Mexican Pozole with corn & feta

This was delicious! It is the perfect recipe for later in the week after preparing the Golden Potato Chowder with ham as it uses up the rest of your ingredients, but still provides a different tasting meal.

2-4 cups frozen corn (or 1-2 can corn)
1 tsp ground cumin, divided
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 poblano peppers, ribs & seeds removed, chopped (or chopped green bell pepper)
3 cups chicken broth
2 oz sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) chopped (or reg. tomato chopped)
1 lb. spaghetti squash, skin & seeds removed, cut into bite sized cubes
2 tsp chile powder
3 oz feta cheese (atheno's sun dried tomato)
1 green onion, minced
cilantro, minced

Directions:
One: Heat 1 tsp oil in a large pot on medium for 1 minute. Add onion & green pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Two: Add broth, 1 cup water (if using canned corn, just pour the whole can, undrained and skip the cup of water), corn, tomatoes, squash, chile powder. Add 1 tsp cumin, and increase heat to high. When soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Three: Spoon soup into bowl. Use a fork to break up the squash into fine strands. Top with feta, green onion, & cilantro.

This recipe was really easy, once I tackled the spaghetti squash. You can chop everything up earlier in the week and just combine all the ingredients for an easy dinner.

Clean Eating Magazine

My mom gave me a subscription to the Clean Eating Magazine.

This month had five healthy dinner recipes for under $10 a piece. I'll be trying them out this week and posting the recipes.

Golden Potato Chowder

This is so good, I wish I would have taken a picture! This is a white creamy soup, with bite sized chunks of vegetables.

Ingredients

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized slices
8 oz white mushrooms, cut into quarters
3 cups chicken broth
1 lb. spaghetti squash, skin and seeds removed. Cut flesh into small bite sized pieces.
1 1b. redskin potatoes, cut into cubes
2 tsp dried sage (or parsley & basil)
6-8 oz. ham, cut into cubes.**
1/4 skim milk
2 oz. light cream cheese

(The recipe calls for the healthiest options, but I used what I had on hand, which was not low fat milk & cream cheese. Use what you have.)

** Ham - I had a slab, cut at a 11, of Prima Della Honey Ham.

Instructions:
1. Heat oil in a large stockpot on medium heat for 1 minute. Add onion, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in broth, squash, potatoes, and sage. Bring soup to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in ham and heat through.

3. (During last few minutes of cooking soup) In a small pot on low heat, add milk and cream cheese. Cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute or until mixture is smooth. Ladle 1 cup soup mixture into milk mixture and whisk. Pour milk mixture back into stockpot and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

Note: Spaghetti Squash - When spaghetti squash is cooked, its fibers naturally separate and look like short strands of golden spaghetti, or shredded cheese.

The Verdict: This was really good! Adam ate a whole bowl. Of course he thought the squash was shredded cheese, so that helped! Good flavor & filling.

Sausage Lasagna

Image & Recipe courtesy of Johnsonville.com

12 lasagna noodles, cooked

1 pkg. (16 oz.) Italian Ground Sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped

1 container of chunky pasta sauce

1 container (15. oz.) Ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 cups shredded Italian cheeses

3 cups fresh spinach, chopped and packed

Prepare noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Sauté Italian sausage, onion and garlic in a skillet until sausage is browned; drain.

Add pasta sauce to the sausage mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl, blend ricotta cheese, egg and 1/2 cup of Italian cheese and set aside.

Coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray and spread 1 cup of the sauce mixture on the bottom.

Top with 3 lasagna noodles.

Spread ¼ cup of the ricotta cheese mixture on the noodles and layer on 1 cup of the sauce mixture.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the spinach and ½ cup mozzarella cheese.

Repeat this whole process 3 more times starting with the noodles; top with remaining shredded cheese to finish.

Bake uncovered in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

My substitutions:
I use a 9 x 9 inch pan because I don't think there is enough sausage for the larger size. I would get two packages of meat in you need more servings. I use about 8 noodles and half a container of pasta sauce for the smaller size. A 9 x 9 pan yields 6 generous sized portions.

Find the original recipe here.

Kitchen Time Savers

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches -
Did you know you can freeze peanut butter & jelly sandwiches? I make a big stack on the weekend & freeze them. You can pop them into a lunch box, and they are ready to eat by lunchtime! You can set them out on the counter an hour before lunch and they will be ready. You can do the same thing with meat & cheese sandwiches, but I don't add any vegetables or condiments until after it is defrosted. It makes making school lunches so fast!

Onions -

I hate chopping onion. I dread anything that makes me cry. Instead of chopping them every week, I buy them in bulk, and finely chop them with my food processor. That way I tear up less often, and it makes cooking faster on busy nights. I've tried several different techniques for freezing, and this works the best.

These two containers hold 4 medium sized finely chopped onions.

1 cube = 1 oz.

2 cubes = 1/4 cup

4 cubes = 1/2 cup

7-8 cubes = 1 onion

(these measurements are the same for broth recipes below)

Once frozen, keep them in a ziploc bag in the freezer.

Anytime you need to onion in your cooked recipe, just toss them in! Easy!

Chicken/Vegetable broth:

This is not so much a time saver as a money saver.

Chicken Broth: Reserve your broth from cooking chicken by placing a colander over a glass bowl. Line the colander with a folded napkin. Slowly pour the broth into the colander. (Go slow, or it will pour out the sides of the colander, instead of just the center.) The napkin will strain the broth for you. After it collects & cools in the bowl you can pour it into ice trays and freeze.

Vegetable Broth: Use any of your vegetable peelings and boil with water on the stove top. I made a small 4 cup portion (equivalent to two cans of store bought broth.) I used a lot of I use celery, carrots, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, & parsley flakes vegetable peelings, and just covered them with water. You can use the scraps & peels because they have a lot of nutrients, and they won't be in the final broth. I boiled it for 15 - 20 minutes and then strained in a colander lined with a napkin. You can keep your peelings in a bag in the freezer until you have enough to make a broth.

Click here for some other suggestions.

Double Potato Soup

Double Potato Soup

From Fly Lady

Serves 6

2 sweet potatoes -- peeled and cubed
2 russet potatoes -- peeled and cubed
2 onions -- chopped
3 cloves garlic -- pressed
1 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cans vegatable broth or chicken broth
2 cups half and half
salt and pepper -- to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Peel & chop 2 sweet potatoes & 2 russet potatoes.

(Time Saver: Peel & Chop potatoes. Cover with cold water to prevent

browning, and refrigerate up to 24 hours)

Chop onion. Recipe calls for 2 onions, I usually just do 1.

Heat olive oil, and cook onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add Potato, cayenne pepper, thyme, salt & pepper, & broth and bring to a boil.

(I make my own broth and freeze it in ice cube trays.)

You can use 2 cans of vegetable or chicken broth.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are soft.

Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes.

Add 16 oz. of half and half.

Mix in the half and half. Heat to warm. Do not boil or it will break.

Your soup will be lighter & a thinner consistency than this. I missed the last picture.

Semi-homemade Tartar Sauce

Tartar Sauce

1 cup miracle whip (or your favorite mayo)

1/4 cup sweet relish

1 tsp dill

1 tsp lemon juice

I usually don't measure the ingredients all out, instead I just plop them in a bowl until it looks about right. I add more if it needs. Just to give you a starting point I've added some measurements.

This is best if you can make it earlier in the day as the flavors will mix together better. (Store in fridge in a covered container.) I almost always forget and end up mixing it up while I'm preparing dinner.

One time I added some very finely diced onion to the mix for added flavor. It was tasty, but I only do that if I already have onion ready because usually this is an easier dinner night for me.

This tastes so much better than the store bought stuff that I never buy it anymore. Plus, it's really easy!