Broccoli Cheese Soup

I was 14 when I first tried Velveeta. I spit it out onto the counter. Needless to say, it's not my thing. So I was thrilled to find a broccoli cheese soup that actually uses real cheese. Hooray for real food! Anyway, it was delicious.

*1 can chicken broth (~2 cups)
*1 small onion, diced
*1/3 cup flour
*1/4 cup butter
*1/2 tsp. ground pepper
*2 cups milk
*1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
*2 1/2 - 3 cups finely chopped, lightly steamed or blanched broccoli (you can stick the broccoli in a glass bowl, covered with plastic wrap and microwave for 3-4 minutes. it's easy. do what you please.)

Simmer chicken broth and diced onion in a small saucepan for 15-20 minutes, or until onions are tender. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter than add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and onion and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I found this via my roommate's Pinterest page who got it from Skinny Taste. It's a low-fat dish I made last night and I thought it was delicious (Cierra even likes it, and that says something).

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Servings: 15 • Serving Size: 1/4 cup • Calories: 73.3 • Fat: 4.4 g
• Carb: 3.4 g • Fiber: 0.9 g • Protein: 5.2 g • Sugar: 0.6 g
Sodium: 244.7 g

Ingredients:
13.75 oz artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (turns out this is just parmesan cheese, I had no idea)
4 oz shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
salt and fresh pepper to taste
olive oil spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a small food processor, coarsely chop the artichoke hearts with the garlic and shallots.

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Place in an oven-proof dish and bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes, until hot and cheese is melted. Serve right away.

Can be made one day in advance and stored in the refrigerator before baking. Makes about 3 3/4 cups.

Aaaannnnnddddd, my crappy, low-quality picture.

Chicken Stuffed with Garlic and Goat Cheese

I'm finally back posting. Honestly I've been cooking a lot lately, trying all kinds of new recipes. Unfortunately I've had a string of ho-hum dishes unworthy of sharing. But here is my latest discovery, it is so good and much simpler than it sounds.

1 whole head of garlic
1/3 cup goat cheese with herbs (3 ounces), left at room temperature to soften
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves (I did 3 large ones)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil

Roast the garlic earlier in the day (for an awesome step-by-step guide, check out this link How to Roast Garlic from a fabulous cook in my ward here).

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl combine garlic pulp and goat cheese, set aside.

Make a horizontal cut into the thickest part of the chicken breast to form a sort of "pocket" and stuff 3-4 teaspoons of cheese into each breast. (I stuffed all the cheese mixture into my 3 pieces of chicken, more is better I think). Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large skillet, add chicken and cook 3 minutes, until browned. Turn chicken over and put skillet in the oven. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 160. Cover and let rest for 5-10 minutes, serve warm.

Crusty White Bread

Instead of posting the recipe on here, I'm just going to post the link to the recipe. If you want to boost your self esteem, you should make this bread. 

Can you believe I made that? Nor can I. It looks so fancy and bakery-ish! And it tastes that way too. 

http://www.honeyandjam.com/2010/01/crusty-white-bread.html

CHILI!!!!

Hey All! I'm posting!

Matthew has been begging for "The Chili" since we got to St. Louis, but the 102 degree weather has been less than ideal. The last couple of days have been "quite cool" (movie quote) and so I busted out the chili along with Katie's rolls receipe.

 (This photo shows the tomatoes chopped, don't bother. The food processor is easier and makes it taste better)

The CHILI

1 lb. Ground Beef - cooked and in pieces

1 - 14 oz. can tomato sauce

1 - 14 oz. can kidney beans (with liquid)

1 - 14 oz. can pinto beans (with liquid)

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced green chiles (hatch's canned diced chiles)

2 med. tomatoes, (just toss them into the food processor)

1 tsp. cumin powder

1 Tb. chili powder (I put in about 1/2 Tb. more when making it for just us, we like the kick)

1 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. salt

1 cup water

 

I cook the beef, and then just dump all of the stuff into a crock pot on low, and let it cook for a couple hours. 

 These rolls went perfectly with our meal.

 Katie's crescent rolls