Recipe: Veggie Minestrone

Here's a quick minestrone that I put together to break up those chicken noodle soup blues... :) Click keyword "recipes" to see all our recipes!

Veggie Minestrone
~Makes 8 servings, 1.25 cups each



Ingredients:
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Garbanzo beans
1 cup dry rotini pasta
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) green beans
1 large handful fresh spinach, rough chopped
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
2 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Italian Medley seasoning

1) Place broth, tomato sauce, Garbanzo beans, green beans, carrots, bell pepper, spinach, minced onion, and seasoning in large pot and get boiling!
2) Once boiling, add pasta, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked.

Quick and easy!

Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 187
Fat: 1.5
Fiber: 9.5
Protein: 9

Dig it!
--Jay :)

Recipe: Chicken Chili

Here's a mild chili that I created using diced chicken breast instead of ground meat. Remember, you can click keyword "recipes" to see all the recipes together...

Chicken Chili
~Makes 10 servings, 1 cup each

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 packet chili seasoning (whatever heat you prefer, may want to use 2 packets!)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
2 cans (15.5 oz. each) dark red kidney beans
2 cans (15.5 oz. each) pinto beans

1) Put tomato sauce, all beans, and seasoning in pot and get cookin'!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to chili pot.
4) Simmer together 10-15 minutes.

Break out the bowls! :)

Nutrition Facts (per 1 cup serving):
Calories: 243
Fat: 0.5
Fiber: 8.5
Protein: 23

Cost per serving: $0.61 (we found chicken on sale for about $1.50 per pound!)

--Jay :)

Recipe: Crab & Corn Chowder

Our first experiment with soup, using imitation crab meat, which Dee grew up on. Remember, you can click this keyword "recipes" to see all our recipe posts at once.

Crab & Corn Chowder
~ Makes 6 nice, large servings



Ingredients:
6 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Great Northern beans, or other white bean
24 oz. imitation crab meat
16 oz. frozen corn
2 green onions
1 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning (we used Old Bay Blackened seasoning)

1) Chop crab meat and green onions.
2) Combine all ingredients in large pot.
3) Simmer on medium-high for about 30 minutes, to a consistency you like. I also tried smashing some of the beans to thicken the broth. (Ah, if only I had a stick blender...)



Chow time! This recipe would lend well to shrimp, and other vegetation of course, so we'll be having some fun with this bad boy. :) If the portions are too large, divide into 8 servings (or cut the entire recipe in half, and divide into 4 servings, same difference).

Nutrition Facts (per serving):
Calories: 370
Fat: 2 grams
Fiber: 8 grams
Protein: 21 grams
Sodium: 1570 mg (this is a little high for my tastes... the chicken broth was already lower sodium, but I'm sure using fresh beans or frozen beans could make a difference, and using a fresh seafood like real crab meat would help as well)

Rock!
--Jay

Chickpeas = Garbanzo Beans = Cecis = Cicer Arietinum

What's In A Name?

For a "day off" lunch treat, Dee made a variation of a Food Network "Five Ingredient Fix" salad recipe centered on beans. We chose to use chickpeas... I mean, garbanzo beans. Or, as Mario Batali likes to call them, "cecis".

The original recipe (located here) involved endive, cannelini beans, roasted red peppers, with some olive oil and lemon juice. We opted for some substitutions from the fridge, and went with iceberg, chickpeas, raw red pepper, fat-free Italian dressing, and added some water-packed tuna for extra protein, and crushed pretzels for crunch. Rock! I didn't get a photo, but next time we may opt for a fancier green and make a nice beauty plate to put on here. :)

Two more days until weigh day number four!
--Jay