Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Crock pot chicken and rice soup

Tried this recipe on pintrest and loved it! Everyone in my family liked it, and it is made with chicken, brown rice, and 8 cups of hidden vegetables! The only thing I changed in the recipe is that I put the chicken in frozen, and then I pulled it out before serving and put it in my mixer with the paddle attachment on low for 30 seconds to make it shredded chicken. I guesstimate that this soup has about 120 calories per 1 Cup (for the moms and dads that want to look good in a swimsuit in a couple of weeks for vacation;). Click on the link for the website I got this recipe from.

The Ingredients.

--2 boxes of chicken broth
--1 cup of uncooked brown rice
--1 cup of water
--1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
--1 1/2-2 cups almost purreed vegetables (I used celery, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower, a red bell pepper, and green onion). Just fill up your vitamix to the top with veggies. Then puree into a mush and put the muss in the crockpot.
--1 t herbs de provence (sounds fancy)
--salt and pepper to taste after cooking

The Directions:
using a food processer, blender or hand chopper, chop up all the vegetables into whatever sized pieces your family likes.
I don't have a food processer, so I used the Vita Mix.

Then cook on low for 10 hours, or high for 5 hours (I am just guessing).

Serve with a whole grain loaf of bread and a little butter and jam.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Foil Dinners


I always have a hard time coming up with a weekly menu that is easy, healthy, and yummy!

I had a request a few months back for some dinner ideas that are healthy, and easy and that her kids would eat.

I think foil dinners are a perfect meal that is easy, yummy and healthy!

Here is the general recipe and some tips on how to make it healthier.

Makes 8

2 lbs super lean ground beef (ours came from a grass fed cow in ID that my friend Corrine named Blackie 2)

8 Carrots, sliced
8 small potatoes, sliced
1/2 puple onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
Some parsley, chopped
Some olive oil for the potatoes
no season salt, salt, garlic powder, and hamburger seasoning.

Mix the hamburger with the onion and spices. Divide up the hamburger making a patty in their own separate foil in the shape of a patty.
Place the potatoes in a bowl and mix well with about 1 T olive oil.
Divide the potatoes up evenly and place on top of the ground beef. Then place the sliced carrots and bell pepper on top of those.
Fold the foil sealing the side. Double wrap in foil if desired.

Cook for about 1 hour on 350 degrees.

Tips:
  • These can be made ahead of time and then just placed in the oven. Just put some lemon juice with the olive oil on the potatoes.
  • If you are trying to get your family to eat more veggies, do 2 carrots per person instead of just one.
  • you don't need to peel the potatoes. The skin will give you extra fiber. Just wash them really well.
  • Use organic ketchup, it is less sweet and doesn't have HFCS in it. (We like ours with ketchup!)

My new 10 min Popsicle Maker!


I got an X-press Pop popsicle maker for Christmas. I gave one to my sister-in-law, and then asked my husband to get me one. I was hoping that it worked well, and . . . . . I LOVE it! My kids are always wanting me to make popsicles, and I usually make a big batch of smoothies in the morning and then freeze the leftovers, but then they have to wait a few hours before they can have some. Not anymore! I can make 8 popsicles in 20 minutes!

It works like most modern ice cream makers that you use at home. You keep the unit in the freezer and then you pour the liquid in it and put the popsicle sticks in. 10 minutes later you have made 4 popsicles.

I bought the one for my sis-in-law at Bed Bath and Beyond. It is priced at $30.00, and then, of course, you can use your 20% off coupon bringing the price down to $24.00. They sell one on Amazon for $50.00 that has great reviews, but this one works great, so why pay twice the price? It comes with 8 popsicle sticks and this cool remover tool that gets the popsicle sticks out in a snap by just tilting it to the side.

Here is a smoothie recipe idea for some popsicles

4 kewi, skins removed
4 cups frozen strawberries
1 peeled banana
2 cups of OJ
1 Tablespoon (or more if you want it really sweet) of agave syrup

Super yummy, and super healthy for the kids!