Thursday, December 30, 2010

Enchilada Soup


Tonight I thought I would make a soup since it's so windy and cold outside.
I've never made this recipe and thought I would give it a try.
It's very simple and that's just the way I like it.

2 large cans of enchilada sauce
4 boxes of veggie or chicken broth, which ever you prefer
1 large can hominy
1 large onion chopped
4 carrots chopped
1 bunch of cilantro
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
4 diced chicken breast, feel free to leave this out
1/4 cup lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

This came out so great.

I just tossed everything into the pot and let it simmer till the veggies were tender and the chicken was cooked through.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

I love the website for The Eat Clean Diet. The featured recipe today was this soup that I must try. Thanks to one of my staff, I have a new soup pot to make tons of soup. Now if only I could find the containers to put them all in and freeze them. I'm guessing I'll have to run out and buy more LOL



YIELD: 10 servings
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 70 minutes

Details

This soup, full of roasted seasonal vegetables and savory herbs, will really warm you up on a cold day! Perfect for sharing with family and friends, Roasted Root Vegetable Soup from The Eat-Clean Diet® Cookbook is an excellent complement to any meal.

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp / 60 ml best quality olive oil
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 2 large, sweet carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 small turnip, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 large cooking onion, peeled and cut into rings
• 1 head of garlic, loose skins removed and tops cut off
• 1 medium swede or rutabaga, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 8 cups / 2 L low-sodium stock, either chicken or vegetable
• Several fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup / 240 ml fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp / 5 ml crumbled, dried thyme
• 1 tsp / 5 ml rosemary, fresh if possible

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°F / 163°C. Pour half of the olive oil into the bottom of a roasting pan. Place all vegetables in the roasting pan and coat with remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss bay leaves on top.

2. Cover vegetables with a layer of parchment and place in the over for 30 minutes. Then, remove parchment paper from the vegetables and let roast for another 30 minutes. You will have to mix the veggies occasionally to roast them all properly.

3. Remove vegetables from oven. Remove any black bits and bay leaves, squeeze garlic out of its skin, and purée roasted vegetables in batches in a food processor or blender. Use the stock to help the process along; adding a cup of stock will make the blending easier.

4. Place all puréed vegetables in a large soup pan or Dutch oven and set over low heat on the stove. Add remaining stock, basil, cilantro, thyme and rosemary.

5. Bring soup to gentle simmer and adjust seasonings. If you find the soup too thick, simply stir in more stock and reheat. Serve in heated bowls with a sprig of rosemary or chives on each bowl for garnish.

Day 2

Day 2 to a healthy new you!! I'm sure you all have been there. You get very excited to start exercising and losing weight. Then by day two you don't want to get out of bed because it's so darn cold out and comfy in your bed.

Thank goodness for my kitten, Tig. She kept crawling all over me while I wanted to lay in bed. Finally I had enough and got up and got ready to head to the gym. As soon as I got there, I was happy I was there.

I'm on the treadmill watching CNN and all that is going on back East with the wacky weather.

I look over and see two fitness trainers helping out members. It put a smile on my face because I work for a distance college that certify personal fitness trainers, like the two I was looking at. I could see the determination the members had on their face to get fit and healthy. That made me want to have that as well.

I sped up on the mill and did my 30 minute fast walk. I'm not going to be some exercise maniac or anything like that. I'll finish the week doing the same walk I do and start something new next week. I might focus on my arms next week.

I heard from Dr. Oz on one of his talk shows a few weeks ago that if you just get up and move, that will be a good thing.

From the past my good friend and I would walk to the beach and back which was 2 miles and we lost weight.

I just need to keep focused and I shall soon be like I was in this picture. I will find that before picture I have hidden somewhere and post that as well. I'm not ashamed of it, it will give me the drive to lose the weight and get healthy.

Stay tuned for many more healthy but tasty recipes that I have stacked here on my desk. It just takes time to log them all in... Ohhh sounds like my fingers will be getting some exercise as well LOL

Hugs

Monday, December 27, 2010

Pioneer Woman Cooks Spicy Garlic Shrimp





I love this website Pioneer Woman Cooks. I read it pretty much every day.

They had this recipe on their site today that I want to try but realized they are using 2 sticks of butter. I'm thinking I can replace that butter with 1/2 or a cup of white wine. Hmmmm... Will have to try this out.

Here is the recipe I'm talking about. Make it either way you like.

Ingredients

* 2 pounds Raw Shrimp, Deveined, Shells On
* 2 sticks Cold Unsalted Butter Cut Into Pieces (or 1/2 to 1 cup white wine)


* 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
* 4 cloves Garlic, Peeled
* ¼ cups Fresh Parsley
* ½ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper
* 1 whole Lemon, Juiced

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse frozen shrimp to separate, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt, parsley, and red pepper. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the shrimp.

Bake until shrimp is opaque and butter is hot and bubbly.

Serve with hot crusty bread. Peel and eat the shrimp, then dip the bread into the butter in the bottom of the pan.


Original post came from:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/spicy-lemon-garlic-shrimp/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pwcooks+%28The+Pioneer+Woman+Cooks!%29

Chicken Marinade Recipe

I adore making fun dishes my children will like to prepare and eat. I found this wonderful recipe this morning on my blog list I read and thought my son would love to help. I'll prepare some brown rice and broccali to go along with it.

Marinade:
1 Cup of Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
10 – 12 Large, Fresh Basil Leaves ripped into small dime size pieces
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper

Directions
• Cover the pre-cut chicken with the ripped basil leaves
• Add the garlic, salt and pepper to the chicken and basil leaves
• Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the seasoning and chicken
• Cover the container and shake well to mix and dissolve the seasoning
• Allow to marinate for a minimum of 20 minutes and up to 1 hour before assembly


Chicken Kebab Recipe
Makes 8 Kebabs


Ingredients

1lb Chicken Breast Tenders Cut into Bite Sized Pieces

Marinade (listed above)

1 Orange Pepper
2 Small Yellow Squash
Package of Baby Bella Mushrooms
Package of Grape Tomatoes
1 Zucchini

8 Shish Kebab Skewers

Directions
• Soak wooden kebab skewers in a container of water for 15 minutes
• Chop the zucchini, summer squash and pepper into pieces the size of a silver dollar
• Assemble the shish kebabs by alternating one piece of chicken with a vegetable, mixing up the vegetables so that each skewer has at least one of each; larger skewers can contain more
• Place the finished kebabs on a broiler tray in the oven and broil on high for 10 minutes
• Turn the kebabs and continue broiling on high for an additional 5 – 10 minutes, checking at 5 minutes for readiness
• Serve the kebabs with hot brown rice or over some sauteed spinach

Recipe adapted from Marlon Mata