Stuffed Shells-Stuffed Bellies

This recipe is from http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/featured-brands/healthified-sausage-stuffed-shells.aspx.  I have tried about 12 times to type up the recipe on here, but blogger is acting wonky. So, my apologies, but you will have to visit their site to get the recipe.  It is so, so good.  The only things I changed were
1. I substituted cottage cheese for the ricotta
2. Used ground turkey

Sort of Chicken Divan

I set out to make Chicken Divan tonight.  I had all of the ingredients, I was ready.  But then I procrastinated.  And I didn't want to feed my family at 7, when it would have come out of the oven.  So I improvised.  And it turned out fantastic!! 

I present to you Chicken Divan Penne!!

Ingredients
1 bag of frozen broccoli florets- cooked in microwave for about 6 minutes and drained
1 can of 98% fat free mushroom soup
1 onion-diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp. curry
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. of boneless skinless chicken breasts- cut in strips
olive oil
1 box of whole grain or white penne

Directions
1. In skillet, drizzle about 4 Tb. olive oil over chicken and cook until no longer pink
2. As the chicken cooks add in the diced onion and garlic
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Start penne cooking in a pot
5. Push chicken to sides of skillet and pour in the can of soup and curry.  Stir with the juices from chicken and onion.  Warm thoroughly.
6. Toss chicken and broccoli in the skillet with the sauce mixture.
7. Drain penne and dish onto plate, topping it with the chicken and broccoli mixture
8. Sprinkle on a little bit of cheddar and enjoy!

4 Ingredient Italian-esque Wedding Soup

I love this soup.  I wish I could list a ton of ingredients that I so expertly put together to meld into one pot of deliciousness.  But I can't.  There is only four.  It is so easy, so healthy, and all my kids + husband love it.  It is absolute, Wintery heaven with some crusty, warm, french bread.


Ingredients
One package of frozen, chopped spinach
5 cups of chicken stock
One cup of orzo pasta
Chicken sausage stuffed with mozzarella and spinach (I get it at super walmart), but really any kind of link sausage you want will work.  If you like spiciness use chorizo.

Instructions
In large pot, pour in the stock
2. Toss in frozen hunk of spinach (embarrassingly simple)
3. While spinach defrosts in pot, slice your sausage into thin rounds
4. When stock is boiling and all spinach is defrosted and cooking, add in sausage and one cup of orzo
5. Boil for 9 minutes or until orzo is al dente.

I double this recipe for my family of 6, and so I can have leftovers.  Let me know what you think!

Food Gardens to Low Income Families of Elyria, Ohio

This isn't a recipe today.  It is a call to help.  I live in a city that is desperately in need of hope.  It is in need of inspiration and help.  Like many cities across America, we have been hit hard by unemployment, taxes, foreclosures..... it goes on and on.  We have falling down buildings, houses and spirits. 

,

But there is a chance!  A gleam of hope!  Pepsi has a program each month where they award $25,000 to ten great civic ideas out of thousands of submissions.  My husband Alex is organizing this event for our city. 

Here's the gist:  A vegetable garden for 1,000 low income families!  Using a product that requires no digging, by Filtrexx Int.  they will be able to install 'raised bed' vegetable gardens and help teach the importance of nutrition and organic growing to thousands of people! 

What you do:
1.  Text the number 104402 to 73774


*standard text message rates apply

2. Go to this Pepsi Refresh website to read all the specifics on this amazing idea and vote

3. Vote through your Face Book.  Here are the steps:
      1) Search for Pepsi and "Like" it
      2) Look up our project, search term Filtrexx Foundation (my husband's company and applicant)
      3)Click "vote for this"

4. Your votes will provide good, nutritious food to those who cannot!

Pasta e Fagioli Link

I fell in love this weekend with a new recipe. Yep, you read right. If overdramatization is not your thing, this is not the site for you. I've been known to post about toothpaste, tennis shoes, and Dumdums. But back to my recipe story.

There is a blog that I frequent. And when I say frequent, I mean I check it daily. Me and Jeanette, yeah I call her Jeanette, we will either end up east coat-west coast besties or she will block me from her site and consider a restraining order. Time will tell. Her site, Life Rearranged is amazing. She is funny, creative and to top it all off, she does fund raising for various charities via guest-blogging by people who's lives have not gone as they expected. Sometimes when I'm reading I am also shouting at my screen "You took the words right out of my mouth!!" Cuz me and Jeanette, we think alike, but she just says it funnier.

Again, back to the point. A few weeks ago she posted a recipe that looked delish. I finally got around to trying it this weekend and it was just as she said. Totally delectable. I swapped a few things out, because I have the spiciness capacity of a two year old. But it was still awesome. So here is the link to her recipe Pasta e Fagioli if you want to do it the original way, or if you are like me here is alterations below.

*Instead of the Italian sausage she sliced up, I used 1 pound of ground, mild, Italian sausage.
*I used 2 big carrots
*Realized I was out of thyme
*Omitted the cayenne (aforementioned reasons)
*Use a BIG pot! I have been eating it {happily} for 3 days straight because it makes a ton!
Stay tuned for a recipe from me tomorrow. I'm getting back into my cooking groove, I've been making delicious stuffed shells, broccoli soup and its about time I post my recipe for Caramel Apple Cake don't you think? I'll re post this on my recipe blog http://realrecipesforrealfamilies.blogpost.com. Why did I make them separate? I don't even remember.
And if you would like to click over and peruse my family blog it is here.

Fiesta Lime Chicken- Party in Your Mouth!

Did you miss me?  It turns out that with two kids starting school, me going back to school and having a family to take care does not leave a whole lot of room for creativity.  So I've been off using the old stand-by recipes and some that are here on this blog.  But last week I got a newsletter from eatbetteramerica.com and they had an idea for Fiesta Lime Chicken that I couldn't pass up {with the usual Mari alterations}.  It was SOOO good.  A fiesta in your mouth if you will!  It will definitely be a regular... besides it gives me one more excuse to eat homemade guacamole.

Without further ado, Fiesta Lime Chicken

1/4 cup Fiber one cereal made into bread crumbs (I used plain bread crumbs from a canister)


1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons grated lime peel

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup buttermilk ( I used regular milk and also juice the lime into the milk)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4 lb)

Juice of one lime

Cooking spray

Salsa (from eatbetteramerica.com, but I just used Alex's homemade salsa and made guac instead... because I can't get enough guacamole)

1/2 medium tomato, seeded, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 medium avocado, chopped (about 1/2 cup) (I made guac with 3 avocados)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño chiles, if desired

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper


1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray cookie sheet with sides with cooking spray.

2. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and finely crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or finely crush in food processor).   (skip this step if you do what I did and just use pre-made bread crumbs)

3. In shallow bowl, mix cereal, cumin, lime peel and salt; set aside. Pour buttermilk into another shallow bowl. Dip chicken into buttermilk, then in cereal mixture, coating well; place on cookie sheet. Spray tops of chicken breasts with cooking spray.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F).

5. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix salsa ingredients. Serve with chicken.

Mushroom Lasagna with Beschamel Sauce

This recipe is derived from a Giada D. L. recipe.  I did very few things the same actually.  My husband doesn't quite think its actually dinner if there is no meat involved, so I added ground beef and altered several other ingredients.  So lets say that I was inspired to create my own recipe.... from Giada.   And we loved it!  It earned 6 Markses!!!

Ingredients:
9 lasagna noodles cooked
1 pint of button mushrooms cut in quarters
1 pint of cremini mushrooms cut in quarters
1 lb ground beef
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. tyme
olive oil
1/2 large onion chopped

Beschamel Cheese Sauce
5 Tb butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups of heavy cream
2 cups of whole milk
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup of bacon pieces or prosciutto
1/2 cup parmesan
1 cup italian blend shredded cheese divided

Steps:
1. Chop mushrooms and onion
2. Cook onion with olive oil in frying pan until softened and almost transparent
3. Toss in mushrooms with garlic, cook until softened
4. Add salt, pepper, tyme and rosemary
5. After the mushrooms are cooked through remove to separate bowl and cover to keep warm
6. In same pan cook ground beef, mix with mushrooms and onions when done
7. Butter or spray bottom of casserole dish

Steps for Beschamel:
1. melt 5 T butter in sauce pan
2. add flour and whisk for about 1 minute until smooth
3. add milk and cream, whisk continually to thicken
4. add 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, pinch of salt and pepper
5. add in bacon or prosciutto
6. mix in 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (shredded) and italian blend cheese
7. Stir until cheese sauce sticks to your spoon 

In bottom of greased casserole dish add a ladel of beschamel
Layer across 3 lasagna sheets
Ladel beschamel on top of pasta
Layer of meat/mushrooms, repeat

After you have done 3 layers of the lasagna, sprinkle on the remaining italian blend cheese and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.  Use all of the sauce.  It will look like a lot but it really thickens up in the oven.  Enjoy!!!