Chevre and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast, served over Sautéed Kale with Lemon

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I love stuffed chicken, especially when it is filled with tangy and creamy goat cheese. Chevre stuffed chicken has to be one of my all time favorite dishes. Recently, I have been on a kale kick. Mostly, because I have been using it for juicing and bought a giant bag, that I have also been using for sauteed kale. This is like the never ending bag of kale! Kale is such a super food and is packed with loads of vitamins and minerals, so I feel really good about giving this to my family. This dish requires a bit of cooking time, but has pretty minimal prep. Enjoy

Ingredients

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp olive oil

4 cups spinach, chopped

1/3 cup green onions, diced

5 ounces chevre (goat cheese)

1 tsp basil, plus a pinch

1 tsp rosemary, plus a pinch

Salt and pepper to taste

4 chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add olive oil, garlic and spinach to a large sauce pan. Sauté until spinach is wilted. Pour spinach in to a bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Next add the green onions, chevre, herbs and salt and pepper to bowl. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.

Slice a lengthwise slit in to the chicken, to make a pocket. Stuff the chicken with the goat cheese mixture. Sprinkle a pinch of basil and rosemary over the top of the chicken. Salt and pepper to taste.

Place chicken in to a large pyrex dish, or on a large baking tray. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Sauted Kale with Lemon

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil                                                                                                                      

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ cup chicken or vegetable stock

8 cups of kale, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot sauté garlic and olive for two minutes over medium heat. Add chicken stock and kale. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook on low for 15 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated. Add lemon and salt and pepper to taste. 

Serves 4

Healthy Chicken Fried Rice

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Most of you already know, but for those of you who don't, I am pregnant with my second child. This pregnancy is crazy different than my last one. Last pregnancy, I was a pretty healthy eater and didn't have too many out of control cravings.  I am really trying to maintain the same type of eating throughout this pregnancy, but I get the weirdest, most unhealthy cravings. I'm talking, hot dogs, chili dogs, chili cheese fries, tater tots nachos, cinnamon rolls, etc. I'm just going to say it. If I didn't know the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and always gave in to these cravings, I would have gained 25lbs by now and I am only 16 weeks. Every once in a while, I give in to a craving. I won't lie and say this has been a hot dog-free pregnancy or even a chili cheese fry-free pregnancy, since that is  far from the truth. Last week, my mother-in-law was kind enough to make me cinnamon rolls, when I was craving them. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I ate three in one sitting, but once I got my fill, I didn't crave them anymore. On a side note, my hubby has polished off the remainder of the batch. Who is the pregnant one here, again?

One of my healthy vices has been juicing. I cannot go a day without some fresh fruit and veggie juice. If my morning is tight and I run out the door without juicing, it is the first thing I do when I get home. Veggies have not been my favorite, this go around. But, I really enjoy a nice tall glass of fresh juice.

One of my more recent cravings has been Chinese food. Instead of going down to Armani Chef  (which I fully admit to doing in the past 16 weeks) and ordering a delicious, but not so healthy meal, I decided to make some healthy, Chicken Fried Rice. I loaded it up with veggies, and used brown rice and olive oil to keep it on the healthy/clean side.

Side note: I shred and chop my veggies very finely, as you may notice in the picture. This is not necessary, I just do this in hopes that my 19 month old, will accidentally eat them. If they are big, she picks right around them. If you have a toddler who refuses veggies, this technique may help a bit. Shredding and dicing them small, will also help them cook faster. On weeknights, I am a huge fan of meals that are on the table quickly

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken breast, diced
3 tbsp. olive oil (divided)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, minced
4 egg whites, plus two full eggs, whisked together
1 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
2/3 cup broccoli, chopped
2/3 cup peas
2 1/2 cups of brown rice, cooked
1.2 cup green onions, diced
3 tbsp. of light soy sauce or tamari if you cannot have gluten

Directions:

First, cook your rice as per the cooking instructions and set aside (1 cup dry, should yield close to 2 1/2 cups, cooked). Next, fire up your wok, or a large sauté pan. Make sure the pan is hot, before you start. Cook the diced chicken in 1 tbsp. of olive oil for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through. Cooking time may depend on how big your diced chicken bites are. Next add the garlic and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute. Create an empty pool in the middle of your pan, and pour in your eggs. Scramble them in the center, before mixing in with the chicken. Add the two remaining tbps of olive oil. Stir in the carrots, celery, broccoli and peas. Let cook for 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Lastly, stir in the rice, green onions and soy sauce. Serve.

Yields 4 servings

Enchilada Inspired Stuffed Poblano's- Low Carb Friendly

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First off, I must apologize for neglecting my blog lately. Life gets busy with work and family. I've also been displaced since we sold our home at the end of December. So, I haven't really had a great kitchen, and a lot of our stuff is in storage. Who knew we'd be waiting for almost 9 months for a Short Sale. Hopefully, we'll be able to move in soon. :/ A functional kitchen = a happy and willing cook.

In the next two weeks, I have two beach vacations, so I've been trying to watch my calories, carbs and all of that fun stuff. Tonight I was craving enchiladas, but I wanted to do something lower calorie, as well as to use up some poblano peppers before they went bad. I must say, these were absolutely delicious. They were filling and they satisfied my enchilada craving. If you don't eat red meat, turkey or chicken would be a great substitute. Enjoy!

Ingredients

·         4 poblano peppers, cut lengthwise and seeded.

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

·         1 small onion, diced

·         3 cloves of garlic, minced

·         1 lb lean ground beef

·         1 6 ounce can diced green chiles

·         1 6 ounce can black diced olives

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         2-3 low carb tortillas, cut in to small strips

·         1 cup of red enchilada sauce

·         ½ cheddar (or blend of cheese)

·         A few dollops of sour cream (optional)

 

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large skillet. Add olive oil and diced onion. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and ground beef. Cook beef until browned. Add green chile’s, olives, salt, pepper and tortillas. Mix together. Place the peppers in a greased baking dish. Stuff the halved poblano’s with the mixture. Evenly distribute the enchilada sauce over the peppers. Top each pepper with cheese and bake covered for 45 minutes. Top with sour cream (optional).

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

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Every now and again a big giant bowl of pasta sounds delicious. I typically try to stay away from carbs after 2pm, but sometimes you just have to give in. Giving in every now and again allows us to be sensible. Have you heard of those people who do fitness competitions and the month before the competition they go on a ridiculously strict diet, then once the competition is over they go eat the most unhealthy thing and tons of it. I had a friend consume and entire cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory after a competition once. On a side note, I'm sure I would do the same thing if I competed. The point is,  if you give in every now and again and you are less likely to binge eat. On that note of being sensible, as much as I want to go with the delicious refined white pasta, I try not to give in to that temptation too often and typically go with a whole wheat, whole grain or a quinoa pasta. Though, sometimes I have a full on splurge and go for the deliciously processed white pasta. Tonight, I was not only good by going with a whole grain pasta, I went and extra step and did 1/2 pasta with 1/2 Shirataki noodles, which are tofu based and super low cal with no carbs. I'll post the recipe below calling for spaghetti noodles, but know you can make this lower calorie and lower carb by substituting 1/2 or all Shirataki noodles.

2 tbsp. of olive oil

1 pound medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 red onion, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, minced 

2 tsp red pepper flakes, more or less depending on spice level desired

1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white wine

Salt and Pepper to taste 

1 12 ounce package of spaghetti noodles

1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

 

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Adding salt to the boiling water will ensure your pasta has flavor

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium to high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, for about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate. The shrimp will not be 100% percent cooked at this point, so no taste tests!!!

Add your noodles to the pot of boiling water and cook per the directions on the package.

Next, add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, then add the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 1 minute. Next add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stir occasionally for about 20 minutes. Add the shrimp back to the pan and cook for one minute on medium to low heat.

Strain the noodles or better yet, use tongs to transfer the noodles directly in to the sauce. NEVER, EVER, EVER rinse your pasta noodles. That is seriously just sinful.

Finally toss the noodles and the sauce with the shrimp together. Add the parsley and basil and toss again.

This should make 4-6 servings. Enjoy!

Agave Chile Glazed Salmon

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I recently had a delicious piece of salmon at an Italian restaurant down the street. It was grilled and had perfect charred marks. It had a slight glaze on top that made the salmon have a crispness to it. It was so delicious. I just had try and replicate something similar. The fish counter at my grocery store had some amazing salmon today. It was fate. I didn't feel like going with an Italian flair, although a good caponata on top never hurts. Tonight I went super simple and served the salmon with a veggie quinoa and mashed cauliflower. Enjoy!

For the glaze

1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tbsp. agave nectar
1/2 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

4 Salmon fillets

Directions

Preheat grill to 300 degrees

Heat the coconut oil so it melts and is not in the normal wax like state. Combine coconut oil, agave, chile powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Brush the top of the salmon with the glaze.

Spray the grill with non stick grill spray. Grill the salmon glaze side down for 4 minutes. Gently flip and grill the other side for another 4 minutes

Egg Flower Soup... the best sick day soup ever

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Sophie recently got a cold that ended up turning into a pneumonia. Don't worry, she is ok now. :)  However, she did pass her little germs along to myself, Michael, my mother in law and my brother in law. It's crazy how sick that little bundle of love can make you. She's given me the stomach flu and several colds. I've been battling a cold for a 2 1/2 weeks now. When I am sick, I love soup. There is something about being sick and slurping down warm goodness that makes you feel a little bit better. I love egg flower soup when I am sick, because it is so quick and easy to make. It can literally be made in the time it takes to boil water. It's that quick. In the spirit of cold and flu season, I thought it would be nice to share my recipe.

• 6 cups of chicken stock (homemade or store bought)
• 6 eggs, two full eggs and four egg whites whisked together
• 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
• 1/8 tsp sesame oil (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan bring 6 cups of chicken stock to a boil. Next slowly pour in eggs in little drops. Add sesame oil and green onions. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato, Carrot and Blueberry Pancakes

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If you have children and are anything like me you are constantly trying to provide the best foods possible for them. I've always made my own baby food and love providing Sophie with variety and new flavors. I may have created a monster though. Sophie has quite the sophisticated palate. It's nearly impossible for me to get her to eat bland foods. If I cube up veggies and present them to her, she literally turns her nose up to them. However, if I puree some veggies like squash and sweet potatoes with lentils and curry powder, she scarfs them down and begs for more. I can't complain, I like having a little baby gourmet, it's one of those times where I see a lot of myself in Sophie. The other day, she seriously ate clam chowder. And the day after that, Asian style noodles. She eats a lot of what Mike and I eat, which is nice. This morning I woke up and decided to make some pancakes. My goal was to sneak in some vegetables and wholesome goodness. Total success, by the way. I ended up making Sweet Potato, Carrot and Blueberry pancakes with whole wheat flour and bran flakes. They were seriously delicious and Sophie enjoyed them. I made a good sized batch and decided to freeze some for Sophie to eat throughout the week.

1 half sweet potato, peeled and grated

1 carrot, peeled and grated

1/2 cup blueberries

1 tsp butter

1 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup bran

2 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 egg

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a small sauce pan melt butter and slowly sauté sweet potato, carrots and blueberries. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl combine all remaining ingredients and whisk together. Add in the sweet potatoes, carrots and blueberries. Stir with a spoon. Cook pancakes on a griddle or pan until golden on each side.

Yogurt Cheese: A creamy and healthy substitute

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I love low fat and fat free plain yogurt. It is versatile, healthy, inexpensive and many many other things. Yogurt is such a great addition or accompaniment to several dishes. Yogurt with a little dill is a great veggie dip or topper to things like stuffed peppers, salmon, or gyros. Yogurt can be used in place of mayonaise, it can be used in smoothies, seriously the possibilites are pretty much endless. Yogurt is rich in protein, live cultures, calcium other nutrients. After a run with antibiotics you should eat a ton of yogurt to replace the good bacteria and get the digestive track healthy again. One of my new favorite ways to use yogurt is by making "yogurt cheese". Yogurt is already good at thickening and adding a degree of creaminess to dishes, but taking the step to drain some of the liquid can make your dishes even creamier. Yogurt cheese is a bit of a misnomer, because it isn't really cheese at all, it is just yogurt thickened to the consistency of cream cheese

1. Place yogurt in a fine mesh sieve or colander lined with four layers of cheesecloth. Place the sieve over a large bowl to catch the liquid that drips out of the yogurt. Place this set-up in the refrigerator and let stand 2-24 hrs. If you have all night, let it sit. The thicker the better. If you need the yogurt cheese soon, a few hours of sitting should give you a thicker consistency.
2. Discard the liquid in the bowl below and you are left with rich, creamy yogurt cheese in the cheesecloth.
3. Use to add creaminess to soups, sauces, dips... really anywhere you see fit. This is a great substitute for heavy cream, cream cheese and sour cream.

Butternut Squash Soup

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I recently read that soup eaters tend to be thinner. The idea behind that is those who eat soup before a meal, typically will consume smaller portion of the main course. Now, of course that probably wouldn't be true if we always ate fat filled soups like broccoli cheddar and other cream based soups. In order for this approach to be effective, you'd want to stick to lower calorie, healthy soups. Below is a recipe for Butternut Squash soup. This warm, velvety soup is sure to impress. I've been making this soup for years, it is great before a meal, with a grilled cheese sandwich, or topped with some mascarpone or cream cheese.

1 large butternut squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and diced 

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 cinnamon stick

salt, preferably kosher, to taste

freshly ground black pepper

4 cups chicken stock or broth (can easily sub vegetable stock to make this vegetarian)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

1/2 cup non fat or low fat milk, optional

 

 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butternut squash lengthwise and place face down on baking sheet. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside. Preheat a large pot. Add olive oil, onions, celery and carrot to pot. Sauté on medium for 7-8 minutes until carrots are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Next add 4 cups of chicken stock, all spices/herbs and milk. Let come to a boil. Next scoop out the squash from the rind and add to the soup. Use and immersion blender to blend the soup together until it is thick and creamy. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Make sure not to fill to the top when blending and ensure to hold the lid tightly when blending. Blending hot ingredients in blender cause the ingredients to overflow and leak out of the blender if you don't follow the steps above. Hot soup flying everywhere is messy and dangerous.

Makes approximately 8 cups.

Thai Quinoa Salad with Shrimp

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Thai Quinoa Salad with Shrimp

· 1 1/2 cups quinoa

· 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

· 3 tbsp smooth peanut butter

· 2 tbsp low fat coconut milk

· 3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

· 2 tbsp or soy sauce

· 1 tsp of Sriracha (add more or less depending on spice level)

· 1 tsp oil (coconut oil is great, but any will work)

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· 1 tbsp ginger, minced

· 2 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips

· 1 cup chopped cabbage (napa, red/purple, bok choy, any will work)

· 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

· ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (mint or basil will work if you don’t have cilantro on hand)
 

1.       Bring 3 cups of stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.

2.       Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine peanut butter, coconut milk, vinegar, soy sauce and Sriracha. Whisk together. Add a tbsp. of hot water to thin if necessary

3.       In a sauté pan, sauté garlic and ginger in oil on medium-low for 2 minutes. Add carrots and cabbage. Cook for 3 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for about 2-3 minutes per side, until fully cooked.

4.       When quinoa is ready, transfer it to the bowl with peanut sauce, along with the veggies and shrimp. Add cilantro and toss to combine.

 

Serves 4