Tortellini Chicken Soup

First recipe of 2021! Here we go! 

I’m always game for a good one pot meal, especially with 3 littles running around. I love how this one is only 6 ingredients and virtually no work! If meat isn’t your thing, you can always omit the chicken sausage! Or, if you wanted, you could use Italian sausage. If you want it a little on the creamier side, add more cream cheese than 8 oz! I served mine with some bread on the side! 

Let me know how yours turns out! 

Ingredients:

2 cans diced tomatoes 

6-8 oz Cream cheese 

3-4 cups Spinach 

Chicken sausage (I used 6) 

4 cups Vegetable broth 

Tortellini 

1. Slice sausage, brown for 3-5 mins in saucepan.

2. Cut cream cheese into squares.

3. Pour vegetable broth, diced tomatoes and cream cheese in crockpot. Add browned sausage.

4. Cook on low for 3-4 hours

5. Put tortellini in crockpot. Let cook for 7-10 mins. Add spinach, in batches, if needed. Cook until wilted.

6. Serve & enjoy!

Meal Plan Monday: Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

Happy Monday! I’m a week into FASTer Way to Fat loss and I’m feeling great! I can already see a difference in my body and my milk supply has been great! I’m so excited to go through the full 6 weeks and share results!

Its been awhile since I threw a recipe on here…mostly because I have been eating the same thing over and over the last month or so #BASIC..haha. I did try this recipe at home yesterday though and it was easy to make so I had to share. It IS kid friendly but I would lay off the paprika in the dredge if you have young kids.

This meal is literally bomb.com and some of it can be prepped ahead of time (rice, and sauce!). I can’t take credit for this amazing-ness though-a friend of mine made it for me during my postpartum phase and it was pretty much heaven on earth. This is pretty much the first stir fry that isn’t sunbasket that I’ve made that actually tastes like a legit stir fry! So I’m here to tell you that this recipe can be mastered by anyone! Special shout out to my friend for this recipe! xo!

Anyway, enough talk. Let’s get to this stir fry!

Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound chicken breasts sliced into frying pieces
Canola oil for frying
Broccoli
Rice

Batter:

1 C Flour
3 t paprika
1 t garlic powder
2 t salt & pepper
Mix above ingredients in large dish for chicken to be dipped in.

Dipping:

2 eggs beat (separate bowl)
1 C corn starch (separate bowl)

Sauce:

5 oz Mae ploy sweet chili sauce
5 Oz water
1/4 C low sodium soy sauce
1/8 C rice wine vinegar
1/4 C honey
1 t Thai chili sauce (more if want spicier)
1 T sesame oil
2 T corn starch

Combine all ingredients except cornstarch and mix well.

To Serve:

Sesame seeds
Cooked rice
Steamed Broccoli

Instructions:

1. Heat adequate oil in large frying pan

2. Dredge the chicken in the cornflour, then dip in the egg and then dredge in flour mixture.  Add to the frying pan and cook on medium high heat for 7-10 minutes or until brown on both sides.  Remove from the pan and place on paper towels.

3. While chicken is cooking, cook rice. Remove broccoli from stems, and steam.

4. add all the sauce ingredients to a hot pan. Mix in corn starch with whisk through fine sleeve to prevent clumping. and cook to thicken, generally 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy!

xo

Alex

Meal Plan Monday: 3/11/19

Happy Monday!

Anyone else super happy about Dayoght savings? I know a lot of people hate it because you “lose” n hour of sleep…but when you’re used to losing sleep it means nothing— ! I know it can cause a lot of havoc on sleep schedules to parents all over the nation but right now I will take that over darkness any day! This winter has honestly lasted 49053 days and I’m ready for SPRING.

Our big kids were off at their grandparents this weekend so I actually went grocery shopping on my own #score. I wanted to share my meal plan for the week with you all!

Sunday: I made Arugula Chicken - you can find my recipe linked here. I like this meal because its a two for one- meaning I don’t need to make an extra meal for the kids (HECK YEAH). I just give them the chicken plain and then just steam some veggies and pair it with some noodles. This meal is SO good, fast, and you can make it ahead of time (like I did today-I just put it in the fridge and when it was time to cook, popped it into the oven!!).

Monday- I have two Sunbasket meals arriving this week. The first is a Crispy tofu stir fry with sweet Sichuan sauce. The second we will be having on Tuesday night and its a Chipotle turkey chili with cucumber sumac salad. For those interested you can use my code to save money on your first order with Sunbasket!

Use this code: https://sunbasket.com/invite/Alex398281

Wednesday- I’ll be falling back on the trusty chicken pepperoni meal-the kids love it, and its easy!

Thursday- I’ll be making this cheesy chicken bake . This is another good recipe that can be made ahead of time & thrown into the oven, the kids like, and I substitute plain greek yogurt for mayo to make this pretty healthy. Yes, it has cheese in it, but this meal HAS been part of my rotation when I’ve been in the process of leaning out! Because when I’m leaning out, this works because I tend to focus on high fat/high protein! *Also, I have had this WITH mayo and honestly I don’t even like mayo and it still tastes good. I obviously prefer the greek yogurt because it packs extra protein and is lower fat/cal and just all around healthier!

Friday- Will be your standard Friday fish day! Salmon with good ol Paul Prudhomme’s spices!

I can’t think as far as Saturday so that is it for meal planning! ha! I wanted to share every week a few of my favorites.

This Weeks Faves:

1. Teriyaki Wegmans Chicken: I really like their pre-seasoned chicken. Yeah, its more expensive but for the season I’m in I need something easy, fast, healthy, and convinient that I can just make ahead of time and warm up on the go at home or bring with me to work. TIP: Cut these in half before cooking!! This will help give it an even cook. I always found it hard when leaving it whole to get it cooked just right. Either the outside would get burned, or the inside would be raw! Added bonus: Both of my boys like this chicken and I give it to them for dinner/lunch one or two times a week. I always make these ahead of time and put in the fridge for a fast meal in a pinch!

2. Wegmans Turkey Bacon -This stuff has great flavor, is awesome paired with eggs, or in an omelette!

3. Eggs are a big staple in our house. May-October we get eggs at the farmers market, but in the winter we rely on the grocery store options. Wegman’s came out with these this past year and they are worth the extra money. The flavor of them is AWESOME.

Lastly, I wanted to share these Lara truffles. Only 7 ingredients (and all goodies) make these a great snack.

Have a great day peeps! xo
Alex

Meal Plan Monday #2: No Bean Chili

How is it already Monday?! This weekend literally flew by and I think I need an extra day just looking outside! This weather...smh.  I'm looking forward to the temperatures warming up and the ability to get outside later on this week...this never ending winter has been brutal. The recipe on tap today is actually perfect for these RIDIC temps/ice storm we have right now! 

I wanted to share a meal I made last week that I think some of you will enjoy. To be honest, I've never been a huge chili fan. A couple of years ago I started to make it in the crockpot but I mostly made it because it was easy, convenient, and relatively fast to make. I'm always looking to make meals that are healthy but that there's no drop off in taste and flavor. Ones that I actually look forward to eating lol. Who's with me on that? Nothing better than coming home from a long day at work and having a yummy meal to look forward to!

After making several different chili recipes, I've pieced together my favorite version of this staple! 

Sweet Potato Chili

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:
Ground Turkey
Red Pepper
Green Pepper
2 tomatillos or a can of diced tomatillos
1 large sweet potato (or 2 smaller sized ones)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup onion
Cilantro to taste
Cayenne, paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder

Directions: 
Dice onion, green and red pepper, and tomatillos (if needed).  In a large saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, and sweet potatoes. Cook for 8-10 minutes. Add green and red peppers. Cook until soft. Remove from heat. Use same pan and heat oil (if pan is dry) and cook turkey. Add vegetables to turkey along with the tomatillos, vegetable broth, 1/2 cup of water and tomato paste. Sprinkle with desired amount of spice blend. Let simmer and thicken for 10-15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

You can honestly use a different pan if you want to cook the turkey at the same time that the veggies are cooking-that saves a little time. I mostly do it in the same pan to get the extra flavoring thats in the pan after the veggies cook. Also, if your chili is "too thick" you can add more water, or more paste if not thick enough. This is all down to what you like. 

This is a great recipe because you can play around with the ingredients- if you want it really spicy or just mild just adjust you spice levels. Keep in mind that spicy food does kick the metabolism up a little! #winning #givemealllllthespice

I LOVE the sweet potatoes as the carb vs the beans personally! Sweet Potatoes are one of the best slow burning carbohydrates and are great fuel for anyone!

In addition if you don't want it as "tomatoey" (if thats a word ha) then you could use 1 cup of water instead of the crushed tomatoes. Also Diced tomatillos are such an awesome way to add flavor and they are super easy to cut up and find in the grocery store! 

I have 3 sunbasket meals on tap for this week which I am SO looking forward to. This past week got a bit monotonous with salmon and chicken! 

Have a great week everyone and enjoy! 

xo

Alex
 

A 'lighter' lasagna

Now that the cooler weather is finally upon us, I thought I would share one of my favorite comfort foods --with a healthy twist of course! What I love about this dish is it can be cooked in the crockpot, or in the oven. 

I never used to even eat lasagna. It always turned me off because I absolutely cannot stand ricotta cheese. But when my mother in law made this for me and ricotta was not in the recipe, I fell in love and its become one of Max's favorite meals. I usually swap out turkey for beef, and whole wheat pre cooked lasagna noodles to make it a little bit lighter. I add tons of veggies as you will see below. 

                                                               Pan frying the veggies 

Ingredients: 

Meat sauce:
1 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 red & 1 green pepper chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
mushrooms
Sliced Carrots
1.5 jar of any red sauce of your choice- or homemade if you choose
Olive Oil
Salt, pepper, italian seasonings to taste

                                             White sauce and the no-boil lasagna sheets I use

White Sauce: 

300 ml milk
2 tablespoons flour (I use Arrowhead mills organic unbleached white flour)
1 cup- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
Pre baked lasagna noodles (I choose whole wheat DeLallo in the organic section)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese to garnish (for top)

                                                               Red sauce...complete!!

Directions: 
Chop all of the vegetables, onion, and garlic. Cook in pan with olive oil on medium for 5-7 minutes. Add meat. Cook thoroughly and add salt, pepper and italian seasonings. Add jar of sauce and set aside. In a pot, heat milk and flour and whisk. Add cheese and stir until melted. You can always adjust amounts if you feel as though the sauce is not thick enough/too thick. Grease pan or crockpot with olive oil. Place pre baked noodles as bottom layer. Put meat sauce on noodles as second layer, then add white sauce. Repeat until you have no more meat/white sauce. I usually finish it with one layer of the noodles, with extra sauce on the top and garnish with motzerella cheese.  Bake for 45 mins in the oven, or 4-6 hours on medium/low in the crock pot and you have your light lasagna ready to go! 

                                                                  Layer by Layer...

I feel as though you can add a ton of veggies to this meal other than the ones I have listed including spinach. I have actually also pre made the meat and veggie mixture and frozen it for when the baby comes so all I have to do is defrost, throw a can of sauce in it, and make the white sauce which literally takes 3 minutes! Amazing! 

                                    Comfort food at its finest with only a little bit of guilt!

Enjoy everyone
xo

Alex