Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

I have a real love for Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup. In fact, I get it 99.9% of the time that I go there. It can be 100 degrees out and I will order my soup with a smoked turkey sandwich (or a sierra turkey if I really want to be bad). The calories aren't really that high for the 1/2 portion, but when I moved to Nashville I moved away from Panera. I have one by work, but I really don't have time to get there and it isn't conveniently on my way home (especially now that I have a baby in tow).

Anyway, I can safely say that I was having some serious withdrawls. Especially when the fall weather hit, I needed some soup and stat. Enter in Pinterest. Adam helped me whip up this soup and it was seriously so easy and so delicious. We both really enjoyed this and next time I will double the recipe and freeze half.

I love that there is no heavy cream involved. And I used skim milk. It was still creamy and perfect with a baguette, a la panera :) the only thing that I had to change was the rue (the water and flour mix) - the soup wasn't thickening up enough so at the end we added in another portion of rue, only less water and more flour - and it thickened up perfectly. So you may have to play around with that, but leave it until the end to see. Sorry for the crap pic, we ate it at night and had no leftover to photograph the next day.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder (from LuLu the Baker)

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 celery stick, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth 1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes. 

Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook 25-30 minutes.  

Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  

Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Biggest Loser Sweet Potato Skins

Fall Sundays = Football. Football = Snacks. Snacks = High Calorie Yumminess.

I love to snack. I love to pick out what Im going to make, prep it, whip it up and sit back and enjoy it. Any time of sport is the perfect excuse for eating snacks. All day. I dont care what sport it is, just let me eat while I watch and it'll all be ok. Of course, if you care at all about what you're putting into your body then you probably have a guilty feeling after the day is over and you go to tally your calories.

So, I've turned to pinterest for my spruced up versions of typical snacks. For example - potato skins. You love them loaded with gooey, stringy cheese and bacon, sour cream and chives. I promise you that this skinny version tastes just as fantastic. The spices give it a kick and a flavor that just mixes really well with the sweetness of the potato. Try this and I promise it won't disappoint. It would even be perfect for your holiday party since it's in and out of the oven then onto the table.

Biggest Loser Sweet Potato Skins (slightly adapted from prevention.com)
16 ounces, 1/2"-thick sweet potatoes (I have no clue how many ounces I used but I did about 2 medium sized potatoes)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
2 ounces shredded  low-fat Cheddar cheese
3 strips Turkey Bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tbs finely chopped scallions (i personally don't think you can ever have enough green onion so I load it on)
2 tablespoons Fat Free Sour Cream

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and oil together until the potatoes are well coated.

Place the potato rounds in a single layer on the prepared pan so they do not touch. Sprinkle the salt, garlic powder, and cayenne evenly over the top of the potatoes. Bake them for 10 minutes. Flip them and bake for 7 to 9 minutes longer, or until they are tender inside and starting to brown lightly on the outside.

Push the potato rounds together so that they touch and you can easily top them in a single, even layer. First place the Cheddar, then the bacon, and then the scallions over the rounds. Bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Serve immediately with sour cream.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

I have had these biscuits bookmarked/starred in my reader for over a year, courtesy of Stephanie Cooks. The thing I enjoy about red lobster is their biscuits, and I always happen to overindulge in them. I only go the that restaurant once every few years, so the fact that I waited so long to make these surprises me a bit. These are spectacluar. They are the most amazing combination of bread, cheese, garlic and salt. I could eat them all day and not care about anything else. I am not even exaggerating - they are that good! And there's really nothing else to say!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
made 6 large biscuits for me
2 cups Buttermilk Biscuit Mix (Bisquick of Jiffy)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1.5 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2/3 cup Milk
2 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Garlic Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Stir biscuit mix, cheese and garlic powder until combined. Add milk and continue stirring. The mix should be thick.

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Melt butter in a small bowl and add oregano and garlic salt. Using a pastry brush, brush the butter mix onto the tops of the biscuits.

Bake for another 2-5 minutes. Serve hot!

Sour Cream Rice

Rice is, by far, one of my top favorite side items. I like it with some butter and s&p too! Adam does not have that sort of love for the brown little grains, so I was a bit skeptical about making this recipe. Since I really do try to stay away from it when I cook for both of us, I figured it wouldn't kill him to have it this one time. Plus, it has corn and sour cream so you really can't go wrong, right? Absolutely! I was so happy that we both enjoyed this recipe. I made it with the white chicken enchiladas, but I suggest making it with something non-cream based, as it was very rich together. You won't be sorry if you try this.

Sour Cream Rice (adapted from A taste of Home Cooking, originally from ...and a cookie for dessert)
1 cup uncooked minute brown rice
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup sour cream (I used fat free)
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese, divided
1 can Corn kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook according to package.

 Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1 cup pepper/monterey Jack cheese, corn, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Lobster Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes definitely top my list of favorite foods. I have always loved them mashed, but I also love them roasted, fried, baked and scalloped. Publix had lobster and red potatoes on sale, and I wanted to cook a nice dinner for our day off, so my mind went immediately to the thought of lobster mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes because they are so easy to create; just eyeball your ingredients and add what you want. Butter, sour cream, milk, yogurt - whatever. So simple! I am also going to try to make smaller portions of foods, so that we don't have a million leftovers to eat of unhealthy things, and it is easy to do with this kind of recipe. This serves 2-4 as a side dish, using the portions below.

Lobster Mashed Potatoes

4 Medium Red Potatoes

5 oz Lobster Tail

3-4 oz Gouda Cheese

3 Green Onions, chopped

2 tbsp Butter

1/4 cup Heavy Cream

1/4 cup Skim Milk

Pinch Cayenne Pepper

S&P

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. While the water is heating, wash and quarter your potatoes. Once water is at a boil, add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

When the potatoes are still a little firm, add butter to a saucepan on medium/low heat. Cut lobster meat into small, but still chunky, pieces and add to melted butter. Saute until cooked through and no longer translucent.

Add cream and milk to a small sauce pan and place on medium heat, stirring until warmed.

Strain potatoes and place in a bowl. Mash (use a whisk if you don't have a potato masher) and add lobster and butter mixture. Stir in cheese until melted, then slowly stir in milk mix. I only used half of the liquid to reach the consistency that I like. Add green onion, cayenne and s&p, the mix until combined.

Stuffed Mushrooms

One thing I really wanted to make recently was stuffed mushrooms. I had found this recipe on allrecipes.com a little while back and wanted to try it. With over 1,300 reviews and a 4.5 rating, it had to be good. We really enjoyed them, especially the nice spicy kick that was unexpected. I only made a few changes, but would definitely recommend these! I had followed a few reviews that said to place in mini muffin trays to bake, but I would recommend just cutting a bit of the round part off so they stand up on a baking sheet. I found they did not brown as well in the muffin tray.

Stuffed Mushrooms (from allrecipes.com)
12 whole fresh mushrooms (I used 24 medium/small sized white mushrooms)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used extra vigrin olive oil)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3 tbsp Butter, Melted
3 Green Onions, chopped


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

While mixture is cooling, slice off any roundness on the mushroom caps that may make them roll while baking. Melt butter and brush over the caps, this should make them brown up.

When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper and green onion. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

Roasted Cuban Bread from Bahama Breeze

Bahama Breeze is one place where I definitely like to order the same thing everytime I go. One of those things is the Cuban Bread. It seems so simple, yet it is amazing and so much better than bruschetta. I recently found a lot of the recipes on their website, including the Roasted Cuban Bread Recipe. I tried it out and it tastes exactly like the restaurant, which makes me so happy because the closest location is about 40 minutes away from me. Now I can have this anytime I want! We devoured an entire loaf of cuban bread in one night with this.

The tomato marinade and butter spread is what makes this so good, I think soaking the tomatoes for a few hours would be a good idea, but I cant imagine it being better than it was.

You can go to the Bhama Breeze site to find other recipes, although I cannot vouch for those. Here is a direct link to this recipe.

Honey Soy Salmon and Vegetables

Ever since I got my grill pan for Christmas, I have been in love with it. I use it for turkey and veggie burgers at least once a week and I think Ill do kabobs on it soon also. Tonight I used it for salmon and vegetables, and they both fit on there to cook at the same time. I love the grill marks that you get on the food, just like youre cooking outside, but so much easier. I really think that every person should own one of these! On my weightloss quest, I havent eaten too much fish, but this was in the freezer and became a 15 minute meal for me. I just eyeballed the marinade ingredients. I would let it soak into your fish for at least 30 minutes.

Fish and Vegetables
Salmon, 4 oz
1/4 green Bell Pepper, sliced and then halved
1/4 White Onion, chopped and then halved

Honey Soy Marinade
Honey, 2 tbsp
Soy Sauce, 6 tbsp
Dry Mustard, 1 tsp
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
S&P, pinch

Combine ingredients and marinate fish and vegetable for at least 30 minutes.

Spray grill pan with olive oil cooking spray. Place on medium high heat. Place salmon skin side down and place vegetables in pan as well. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, until salmon heats through.

I dashed some more soy on at the end also.

Oven Baked Old Bay Fries

While I am still trying to lose some weight by next Friday, last night I was finishing up my assignments for the semester. I hadn't eaten much during the day so I really needed a snack, since I knew I was in for a good 2 hours of work before dinner. I knew there were potatoes, and I have been cutting carbs, so I thought that fries was just what I needed! I decided to add old bay into the mix, and they were SO GOOD! They had the perfect little kick to them and lots of flavor. I think I will have to make them tonight to accompany some turkey burgers that Im going to cook up.

Oven Baked Old Bay Fries
Medium Size Russett Potatoes
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Old Bay Seasoning
Cooking Spray
EVOO

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, to keep fries from sticking, and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut potatoes legnthwise and place on baking sheet. Depending on the amount of potatoes you have, drizzle a small amount of EVOO on top. For one potatoe I used maybe 1/2tsp. Then sprinkle with salt, pepper and old bay.

Bake for 10 minutes. Toss fries on baking sheet and put back in for another 10 minutes.

These would be great with cider vinegar for dipping. I didnt have any so I used sour cream and it was just as good!

Clam Chowder

We are in the midst of Thanksgiving leftover, and while I am still enjoying and looking forward to them, you need something else to break up the continuous stuffing/turkey combo. Adam woke up yesterday wanting Clam Chowder, which sounded good to me! Hey, while we were on a non healthy binge why not throw in some cream based soup? I have no clue where he found this recipe online, because he has yet to send me the link to it. It was really good and cooked in no time. I took down this picture as I dont think it was very appealing.....clam chowder is not the most photogenic thing!

Clam Chowder (adapted from about.com)
26 oz (about 4 cans) chopped Clams (found by the tuna, I would use 5 one next time)
1 Sweet Onion, chopped
6 medium russet potatoes
1/2 lb Bacon, chopped
4 cup Half & Half
3 cup Water (next time I will reduce this to 2 cups and add all of the juice from the clams)
3 tbsp Cornstarch
1 1/3tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper

In a large skillet, saute onion and bacon with salt until cooked through. While this is cooking, peel and dice potatoes and place in crock pot. (I suggest boiling for a few minutes before putting into the crockpot.)Put clams, water and pepper in the crock pot as well, followed by the onion and bacon when done cooking.

Place on high for 2 hours. Add half&half and cornstarch and continue cooking for another hour. Salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Vegetables

My favorite way to cook up veggies lately has been to roast them. I love the flavor and get the needed amount of oil into my diet. Roasting brings out such a nice, sweet flavor and reminds me of fall. I have never enjoyed veggies as much, since steaming is so plain and sauteeing always involves tons of garlic. Dont get me wrong, I love garlic but I find roasting to be so much better.

Roasted Vegetables
Your choice of veggie, I use 1/2 Stalk Asparagus, 2 Cup Raw Broccoli, 5 Carrots sliced fairly thick
4 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbs Oregano, chopped (you can use fresh but I use dry)
1 tbsp Salt, kosher
1 tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut asparagus ends off and toss. Cut pieces in half. Slice carrots and cut up broccoli into florets. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tbsp oregano, 1/2 tbsp salt and 1/2 tbsp pepper. Toss and flip to the other side. Add the remaining olive oile, oregano, salt and pepper.

Place in oven for 20 minutes, tossing half way through.

Loaded Baked Potatoes

It's amazing that I came up with a dinner that didn't have meat as a main dish. I wanted something warm and came across this potato recipe. It could be a side if you made it with smaller potatoes, but I chose to use large baking potatoes and make it the main item. We had it on a nice cool day and it was just what we needed to feel like it was actually fall here. Next time I may use more sour cream, but it was pretty good as is. Im entering it directly how the website states, with my variations included.

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes (adapted from eatingwell.com)

4 medium russet potatoes (I used 2 large baking potatoes)
8 ounces 90%-lean ground beef, (I used 3 pieces of turkey bacon at 25 calories a piece)
1 cup broccoli florets, finely chopped
1 cup water (I used 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup fat free low sodium beef stock)
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 scallions, sliced

Directions
Pierce potatoes all over with a fork. Place in the microwave and cook on Medium, turning once or twice, until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. (I pierced and then microwaved for 5 minutes. Put salt on the outside and wrap in foil, stick them in the oven for 45 minutes, turning half way through)

Meanwhile, brown meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Increase heat to high, add broccoli and water to the pan, cover, and cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain the broccoli; add to the meat. (I put the turkey bacon in a frying pn by itself and cooked for about 5 minutes on high heat, turning half way through, menwhile steming the broccoli with water and beefstock. Chop both, set aside in same bowl.)
Carefully cut off the top third of the cooked potatoes; reserve the tops for another use. Scoop out the insides into a medium bowl. Place the potato shells in a small baking dish. Add 1/2 cup Cheddar, sour cream, salt and pepper to the potato insides and mash with a fork or potato masher. Add scallions and the potato mixture to the broccoli and meat; stir to combine.
Evenly divide the potato mixture among the potato shells and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Microwave on High until the filling is hot and the cheese is melted, 2 to 4 minutes. (I put back in the oven for about 5 minutes to melt everything)

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

It seems like side items are so hard to vary. How mnay ways can you cook vegetables to make it not so boring? I decided to set out for a new side and came across these Baked Parmesan Tomatoes from eatingwell.com. They were really simple and had a lot of flavor. They almost taste like pizza! Each half is only 91 calories, which isnt too bad since it's a whole half of a large tomato and doesn't leave you needing more of a veggie.

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes from EatingWell.com
4 Tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Oregano, chopped
1/4 tsp Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
4 tsp Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Place tomatoes sliced side up on a baking sheet. On tops, sprinkle parmesan cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. Top with olive oil and bake until tender, 15 minutes.

Homemade Salsa

I love making salsa. It takes SO much better than the jarred kind and you can alter it to your liking. Even though it takes some time, and always leaves me fingers burning for days, it is so worth it. I have a tried and true recipe that is insanely good!

Salsa

5 Tomatoes
1 red onion
1 mango
1 bundle of cilantro
2 limes
2 habanero peppers
S&P

I rotate the ingredients in and add lime salt and pepper, squish together two seperate times throughout the process. I add cilantro and habanero at the very end. Its best if you let it sit and all the flavors mix together before serving.