Italian Wild Rice Soup

  I love all kinds of soup.  I even eat them in the summer time, though they are definitely better in cold weather.  While I would eat almost any soup, not to mention that I really enjoy making them too, my finance does not really like soup.   Who doesn't like soup right?  Well he doesn't.  He says that soup is not a meal - it's an appetizer.  So if I want to make soup at home, I need to come up with something hearty that my hungry Italian man will eat.   Here's where this soup comes into play.
This Italian Wild Rice Soup:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/italian-wild-rice-soup/

It was really good & filling w/ Sausage and wild rice.  Even Eric ate it & was satisfied!  Great with Parmesan Cheese on top!

Seasonal Sarah's Salad w/ Red Pepper Jelly Vinagrette

   I enjoyed this Christmas Salad so much, I decided this is too good for just Christmas time & I am re-naming this my Signature Seasonal Salad.  Here is my previous post with the recipe:


Seasonal Recipes: Christmas Salad w/ Red Pepper Jelly Vinagrette: Here is my recipe for a wonderful Christmas Salad: 1 head Butter Lettuce 2 Endive 1/4 small Purple Cabbage sliced thin Crumbled...


It is so wonderful, I just had this again as my Healthy Meal.  The cheese, walnuts, & pear really go well together & it fills you up.

Lime Shrimp w/ Avocado Cilantro Dip

Tonight we had these delicious shrimp :

http://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/cilantro-lime-grilled-shrimp-with-avocado-cilantro-dip/

The recipe is for kebabs that you grill, but being it's winter, instead I used the broiler to cook them.

Very quick and healthy meal.

Creamy Succotash Chicken

I meant to cook this recipe in the Slow-Cooker as the recipe mentions, but I completely forgot and when I arrived home after work I realized what I had done. I decided to try the recipe anyways on the stove top and I am do glad I did.

 This delicious recipe has both chicken and ham. I used honey ham.

 I added a can of this campbells chicken broth that wasn't in the recipe,  as well as 1/4 cup of good white wine.

 The caption on the photo with the recipe,  it says there is red bell pepper,  but that was not listed as an ingredient in the recipe, so I did not add that, nor the ground red pepper either.

Lightened Up Chicken Salad Sandwich

  Today for lunch I made this wonderful Lightened up Chicken Salad Sandwich.
The recipe is here:

I was surprised by how well the yogurt tasted instead of the usual Mayo that I would use.  Also, I really loved the grapes & cucumbers in the salad. 

I tasted the chicken salad as soon as I made it, then I let it sit for a couple of hours & the taste really needed that time to blend together well - I recommend making it ahead of time.

Week 5 - Healthy New Year's Recipes 2016

January 2016            "HOT TEA MONTH"

WEEK5

This is the last week of the month of healthy recipes.  I hope you enjoyed trying new healthy recipes with me this month!



January 29th 2016 "Seafood" Friday  - Cilantro Lime Shrimp w/ Avocado Cilantro Dip
Click Here for the Recipe from Julieseatsandtreats.com

January 30th 2016 "Salad" Saturday  -   Seasonal Sarah's Salad w/ Red Pepper Jelly Vinagrette
http://seasonalsarah.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-salad-w-red-pepper-jelly.html 



January 31st 2016 "Soup" Sunday  - Italian Wild Rice Soup
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/italian-wild-rice-soup/




 BONUS MEAL -  Lamb Chops w/ Farro, Arugula, & Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lamb-chops-farro-arugula-vinaigrette





 
Here is the Shopping List to make all of these meals:

Week 5

Produce:

-        Arugula, Baby (2 oz.)

-        Avocado (1)

-        Butter Lettuce

-        Cilantro

-        Endive (2)

-        Garlic (I prefer jarred, minced)

-        Lemon (1)

-        Limes (4)

-        Onion (1)

-        Pomegranate (1)

-        Purple Cabbage

-        Shallots (2)

-        Spinach, Baby (9oz.)

Meat:

-        Ground Pork (1 lb.)

-        Lamb Loin Chops (2 -4 lbs.)

Dairy:

-        Feta Cheese Crumbles

-        Parmesan Cheese (2 oz.)

-        Yogurt, Greek Non-fat (plain – 1/4 cup)

Spices: (You may have most of these)

-        Fennel Seeds

-        Italian Seasoning

-        Paprika

-        Pepper

-        Red Pepper Flakes

-        Salt (Kosher)

-        Thyme

Dry Goods:

-        Craisins

-        Farro

-        Honey

-        Mustard, Dijon

-        Mustard, Stone Ground

-        Olive Oil

-        Pickled Jalapenos

-        Red Pepper Jelly

-        Red Wine Vinegar

-        Walnuts

-        Wild Rice

Can Goods:

-        Beef Broth, Low-sodium (32 oz.)

-        Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)

-        Tomato Paste (6 oz.)

Seafood:

-        Shrimp, 1 lb., peeled & de-veined

Pear & Granola Muffins

  These muffins were so wonderful for breakfast - the aroma filled the kitchen with the most wonderful smell.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart:
http://www.marthastewart.com/317980/pear-and-granola-muffins
There's a video too to go with the recipe.

I used Wegmans Vanilla & Almonds Granola:

I loved how the recipe uses both regular and whole-wheat flour. This really is excellent! Healthy and Hearty.  Another recipe to save in my collection and I am sure your would want to too.

Zucchini Lasagna Rolls

This recipe from reciperunner.com turned out way better than I expected :
http://reciperunner.com/zucchini-lasagna-rolls/

 Sausage,  turkey if you want to be healthy.

 A mandolin helped me make the thin slices.

 I sautéed my zucchini instead of grilling them.

 I don't like cottage cheese, but it went really well in this.

 Roll them up.

Then top with more sauce and cheese and bake in the oven. I turned the broiler on at the end for a few minutes.
You honestly don't miss the pasta at all!

Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Braised Chicken

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-mediterranean-braised-chicken/fa02203c-6c8a-4c8e-9c51-3690943cfa7f

This Betty crocker recipe reminds me of one of my all time favorite recipes from Cook's Country; their lemon chicken, whose recipe is here: https://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/3385-braised-lemon-chicken-breasts, but you won't be able to view it unless you are a member (I think this is my favorite Dinner recipe ever!)

The Betty Crocker recipe was different because it's a slow cooker version. 

Also it has my favorite herbs: Herbs de Provence. 

The chicken tasted wonderful.  I didn't like the sauce as much, but the chicken was so juicy you really didn't even need sauce. 

Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

This recipe is so good, I really think it was my favorite new Healthy recipe that I've made all month so far.
It was so easy to make, it really did take about a half hour, perfect for a week night meal.
The recipe is from Primaverakitchen.com:
http://www.primaverakitchen.com/ground-turkey-sweet-potato-skillet/

These are my suggestions :
I added the onions with the meat right away instead of the garlic. Then I added the garlic a bit later with the peppers.

I also skipped the chili pepper.
I did add a 1/4 cup of water shortly after adding the sweet potatoes.

Then we used Monterey Jack cheese as opposed to mozzarella only cause that's just what we had.

Really, really good.  This one's going in my collection!

BBQ Chicken Salad

    I have always loved a great BBQ Chicken Salad, infact for a while it was what I always ordered everytime I would visit Panera Bread.  Though I never really tried to make one myself at home until now.
 I picked this recipe from Damn Delicious:
http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/03/bbq-chicken-salad/

I really loved it, it really was "Damn Delicious"!  It totally gave me plenty of energy to get out there & shovel the almost 3 feet of snow we just got dumped on us.

 I liked the way they have you cook the chicken right on the stove-top, but after I browned them on each side, I threw them in the oven for an additional 10 minutes @ 400 to make sure they were fully cooked all the way through.  Also, I left off the Red Onion, only because I am not crazy about raw onions.  The red ones are the way to go though if you are to eat them raw & they MUST be sliced paper thin for my taste.  Also, one more thing to note - we so often buy pre-shredded cheese for ease & convenience, but whenever possible it really does make a difference on taste if you buy a fresh block of cheese & slice it when ready to use.  It really does taste so much fresher.
This was so easy to make, you just prep the other ingredients while the chicken is cooking & it really was just as easy as opening cans. 

Tuscan Bean Soup

This soup was perfect to warm you up on a snowy day:

http://thewanderlustkitchen.com/easy-tuscan-bean-soup/

The hand-held immersion blender really made this soup all come together:

It was really tasty and hearty!

Tuscan-Style Tuna Steaks

As we prepare for a blizzard to hit here in New Jersey, we are enjoying some healthy seafood before the storm starts.
This recipe from Rachael Ray
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/tuscan-style-grilled-tuna-steaks-recipe.html
It was so easy and delicious.
My fiance Eric doesn't like tuna, so I made him salmon instead.

I baked both the fish and stuffed mushrooms instead of grilling because we just didn't feel like going outside in this cold weather.

Taco Lettuce Wraps

Tonight's recipe was nice and quick. It's basically tacos, but lightened up by serving in lettuce leaves instead of taco shells.

The recipe is from: "The Taylor House"

The recipe called for taco seasoning,  but I made up my own:
1 1/2 TBSP Cumin
2 tsp. Onion Powder
2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1 tsp. Paprika
Generous pinch of sugar
Salt and Pepper

Also, the recipe doesn't say to but I would definitely drain the fat from the skillet after browning before adding any additional ingredients.
I also added an additional 2 TBSP of tomato paste when I added the water in.
Another thing I liked was adding a few pieces of broken up taco shells on top of my lettuce taco.