereal to be completely smooth.

Now you can start setting up your assembly line-

dish 1. all-purpose flour

dish 2. egg white

dish 3. crushed fiber one, whole wheat flour, cornstarch and seasonings

Now remove chicken from buttermilk, and let the excess milk drip off

Then dredge in flour

Dip in egg white

Coat in breading

Place on a plate where they will rest until we are ready to 'fry'

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

All coated up and ready to go!

By the way, now would be a dandy time to turn your stove-top on medium and oven on 350*

Now, to 'fry' them.

You want to get a big skillet hot on a stove-top

When it is hot, either coat the pan with 1 TBSP oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray

Then immediately add your chicken breast and spray the top of the chicken with cooking spray as well

Let cook a few minutes, until starting to get golden, and flip and allow other side to 'fry' as well

You will be left with pretty well 'fried' chicken steaks, but some parts will not be golden and they will probably not be hot all the way through.

So to fix that-place them on a wire rack (like a cookie cooling rack) and then on a baking sheet and place in a 350* oven

These will cook for around 20ish minutes, which just so happens to be the perfect amount of time to finish up the potatoes, make the gravy and heat the peas.

Your skillet will probably look like this:

which is perfect! You better not be one of those people that washes dishes ASAP and has already cleaned this-because you need the skillet remains to make the gravy!

Next you want to make your 'rue' - for this combine your flour and 1/3 cup milk and whisk until smooth.

Now place your skillet back on the heat and add your butter until it melts. Then add rue and stir continuously until it starts getting thick. Then add remaining milk, chicken stock to desired thickness and bring it up to a simmer. Add your spices and you're done!

Now we can finish up the spuds!

In a big bowl, mash the cooked potato chunks - using potato masher, or if you're lazy (like me) you can use a hand mixer :)

Then add in everything else-

milk, yogurt, sour cream, butter, garlic and spices

You can rewarm in the microwave or place in the oven (if your bowl is oven proof of course!) with tin foil overtop

Meanwhile...

Heat up your peas in the microwave, or on the stove-top in about 1 inch of water

That's It! You're completely done with this very impressive meal 

Just set the table, fill the water pitcher, and ring the dinner bell! 

Dinner. Is. Served. 

Chicken Pastries

Every once and a while I come across a meal I just fall in love with instantly... these Chicken Pastries would fall into that category. I recently was made this delightful little dish from a friend (who is now my best. friend.) 

So want to make some people call you their new best friend?! Of course-who doesn't want more friends!? To accomplish that you need to make them this recipe!

In a small bowl mix together:

-2 TBSP. low-fat cream cheese

-1 TBSP. butter (or margarine)

-1 TBSP. Greek yogurt

-1 TBSP. non-fat sour cream

-1 TBSP. milk

-minced garlic (to your liking, I used 1 TBSP)

-1/2 finely chopped onion

-dash of salt, pepper and Italian seasoning

...you can also get the oven pre-heating on 350* at this time

It will start looking like this!

Then add 2 cups cooked, cooled and chopped chicken (about 3-4 chicken breasts)

Then the magic starts to happen....

Take one small package of crescent rolls (one that makes 8 rolls) and pinch the edges of all 8 little triangles together to create one big sheet (you could also just buy the crescent roll in sheet form, or a sheet of puff pastry dough)

Roll out and cut into 6 equal sized squares

Place 1/6 of the chicken mixture to each square of dough and place onto a greased baking sheet.

Pinch up the sides of the pastries to create a little package (package full of deliciousness!), like so:

No you can leave them un-adulterated, or spray with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with:

-parmesan cheese

-bread crumbs

-Italian seasoning

-mixture of all three!

Then just place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes

Viola-an easy, 30-minute-meal that is sure to impress!

Chicken Salad

What has an average of 45 grams of fat, 75 mg of cholesterol and 600 calories per serving? If you guessed chicken salad you are correct! This is another prime example of when 'salad' doesn't exactly mean healthy. So once again, I've decided to figure out some way I can transform the once completely unhealthy chicken salad into a well rounded meal...that won't make you well rounded!

I've finally perfected this recipe... I started by swapping the mayonnaise for Greek yogurt, regular sour cream for fat free, and added grapes and apples for bulk, vitamins and fiber.. and viola! Chicken Salad for the health conscious!

Ingredients (Makes 4 servings) :
-3/4 cup Greek low-fat yogurt
-1/4 cup fat free sour cream
-1 small apple
-1/2 cup grapes
-8 ounces chicken breast (cooked and shredded)
-Celery seed (or finely diced celery)

Directions:
1. Chop apple and grapes into small pieces
2. Shred chicken breast
3. Mix yogurt and sour cream well
4. Fold in apple, grapes, chicken and celery seed
5. Enjoy in pita pockets, atop a bed of greens, in a whole wheat wrap, with crackers... the possibilities are endless!

In the bowl...

                       Amazing with spinach in a pita pocket!

Nutritional Information: (1/4 of this recipe, about 1/2 cup)
Do not adjust your computer screens! This analysis is correct! I really did manage to slim it down to about 100 calories, less than 2 grams of fat and over 13 grams of protein for a serving! (applause)