Baked Balsamic Chicken with Pesto

I love to experiment with new recipes, and since chicken is a staple in my husbands diet, I like coming up with easy yummy ways to prepare it. This is so simple that you can prepare it the night before, leave it in the fridge and cook the next day.

I call this my healthy version of Shake and Bake...LOL! So make sure you have your Zip Lock Bag ready.

Ingredients:

1 package of Chicken Breast
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Italian Bread Crumbs
1/3 cup Panko
2 TBSP Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 TBSP jarred Pesto
4-6 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP Sliced Black Olives
2 TBSP diced cherry tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 375. In a Zip lock bag place your breadcrumb, panko, cheese and chicken. Shake until chicken is fully coated. In a baking dish lined with foil, place your 1-2 TBSP of balsamic, and then put your chicken on the sheet. Use the remaining balsamic and coat the chicken, top each piece  with a drizzle of pesto. Add the olives;tomatoes and bake. Cook for 30 minutes depending on the thickness of your breast. Let cool and serve.

This dish can be served with a large salad or what I did was sauteed mixed vegetables with rice on the side.  This is a great dish to use with company, or parties with.

Ground Turkey with Butternut Squash and Tomato

I love experimenting with different kinds of vegetables, squash is so healthy, and delish...my favorite happens to be butternut. The summer is just not the season for great fresh squash so I tried frozen. Lets just say it was husband approved.

Ingredients:
1 package of Butternut Squash cubed
1 package Ground Turkey
1 diced Zucchini
1 can of diced tomato
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 TBSP Olive oil
2 TBSP chopped Sun dried tomato

In a saute pan place your oil, butternut squash, zucchini and turkey. Cook till turkey is no longer pink and vegetables are tender. Add your seasoning, sundried tomato and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Tips:
This dish can be served with just about anything, I did it with brown rice but you can do quinoa, pasta, or potato.

Healthy Olive Spread

During the summer months, my family like to unwind after work or on the weekend to a great glass of wine and some sliced vegetables with spread before dinner, or going out. I started to notice in the market all the different high calorie spreads and felt it was NOT worth the extra lbs.

Since my family loves olives my mom and I came up with this lower sodium version of the store bought, it is super light and full of flavor...so lets get started.

Ingredients:

1 small can of black olives (washed)
1/2 can of green olives (washed)
1/2 jar of Kalamata olives (washed)
1 clove of garlic
1 TBSP Olive Oil


Take all of the above ingredients and place them into a food chopper or mixer. Chop till all the olives are broken up, pour into a dish and serve.

Tips:
I love to serve this with cucumbers, carrots, or whole grain cracker. It can be a great snack on pita, or toasted whole grain bread.

Whole Wheat Vegetable Pizza

Who doesn't love Pizza, but the calories in the slices are a little less then favorable for out waist, so here is a recipe that my mother made using my Fit Cuisine Whole Wheat Pizza Crust. To get the recipe for the yummy crust you can purchase the book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

http://www.amazon.com/Fit-Cuisine-Healthy-Food-Simple/dp/1475907109

Ingredients:

1 Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1-2 Cup of low moisture Shredded Mozzarella

1 Large Portobella Mushroom (chopped)

1 Asparagus Spear diced

3 Large Vine Ripe Tomato sliced

1 tsp basil

1 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven with your pizza stone to 425 degrees. Prep your pizza dough, that has already been risen and made. Shape your pie according to your desired size (square or round). Brush it with your olive oil, and sprinkle with a little cheese; start to place your vegetables, and countinue to layer the cheese. Complete till everything is on the pie....remember this is a non- tomato sauce pie; all we have are vegetables and cheese. Sprinkle with your basil, and place in the oven on top of your stone. Let it cook for 20 minutes, remove from oven letting it cool for a few and serve.

Tips:
If you are not a fan of these vegetables use whatever you like...this is great for kids to get involved in and even create there own pie. Or you can make these into little appetizers for parties, and gatherings. Either way you can't go wrong with this pizza.

Turkey Kielbasa with Tri Color Pasta and Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 pkg. of Hillshire Farm Turkey Kielbasa (low salt)
1 zucchini (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1 medium bag of  fresh broccoli
1 medium bag of spinach wilted
1 can of chickpeas (raised)
1 lemon (squeezed)
1 box of Tri-color pasta or whole grain
1TBSP olive oil
1tsp garlic

Cook pasta according to box. In a large saute pan heat garlic, oil, and turkey kielbasa, add the vegetables to the pan cooking for about 20 minute, or until soft and tender. Drain your pasta and add it to your mixture along with your chick peas and toss. Heat for another 10 minutes remove from heat add your lemon juice; toss and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.


Notes:

This dish is great for a summer gathering. Can be served cold or hot, and makes for great leftovers the next day. Although I am not sure a dish this yummy will last. If you are not a fan of Kielbasa, add chicken, Steak, or no protein at all.

Serves 6-8
Total time: 30 minutes

Kids Easy Baked Chicken

 

I decided to start making some healthier recipes for kids, and having 2 nieces whom I adore I wanted to teach my sister that the processed stuff may be quick but is NOT very healthy and even she can get the kids to like this meal. Well sure enough it is not only the most requested by the kids she loves them as well. So let's get started.

Ingredients

1 package of chicken tender

1 cup panko breading (finely broken)

1/2 cup 4C whole wheat bread crumbs

1 egg + 1 egg white

Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Sprinkle of Italian seasoning

Olive oil spray

Preheat the oven to 350. In a seal able bag place your panko, breadcrumbs, Parmesan,  and seasoning making sure it is all blended together. Take your eggs and whisk them in a bowl, take your chicken and coat them all with egg, then place them into the bag for breading, seal the bag and shake it so all the chicken strips are coated. Then take a baking tray and spray with oil, remove chicken and place onto the try, once they are there give the chicken one final oil spray and back in the oven for about 25 minutes. Remove, cool, and enjoy!


Tips
See how easy? This can be made with tofu, shrimps, we took the chicken and dunked them in a marinara sauce, or you can use a low salt ketchup or mustard. Either way this is a great way to get your kids to eat better and it took no more than 30 minutes. Serve with a salad or your kids favorite veggie.