Old-Fashioned Raspberry Squares

OLD-FASHIONED RASPBERRY SQUARES

Source: Inspired by www.skinnytaste.com
Servings: 24


Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. butter
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c. flour
• Raspberry jam (any kind of fam or pie filling will do!)
• Icing sugar (for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in.
3. Add the flour, one cup at a time.
4. Pour the batter into the greased, rectagular pan. It will be quite thick and you will need to use a spatula to spread it around a little. "Score" it into 24 squares (4 x 6). Scoring basically means to take a toothpick or a small knife and mark off the 24 squares on the top of the batter, so you know where to put the filling.
5. Put a tsp of jam or filling in each square.
6. Bake for 30-35 mins. Remove from oven. Cool, cut, serve and enjoy :)

Comments:

We have coffee hour after Church every Sunday and I wanted to make something to bring. I saw this recipe while browsing one of my favorite cooking websites, "Skinny Taste". The squares reminded me of something my grandmother made, so I decided they fit the bill perfectly. The original recipe called for cherry pie filling, skinny taste used strawberry pie filling and I used raspberry jam! Basically, you can use any pie filling or jam. I am looking forward to trying blueberry.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

CROCKPOT SALSA CHICKEN
Source: My variation of a popular internet recipe

Ingredients:

• 3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 1 jar of salsa

Instructions:

1. Put the chicken breasts in the crockpot and top with the salsa and the taco seasoning.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. Shred.

Comments:

This mexican flavoured shredded chicken can be used in so many ways... for taco's, burritos, to top salad or my favorite, in Mexican Rice and Beans.

Mexican Black Beans and Rice

MEXICAN BLACK BEANS AND RICE
Source: Moi!
Servings: A lot, probably 8?

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. uncooked brown rice (cooks up to about 2.5 cups)
• Crockpot salsa chicken (or ground beef/chicken/turkey, cooked in taco seasoning)
• 1 jar of salsa (if you don't use the crockpot salsa chicken)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Possible toppings:

• Low-fat shredded cheese
• Fat-free sour cream
• Guacamole
• Shredded lettuce (to make a salad)
• Chopped green onion
• Black olives
• Tortilla (to make a burrito)

Instructions:

1. Make the crockpot taco chicken or ground meat. Make the brown rice.
2. In a skillet, cook the onion, red pepper, green pepper and garlic in the olive oil until the veggies are soft.
3. Add the corn, black beans, chicken (or meat and salsa) and diced tomatoes. Cook until heated through.
4. Add the rice and mix everything up. Cook, stirring regularly until heated through.
5. Serve with toppings, over rice or in a tortilla as a burrito.

Comments:

This recipe is very flexible. We jokingly call it "mexican dump" because you can dump in a variety of ingredients and use them up. Sometimes, I use the crockpot salsa chicken, other times I use ground beef cooked with a packet of taco seasoning and sometimes I leave out the meat altogether. You can also use whatever veggies you have on hand.

Best Ever Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

CHEESY CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE
Source: Me!
Servings: 8 (or 6 big ones :)

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 c. brown rice, cooked (or whatever 1 c. uncooked makes)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 large carrots, diced
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 can of mushrooms, drained (or 1 package of fresh sliced mushrooms)
• 1 tbsp jarred garlic
• 1 can of Campbell's low-fat cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 c. milk (I used 1/2 the soup can)
• 1 c. fat-free or low-fat sour cream
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper (I like lots of fresh ground black pepper in this)
• 2 c. low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cook diced chicken and rice, if you aren't using leftovers.
3. While they are cooking, dice carrots, celery and onion (mushrooms too, if using fresh). Cook the vegetables in a pan until they are soft. Add garlic and the canned mushrooms at the end and cook for about a minute.
4. In a large mixing bowl, mix the chicken, rice, vegetables, soup, sour cream, milk, dry mustard, s&p and 1 c. of the cheddar.
5. Pour it into a large greased rectangular pan, like your lasagna pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 mins if ingredients are already warm, 30-40 if cold.

Comments:

I have a cold and had a hankering for creamy comfort food. I had chicken breasts thawed and the other ingredients are things I always have on hand. The KEY to this recipe is the dry mustard. It might sound crazy, but it doesn't make it taste mustardy at all, trust me, because I LOATHE mustard. It just gives it it a nice kick. Using all low-fat and fat-free ingredients, due to the vegetable content, this is a pretty light recipe too!

You could totally use leftover chicken or turkey too. I would keep the onion/carrot/celery veggie base, because it gives it a nice flavour, but you could definitely add chopped peppers, corn, broccoli, etc...

Spinach and Bruschetta Pasta

SPINACH AND BRUSCHETTA PASTA
Source: ME!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp EVOO
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 1 package of mushroom, sliced
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 jar of bruschetta mix (I used Classico Extra Garlic Bruschetta mix)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 bag of fresh spinach
• 1 pkg of chicken sausage, diced (I used Nature's Own Chicken spinach and garlic)
• Whole wheat pasta

Directions:

1. Boil water and cook pasta as you make the sauce.

2. In a dutch oven, sautee the red onion in the EVOO until the union is soft and starting to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook until liquid is released.

3. Add/deglaze with the balsamic vinegar and stir continuously until the vinegar is mostly cooked off.

4. Add the bruschetta mix, diced tomatoes and sausage. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5-10 mins.

5. Cover the top in spinach. Put the cover back on the pot until the spinach is wilted and then stir it in. Repeat adding the spinach, wilting and stiring until the whole bag of spinach is wilted and stired in.

6. Serve over pasta with a dusting of parm cheese.

Comments:

I was planning on having pieorgies with spinach, mushroom and onion last night, but I didn't have enough pierogies for everyone. I was limited in the produce I had on hand and had a jar of bruscetta mix that had been in the cupboard FOREVER, so I came up with this! It was a really nice change from traditional sauce, cooks up much quicker and is nice and healthy. The bruschetta mix is already well seasoned, so I didn't have to add any additional spices. Also, you could probably do without the balsamic vinegar step, but I think this gave it a bit of kick.

This was a delicious, easy and healthy weeknight meal. I have been told this is being added to the meal rotation :)