Chicken Quesadilla Dip

One of my favorite and not so healthy meals is chicken quesadillas.  For some reason I have never posted the recipe online.  I recently decided to make just the filling of the quesadillas as a dip for New Years Eve and it came out great!  No leftovers unfortunately though :(

Ingredients:
-1 can of salsa (I use medium usually)
-1 bag of shredded Mexican cheese
-1 pound shredded cooked chicken (white meat)
-1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder depending on taste
-2 to 3 teaspoons fresh chopped cilantro depending on taste
-1/2 cup mayo

The mayo in this recipe really tones down the spiciness of the dish so if you like your food a little spicy don't be too nervous that you will add too much.  On the other hand, if you feel you added too much chili powder you can add more mayo to tone the flavor down.

Preheat over to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and spoon into an over safe casserole dish when combined.  Bake at 400 for approximately 10 minutes or until dip is bubbly.  Serve with tortilla chips.

If you would like quesadillas instead of dip - spoon this mixture into soft tortillas that have been buttered on the outside.  Arrange in a casserole dish and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until tortillas begin to brown. 

Infulenster VoxBox Sargento Cheese Box August 2013

In my search for subscription boxes I came across www.influenster.com Influenster is a website that you can join and review items and take surveys - its a lot of fun actually. They also send out boxes for members to review. You can qualify for boxes a few different ways. I qualified for their most recent box - a Sargento Cheese Box. The box arrived on Monday - there was a voucher for a free Sargento Cheese Snack, a coupon for $1 off another snack and the most adorable insulated holder to hold one cheese stick! Heres a look at the inside of the box and the cheese snack holder:

I went to my local grocery store and they didn't have any of the string cheese snack which was a huge bummer because I am a really big fan a string cheese...maybe its the little kid in me. Well anyway, at the store I couldn't decide which one snack to try so I used the voucher and the coupon and bought two kinds: sharp cheddar-jack and pepper jack

Can you see that pepper seed in the pepper jack cheese picture! That cheese has a nice bite! I am a huge fan of pepper jack cheese in general, I like anything spicy and this cheese doesn't fail to deliver. The cheddar-jack cheese was very good as well, the cheddar was really rich. These are long sticks of solid cheese so they are rich, not really something you would want to eat alone. I enjoyed mine with some crackers. After I received my box and bought my cheese I logged onto the Influenster website and the Sargento people suggest pairing the cheese snacks with crackers, fruit and veggies along with several other things to make a balanced snack. I really liked these and have been bringing them to work every day in my new little insulated container...I typically get some hunger pangs around 3pm and these snack sticks and a handful of almonds have been helping me get through the day all week :)

Healthified mac n cheese

I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner one day when and I opened up the Home and Garden's that came that day and I came across a healthier version of mac and cheese. I am a big mac n cheese lover so if you can make a healthy mac n cheese taste good - you are my best friend! I thought I would try the recipe with a few adaptations:

Ingredients:

-Whole wheat pasta 1 and 1/2 cups - I used whole wheat shells

-1 and 1/2 broccoli florets and finely chopped carrots

-1/4 cup finely chopped onion

-4 tsp olive oil

-3/4 cup 75% reduced fat white cheddar cheese

-1/2 cup 75% reduced fat pepper jack cheese

-1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

-1 and 2/3 cups fat free milk

-1 tbsp all-purpose flour

-crushed red pepper and italian seasonings to taste

-some panko bread crumbs to sprinkle on top

Steps:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees...while the oven is warming up cook pasta and add broccoli and carrots in the last 3 minutes of cooking...drain pasta and veggies and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking heat 2 tsp of olive oil in pan and cook onions until soft and translucent. Remove pan from heat and stir in parmesan cheese...stir until blended.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together milk and flour until smooth...add to onion mixture...cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly...reduce heat to low and add the rest of the cheese...stir until melted...add cooked pasta mixture and stir to coat.

4. Transfer pasta mixture to a cassarole dish...in a small bowl toss panko breadcrumbs with remaining oil and sprinkle on top of pasta...sprinkle with crushed red pepper and italian seasonings...bake for 15 minutes or until top of browned.

This mac and cheese is probably the best mac and cheese I have ever had...it had so much flavor and it was a much healthier option...until I ate almost all of it...and saw it was supposed to feed six...whoops!

If you want to see the original recipe it was in the March 2010 Better Homes and Gardens.

Some pictures of the finished product:

Paneer Masala

It's been so long since my last post...I have been cooking just very busy with travel and work...it seem's like there are never enough hours is the day anymore! I had some paneer that I needed to use up so I decided to make paneer masala...it came out very good but also very spicy, next time I think I will cut the amount of garam masala next time! It was also very easy to make - just chop, mix and bake:

Ingredients:

- 4 teaspoons powdered garam masala

-1/2 a yellow onion chopped

-2 tablespoons of tomato paste

-one small tomato chopped

-3 tablespoons plain yogurt

-1/2 of a chopped red pepper

-1 block of paneer chopped

-1 cup diced pinapple chunks

-grated garlic and ginger to taste

-some chopped fresh cilantro

I just mixed all ingredients together and baked in a 400 degree preheated oven until the paneer was lightly browned.

All of the veggies chopped....

With the tomato paste, spices and yogurt

After everything was mixed and cooked in the oven.

Healthified BBQ Chicken Pizza

No matter how healthy I want to eat there is one thing I could never give up - pizza. So I just need to make it a bit healthier. This BBQ chicken pizza tasted so good and was pretty healthy too.Ingredients:
- honey BBQ sauce (I added too much)
-cubed 50% fat free cedar cheese
-lots of fresh basil
-minced chicken
-organic whole wheat naan bread

I just topped the naan with all of the ingredients and put into a oven preheated at 400. When the cheese melted I put it under the broiler for about 3 minutes...so good...just need less BBQ sauce next time!

Fried Paneer

Anyone who is a fan of Indian food has probably had Paneer - Indian cheese. I love the light taste. It's their version of cottage cheese only it is formed into a block. Paneer tastes great in currys but also tastes good as an appetizer fried. Paneer is sold in Indian stores in the freezer/cooler section in 1 pound blocks. All you would need to make fried paneer is paneer and olive oil...it also tastes good breaded so you would just need to dip the paneer pieces in egg and flour.

Directions to make fried paneeer:

1. chop up block into bite size pieces (or desired amount)

2. heat generous amount of olive oil in pan

3. fry paneer until it is golden brown on both sides

Serve with some mixed pickle and some other indian appetizers....

I had some dahl samosas and spinach pakora...mmm...

Blue cheese brie fondue

I bought a huge block of blue brie cheese at the local farmers market...I have had blue cheese and I have had brie before but never the two together. I decided that this sounded like a really fun combination to make fondue with. My mother had bought me an electric fondue maker and it was just basically just gathering dust in the closet. I took it down, brushed it off and made the following recipe:

Blue cheese brie fondue

Everything waiting to get started


Ingredients for fondue:

-1 lb of blue brie cheese, rind cut off and cut into cubes

-2 tsp cornstarch or flour

-1 yellow onion finely diced

-2 tbsp olive oil

- one clove garlic minced

-1/2 teaspoon dried chives

-1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

-3/4 cup dry white wine

-salt and pepper to taste- I added 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper


For dipping:
Bread, grapes, carrots, tomatoes, apples (granny smith is especially good with cheese fondue!)
I had yellow carrots, yellow tomatoes, gala apples, black grapes, pepperoni and the only bread I had- some nan broken up into bite size pieces

Directions:

***make sure you have all ingredients ready before you begin

1. turn electric fondue pot on to medium-high heat

2. pour in 2 tbsp olive oil and heat for a few moments

3. toss onions and garlic into pot and cook for about one minute



4. add wine and chives and heat to boiling


5. while oil is heating mix cheeses with cornstarch/flour

6. when wine is boiling reduce heat to low-medium

7. begin to slowly add cheese...wait for cheese to melt and mix before adding more...continue to add cheese until it is all disolved

8. season with salt and pepper and mix

Dip items of your choice into fondue...leave fondue on low-medium heat when serving...enjoy!




fondue pizza...mmm










Apples and fondue...granny smith is much better....


For my first attempt at fondue I am really happy with how it turned out...I will definitely make it again!