a week of (healthy) recipes.

things are changing in this household.  for a little while anyway.  i've been feeling really crappy when it comes to my health and my appearance lately so its about time to make some changes.  as of last week, we decided that weeknight dinners are going to be healthy (for the most part....anything is better than the cheese, butter and carbs that i normally make).  also, no drinking on week nights unless its a special occasion. ie: charger game, friends over for dinner, etc.  weekends are fair game however :)

anyway, here's my first week of healthy recipes so i thought i'd share.  i got all but one of them from allrecipes.com, my favorite food website.  enjoy!

let me start with the least "healthy" of all.  Slow cooker Chicken Taco Soup.  It's actually not bad until it comes to the toppings :) And who doesn't love an easy and delicious slow cooker recipe?  Especially a hearty soup for the upcoming cool weather.  

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, undrained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, undrained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (I just used Coors Light)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used 4)
• shredded Cheddar cheese (optional).....necessary in my opinion
• sour cream (optional)......again, crucial! gives soup a great creaminess
• crushed tortilla chips (optional) -I didn't use these, instead i threw some slices of avocado on top

Directions

1. Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours. (Mine only took about 3 hours to cook the chicken)
2. Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.  

Mediterranean Quinoa

This is by far my favorite recipe of the week.  I made some adjustments so take note of that in the ingredients section.  As you noticed I've been copying the original recipe and noting my changes next to them.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
•  
• 2 large cooked chicken breasts - cut into bite size pieces
• 1 large red onion, diced (I used 1/2 of a sweet onion because that's all i had, which was plenty)
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (i just eyeballed the herbs)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I probably wouldn't put this in next time, it was salty enough with the olives, and i LOVE salty.  Maybe just use half the recommended)
• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (WAY too much, I juiced one lemon and used that)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I used about 2 tablespoons)

Directions

1. Bring the water, bouillon cubes, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the quinoa, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard the garlic clove and scrape the quinoa into a large bowl.
2. Gently stir the chicken, onion, bell pepper, olives, feta cheese, parsley, chives, and salt into the quinoa. Drizzle with the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Stir until evenly mixed. Serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold.  (I personally enjoyed it more cold!)

 

 

Italian Style Flounder

Ingredients

• 2 pounds flounder fillets
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup diced fresh tomato (i would suggest using a little more)
• 2 teaspoons dried basil (too much, lessen to 1 or 1.5 tsps)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Arrange flounder in a medium baking dish. Dot with butter, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Top with tomato, basil, and garlic powder.
3. Cover, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork. 

Now, this flounder recipe wasn't my favorite.  I probably wouldn't make it again.  Its my first time cooking with flounder so I'm not sure if its the fish that just doesn't wow me or the other ingredients. Paired with wild rice-a-roni and salad it wasn't bad though.

 

 

Mabo Tofu

 

This one isn't from allrecipes.com.  The sauce for the tofu comes in a box (picture below) and all you do is add the tofu and a ground meat of your choice.  I used ground beef, and basically quadruple the amount of it to give it a little more substance.  I also used two bags of the liquid.  Put it over some brown rice and serve with a veggie of your choice and call it a day.  Super easy!

 

Shrimp Quinoa

Terrible picture, can you tell I forgot to take it until the very end?

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
•  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 8 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (I used about 10)
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I only used about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste (I also added some garlic and onion powder)

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the remaining liquid absorb into the quinoa.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, onion, and red bell pepper; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus, mushrooms, raisins, and ginger; continue cooking until the asparagus is tender. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until the shrimp have turned pink and are no longer translucent in the center.
3. Stir the lemon juice into the quinoa, then toss the quinoa with the shrimp and vegetable mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving. 

Ok, so I kinda messed this one up.  First off, can you tell we are on a quinoa kick? We are both obsessed! Anyway,I was trying to consider Jon's tastes and liking so I left out the ginger, lemon (didn't have any) and raisins.  Well it turns out that he said he wouldn't have minded the ginger and raisins.  Dangit! It sounded good to me. Next time I will definitely add those ingredients.  It was really bland without them.  My plain paleted husband thought it was delicious, however!