Sunken Eggs

I've had a lot of people ask me for this recipe. It is really a good one and so, SO easy! (which is my cup of tea) This is an Italian-themed egg dish that is great for serving any number of people and looks so gorgeous.
This dish is good for your gut and vegetarian (does contain eggs)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups tomato sauce (preferably homemade/organic)
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs. Examples: basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and/or scallions. (I used all of these from my garden except parsley) no need to chop them up
• 4 eggs
• Sea Salt to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the tomato sauce in a small saucepan. When warm, transfer it to a baking dish and stir in the fresh herbs. Create four indentations in the sauce, and carefully crack one egg and place it in each one. Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how you like your eggs cooked (I baked mine longer cause I can't stand my eggs runny). Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a dash of salt.

*Serve with a side of sautéed greens or we did garlic knots (recipe to come)

Poor Man's Garlic Bread

(the bread was more golden bread then it seems in the photo)

This recipe is crazy easy and perfect for last minute garlic bread decisions. Take whatever bread you have laying around, in our case whole grain white. Preheat oven to 350 degress.

Ingredients:

•  6 Slices of Bread
• 2 Tbsp butter 
• Garlic powder
• Oregano

*Can be converted for more or less slices. if 2 tbsp of butter seems like not enough, add more :)

In a small bowl, melt butter. Sprinkle Oregano and Garlic Powder (to taste) in butter and mix. Take a spoon and spread an even amount over each bread slice. Cook until golden brown. Make sure to watch it and check it often.

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden CopyCat)

Ingredients: 

• 2 Chicken tenderloins
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 quart half and half (can use evaporated milk)
• 1 14 ounce can chicken broth (I used buion cubes. I thought maybe using 14 ounces of water with 2    cubes would be fine, it was but next time I might shave off a little of one of the cubes.)
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 16 ounce pkg of Gnocchi (I used spinach filled Gnocchi, it's pretty much up to you and what you would think tastes good. Spinach was a safe bet since there is spinach in the soup.

PREP

Dice chicken and cook. Set aside. Prep your other veggies. (Celery, I took one stalk, sliced it in half lengthwise and then sliced it into pieces so they are a little smaller. Carrots, I didn't have shredded carrots, only baby carrots so I sliced them up the best I could into little slivers and it worked fine. Chop and dice other veggies. Keep them separate to be added one at a time.)

Directions:
In a large stockpot, saute the onion, celery and garlic in the olive oil and butter. Once the onion is clear, add the flour, stir and cook a minute. Add the half and half. At this point start cooking the gnocchi according to package. Add the carrots and chicken to the stockpot. Keep stirring and when it gets thick, add the chicken broth, gnocchi, spinach and seasonings. Cover and heat through.

We served our soup with poor mans garlic bread. Recipe found here. 

Original recipe found here

Baked Stuffed Chicken with Mozzarella

What you will need: 

-6-8 thin sliced chicken breasts (or larger chicken breast cut lengthwise)

-1 C. Ritz Crackers smashed (you could also use bread crumbs)

-6 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese (I only had colby jack shredded and it worked fine, I just used less)

-5 ounces fresh baby spinach

-1 clove minced garlic and olive oil for sauteeing

-1/2 C part-skim ricotta cheese

-1/3 C beaten egg whites

-3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

-1 C marinara sauce 

-Fresh basil for topping

Directions: (preheat oven to 450 degrees)

         To prep chicken, pound the pieces until they are thin. Place the smashed ritz crackers (or bread crumbs) in a shallow bowl with 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese and set aside.
          To prep filling, chop the spinach and saute it with the garlic and just a drizzle of live oil for 2-3 minutes or until the spinach looks wilted. Combine this with the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and 2-3 tbsp of the egg whites. Place the remaining egg whites in a separate shallow bowl and set aside.
         To assemble the chicken: Oil the bottom of a large baking dish. Place one piece of chicken on a  flat surface. Put a spoonful of filling in the middle of the chicken breast and roll it up so the edges overlap. Dip the entire chicken with stuffing in the egg whites, and then roll it in the ritz crackers. Place in baking dish. Repeat for the rest of the chicken breasts. Bake for 25 minutes
         To Finish: After the chicken has baked for 25 minutes (should be baked through, check and see if it is cooked) it should be white on the inside and brown on top. Cover the chicken with marinara sauce and fresh sliced of Mozzarella. Back for another 3-5 min or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with basil.
  

*For the basil. I used fresh basil leaves from my garden (about 5 leaves). I rolled them up width wise and then thinly sliced it so they were long slices of basil. I topped each chicken with a few of them. 

Serve with a veggie like broccoli and breadsticks. We used crescent rolls with butter, garlic and oregano sprinkled on top. *recipe coming later

Roasted Mushrooms with Herbs

 What you will need: 

-about 6 mini portabllo mushrooms (portabellini, any flat mushrooms)

-1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

-1 smalle red onion, diced small

-1/2 red or orange bell pepper (I used orange) diced small

-1 small red chili pepper, finely diced

-One stem of fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried (i used fresh)

-A couple stems of thyme, or 1 tsp dried

-Olive oil or unsalted butter ( i used olive oil)

-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with foil. Clean the mushrooms, cut down the stalks and peel off the skins. Place them onto the cookie sheet. Spread a little garlic onto each mushroom as well as the onion, bell pepper, chili pepper and herbs. Make sure to add a few herbs under and around the mushroom. Drizzle with a little olive oil or butter. I then sprinkled salt and pepper (lightly) all over the cookie sheet and mushrooms. Bake for about 20 minutes. 

 Original recipe found here

Jalapeno popper turkey Chili

This recipe is AMAZING! I am not a chili person but this recipe changed me.
My picture isn't the best so I will post mine and also post one from the site I found this recipe at.
 

Original recipe found here

My recipe I changed a little bit and (don't judge my picture, I was so excited to eat it and couldn't stop I barely remembered to take a picture) it was SO good!

 What You Will Need: 

-2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
-1 medium red onion, diced
-2 jalapenos, seeded and diced (We were able to get fresh jalapenos from our garden)

-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 lb. ground turkey
-1 packet taco seasoning (You don't have to use a full packet, I use anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 to a whole one depending on the day. Go by your personal taste :) )
-1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
-corn (I used 2 corn husks and cut the kernals off. You can use frozen corn (about 2 cups) or canned corn (drained)
-1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
-1 can chicken broth ( I used buyon cubes and made 1 1/2 cups)
-1/2 c cilantro, chopped (we used fresh cilantro from the garden)
-4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
-shredded cheese

Directions:
   
      Heat EVOO in a large pot that you are going to use for the whole recipe. Add diced onion, jalapenos and garlic; sauté over meium-high heat until onion and pepper are tender. Add turkey; brown and crumble. Add taco seasoning and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Add beans, corn tomatoes, broth and cilantro. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add cream cheese and stir well to help it melt and mix in well.  Serve with cheese sprinkled on top and tortilla chips (optional) 

ENJOY!!!! xx