Healthy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Smoothies

 "A cheerful heart is good medicine." Proverbs 17:22

It's no secret that I have a pretty big sweet tooth (blame my Papa, he is worse than I am!), and so when I'm trying to be healthy and lose weight, my Achilles heel is my cravings for something sweet. Fortunately, there's this thing called smoothies. Personally, I don't care if mine is icy or not, but I know a lot of people do, so there's plenty of frozen fruit and ice cubes in the world to achieve that frosty mug you desire.

Here are two completely different chocolate and peanut butter kinds of recipes for your sweet tooth, and since I'm counting WW points, I'll share those too:

Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie
1 Banana, frozen, sliced (0pts)
1 cup of Chocolate Almond Milk (3pts)
1 tbsp of Better’n Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter (1pt)
3 Ice cubes*
_____
Total pts: 4
*Depending on how frozen your banana is, you may or may not need the ice cubes.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter covered Strawberry Smoothie
1/2 cup of frozen strawberries (1 pts)
1 cup of Trader Joe's unsweetened Almond milk (2pts)
1 tbsp of PB2 w/ Chocolate (1 pt)
1 tbsp of Hersey's unsweetened cocoa (0 pts)
1 pack of Equal
_____
Total pts:4

The first recipe is an older one. It takes a little prep, considering how most people don't just have bananas in the fridge. But on that particular day, I did. It was delicious, and satisfied my craving for something with chocolate.

The strawberry one is the one I made today. It was really good, and helped me make a little snack that would tide me over until lunchtime. I will say, though, that these are not husband approved. He's not a fan of smoothies or health food in general and so I tend to leave him out of it if I make one. His motto is if it tastes too healthy, it's going to make him sick. (Sure it is!) Fortunately, I just made enough for one today. :)

Thanks for tuning in, I'm off to have lunch and do some housework! I've got a bet with myself on how much I can get done today, so wish me luck.

Blessings to all of you on this very important Tuesday!

Love,
Casey

Vegetable Soup w/ Ground Turkey

Today was a fantastic day. We went to Wal-mart, which is actually pretty rare for us and I was so excited to be moving forward into this new season of Thanksgiving and eventually Christmas that I couldn't help myself, and got some baking supplies. I am so looking forward to making people cookies and treats - and cooking Thanksgiving dinner. My favorite thing to do is to feed people, and well...'tis the season!

I was pretty amused to see this inflatable Turkey today, I know there's some sort of brand he is representing, but for me he was the very first Thanksgiving turkey I've seen, and I was really pleased to see him all larger than life and signifying second wing of fall and the last wing of this year. The holidays in general is the very best thing there is about the growing cold months and so I just can't help myself - I'm so excited!

He looks a bit angry doesn't he?

We've had some cooler weather the past few days, due to what is going on up in the New England area, and while the cool air and wind has been really refreshing for us, I want to take a minute and send my condolences to those up north who are experiencing hardships, have lost everything, or have lost their loved ones. My husband and I have been praying for their safety and an end to their discomfort and hope that you will join us in doing so.

It's amazing to imagine that Thanksgiving is going to be upon us in just three short weeks. I have a mind to make a carrot cake for the holiday, which is something I've never done. I've also got it in my heart to let my grandmother teach me how she makes her famous cornbread dressing. We've made it together a couple of times, which was so much fun, but I'd really like to see if I could accomplish that feat on my own. You know I'll let you know how it goes!

Anyway, starting last night, David really started talking about what we could do for dinner tonight and as he had taken down some ground turkey to thaw, we started brainstorming over what we could do with it. He immediately got vegetable soup in his mind and couldn't let go of it. Initially, I wasn't too excited about the idea, because we'd had meatless vegetable soup that very night at church for dinner. But he was adamant, and I was interested to see what I could do with it if I put my own spin on it. Of course, when we got downstairs, we had no tomato soup - hence the trip to Wal-mart (unrelated, but we also needed kitty litter).

So after both of us diligently resisting eating some fast food (we're trying desperately to remain on our established budget), we came home and I immediately got started on our soup. Our eating better regime is really struggling these days. I don't know what's the matter with us lately, but our willpower is really ridiculously susceptible to temptations left and right. It seems like once a week, we make a deal, shake hands on it, pinky swear with a kiss, and then all of a sudden it's like "oh! look I found a recipe for fudge on Pinterest" or "Oh! Look what Pioneer Woman made on Foodnetwork, lemme try to make my own version" or similar and we're back to promising tomorrow will be different.

This recipe, in my opinion, is pretty healthy. I made hubby cornbread to eat with his and cheesebread for me to eat with mine - which is not so healthy. But it's better than pumpkin rolls and calzones, which totally both went down last week. Pray for us, we are really trying in spite of what it looks like, we're just truly weak on the execution. I might very well have to resurrect my Weight Watchers membership. In any case, this soup was really good. Enough about me, here's the recipe:

Vegetable Soup w/ Ground Turkey

Ingredients
1 can of fat free Chicken broth
2 cans of Tomato soup
2 cans of water*
1 can of whole kernel corn, un-drained
1 can of green peas, un-drained
1 can of green beans, un-drained
4 Red potatoes washed and cubed
2 T of light Country crock margarine
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
dashes of sage, garlic powder, garlic pepper, cilantro, and parsley

For the ground turkey
1/2 pound of ground turkey, browned
1/2 tsp of worchestershire sauce
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
salt and pepper

*After emptying the can, fill with water and add it to the pot

Add all of the ingredients for the soup at once, and stir to incorporate. Put on medium heat. Brown ground turkey in a separate pan with the minced garlic. When the turkey is brown, add seasonings and stir. Add turkey to soup. Allow soup to simmer for about an hour and a half, periodically checking on it and reducing heat. (What I love about soup is that you literally can throw all of the ingredients into the pot and go do something else while it does its thing. I finished watching the season finale of 19 Kids and Counting; love that show.)

When you think the soup is done, reduce it to low and make some cornbread or some grilled cheese, or some cheese bread, or nothing, depending on how you enjoy eating soup and grab a bowl. We enjoyed it on this chilly evening!

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to tune in.

Blessings from my house to yours!

Butternut Squash Soup

 Autumn Series Feature

Atlanta Bread Company has some of the best Butternut squash soup I have ever had. It has just the right amount of sweet and savory and I crave it all the time; especially this time of year.

The other day I was waiting for David to grab something at the grocery store and was standing by a big display of butternut squash that was reasonably priced. I couldn't resist. It was time for project soup.

Now I had never handled one of these butternut squashes before, so I had no idea what to do with it. I ended up, after struggling needlessly for about ten minutes, googling a tutorial. Here you go.

Picture Source

Butternut Squash Soup
 *I got my inspiration for this from Paula Deen

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tablespoon light butter
3  cans chicken broth
2  carrots, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
2 lb Butternut Squash, halved, peeled and seeded; cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 cup of Half and Half

Place squash in saucepan along with carrots, onions, and broth then add in the salt.  Simmer 40 minutes uncovered.  Puree soup in a blender or food processor along with 2 tablespoons butter.  Pour a little hot puree into the half and half so not to curdle the cream; add to soup. Stir in cinnamon.  Serve in a bowl with sour cream.

This was so good, and so much like the soup I love at ABC. I was really pleased with my soup making endeavor - hubby liked it too. Sometimes when I turn into a mad scientist in the kitchen, the results are worth it.

I hope everyone is enjoying everything this fall season has to offer!

God Bless!

Healthy Garlic Parmesan Chicken

So this week I am reembarking on a quest to be healthier and make healthier choices at meal times. But I also know that my sweet husband will never go for lighter fare unless it's plenty flavorful and plenty filling. So when I cook healthy, I've got a big challenge ahead of me - especially when he is begging for something like crispy cheddar chicken, and I am wanting something that isn't bad for us! I made this a little nervously, knowing that if we didn't like it, we'd be eating sandwiches for dinner. Yet, when we sat down, said grace, and dug in, my response that it was good wasn't only one of relief, but it was also paired with a resounding "Mmmm!" from the both of us.

Because there is only two of us, I try to stretch out meat as far as it will go at dinner times. It's expensive! So for us I usually only cook two chicken breasts for dinner, but you could easily use this recipe with four. I used 1 large pan and a pair of tongs (I just think they're easier to use than spatulas), a gallon zip-lock bag, and a rolling pin (or some other stress relieving device).

Sorry about the blurry picture. I didn't realize it was blurry until I had thoroughly enjoyed my meal, so it was much too late to retake the photo! I'll try to get a better picture the next time I make this, because I am sure I'm going to end up making this a weekly staple!



Healthy Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (butterflied* and flattened), salt and peppered and cut in half
1/4 cup of flour
3 T of light butter
1 T of minced garlic 
1 T of lemon (or more depending on how much you like lemon)
1 T of parmesan cheese
1 tsp sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 shake parsley
1 shake cilantro

*When I say butterflied, it's because I don't know what else to call it. With meat scissors, I cut through the chicken breast without cutting in it half, then over left and right. Essentially cutting the chicken breast like a shrimp. My goal is to aid the endeavor of flattening the chicken breasts.

On your stove-top, spray a large pan with cooking spray and set it on medium heat. In a gallon zip-lock bag place the chicken and zip it up, releasing all the air from the bag (you don't want to pop the bag when you flatten the chicken). Put flour in a plate.  Take a rolling pin and flatten the chicken until they're 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut each breast in half. Salt and pepper the chicken breast and coat them lightly in flour. Place them in the warmed pan, alternate cooking them on each side for four minutes until chicken is fully cooked (I'm a stickler about meat temperatures, and so I always use a meat thermometer. Chicken is fully cooked at 168 degrees, but I like to get it to at least 171 before I'm satisfied that it's done).

When chicken is fully cooked, remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan melt the butter. Add minced garlic (I used the kind from a jar), and saute with sage, poultry seasoning, parsley and cilantro for about thirty seconds. Add lemon and saute 30 more seconds. Using the tongs, place the chicken breasts one at a time back into the pan and coat them on both sides with the butter mixture. Once out of the pan sprinkle parmesan cheese over both sides of the chicken.

This chicken was so savory and delicious. The husband has a this tick where he thinks he needs to put either hot sauce or ranch dressing on everything. I'm pleased to say that he thinks that this needs neither. It stands all on it's own. This dish would be delicious also with some sauteed mushrooms and would be good with vegetables or pasta. Since we're trying to be healthy, we're going to stick with veggies. Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoy and God bless! 

Bruschetta Chicken

I have to blog about this one because this chicken was so good, my husband and I thought we had gone out to eat at a restaurant. The best part was that it was, you guessed it, really easy (healthy too!). I am always looking for ways to spice up chicken breast. Scarcely a week passes that we aren't eating some kind of chicken breast meal. Naturally, that gets really old, so anything that I can do to liven up a weekly staple, I look for it. This recipe, if you can even call it that, was born of me wanting to prepare something ahead of time so I wasn't sitting there at five o'clock searching for something to do. I was looking for a Crock-pot recipe that didn't require an instant ranch or Italian dressing packet, and when that didn't happen, had begun digging through my fridge trying to find something to marinate my chicken breast in. Fortunately, I found a jar of Trader Joe's bruschetta tomatoes. Eureka!

Bruschetta Chicken 

Ingredients
1 jar of Trader Giotto's (Trader Joe's) Bruschetta
2 large chicken breasts, cut into four chicken pieces
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
1 T of Parmesan Cheese
1 T of Litehouse Italian Seasoning

To make:

Cut two large chicken breasts into four smaller breasts and place inside a gallon sized zip-lock bag with half of the jar of Bruschetta. Allow to marinate for at least four hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour contents of the bag of marinated chicken into a greased baking dish. Pour the remaining Bruschetta over the top of the chicken, top with Parmesan and Italian seasoning, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken is done.

This is a versatile dish that can be served with a variety of sides. It will be tasty with vegetables or pasta, depending on your mood or what you have available.We had plenty of red potatoes and broccoli so that's what I served. It turned out great and hubby said I needed to go rummaging through the fridge more often, haha.

Enjoy!