Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Another skinnytaste.com recipe!  I adapted this bread recipe to muffins, and pack 2 of them for Little Girl's lunch at least once a week.  I love this recipe because I can easily bake 2 batches (24 muffins), throw them in a freezer bag, and pull out two at a time as needed.  I put them into a lunch bag frozen, and they are perfectly thawed by the time lunch time rolls around.  Easiest. Lunch. Ever.  Bonus -- they have veggies in them!  

Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (I used unbleached)
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour would work)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
• 1-1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup apple sauce
• 1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini (not packed)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.

Add chocolate chips and gently mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix egg, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce and zucchini. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just blended.  

Pour batter into a large 9x5 inch loaf pan. (Or muffin cups, lined with with foil wrappers)

Bake at 325° for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and let it cool before slicing.

Alice Springs Chicken

Thanks to the world of Pinterest, I stumbled upon this recipe.  Months after pinning it, I finally cooked it....Yummy!!  This recipe comes from amysfinerthings.com.

Sherry’s Aussie Chicken

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness (sometimes it’s easier to filet them, instead)
• seasoning salt
• 6 slices bacon, cut in half (What is it with me and all the bacon recipes this week?!)
• ¼ cup regular mustard
• ¼ to 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 cups shredded Colby/Jack cheese

Sprinkle and rub the chicken breasts with seasoning salt.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove bacon.  ***Do not discard grease.*** Saute chicken in the bacon grease for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned.  Move chicken to a 9×13 pan.

In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayo and dried onion flakes.  Apply the honey mustard to each breast, then layer with mushrooms, bacon, and shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.  (Be sure to cut into a breast to see that it is fully cooked before serving to guests who will find raw meat in their main dish.  Ask me how I know…)

Serve with honey mustard sauce.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

From skinnytaste.com, where I LOVE to find recipes!  

I haven't followed the directions below, exactly; instead, I just throw everything into the crock-pot and let it do it's thing.  I'm still including the directions below...just in case I one day magically find some extra time to do it the right way!

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup flour (to make gluten-free use 2 tbsp cornstarch instead)
• 2 cups water 
• 4 cups fat free milk
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 medium chopped onion
• 8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms 
• 2 chicken bouillons
• fresh ground pepper
• pinch of thyme
• 10 oz frozen classic mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn)
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small
• 16 oz cooked chicken breast, diced small
• salt

Directions:

Create a slurry by combining 1/2 cup of the cold water with flour in a medium bowl and whisk until well blended. Set aside.

Pour remaining water and milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil. Add celery, onion, mushrooms, chicken bullion, thyme, fresh pepper, frozen vegetables and return to a boil. Partially cover and simmer on low until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove lid, add potatoes and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, and slowly whisk in slurry, stirring well as you add. Cook another 2-3 minutes, until soup thickens, adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Another favorite from www.skinnytaste.com!  I plan on cooking this again sometime soon and trying it as a freezer meal...hopefully it will be just as tasty that way!  I have tons of peppers right now from Mama's garden, and this would be a great way to use them up!

The author of skinnytaste highly recommended using chicken thighs instead of the boneless, skinless chicken breasts; she stated that they taste much better.  I usually just throw the breasts in anyway, because that's what I stock up on when they are on sale.  I made a special note on my grocery list for this one, however, and I totally agree with Ms. Skinnytaste...the meat cooking on the bone definitely tasted better.

• 8 chicken thighs, with the bone, skin removed
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes 
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into strips (I go ahead and use the whole thing)
• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced into strips (again, I don't see a need in storing half a pepper)
• 1/2 large onion, sliced (yep - I used all of this one, too)
• 1 tsp dried oregano 
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs such as basil or parsley for topping

1. Season chicken with salt and black pepper and place in the slow cooker. 
2. Pour tomatoes over the chicken, top with onions and peppers, add oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and give it a quick stir.  
3. Set crock pot to LOW 8 hours or HIGH 4 hours. (My crocks never seem to really take this long.)
4. To help thicken the sauce, remove the crock lid and let it cook on high for around an hour; you may want to add a tablespoon or so of cornstarch as well.
5. While the sauce is thickening, I go ahead and debone the thighs....it makes prep for the kiddos easier!

Serve over linguine and sprinkle with parmesan cheese!  

Salsa Chicken

Tons of uses for this tasty Salsa Chicken that tastes like we just picked it up from our favorite Mexican Restaurant.  It's a recipe I tried from www.chef-in-training.com; I used it for soft tacos the first night and made chicken nachos  and quesadillas later in the week.  The kids preferred eating the chicken by itself....that works, too!  Jeremy suggested using it for enchiladas, so I'm sure we'll try something like that for the next go-round.  Today, I'll be tossing all of these ingredients in a gallon-sized freezer bag to make the already easy prep even faster, getting ready for those busy weekday mornings that are approaching.

• Chicken Breasts
• 1 cup salsa (I ended up using the entire 16 oz. jar in my crock after watching it cook.)
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 can cream of chicken soup 
• 1/2 cup sour cream (We do love some sour cream...so I'm overly generous with this!)

1. Add chicken to slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.
3. Mix salsa and cream of chicken in bowl; pour over chicken.
4. Cook on low for 4.5-6 hours or until chicken is done.
5. Shred chicken, return to crock, and stir in sour cream.

Zucchini, Black Bean, and Rice Skillet

That sure is a long name.  I should probably just call it "Pretty Skillet" for short, because I love just watching all of the colors get all happy together while they are simmering away.
This was another Pinterest find, but the original recipe can be found here.  I altered it just a bit, using whole grain rice instead of the instant white rice.

• 1 T oil
• 1.5 cups zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
• 1/2-1 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained
• 1 cup whole grain rice, cooked
• Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend

1. Cook rice and set aside. (I cooked this during the kids' rest time and prepared all of the veggies.  Once supper time rolled around, it made it super easy to toss together.)
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add zucchini and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add beans & undrained tomatoes; bring to a boil.
4. Add rice; stir well.
5. Once everything is nice and hot, remove from heat.
6. Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and let stand until cheese is melted.

What a quick and easy (and pretty) way to get lots of veggies in one dish!  This will be a great dish to take to work for lunch....and it went great with the Melty Chicken, another Pinterest experiment!

Melty Chicken Breasts

Super quick way to dress up plain chicken a bit for a weeknight meal.  Found, somewhere, on Pinterest...not sure of the original source since the pinner altered the recipe.

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• boneless, skinless chicken breast

1. Mix the first five ingredients.
2. Spread over chicken breasts.
3. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until done.