{Slow Cooker} Italian Chicken with Potatoes & Carrots

I made real food! I came across this recipe from Crock-a-doodle-do on Pinterest. I was pretty excited about it because I had everything on hand. I mean, it probably would've been better with red potatoes. But it was still pretty tasty. The chicken was perfectly juicy and tender. It's a great one-pot meal. The only bad thing is that it has already disappeared. So much for having leftovers. 

Italian Chicken with Potatoes & Carrots

4 chicken breasts (mine had been frozen)

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

6 small potatoes, scrubbed & cut into wedges or cubes

1/2-1 pound baby carrots (I used almost a full bag)

16 oz Italian dressing 

Italian seasoning to taste

• Pour a little bit of the dressing into the bottom of your slow cooker. 
• Place 2 chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Top with a little dressing, 1/2 of the cheese & sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
• Place the other 2 chicken breasts on top of those, topping them off with the rest of the cheese.
• Pour in the carrots. Add a little more dressing & seasoning.
• Add the potatoes. Pour the remainder of the dressing over the top. Add seasoning to taste.
• Cook on low for 8 hours (adjust the time if your chicken is not frozen). 

Enjoy! 

Pumpkin, Sausage & Spinach Calzones

I came across a recipe for pumpkin, sausage and spinach calzones in some magazine. Since I couldn't pin it, I lost track of the actual recipe. But what I ended up making was pretty stinking good. Totally delicious. Decently healthy. Yummy goodness.  

I decided on using the spicy/hot Italian chicken sausage from Sprouts. I like a little kick, but if that's not your thing, sweet Italian sausage would work too. Of course, you can go with turkey, pork, or whatever meat you like. You can also use your cheese of choice. I went with a white extra sharp cheddar. Again, I like things that have a little extra bite or whatever. For time's sake, I rounded up a recipe for no-yeast WW pizza crust from Kristin in Her Kitchen. I also saved some time by using frozen chopped spinach. 

Pumpkin, Sausage & Spinach Calzones

Ingredients for the crust:

1 1/2 cups WW flour

1/2 cup AP flour

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup EVOO

Ingredients for the filling:

EVOO

8 oz Italian sausage

2 cups frozen chopped spinach

Salt & pepper

4 heaping TBSP pureed pumpkin

3-4 oz cheese, shredded 

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450*F and grab a non-stick cookie sheet.
• In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the crust; whisk together. Add the water and EVOO. Mix well. Set aside.
• In a saute pan, add some EVOO and heat it up on high. Add the sausage. Cook thoroughly. Remove the sausage from the pan. Turn the heat down to low.
• Add a tad bit more EVOO to the pan (may not be necessary if you're using a sausage with more fat). Add the spinach, salt & pepper. Saute for a couple minutes, or until the spinach is warmed up. Remove from heat.
• Divide your dough for the crust into 4 equal parts. Roll out into like 7-8" circles. Place 1 heaping TBSP of pumpkin and spread it around (leave about 1/4" around the edges). Divide up the spinach, sausage, and cheese between the circles. Fold each circle over. Use a fork and go around the edges to seal them. 
• Place the calzones on your cookie sheet. You can spread a little EVOO on top. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until slightly golden. 

Enjoy!

Spicy Italian Chicken

I made some Spicy Italian Chicken for dinner last Sunday. It's incredibly easy and tasty. The chicken turns out tender, juicy and flavorful. It's also really easy to shred, so you can use the leftovers in street tacos, casseroles, sandwiches, or whatever. The original recipe (which I obviously found on Pinterest) calls for cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, and a package of Italian dressing mix. I cleaned it up a little bit by using my S.O.S mix, Greek yogurt, and a homemade dressing mix. De-lish. 


Spicy Italian Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 frozen chicken breasts (depending on size)
8 oz plain Greek yogurt
1 S.O.S. mixture, prepared
1 homemade Italian dressing mixture

Directions:

• Place the chicken breasts in your slow cooker. 
• Mix together the other ingredients and pour over chicken.
• Cook on low while you sleep.
• Turn to warm when you wake up.
• Lunch is ready whenever you want it!

Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches with Marinara

I am very behind on my posting... Here it goes: A little twist on a favorite indulgence. I will go ahead and admit that there's nothing quite like a warm, grilled cheese (Velveeta) sandwich with heated up, canned tomato soup on a cold day. It's just good...at least it tastes good. I got the main idea for this meal on Pinterest, of course. But, I decided to make it a little more complicated, obviously, and make the marinara sauce from scratch. I also sauteed up some mushrooms and spinach to go on the side. (Yum!) All in all, this is healthier than the average grilled cheese. Definitely less preservatives and that kind of junk. Also, quite tasty.The whole fam loved it!

For the sandwiches...

• Use whole grain bread. I really like the Sprouts variety, which only has 6 or so ingredients.

• Use a butter substitute on one side of each slice of bread. Again, Sprouts has one that I really like. 

• Sprinkle a mixture of Italian seasonings on the "buttered" side of the bread

• Use a block of fresh mozzarella cheese and cut slices to fill your sandwich.

• Grill 'em 'til they're perfect!

For the marinara sauce...
I recommend this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. Make sure to get the crushed tomatoes that do NOT have salt added. Also, cut the preservatives by buying organic. 

For the (mu)shrooms and spinach...
All I did was saute the shrooms with some EVOO and garlic. Then, I added a bag of baby spinach leaves and an unknown amount of white (cooking) wine. Cooked it down. Pretty easy.