Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo

Happy Friday, everyone!
Are you as happy as me that it's almost the weekend?
It would only be better if it were 70 degrees out, but I'll take it any way I can get it! :)

Today's recipe was, again, inspired by Pinterest.


Ingredients:

• 1 lb uncooked fettuccine noodles
• 3 small heads cauliflower
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup starchy boiling water from pasta pot

Directions:

Chop up the cauliflower.  Bring the vegetable broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a sauce pan.  Add cauliflower.  Cook for about 15 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet.  Add the minced garlic and saute for about 4 or 5 minutes, or until fragrant.

As the garlic and cauliflower are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the fettuccine according to the directions on the package.  Make sure to save a cup of the starchy water to add to the sauce later.

Transfer the cauliflower to the blender with about 2 cups of the broth.  Add the sauteed garlic, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper and puree until very smooth.

Once the mixture is moving, stream the olive oil into the blender.  If it's too thick, you can add more broth or water.  

When it's smooth, transfer the mixture back into the skillet that had the butter and garlic.

Add the cream and cook on low heat.  Add the starchy pasta water (this helps mate the pasta and the sauce together).  

Combine the noodles and sauce in the skillet and serve.

If you're like me, you can't just eat pasta and sauce.  I had some "warm and serve" chicken strips in my freezer that I baked and added to the pasta.  It added some protein to the dish.  

It was so delicious, and my husband kept asking me what was in it.  He was {a little} surprised that there was cauliflower in it. :)

Happy Cooking, friends!

Easy-Peasy Chicken Dumplings

Hey guys!  While I'm away in Las Vegas, I asked my dear friend, Abbi to share a recipe with us!  I'm so excited that she is sharing her heart as well as her talent.  I met her through Instagram and we hit off almost right away.  We're not only connected through IG, but our love for Christ.  Here she is!

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Hey it's Abbi, visiting poster from Seasons of a Homemaker! I am blessed to be doing this guest post for Beth today!! Truly Beth has been there in fellowship with me at some very needy times but also lifted me up in prayer when I needed it the most. I'm truly thankful for Beth and the blessing that she is! 

A lot of days we hear or struggle with the difficulties and challenges that technology bring to us, and we forget to count the blessings. Sending pictures to loved ones, finding millions of recipes on pinterest, connecting with old friends and my favorite fellowship with like-minded women who I normally wouldn't be able to. Through facebook and instagram and pinterest and blogs I'm able to connect and fellowship with women who enjoy God's calling as a woman, who love to cook and who see the world in a similar way that I do! Don't get me wrong sometimes technology can cause a lot of problems, like young people on social media sites, and bad people now finding our young children on these sites. I pray for this daily because I know the pitfalls, so I ask that at some point you lift up all of this technology and pray for the protection of young people using technology. 

I come to you posting with a wonderful recipe, it's called Easy-Peasy Chicken Dumplings! It is truly delicious and outside of the biscuits I had EVERYTHING already in my cupboards! 

Easy-Peasy Chicken Dumplings

Ingredients:

-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (clearly only two of us)

-1 can cream of chicken (originally called for two, but I don't like all the additional cream)

-3 bullion cubes

-3 cups of water (for chicken broth)

-2 large potatoes, cubed

-2 handfuls of baby carrots (or cut up large carrot)

-4 refrigerated biscuits, torn up

-dash of garlic powder, rosemary, parsley, and oregano (flavor to liking)

Directions:

1. Place chicken (on bottom), cream of chicken, 3 cups of chicken broth, potatoes, carrots in crockpot. Making sure all ingredients are covered for the most part.

2. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours

3. 45 minutes before serving tear up biscuits & continue cooking

My bowl (sans chicken)

After making this recipe which is STILL feeding us (freezer!) I realized it's so filling and so easy to multiply and it goes a long way. I made this recipe for my husband and I only, so that's why it's only two chicken breasts and so forth. After throwing in the biscuits you can either save them for later by putting them in a ziplock or you can bake them up and have some biscuits with it! Truly the ingredients are relatively inexpensive and most (like I said) were sitting in my cupboard already! 


"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4: 12

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Thank you so much for sharing, Abbi!  I have enjoyed getting to know you and your heart.  You have a love for the Lord and for your husband that is unmistakable.

Friends, head over to her blog and say hi to her!  She's such a blessing!

Shrimp and Chicken Jambalaya

Continuing with my week of making healthy choices,
tonight's meal was a different choice.

Ooooh...the last time I had jambalaya was when I was in Louisiana 6 or 7 years ago.
I knew mine wouldn't turn out like theirs, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 14.5 oz can reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 cups small broccoli florets
• 1 (2 oz) piece cooked, low-sodium fat free ham, diced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

• Heat oil in a nonstick Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, bell pepper, and celery; cook, stirring until softened, which is about 5 minutes.

• Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, which is about 30 seconds.  Add the rice and cook, stirring for one minute.

• Add broth, tomatoes, thyme, salt, and cayenne to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the rice is almost tender, which is about 35 minutes.

• Add chicken to the pot.  Cook, covered, for 10 minutes. 

• Stir in shrimp, broccoli, and ham.  Cook, covered, until the shrimp are just opaque, chicken is cooked through, and rice is tender (about 5 minutes or a little longer).  

• Serve sprinkled with scallions (I didn't do this).

Nutritional Information:

Serves 6

Weight Watchers Points Plus:  7 per serving

265 calories

5 g fat

35 g carbs

6 g fiber

22 g protein

This was such a yummy recipe.  

I don't cook shrimp a whole lot, but it turned out really well.

Plus, shrimp is really healthy for you!

Happy cooking, friends!

Crockpot Chicken Parmesan

This week I'm focusing on making healthy eating choices.
So I'm going to be sharing recipes on my blog all week long! :]
Some of you have asked for some weight watchers recipes,
and I've finally found some.  
Tonight we had a great lightened-up version of Chicken Parmesan.
I wanted to share it with you. 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp flour
• 4 (4 oz each) raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
• 3/4 cup 2% shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

• Spread the bread crumbs across the bottom of a dry skillet on medium heat.  Brown the bread crumbs for a few minutes, stirring every minute or so.

• Combine the flour and chicken breasts in a large Ziploc bag and seal it.  Shake until the chicken is covered with flour.

• In a bowl, lightly beat the 2 egg whites (I ended up using an egg substitute instead of whites and it worked out fine).  Place the bread crumbs on a plate.  Dip the floured chicken breast in the egg whites and then press it into the bread crumbs.  Place the chicken in the crockpot and repeat until all the chicken breasts are coated.

• Spread the marinara sauce over the chicken.  Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours.  About 15-20 minutes before the cooking is finished, add the cheese to the top of the chicken so it can melt.

 

I didn't get a picture before we scarfed it all down.  It was delicious!!

This recipe yields 4 servings.  

Weight Watchers Points Plus:  7 per serving

299 calories

18 g carbs

9 g fat

33 g protein

2 g fiber

No matter what you decide to eat, it all comes down to portion control.

You can eat whatever you like, just make sure you control your portions.

That's what being healthy is all about.

It's not dieting, rather it's changing your eating habits.

Happy cooking, friends!! 

What are some other recipes you'd like to see on my blog?

Brown Sugar Chicken

Today's recipe is one that I was a little hesitant to try.  I saw the ingredients and was thinking, "This is gonna be weird."  But it wasn't.  It was delicious.

Ingredients:

• 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon-lime pop
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

• Put the chicken in the crockpot.

• Cover it with brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce.  Add the vinegar and pour in the pop {yes! It's pop...doesn't matter to me if people make fun of me here}.

• Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours or on high for 4-5.  The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached a a desired consistency.

• Serve over a bowl of rice!

Happy Cooking!!

Have a blessed weekend, friends!  

We have great plans...can't wait to share them on Monday!

**I've made a button for Friday's Fabulous Foods!!  Want to join in? Grab the button from the sidebar!

Confetti Chicken Pasta

This recipe is for the more advanced cooker.  So if you're just beginning, I wouldn't advise you to start with this one...


I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it looked delicious so I thought I would try it.  There are two sections to this recipe:  the veggies and pasta and the spicy cream sauce.


Ingredients:
Veggies and Pasta:

• 16 oz of whole wheat penne pasta (I got the 13.25 oz and it was PLENTY)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 cup grape tomatoes

Directions:

• Cook your pasta and let it drain.
• Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook chicken until done.  Remove and let rest in a big bowl.

• Add the remaining oil and begin sauteing the onions for 2 minutes. 

• Add in the garlic and the bell pepper (I used orange and yellow...I'm sure you can use whatever color you'd like).  Saute for another 2 minutes.

• Then add in the broccoli and asparagus (I couldn't find any fresh asparagus, so I left it out).  Saute for another 2 minutes.

• During the last minute, add in the tomatoes.

• When everything is cooked, combine the veggies with the chicken in the big bowl.
  

Ingredients:

Spicy Cream Sauce:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups half & half
• 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
• 1 cup feta cheese

Directions:

• In the same pan you cooked the chicken and veggies in, melt the butter over medium heat.  Toss in the flour and stir, cooking 1-2 minutes.
  
• Slowly add in the half and half while stirring to prevent any clumps forming.  Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes and allow to simmer until you see boiling action.  Stir periodically.  (We don't like hot things, so I left the red pepper flakes out.)

• When the sauce begins to thicken and bubble, turn off the heat and add in the cheese.  Stir until it's melted.
  
• To assemble everything, add the pasta to the sauce.  It gives it a nice coating before you add the veggies.  The pour the chicken and veggies it and mix.

• The recipe says it will feed 4, but I think it could definitely feed 8 normal sized people.  (I say "normal sized people" because I come from a family with boys over 6 feet tall and they love to eat.)

Happy cooking!!