Monday, May 21, 2012

Yummy Cheesy Potato Soup

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I’m continuing another week with my detox.

Last week I finished off it by making my favorite Hot Tortilla Soup minus the chicken.

Love love this soup. It is my absolute favorite.

Sunday I made a creamy potato soup that did not include heavy cream!

It was by far the easiest soup I’ve made. It was pretty darn good too!

It ended up being a combination of two different recipes and there isn’t too much I would change the next go around.

{Printable Link}

You will need:

  • 6 medium red potatoes (or enough to equal 32 ounces), peeled and diced
  • 32 ounces of chicken broth
  • 1 cup of 1% milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 Tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup of real bacon bits
  • 1/4 cup of green onions (chives)
  • 1/2 cup diced onions (optional)
  • Pepper – to taste

Directions:

  1. In a 3-4 quart pot and add in the potatoes, water, broth, garlic powder and your onions if you decided to use them. (Potato soup is just one meal that I don’t like to add diced onions!)
  2. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are done and can be poked with a fork so around 20 minutes. You don’t want to over cook them because you will want some potato chunks but cooked enough to mash them up a bit.
  3. While potatoes are cooking, mix flour and milk into a small bowl and whisk until it is all mixed together.
  4. Once the potatoes are done, stir in the milk and flour mixture and turn the heat on high. Mash up a few of the potatoes but leave some still together.
  5. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until mixture thickens.
  6. Add the cheddar cheese and stir until cheese is melted.
  7. Serve in a gigantic bowl and top it off with bacon bits, green onions, and pepper.

Point factors

For me, this meal rates at about 3 points. I’m not sure if you are on the points plus system but I’m sure it is fairly close to that.

Pocket Price

This whole pot of soup cost me about $6.25 so that would be around $1 per serving!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Garden Vegetable Soup

veggie soup

I was on vacation last week. ~This will be my excuse for everything now ~

I ate waaaaay too much last week! ~I was on vacation remember~

I need to cleanse my body of all the inappropriate food consumption! ~I was on vacation remember~

My first step was making this soup. I love this soup. Not just for a good detox but for a great healthy option for dinner!

It is so full of veggies that you will think you are standing in the produce isle of your grocery store!

You literally throw everything in a pot and let it cook.

The most time consuming part of this soup is chopping the veggies.

It is fairly easy on the pocket book too! Most of this you probably already have in your fridge.

This is originally from Weight Watchers but I did change  it up a bit. I will add the original link to the recipe at the bottom if you prefer that version.

{My version - Printable Link}

To make this fab soup you will need:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced  
  • 1 medium uncooked onion, diced  
  • 2 medium uncooked carrots, diced  
  • 1 medium roasted red pepper, diced  
  • 1 small green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 rib uncooked celery, diced  
  • 2 small uncooked zucchini, diced  
  • 2 small uncooked squash, diced
  • 2 cups uncooked green cabbage, chopped  
  • 2 cups uncooked broccoli, small florets  
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 2 tsp thyme, fresh, chopped  
  • 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth  
  • 2 Tbsp parsley, or chives, chopped  
  • 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste  
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste  
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, optional

Directions:

  1. Chop up all of your veggies that you want to throw in the pot.
  2. Add your veggies, garlic, thyme, and broth to a large pot. Add a cup or so of water to make sure the juice covers the veggies if you need to. This is not necessary if your broth covers them.
  3. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
  4. Reduce heat and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes.
  5. Stir in the parsley or chives, salt & pepper, and lemon juice.
  6. Remove from heat, grab a bowl and a spoon! Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings – each serving is about 2 cups

Point factors

  • If you are on weight watchers new point system, this is a 1 point meal.
  • It is a zero points meal for me!

Pocket Price

  • Around $3.50 a serving.

Original recipe found here.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Menu Mondays

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Another week, another Monday.

Today was not especially fun but it wasn’t all together terrible.

You want to know what made it even better?

Having my meals planned out for me already and coming home to a meal that practically prepared itself.

Sunday afternoon I made dinner for Sunday and Monday.

The rest of the week might take a little more work.

Sunday – Shredded Lime Chicken Tacos with guacamole

Monday – Leftovers

Tuesday – Taco Stuffed Shells

Wednesday – Leftovers

Thursday – Grilled Chicken Bruschetta and Ranch potatoes (that I forgot to make last week)

Friday – Island Beach Chicken with Fiesta Lime rice or cucumber/tomato salad

Saturday – Either Skinny Buffalo Wings or Shrimp Po’Boy Sandwiches (I’m playing it by ear)

Hopefully as I cook I will get good pictures and can add the recipes as I make them because all of these are newbies for me!

Have a great week gang!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Grilled Chipotle Lime Chicken Sandwiches

chipotle lime chicken

This is my favorite go to grilled chicken sandwich.

One night I was looking for a change and came across this little piece of heaven.

It is so easy to prepare and who doesn’t love to start up the grill!

{Printable Link}

You will need:

  • 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 4 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 Tbs honey
  • 1 tps chipotle chili powder
  • 1 tps cumin
  • Juice from one lime
  • pinch of salt
  • Guacamole (if you have it)
  • Hamburger buns or your favorite bread rolls

Directions:

  1. Add olive oil, honey, chipotle chili powder, cumin, lime juice and salt to a bowl and mix well.
  2. In a large Ziploc bag, add the marinade mixture and the chicken breasts.
  3. Mix well until all chicken breasts are covered in the marinade.
  4. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
  5. Prepare your grill and cook meat until it is done. 
  6. Toast your buns in the oven =)
  7. Top with cheddar or preferred cheese, tomatoes, onions, guacamole, mayo or anything else you wanna throw on there!

I made them along with my favorite oven onion potatoes! Have an awesome day!

Original recipe found here.