Stuffed Jumbo Shells

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home monthly edition and made some modifications to make it healthier.  Comes together quickly once the jumbo shells are cooked!

STUFFED JUMBO SHELLS

Recipe Notes

The original recipe calls for much more cheese.  I also used Aidell's fully-cooked refrigerated chicken meatballs, while the original recipe calls for frozen (beef) Italian meatballs.

Ingredients

• Jumbo pasta shells (one package)
• Aidell's fully-cooked chicken meatballs (refrigerated section of grocery store)
• Bottled marinara sauce of choice
• 4 oz. shredded part-skim mozzarella (approximately 1/2 package)

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cook pasta shells according to package directions.  Rinse in cold water and drain.

3.  Stuff one meatball in each cooked shell.  Arrange in a greased 9x13 baking dish.

4.  Top with marinara and shredded cheese.

5.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Spinach & Vidalia Onion Dip

This recent Southern Living recipe is a different spin on a traditional spinach dip.  The caramelized onions make it sweeter.  Serve with blue corn tortilla chips or other chips and vegetables of choice.

SPINACH & VIDALIA ONION DIP

Recipe Notes

I decreased the butter from the original recipe.  You can also use any sweet onion (such as 1015's) if Vidalias are not available.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 4 c. chopped Vidalia onions (about 2 large)
• 5 oz. package fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, divided
• 16 oz. container sour cream
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

Instructions

1.  Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.

2.  Add onions and cook, stirring often, until golden and very tender (20-30 minutes).

3.  Add chopped spinach, stirring until wilted.

4.  Sprinkle with half of salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes.

5.  Stir together onion/spinach mixture, sour cream, and chives.  Add remaining salt and pepper.

6.  Cover and chill for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

7.  Serve with chips and vegetables.

Honey Garlic Chicken

Good low-calorie crock pot recipe.  Easy to put together and ready in about four hours.

HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN

Recipe Notes

From the blog slenderkitchen.com.  Nutritional information below is for chicken only.  Does not include information for rice as seen above.

Nutritional Information (per serving - serves 6)

201 calories - 1 g. fat - 17 g. carbohydrates - 33 g. protein - 0 g. fiber

Ingredients

• 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 tsp. dried basil
• 1/3 c. low-sodium soy sauce (Do not use regular.  The result is too salty.)
• 1/3 c. ketchup
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

Instructions

1.  Whisk together garlic, basil, soy sauce, ketchup, and honey.

2.  Add chicken to crock pot.

3.  Pour sauce over chicken and mix everything together.

4.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until chicken is cooked through but not dry.

5.  Remove chicken from sauce to a baking sheet covered with foil.

6.  Broil for 5 minutes to create a crispy outside.

7.  Return to sauce and serve over rice.

Mexican Street Corn Dip

Really excellent dip that I slightly adapted from the blog cookingandbeer.com.  Serve with blue corn tortilla chips.  They add both good flavor and good crunch to the recipe.

MEXICAN STREET CORN DIP

Recipe Notes

The original recipe calls for either fresh corn or thawed frozen corn.  I made it with fresh and I think that is likely best.  If you buy the cotija cheese in a block use a microplane grater to grate it into the recipe and then also over the top of the finished dish.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• Salt & freshly-ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 3 c. corn kernels (approximately 4 ears) cut from the cob or thawed from frozen
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. sliced green onions
• 1/4 c. cotija cheese
• Blue corn tortilla chips, for serving

Instructions

1.  Add softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper.

2.  Beat on low speed until very well-combined and set aside.

3.  Add butter to a large skillet and melt over medium heat.  

4.  Add corn and jalapeno.  Cook until softened (approx. 10 minutes).  

5.  Add cilantro and green onions, cook 1 minute.  

6.  Remove vegetables from heat and add to cream cheese mixture.  Grate cotija cheese into the mixture and stir well.

7.  Pour dip into a serving bowl.  Garnish with additional chili powder, cilantro, green onions, and/or cotija cheese if preferred.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Texas Crock Pot Chili

My husband loved this chili.  I was able to put it in the crock pot before work and came home to the whole house smelling wonderfully and dinner (basically) finished.  Original recipe credit to Cooking With Melissa.

TEXAS CROCK POT CHILI

Recipe Notes

Original recipe post available here.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 small roma tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 30-oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 c. chili powder (I used more like 2 tbsp.)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tbsp. salt & pepper
• 1/2 cube beef bouillon
• 1 c. water
• 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
• 16 oz. can pinto beans, drained
• 16 oz. can chili beans in sauce (undrained)
• 1-2 tbsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

1.  In a large skiller, heat ground beef and onion until cooked through.

2.  Drain mixture and set aside.

3.  In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients including ground beef and onion.  

4.  Stir and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

5.  Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, diced avocado, or anything else you like on your chili.

Note: this is a great recipe to use a Reynolds slow cooker liner for easy cleanup.  They are available with the food storage items in your local grocery store.

Greek Baked Ziti

As far as pasta casseroles go, this Southern Living recipe seemed pretty nutritionally harmless.  It's made with lean ground beef and a reasonable amount of dairy.  I tweaked it a bit to make it slightly more healthy.  The ingredient list may look a bit daunting below, but most of these items you will already have in your pantry (or can very easily get them from the store).

GREEK BAKED ZITI

Recipe Notes

For the milk, I used 2%.  You should be able to use skim as a substitute without issue.  The original recipe calls for a very large amount of the milk/cheese mixture.  I halved this portion in my version and didn't miss any of the milk, butter, and cheese that we did not use.  I did not use the entire 8 oz. package of mozzarella indicated below.  I used between 4-6 oz. for my dish.

Ingredients

• 12 oz ziti pasta, cooked and drained
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 15-oz. cans of tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
• 1-1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1-1/2 tbsp. flour
• 1-1/2 c. milk (I used 2%)
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 8 oz. package shredded mozzarella
• 1/3 c. fine dry breadcrumbs

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Saute onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until tender (4-5 minutes).  Add garlic and saute 30 seconds.

3.  Add beef, stirring occasionally, and cook 5 minutes or until crumbled and browned.

4.  Drain mixture and return to the skillet.

5.  Stir in tomato sauce, lemon juice, oregano, sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tsp. salt.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

6.  Cook and stir occasionally for 2 minutes and remove from heat.

7.  Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes.  Gradually whisk in milk.

8.  Increase heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, for 5-7 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.

9.  Stir in Parmesan cheese, pepper, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt.

10.  Add cooked ziti pasta to cheese sauce mixture, stirring to coat.

11.  Transfer pasta mixture to a lightly-greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  Top with beef mixture.

12.  Sprinkle mozarella cheese and breadcrumbs on top of beef mixture.

13.  Bake a 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.  (Cheese will be melted.)

14.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Magazine note: this dish may be fixed ahead and frozen (unbaked) for a future meal.  If frozen, let stand 30 minutes before baking, and add 15-20 minutes to the baking time in the oven.

Mini BBQ Meatloaves

MINI BBQ MEATLOAVES

Recipe Notes

Serve this Cooking Light recipe with buttermilk mashed potatoes and a green vegetable or salad.  The original magazine version included nutritional information for smashed blue cheese potatoes along with the meatloaf, so I have not included the nutritional information because I only made half of the recipe and don't have the nutritional information isolated for the meatloaves alone.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. mild Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
• 8 oz. extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 c. grated carrot
• 1/4 c. thinly-sliced green onions
• 1/4 c. panko or whole wheat panko
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 c. BBQ sauce

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Spray a standard-sized muffin tin with cooking spray.  You will use somewhere between 8-10  of the muffin cups.

3.  Combine sausage, beef, carrot, green onions, panko, pepper, and egg in a large bowl.  Stir until just combined.

4.  Divide mixture evenly among prepared muffin cups.

5.  Make a small indentation in the center of each meat loaf to prevent protein from shrinking during cooking.

6.  Top each meatloaf with approximately 2 tsp. BBQ sauce.

7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.