Butternut Squash Spinach Chicken Soup

This is a yummy autumn soup that's pretty darn healthy to boot!

Butternut Squash Spinach Chicken Soup

6-1/4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
4 skinless boneless chicken breast tenderloins, about 4 ounces each, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1-1/2 cups diced butternut squash
4 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup cooked or low-sodium canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1. Heat 1/4 cup broth in a large pot. Add chicken, onions, nutmeg, and cumin, and sauté until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Stir in jalapeño pepper.

2. Add remaining broth and squash. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

3. Stir in the spinach and chickpeas, and simmer for 5 more minutes.

It's definitely a new family favorite! Happy Cooking! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This is one of our family favorites for Thanksgiving!

Yields: 2 large and 1 small loaf

3 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 c. butter/ margarine

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 can pumpkin

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Mix together, adding ingredients in order listed. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes with large loaf and 50 minutes for a small loaf, or until tooth pick comes out nearly clean. Enjoy!

Apple, Sauerkraut, & Cheddar Quesadillas

I'll admit: When I first came across this recipe, I was slightly disgusted, but intrigued at the same time. These quesadillas are yummy! I did add a little chopped ham (lunchmeat) which added yet another flavor to the mix. And I ended up making four thinner quesadillas rather than two bigger ones.

Enjoy!

Apple, Sauerkraut, & Cheddar Quesadillas

Ingredients:
1 cup(s) sauerkraut, rinsed
1/2 cup(s) water
2 9-to-10-inch (burrito-size) flour tortillas
1 1/3 cup(s) grated reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1 small Granny Smith, or other tart, juicy apple, peeled and very thinly sliced

Directions:
Put sauerkraut and water in a medium nonreactive skillet. Gently heat just until the liquid has evaporated but not so much that the sauerkraut begins to stick to the pan. Remove from the heat.

Gradually heat a large cast-iron over medium heat. Put one tortilla in the pan and immediately sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese over half of it. Quickly arrange about half the apple slices over the cheese, then top with half the sauerkraut, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle with another 1/3 cup cheese.

Fold the tortilla over the filled half and press gently on it with a spatula to seal. Heat the quesadilla until the bottom is golden, about 2 minutes, then carefully flip and lightly brown the other side. Slide the quesadilla onto a cutting board and cut it into halves or quarters. Prepare the second one in the same fashion. Variation: If you like, a little chopped ham tastes wonderful layered in with the other ingredients.

Black Bean Soup!

It's super easy and super yummy! It makes you feel warm inside, and if you make it spicy enough, it'll clear those clogged sinuses right out!

Black Bean Soup

Serves 5

3-4 stalks of Celery

½ Medium Onion

1-2 garlic cloves

1½ cans chicken broth (14.5 oz cans) or about 22oz prepared chicken bouillon

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

8 oz salsa

½ c cooked cubed chicken (1 boneless skinless chicken breast)

½ c cooked long grain rice

½ Tbsp lime juice

½ tsp ground cumin

Saute celery, onion, and garlic in oil until onions and clear.

Stir in remaining ingredients and heat through.

Serve with Tortilla chips

The rice absorbs most of the liquid if stored over night, leftovers are great for burritos!

If you want it to stay soup, simply add more chicken broth.

Couscous & Feta Stuffed Peppers

This is a recipe I tried last year from Smitten Kitchen, a little cooking blog that I love. (Not to discredit our blog, of course!) It may not be the quickest, but it's quite easy. And so worth the effort. I mean, feta and couscous and chickpeas?? Oh my!

Ingredients:

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 1/4 cups fat-free chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup couscous
4 extra-large or 5 large bell peppers, mixed colors
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 oz zucchini, quartered lengthwise then sliced across thinly
6 oz yellow squash, quartered lengthwise then sliced across thinly
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
15 oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 oz crumbled feta cheese (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. Bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan, add the couscous, cover the pan and remove it from the heat. Cut the stems and top half inch off the bell peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Place peppers upright in a baking dish and roast them for 15 minutes or so, until they soften, then remove them from the oven until the filling is ready. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet. Add onion, zucchini, yellow squash, fennel seeds, oregano, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas and tomato paste. Using a fork, scrape the couscous into the skillet and toss with the vegetables. Stir in the crumbled feta. Fill peppers with the couscous mixture. Bake 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

And sometimes, just to prove to my 82 year-old grandmother that I actually am cooking, I take photos. Bon appétit!

Chocolaty, Chocolate Banana Bread

I had never heard of Chocolate Banana Bread. Then I visited my friend Katrina's blog. I'm not sure where she got the recipe, but I just made it last night and...IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH SHARING! I used 2 of the smaller sized loaf pans and only baked them for about 45 minutes.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (about 3)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom of 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. Beat sugar, eggs, and oil in large bowl at medium speed until combined. Beat in banana and vanilla at low speed. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; beat into banana mixture at low speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

3 Spoon batter into pan. Bake 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack

Tangy Apricot Chicken

This recipe came from one of my Grandma's cookbooks, and could not be simpler!

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts
2 packets of dry french onion soup
1 can of apricot nectar

Directions:

Roll chicken breasts in dry soup mix. Place in a baking dish and pour the apricot nectar over the chicken. You can sprinkle any extra soup mix on top, and add bread crumbs for an extra crunch if you like. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or so, and enjoy a tangy hunk o' meat! I like to serve it with brown rice and some steamed veggies (both are staples at my house). Whatever floats your boat.

Happy cooking!

Parmesan Crusted Talapia

So Fast and Easy! I can make this in less than 20 minutes. My little girl will even eat it! And, it's mostly healthy. We like to eat it with spaghetti and some sort of green veggies.

BROILED TALAPIA PARMESAN

Serves 2

2 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tbsp butter, softened

2-1/4 tsp mayo

1-1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp celery salt

2 Tilapia fillets

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

First Recipe!!!!

Are you all excited for this? First recipe for our fun new blog that I hope you all want to contribute too. Here it is, a fun, easy and delicious chicken taco recipe that only takes a few minutes to throw into the crock pot and is a definite crowd pleaser. Feedback is always welcome and I'm excited to get some of your recipes coming in as well. Please send me your email at knewsandblues@gmail.com if you would like to be a contributor! Happy cooking!


Chicken Tacos

3 chicken breasts
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 1/2 C. salsa
1/2 tbs. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. lime juice
3 tbs. cilantro chopped (I like to save it and add it fresh at the end)
1 large chopped onion
1 large chopped green bell pepper

Throw everything but the chicken in the crock-pot, stir around then add the chicken on top making sure to get some of the juice covering it. Cook for about 6 hours on low. Shred the chicken and let cook for about another 1/2 hour.
Serve with your favorite taco toppings in tortillas and enjoy!
~ If you want to make it even healthier throw in some pureed cauliflower, kale, or even serve it over some fresh cooked millet (your family will never know).