Water Chestnut Chicken Divan

Hey there, Monday peeps!

Here is an easy recipe (and Carter family favorite) that looks super fancy!  It is healthy & a "one pan dinner" so you really don't need any additional side.  Add it to your menu this week!

Water Chestnut Chicken Divan

(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken, cooked & shredded

2 bags frozen broccoli, cooked (or 3 heads of fresh broccoli, steamed)

1 large can water chestnuts, drained

1 T butter

2 t olive oil

2 t minced garlic

chopped onion - I just throw in a little, and I don't measure it

1/4 cup flour

1 cup fat free chicken broth

1 cup skim milk

2 oz dry white cooking wine

6 oz swiss cheese, divided

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9X13 pan & set aside.  Cook chicken & broccoli and set aside (sometimes I grab a rotisserie chicken from the store if I am in a bind!).  In a large skillet, heat your butter, olive oil, garlic and chopped onion.  Stir well until butter is melted.  Sprinkle in your flour and mix quickly.  Add in broth, milk, and cooking wine.  Bring to a boil...stirring constantly.  (Basically you are making your own cream of chicken sauce - minus the processed junk in the can and yucky sound it makes when you dump it out - eek!)  Remove from heat and stir in half of your swiss cheese.  Stir well and the sauce will start to thicken a bit.

Line your pan with all of the broccoli.  Top with water chestnuts.  We LOVE water chestnuts and sometimes I will add more than one can.  Just make sure to drain first.  If you don't like water chestnuts, feel free to omit.  Next, top with half of sauce mixture.  Sprinkle with salt/pepper.  Top with chicken.  Cover with remaining sauce and remaining half of swiss cheese.  Sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on top.  Finally, I take a little cooking spray and spray the whole top - this sets the dish!

Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown.  Serve hot with french bread.  Your family will love it and your Monday meal is taken care of!  :)

All-American Chili

Happy Monday!  Need a quick & cozy dinner for this week?  Try my "All-American Chili!"  It is a Carter family favorite + so easy!

All-American Chili

* 2 lbs lean ground beef (or turkey)

* 28oz can diced tomatoes

* 28oz can tomato PUREE (not tomato paste or sauce)

* 1 can light red kidney beans, drained & rinsed

* 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained & rinced

* 1 yellow onion, diced

* 1 red pepper, diced

* 1-2 t garlic powder

* 2 T chili powder

* 1/4 cup brown sugar

* salt & pepper 

Directions: Brown your ground beef (or turkey) and add in chopped onion & red pepper.  Drain.  At this point, I add everything else into a crock pot, throw in the meat, and simmer on low for a few hours.  You could also put everything in your stock pot and cook on high until it is heated through.  We always top ours with oyster crackers, cheese, sour cream & green onions!  I like to serve ours with veggies & dip + a poppyseed mozzarella bread that I make.  YUM! Enjoy!  

Road Trip Trail Mix

About 6 years ago, I had a sweet kindergartner whose mama gave me this trail mix recipe.  Nothing fancy, which is something I have learned is a prerequisite for a busy mom.  No baking required, and so easy to change up!  I usually make it for any road trips we have coming up, but I find myself buying the ingredients in the summer a lot as well.  Happy snacking!  

Road Trip Trail Mix

* serves a lot!*

3 cups Cinnamon Life (NOT Cinnamon Toast Crunch)

1 bag banana chips (unsweetened, I usually find at Wal-Mart)

4 cups Cheerios

1 bag yogurt raisins

2 cups honey roasted peanuts

2-3 cups pretzel sticks 

Ziploc snack baggies 

Add all ingredients and stir well.  Divide into snack baggies.  These keep well (at least a week) and are great for road trips, pool days or just a healthy snack!  There are a lot of ways to change this up to your liking - add mini chocolate chips or marshmallows, different types of pretzels, chocolate-covered raisins, regular raisins, apple chips...the possibilities are endless!  

Ditch your boring granola bars & make this today!

Monday Meals...baby edition!

My little pumpkin getting ready to try avocado for the first time! 

Dane loves to eat.  Mom loves to cook.  We were a match from the start.  I knew even before we started thinking about children, that I wanted to make my child's baby food.  It was not because I was over health-conscious, or to save a ton of money...but just because I love to cook & it sounded fun.  I know so many mama friends who don't like to cook and/or don't have the time...no problem! 

 And their kids are just fine.  :)  

We are all doing what works best for our families, and I think that is the most important thing to remember.  

I waited until Dane was 6 months old to start solids.  He didn't start sitting up until a little after turning 6 months anyway, so the timing was perfect.  A friend from church offered to bring her baby food maker & freezing trays & show me the ropes.  It really was unbelievably easy & in just a few hours we made weeks of baby food that could be stored in the freezer and conveniently thawed for meals.  Healthy foods + saving money = more shopping for Abigail more grocery money for the month!  Per our doctor's advice, we started with vegetables (sweet potatoes, squash, avocado, green beans) and later tried fruits (banana, pears, mango, peaches, apples).  Dane is an excellent veggie eater and I am convinced that is because we started with vegetables!  Each food was introduced one at a time to make sure we were clear of allergies, and then new foods were added every few days.  Some vegetables were added later (like carrots, who knew they could be full of nitrates?  Not good for infants.  Berries were added in later as well, common allergen)  My sweet friend Allyson also suggested the book Super Baby Food & I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone thinking about making their own!  It has user-friendly charts for each month recommending foods to try/add, tons of recipes and is just very informative.  I also made Dane's oatmeal and rice cereal to begin with (also super easy!) & recipes for those were found in that book as well.  

Now that Dane is 18 months (I can't believe I just typed that) the baby food days are over, and I am a little sad!  I really loved making new foods & pureeing different things together to see what he liked. We have moved on to real "people food" for him & that can be just as fun!  Dane typically eats what we eat for meals, and does a great job in his high chair.  His favorite meal is probably breakfast...and mine as well!  He loves French toast, pancakes, muffins, fruit, yogurt, eggs...basically anything that goes with coffee.  :)  Lunch is usually some sort of sandwich (pb&j, ham & cheese, grilled cheese, quesadillas, etc), plus fruit and veggies and dinner is whatever we eat as a family.  He has grown accustomed to Mommy's Famous Meatloaf which is great since it is on the Carter dinner rotation quite frequently!  Snack time is another favorite for Dane and is typically offered after waking up from his nap, or before dinner if he is acting hungry.  Sometimes I run out of snack ideas and don't always want to offer a "cracker" type of snack...although he definitely smiles for his beloved Goldfish!  Some other popular snacks for us are: grapes, banana slices, cheddar cheese & baby Triscuits, Puffs, graham crackers, or string cheese.  

Because Dane loves breakfast, I included two of my go-to recipes below.  I love both of these because the recipes make a lot and both freeze well.  We all know that when the Today Show is on, Mama likes to thaw something out quickly for breakfast and not have to worry about being in the kitchen all morning!  I also love both of these recipes because you most likely have all of the ingredients in your pantry right now.  Happy cooking!    

Whole Wheat Pancakes (adapted from the Super Baby Food book)

*makes a lot, depending on size of pancake.  I usually do a silver-dollar size*

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons oil (coconut, veggie or canola)

1 very large RIPE banana, smashed

1 teaspoon vanilla 

cinnamon to taste 

Mix wet ingredients together.  Add in dry ingredients; do not over mix.  Pour silver-dollar sizes on griddle & cook until golden brown.  Top with pure maple syrup.  Freeze up to 1 month.  *Can sub pumpkin for banana (I loved to do this in the Fall!)  I also have added mini chocolate chips to spice them up as well!*   

Heavenly Banana Oatmeal Muffins (adapted from Skinnytaste Cookbook)

* makes 12 large muffins, or 20 mini muffins*

1.5 cups quick oats

1 1/4 cups unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup ripe banana, smashed (about 2 large bananas)

2 large egg whites

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour (I used spelt flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 12 muffin tin with cupcake holders & then lightly spray with Pam.  In a large bowl mix oats and milk together and put in fridge for 30 minutes.  After soaking, add in wet ingredients - then dry.  Mix well and pour into muffin tin.  Bake about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Dane loves his with butter or even fancier - a little peanut butter on top!  

And there you have it.  Simple. Easy. Yummy.  Three prerequisites in my cookbook.  Now you share! 

What are your favorite or kid-friendly recipes?

"Food tastes better when you eat it with your family." 

~ author unknown 

Monday Meals...Sweet Onion Salsa

Mexican food is like a love language for me.  It's no surprise if we have Mexican 3-4 times a week.  So enjoy my favorite homemade sweet onion salsa - perfect over eggs, chicken, in tacos, fajitas - or just with a spoon.  :)

Sweet Onion Salsa

(adapted from Infarrantly Creative)

Shopping List

* 1 can diced tomatoes or 1.5 cups fresh

* HUGE handful of cilantro (I always end up adding more too!)

* 1/2 small sweet onion, diced

* 1 T apple cider vinegar

* 1 T honey or other sweetener of choice 

* 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic

* 1/4 heaping teaspoon cumin

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1 jalapeno slice - or more based on taste!

* Measure all ingredients EXCEPT for tomatoes directly in blender.  Blend until chopped.  Next, add tomatoes and pulse a few times.  I like mine chunky, but blend to your liking.  Add more salt, jalapeno, tomatoes, or sweetener to taste!  Put in an airtight container and refrigerate.  

Bets are it will be gone in 2 days flat.  OLE!  

Monday Meals...Crockpot Buffalo Chicken

Happy Monday!

Need a quick Monday dinner?  Try my Crockpot Buffalo Chicken!  It's simple, fast, & perfect for a busy Monday night.  ENJOY!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken 

Shopping list:

1 lb boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1/2 packet of Ranch seasoning (or make your own)

2 cans fat-free chicken broth

1 small onion, chopped 

Frank's Hot Sauce (to taste)

pepper to taste 

Combine first 4 ingredients in your crock pot and cook on high for 4 hrs or low for 6-8.  Once chicken is cooked through, take out and shred.  Stir in Frank's & put back in (drain a little liquid if needed).  Serve on whole grain buns, lettuce wraps or on a salad - my fave!  You can also top with Ranch, Bleu Cheese and/or Sharp Cheddar.  I think plain is just as good!

Granola Footballs

In the Fall, I am a football widow.  It really is nice stinks to be by myself every Friday night while Dev is at varsity games.  I wish I could be there to sit in the cold metal bleachers, judge stare at the snobby high school cheerleaders (that I used to be, #sorrynotsorry), & stuff my face with sodium-ladden popcorn.  Buuuuut....because I drive almost an hour to work + contain 26 5-year olds all day, I have a good excuse not to go to the games.  Now, when we have a baby I will be in the front row cheering them on in whatever they choose to do.  I just hope it involved tutus, glitter & dance routines to Thriller.   

Last spring, DC & his football-coaching buddies decided to compete in a Tough Mudder competition.  This involved diving into ice cold water, scaling walls & getting electrocuted while crawling through mud.  This also involved not inviting their wives.  But, you can better believe I quizzed him on who complained about their wife on the way down & that it better not have been him.  I don't think it was though, because I asked the guys when they got back & they said he never talks bad about me.  Reason #34,567 why he is awesome.

Back to this post's theme: food.  When the boys (I love calling grown men boys...I think it's cute) left for their trip to Ohio, I made lots of snacks for them to take.  I'm not good at a lot of things: shooting a free throw, working a remote, or driving the speed limit, but I am this: a good treat-giver.  I packed iced sugar cookies, sunflower seeds, double-fudge brownies, chips, you name it.  Then I thought I would be clever and try to *sneak* in something somewhat healthy...these protein energy bites.  

About half way through the drive, I get a text from Devin saying, "Everyone loved your balls.  They're gone."  Iced sugar cookies?  Still there.  Brownies?  Barely touched.  My "Balls" as so lovingly described...GONE.  These babies are addicting.  Super easy.  And you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry.   Since the Tough Mudder, I have made them at least 5 different times for the coaches & they are devoured.  Therefore, I renamed Granola Foot-"balls"....the most original I could come up with.

Go make them now.  You won't be disappointed.
And I promise the football coach in your life will love you for it.

Granola Football Bites
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1/4-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (could also use raisins, cranberries or any kind of nut)
1/3 cup honey & 1/3 cup light maple syrup (or you can do 2/3 cup of either)
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
2 T vanilla protein powder (can omit if you don't have it & they will still be fine)

Mix all ingredients very well & chill for 30 minutes.  Roll into balls & devour, or pass them on to a friend who has had a tough week!

Now, if you are going to the store to buy the ingredients and have to stop for gas....please don't pre-pay, walk off, & accidentally leave your full gas pump.  Not that I did that this week or anything.

Happy weekend, friends.