Month: January 2016

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

2 chicken breasts, diced
200g box of mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 oz cream cheese
3 cubes frozen spinach
fresh basil, thinly sliced
grated Parmesan cheese

Saute mushrooms in 1 tablespoon coconut oil.
Remove to a bowl.
In same pan, saute chicken in 1 tablespoon coconut oil.
Add garlic and onion and saute one minute.
Add mushrooms back to pot.
Pour in broth and milk and bring to a boil.
Add Gnocci.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in basil.
Add cream cheese and stir until melted.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

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Tags Chicken, gnocchi, Italian, mushrooms, soup, spinach

Appetizers Dips

Spinach Artichoke Dip – Olive Garden Recipe

Post author By Sharon
Post date January 23, 2016
No Comments on Spinach Artichoke Dip – Olive Garden Recipe

Olive Garden’s Spinach & Artichoke Dip Recipe

1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 green onions, chopped
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 6-oz pack fresh spinach, chopped
8 slices crusty Italian bread
Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)

Preheat oven to 325ºF

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except bread and extra virgin olive oil. Coat a large non-stick baking pan with pan spray; fill pan with mixture.

Bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and center is hot.

Drizzle both sides of bread with extra virgin olive oil. Grill bread on both sides. Sprinkle top of heated dip with Parmesan cheese. Serve hot with grilled bread.

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Tags Appetizer, artichoke, Dip, spinach, vegetarian

Breads Breakfast Desserts

Banana Bread

Banana Bread is a family favorite and always reminds me of my childhood. My daddy grew bananas in our back yard, so we often had a huge surplus of bananas to use up. My mom would wait until the bananas were nice and spotty then whip up a few loaves of Banana Bread.

This Banana Bread Recipe makes 2 loaves. Banana Bread freezes well, so you can eat one of these loaves now, then freeze the other one for later. Just put the banana bread in a ziplock bag, squeeze out the air, and stick it in the freezer. When you are ready, just take out the frozen banana bread and leave it sitting out on your counter for an hour or so, in the bag.

You’ll notice that in this recipe, I use Coconut Oil. If you don’t have it on hand, you can substitute whatever cooking oil you have on hand. (Canola, sunflower, corn, vegetable) But I would encourage you to give coconut oil a try, because it really gives the banana bread a great tropical flavor that you will love! Plus, it’s better for you. I got organic, cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil from Costco. When it’s cool, it will be solidified, so I had to microwave it to make it a liquid in order to pour and measure it properly.

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Allow the banana bread to cool before attempting to slice it. It will be difficult to wait, because this smells so good!

If you want to try something different, spread Nutella or Peanut Butter on a slice of banana bread. It’s SOOO GOOD!!! It’s like dessert heaven!

We usually eat banana bread with breakfast or an afternoon snack. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Banana Bread!

Remember to PIN this Banana Bread Recipe!

Sharon

Tags banana, banana bread, breads, breakfast, desserts

Breakfast Turkey

Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

Post author By Sharon
Post date January 22, 2016
No Comments on Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

When we moved from Florida to Australia, I quickly found that there are many grocery items that could not be purchased here. One of those was breakfast sausages. What they call sausages here are more like hot dogs. Not exactly appetizing for breakfast.

That’s why I came up with this recipe. It took several tries before I got the seasonings right, but this is as close as I could get to the turkey sausages we used to buy in America.

This recipe makes a lot, and can be cooked and frozen. When ready to serve, just microwave the number of sausages you want for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

These homemade turkey sausages are healthy and since you make it at home with your fresh ingredients, you can feel good about eating them. No preservatives or mystery ingredients. 🙂

Minced Turkey

Sausage Mixture – Minced Turkey and Sausage Spice Blend

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This goes well with my Home Fried Potatoes recipe.

Remember to PIN this Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages Recipe!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/280278776787458929/

Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

Sharon

Tags breakfast, sausage, turkey

Breakfast Potatoes Side Dishes Vegetables Vegetarian

Home Fried Potatoes

Home Fried Potatoes – Breakfast Homefries

A big breakfast with these delicious Homefries will start your day off right!

How do you make Homefries?

They are surprisingly easy and quick, if you plan ahead.

Make up some baked potatoes the night before, and cool them overnight in the fridge. In the morning, slice the potatoes up and brown them up in a frying pan on the stove top.

Use your favorite seasonings to flavor the home fries. Our family loves Everglades Seasoning. Just use your favorite seasoned salt spice blend, and you’re sure to love these delicious breakfast home fried potatoes!

Dicing up the cooled baked potatoes.

Panfrying the home fried potatoes in seasoned oil & butter.

Browning up the home fried potatoes on the stove. Almost there…

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These homefried potatoes are also great as a side dish for dinner. (Great Meat & Potatoes guy food.)

Try my homemade turkey sausage recipe, to complete your big breakfast menu! (Pictured above with below the home fried potatoes.)

Don’t forget to PIN this Homefries Recipe! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/280278776787458714/

Sharon

Tags breakfast, brunch, homefried potatoes, homefries, potatoes

Chicken Chicken Breasts Crockpot Main Dish Make Ahead Mexican Pulled Chicken

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Shredded With Mixer

Post author By Sharon
Post date January 22, 2016
1 Comment on Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Shredded With Mixer

Here is a great recipe for when you need shredded Mexican flavored chicken for chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, chicken quesadillas, Mexican chicken tortilla casserole, or whatever recipe that calls for shredded chicken.

First you cook the chicken in your Crockpot / slow cooker. You simply layer your chicken in the crock, sprinkle the seasonings on top and pour in a small amount of chicken broth. That’s it! Slow cook until the chicken is done. These breasts only took a couple hours on low.

Allow the chicken to cool a little bit, then place the cooked chicken into the bowl of your stand mixer. Strain the liquid remaining in the slow cooker crock and pour into the bowl. Using the paddle attachment, on low speed, stir the chicken and broth until the chicken is shredded. This only takes a minute.

Now you have lots of delicious Mexican seasoned shredded chicken to use in your favorite recipes!

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (approx 2 pounds / 1 kg)
1/4 cup taco seasoning
2 tablespoons dried minced onions
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup water

Place chicken in bottom of oiled crock pot. Sprinkle the taco seasoning, dried onions and bouillon powder over top of chicken. Pour water into crock. Cover and cook on low until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Approximately 2-3 hours on low. Chicken should flake apart if you stick a fork in it and twist.

Allow chicken to cool for at least 30 minutes. Place the chicken in the bowl of a stand mixer. Strain the liquids remaining in the crock and add the strained liquid to the bowl of the stand mixer. Attach paddle attachment to stand mixer. Turn on mixer on lowest setting. Stir until the chicken is just shredded. This takes only about a minute.

Use the shredded chicken in recipes like Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican Chicken Casserole, Green Chile Mexican Chicken Casserole

Pin this recipe! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/280278776787457542/

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Shredded With Mixer

Sharon

Tags Chicken, crockpot, Mexican, shredded chicken, slow cooker

Casseroles Chicken Main Dish Pasta

Creamy Chicken Cavatelli

Here is a great recipe for an easy weeknight dinner – Creamy Chicken Cavatelli. This is what I like to call a One Pot Wonder. This recipe is great to use up leftover cooked chicken. I used a leftover rotisserie chicken and items found in my pantry. This goes together quick so you can have dinner ready in 20 minutes.

Creamy Chicken Cavetelli

Ingredients:

1 box cavatelli pasta, cooked & drained
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
1 jar garlic alfredo sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup chicken broth

Stir together the ingredients listed above in a big pot on the stovetop. Heat on medium until sauce is hot.

This is good comfort food made from leftover roasted chicken and stuff from the pantry. If it’s easy, it’s for me! Hope you like it. 🙂

Chicken Cavatelli

Sharon Springfield

Tags Alfredo, casserole, cavatelli, Chicken, cream of chicken soup, fire roasted tomatoes, main dish, mushrooms, Pasta

Beverages Homemade Mixes

Healthy Sugar Free Homemade Coffee Creamer

Post author By Sharon
Post date January 2, 2016
No Comments on Healthy Sugar Free Homemade Coffee Creamer

Healthy Sugar Free Homemade Coffee Creamer

Do you love coffee creamer, but are looking for a healthy sugar free version? Here is your solution. Make your own homemade healthy sugar free coffee creamer, with just three ingredients.

My personal coffee creamer dilemma came about with our moving from the US to Australia, where there is no such thing as International Delights Coffee Creamer. We were having coffee creamer withdrawals, so I looked around online for homemade coffee creamer recipes and started making it myself.

Here is the recipe for homemade coffee creamer that I originally started with. That recipe is very delicious, and uses sweetened condensed milk, which is fine for my trim husband, but for this health conscious girl, I could never bring myself to use it. I really try to avoid sugar and watch my weight, so I needed a healthier solution.

This recipe is the solution to my coffee creamer problem. It uses Stevia to sweeten the milk, rather than sugar.

Here’s my healthy sugar free coffee creamer recipe:

Vanilla Coffee Creamer Ingredients:

1 liter whole milk (about 5 cups) or fat free half & half
4 tablespoons Stevia
2 tablespoons Vanilla extract

Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl and use a funnel to pour into a container. Make note of the expiration date of your milk, and use the creamer by that date.

You can make other flavor combinations by switching out the vanilla for other extracts & spices.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer:

2 tablespoons maple extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Almond Joy Creamer:

2 tablespoons chocolate extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract

You can experiment around with different flavor combinations. Those listed above are my favorites, but you can make it your own, to suit your taste. 🙂

Remember to Pin this recipe on Pinterest! This is the direct link.
SHARE on Facebook so your friends can get healthier too!

Here’s to a happy and healthy new year, started each morning with coffee and healthy sugar free homemade coffee creamer!

Sharon Springfield

Tags coffee, coffee creamer, healthy, sugar free

Rice Side Dishes

Mexican Rice

This homemade Mexican Rice recipe is too easy. No mixes, no boxes, no preservatives. Great side dish with your favorite Mexican food.

2 cups chicken broth or 2 cups water with 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
1 cup rice
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 tablespoon dried diced onions
2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic

Bring water (broth) to a boil. Add the rest of ingredients and stir. Lower heat to simmer, cover saucepan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

See? Too easy! Some great recipes to serve this with are Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, and Mexican Chicken Casserole.

Enjoy this easy homemade Mexican Rice recipe!

Pin on Pinterest!

Sharon Springfield

Tags Latin, Mexican, Rice