Lentil Bruschetta Dip

Today I'm going to share with you a dip I discovered that I am now o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d with. It is SO good. Not only that but it actually is a healthier option than say a dip made with a whole carton of sour cream or cheese. Not that those aren't delicious, but you know what I mean ;). 

So we do all our shopping at Trader Joes. If you didn't already know I'm somewhat in love with the store. It's the BEST. They always have samples of their products in the store, similar to costco, and a few weeks ago they had some sort of dip, I noticed it said lentils, and I love lentils, so I tried it...and oh my...gosh! A flavor explosion was happening in my mouth. It was SO good. SUPER simple to make as well! 

Ingredients:
-I buy the prepacked cooked lentils for this, but you can absolutely make your own. You'll need about 2.5 cups lentils if you cook them
-1 6oz package of feta cheese
-1 container of bruschetta sauce. Now if you do shop at TJs. Buy the fresh. It turns out MUCH better than getting the jar bruschetta. 

Mix all your ingredients in a large bowl!

 And serve with pita chips! TJs also sells pita crackers which also go really well with this dip.

Enjoy!

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

So remember my last post about how I mentioned that since becoming a mom, cooking lately has needed to be something quick and fairly easy? Well, my crockpot has been getting a lot of love from me lately because it does just that. Its easy and is automatically done at dinner time. Earlier in the day is when Lincoln is content playing with something for a few minutes and its an easy opportunity for me to throw together a crockpot dinner. This recipe is one of my favorites! 

Ingredients:
*1 lb ground beef (You could use ground turkey or veggie meat substitute to make this vegetarian)
*Lasagna noodles
*28oz of marinara (or your favorite jar spaghetti sauce)
*1 small onion, diced
*1 container low fat cottage cheese
*12 oz light mozzarella cheese
*Parmesan cheese & dried parsley for topping
*salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown ground beef with the diced onion. Drain the fat. 

Spoon 1 cup of your marinara in the bottom of your crockpot.

Mix the remaining sauce with the beef. 

Place your lasagna noodles over the sauce in the crockpot. Doesn't have to be fancy. Mine sure wasn't ;)  

Spread about 1/3 of the meat mixture over the noodles. 

Put about 3/4 cup cottage cheese evenly over the meat mixture.

Top with around 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (you guys should know by now I don't measure, these are all close estimates ha!)

Do another layer of noodles, meat mixture, cottage cheese, shredded cheese

Repeat once more and end with your shredded cheese on top. 

Sprinkle on some Parmesan and some dried parsley and cook on LOW for 3.5-4 hours. 

Serve and your done!

I made mine with some lazy garlic bread (basically just french rolls with butter, granulated garlic, parm & parsley broiled in the oven!) :) Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Pesto Pasta with Peas & Tomato!

I love cooking, love it. My love for it has developed over the years and its something I've really grown to enjoy. Now, with that being said, since becoming a mom my time has become just a tiny bit limited-as you can imagine-and I don't mind it one bit! BUT, it has put cooking on the backburner a bit. We hardly EVER go out to eat, 1-because have you taken a 5 month old to a restaurant before? Enough said. 2-Its 'spennnnsive! $$$ 3-fast food makes me want to hurl. So I have to get creative in the kitchen! Lately, I've been making really quick and easy recipes most of the time otherwise we won't eat until 9:00pm (yes, its happened before, more than once!). So tonight I threw this together and it was great! Definitely a hit, and something I will continue to make. I've TRIED making homemade pesto once in the past and wasn't a huge fan. Trader Joes has a great pesto I've found, and that's what I used tonight. 


Ingredients:

*1/2 lb pasta (so half your bag of rigatoni, or any pasta you like basically)
*Pesto- however much you like, I ended up using about two large spoonfuls of it
*Small tomato, diced
*1/2 onion, diced 
*3/4-1 cup of frozen peas (however much you like)
*Salt & Pepper to taste
*Grated Parm for topping

Directions:

Boil your water for your pasta.

Add pasta and cook according to package directions. 

In a small saute pan, cook your onions. This ingredient is absolutely optional if your not a big onion fan. I am, and I pretty much put them in everything, ha! :)

When your pasta is about 4-5 minutes from being done, here is my secret trick. I dump my frozen peas in the water with the pasta and let it finish cooking. Peas end up being perfectly done and I didn't have to dirty another pot! 

Strain pasta and put back into the pot, add your onions, tomato, pesto, salt and pepper.

Combine and your done! Enjoy! 

One Pot Chili Mac!

One Pot Chili Mac

This is similar to something you could maybe make from Hamburger Helper, but its HOMEMADE not processed and SOOOO much tastier! AND its all in one pot, so hardly any dishes to wash!

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon Olive Oil

-1 lb lean ground beef or turkey

-4 garlic cloves minced

-1 onion, diced

-2 tablespoons flour

-1 tablespoon chili powder

-3 to 4 dashes of cayenne depending on how much 'kick' you want

-1/2 teaspoon paprika 

-sprinkle to taste of Oregano (im not a huge herbs person, so this is totally up to your tastes)

-8oz tomato sauce

-2 cups beef broth

-2 cups dry macaroni (or any of your favorite small pasta)

-1 can corn, drained

-cheddar cheese for topping

Add olive oil to large pot over medium high heat, and add your diced onion and ground beef. Mince garlic while that's cooking. Cook until brown and drain fat. 

Add garlic to beef and onion mixture. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add your flour. Stir constantly and cook for a minute or two. Don't let the flour burn. 

Add your spices, tomato sauce, and broth. Combine.

Add the dry pasta and corn. Bring to a simmer, not quite a boil. Place lid on top and turn down to medium-low. Simmer for around 15 minutes. Stir a few times while its cooking so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  

Check pasta, once its done, serve with shredded cheddar cheese on top!!

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

-3 cups tomato soup *I used Trader Joes boxed tomato soup*

-1 small onion, diced small

-2 cups half & half or milk

-2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

-1 package cheese tortellini

-4 garlic cloves, minced

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-sprinkle of Italian seasoning *however much you like*

-few dashes of cayenne for kick, totally optional

-Salt & Pepper to Taste

-Parmesan cheese for topping

In a large pot over medium/high heat cook the onion until softened. Add in the minced garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, be sure not to let the garlic burn.

Add the tomato soup, half & half, stock, and the spices. Bring to a boil. Add Tortellini.

Reduce to simmering and cook about 12-15 minutes until Tortellini is cooked through.

Serve topped with Parmesan cheese!!

This soup was SO easy and delicious. I was missing a vegetable though, so next time I plan to add about 1/2 cup cooked peas to this to see how that works. 

Enjoy!

Creamy Mexican Crockpot Dinner

Creamy Mexican Crockpot Dinner

This dish is SO simple and delicious! You literally throw everything in the crockpot and serve it over rice.

Ingredients:

-8 oz block of cream cheese

-4 to 5 chicken breasts (or substitute tenders)

-1 can drained and rinsed black beans

-1 can of corn drained

-1 can of fire roasted tomatoes

-1 4oz can of green chilies

-10 oz packet Trader Joes frozen brown rice, cooked (or cook whatever rice you would like, that amount is good for two people for dinner, there is lots of leftovers so additional rice would need to be made)

-Add whatever seasonings you liked, I literally just sprinkled cayenne, taco seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. You know me, I dont measure. ;) 

Throw all ingredients EXCEPT the rice into the crockpot, and cook on low for about 6.5 hours. I stirred this a couple times while cooking because you wont be able to combine the cream cheese in the beginning very well.

Once done, break up or shred the chicken.

It will be somewhat soupy. Its supposed to be. The rice will soak it up. However, letting it set for 30-45 minutes after the 6.5 hours will let it set up more if you prefer it thicker. 

Serve over rice!

Delicious, and easy! :)

Chili, Vegetarian Style!

So first, I apologize for the cell phone pictures. AND that these are from the next day when I warmed some over for lunch. I totally forgot to take a picture after I made the dinner, but you get the idea of how it looks. But how it TASTES is what matters right? My husband kept sneaking into the kitchen to eat more, does that tell you it was a hit? lol! 

Ingredients:

1 Onion Chopped

1 Bell Pepper

Few cloves of garlic, however many you liked. I did about 4

Handful of pickled Jalapenos, chopped

1 can of corn

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 can drained and rinsed black beans

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

10oz of Brown Rice, I used a packet of Trader Joes frozen Brown Rice (SO good! My go to rice) cooked

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, optional, but its oh so good! :)

Directions:

If your cooking your rice from scratch, start that first. 

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Dice your veggies. Add the onion, bell pepper and jalapenos. Cook until they soften. I never add the garlic right away, Ina Garten from Food Network taught me to only add it the last few minutes of sauteing to not burn the garlic. But if you prefer to add it while the other veggies cook, you can. 

Once softened, add the garlic and the corn. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the spices, beans, crushed tomatoes, and stock. Stir well, and bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat and simmer for around 20-25 minutes. 

Add rice to the pot, you can add pretty much as much of this as you would like. I added the whole pack of the Trader Joes brown rice (found in the freezer section) and it was the perfect amount for us. But you can add more or less for the thickness your going for. 

Top with your desired toppings. We did a little sour cream and shredded cheese. 

YUM. Seriously...YUM. Definitely going to be a new favorite in our house! I plan on making a huge batch of this and freezing some for when Baby R arrives (in about 60 days SAY WHAT!?, I know time is flying) so I can defrost and cook real fast.

Enjoy!