Seasoned Cannelli Bean Salad

Seasoned Cannelli Bean Salad

A wonderful, lightly dressed  salad, delicious in it’s simplicity, & a unique use of cannelli beans, along with English cucumbers, grape tomatoes, & sweet onion.  Two types of vinegar blended with seasonings, makes this a dish that’s sure to please!

Easy Three Bean Chicken Stew – A Slow Cook Dish

Three Bean Chicken Stew

There’s something reassuring about having dinner in the slow cooker on a busy day.  It affords me the freedom to enjoy myself, even if it’s just getting things done at home.  I think the whole family likes the smell of a home cooked meal.   We can almost taste in the air, the flavors mingling together to form rich juices & tender meats.  Somehow at the end of a more productive day, I feel a sense of accomplishment, & my reward is a simple yet delicious dinner – the result of planning ahead.

So with that being said, this recipe could not get any easier, but the flavor would have you believe otherwise!

Bake, Slice & Freeze Chicken – A Time & Money Saving Idea

Baked Chicken

Chicken, what’s not to love about a food that is a lean source of protein, flavorful, versatile, simple to prepare, & is every bit as good cold as it is hot?  …And the list could go on & on.  Now we’ve all seen the cooked chicken strips in the store, pre-packaged & ready for any number of recipes, from fajitas to chicken salad.  But what if you made your own cooked chicken slices?  

Mindfulness

Mindfulness

As I’m referring to mindfulness, I don’t mean in a deep meditative state (although that would be amazing and powerful), but in just a very basic way.  Being mindful, being present, thinking, visualizing & feeling the bigger picture before taking action.  I believe this could be a tremendous tool, & I’d like to practice mindfulness as it relates to making healthier decisions.  After all, success to a very great degree, boils down to the choices we make.  Choices are at every turn…being active vs. sedentary, selecting fruit vs. candy, drinking water vs. soda, having one scoop instead of two, and so on.   So this is my desire, that I practice mindfulness, resulting in healthier decisions.

Amazing Chicken Stew, Enchilada Style

Chciken Stew, Enchilada Style

In a word, A-MAZ-ING!   I had a request for a low carb meal, and I came up with this one on the spot.  This is great because you can add all of the ingredients in a casserole dish with a lid, and bake in the oven for 1 – 1/2 hours (or the slow cooker!) and forget about it, knowing that the flavors will mingle & be even better with a little time!

Roasted Vegetables with Wild Rice & Balsamic Reduction

Roasted Vegetables with Wild Rice & Balsamic Reduction

She wasn’t kidding, my sister Jill, that is.  She has been raving about the glories of balsamic vinegar reduction for ages, but I finally succumbed.  I’m delighted that I finally listened & tried it for myself!  Jill is one of my 3 sisters, the one who has the elegant dinner parties, of which she cooks & bakes all on her own.  She’s very skilled in the kitchen, and entertains like no one’s business!  (Why is it that I feel like I’m naming off the personalities of the Spice Girls whenever I describe one of my sisters?)!  Yikes!

Oven Baked Seasoned Plantains

Oven Baked Seasoned Plantains

About one and a half weeks ago, my husband came home from the store with two greenish-yellow, firm plantains.  Neither of us had tasted them much less cooked them!  I think I understand from reading about plantains, that if you want to fry. you’d want to use them when they are firm, but also more difficult to peel.  To peel them at this stage, you’d need to score them lengthwise, then slice into several pieces, then peel along the score line.  I’ve also learned that soaking them for a half hour or so aids in peeling. You would also want to use a mandolin to make uniform slicing easier.

Cornbread Casserole – no oil added!

Cornbread Casserole – no oil added!

I’ve been having so much fun with my Greek yogurt substitutions, that I thought I’d try my hand at inventing a cornbread casserole recipe.  I guess you’re never too old to play with your food!

The result of my “no oil” recipe, was a moist, dense cornbread,  This would not be a recipe I would make for company, but in watching my waste-line and trying to get some healthy substitutions incorporated into our daily eats, this definitely worked.

Southwestern Quinoa

Southwestern Quinoa

Recipe by:  Designs by Jeanne R

Southwestern Quinoa you ask?  Sure, why not?!  Anaheim green chilies are really plentiful in Tucson this time of year, and you can usually purchase them by the box or burlap bag at many of the markets.  If you’re really fortunate, you’ll find a temporary roasting station set up outside, that will do the roasting for you, which will save a lot of time.  Many Tucsonans take advantage of this seasonal market (coming from New Mexico) to package and freeze the chilies for future use.

Veggie Egg Foo Young

Veggie Egg Foo Young

How do you make Egg Foo Young? Well, I’m not sure of the “proper” way to make it, I just know what I do.  This was one of those recipes that was born out of necessity.  Years ago when I worked outside of my home, I worked the swing shift.  I wanted to bring homemade food for “lunch” or in this case it was dinner.  If I felt organized, I’d prep things, then freeze them into individual dinners.  It sure made life easier for me, and in the long run it was a time saver, less expensive, and healthier, too.  Egg Foo Young was one of those “go to” meals for me, and I’d use whatever I had on hand.  Sometimes, for example, I’d use crooked neck yellow squash, sliced up in place of the bean sprouts.  I’d pack a little scoopful of seasoned rice on the side, and I was ready to go!