Last weekend we were pleased to have old friends visit. Judy and Ab have recently moved to another city and we miss them. Typical of Judy, she has met lots of new people, including one who introduced her to smoothies and the Magic Bullet. I love gadgets but had never heard about this one, then suddenly I’m seeing recipes everywhere for smoothies. Here’s one that I found in the latest issue on Cooking Light. Called the Green Machine, it’s made with spinach, greek yogurt, and honeydew melon. YUM!!
Tag Archives: fast & easy
Summer Breakfast on the Front Porch
Enjoying a breakfast of Dutch Babies.
Summer is all about gathering on the front porch for breakfast, a cup of really good coffee, or a glass of wine with family and friends. This morning, we enjoyed Dutch Babies with our son and grandchildren while their mother was in Sweden.
Corn Bread
Corn Bread
Corn bread is a great quick bread option. I like corn bread served with chili in the cooler months or Southwest Chicken Salad in the warmer months. The recipe can also be used to make corn muffins.
Italian Meatball Soup
Italian Meatball Soup
Author: Pat
Recipe type: Soup
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 4 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 celery rib, sliced
- 2 carrots, halved and thinly sliced
- 42 ounces reduced-sodium, no fat, chicken broth
- 2½ cups water
- 24 frozen pre-cooked meatballs
- 2 (14 ounce) cans white beans
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bag (6 ounces) bag baby spinach
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Additional salt, if needed
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in soup pot over moderate heat.
- Add onions, carrots, celery and cook until onions are beginning to carmelize, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in broth and water and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat and add frozen meatballs, beans, basil and oregano.
- Continue to simmer until vegetables are tender and meatballs are heated through.
- Stir in spinach, cheese, salt and pepper and simmer until spinach is wilted, about 1 minute.
Notes
WW Points = 9
Total points could be reduced by eliminating cheese and reducing number of meatballs per serving.
Chicken Tacos
Chicken Taco
Chicken Tacos
Author: Pat
Recipe type: Main Dish
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
These chicken tacos start with leftovers from a rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces shredded leftover chicken from store-bought or homemade rotisserie chicken
- 1 red pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Condiments:
- Shredded lettuce
- Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Diced onion
- Diced avocado
- Salsa
- Cilantro, chopped
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat.
- Saute red pepper until crisp tender, about 7 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add shredded chicken and seasonings and cook until heated through.
- Fill the taco shells with the chicken.
- Serve with condiments on the side.
Notes
WW Points = 5 without condiments
Sauteed Spinach
Sauteed Spinach
Author: Pat
Recipe type: Vegetable, Side Dish
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds baby spinach leaves, washed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- Kosher salt to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon butter, optional
- Lemon
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat.
- Add garlic and saute until fragrant (less than a minute).
- Add spinach, salt and pepper to the pot and toss with the garlic and olive oil using tongs.
- Continue cooking spinach until beginning to wilt, about 4 minutes.
- Remove spinach from pot and toss with butter and a squeeze of lemon.
Purchased Rotisserie Chicken
Rotisserie Chicken
A rotisserie chicken from your local supermarket or big box retailer is a fast and easy method to a good dinner when you’re too busy to cook. The chicken can be purchased ahead of time and reheated in the microwave. While I don’t really like the microwave for reheating meats because they can become dry during the reheating process, that isn’t so with the chicken. It comes out moist and delicious. Just be sure to heat it to an internal temperature of 165°. If the entire chicken is not eaten at one meal, the leftovers can be used in many ways.
The first night the chicken was served with a baked sweet potato and sauteed spinach. The sweet potato can be scrubbed, pricked with a knife, and simply baked for 1 hour at 400° or cooked in the microwave for faster preparation.
Tonight I will try spicy Chicken Tacos.
I still had chicken left after making tacos, so I’ll make Chicken Chile from the remaining meat and then use the carcass to make chicken broth. Imagine– four meals out of one $4.99 chicken. There were just two of us eating but it’s still amazing!!
Microwave Sweet Potato
Microwave Sweet Potato
Author: Pat
Recipe type: Vegetable
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Varied
Ingredients
- ½ to 1 Sweet Potato per person depending on size of potato
Instructions
- Scrub the sweet potato but do not peel.
- Trim ends and prick with knife in several places to prevent the potato from exploding during cooking.
- Microwave on high for five minutes.
- Turn potato over and microwave for an additional five minutes. (Cooking times may vary depending on the wattage of the microwave.)