Mojo Chicken with Charred Onions

As a kid I was always a picky eater - think plain hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. If a dish had more than two ingredients to it, I wasn't going to touch it. Once I got to high school and became interested in cooking, I started forcing myself to try new things. I started with the basics: you know, common fruits and vegetables I told myself I never liked. Eventually I branched out and developed a love for trying new foods. Now I not only like trying new dishes but I also love cooking them as often as humanly possible.

Not too long ago I stumbled upon this recipe from Laughing Spatula. Since I recently finished my first round of Whole30, a simple chicken dish with clean ingredients seemed right up my alley. A few quick tweaks to the recipe and 45 minutes later, I ended up with what will surely become your new favorite summer recipe. 

• 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
• Juice of 1 orange
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1tsp minced garlic
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (I use sugar free)*
• 1tbsp cumin
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4tsp pepper
• 1/4tsp oregano

Combine all ingredients, except the red onion, in a gallon sized ziploc bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Heat a grill pan to medium-high heat. Once heated, add chicken and cook for 6 minutes on each side. Move chicken to a plate and add red onions to the grill pan. Cook onions until slightly charred, about 2-3 minutes per side (do not add any oil to the pan). Allow chicken to rest on a plate covered with foil until the onions are done.

Serve with rice and garnish with lime wedges.

*Whole30 Approved if sugar free

Whole30 Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Today is a big day for me. Ok, not really a big day but still somewhat of an accomplishment. Sixteen days ago I embarked on a journey to better my health. I made the decision to start what will be my first of many rounds of Whole30 and today, day sixteen, means I am officially more than halfway through!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Whole30, it's a "short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system" (Whole30.com). For 30 days, I willingly gave up added sugar (real and artificial), alcohol (not even for cooking), grains, legumes, dairy, MSG, and sulfites. For most this sounds terrifying but I saw it as a challenge; a way to expand my culinary knowledge in relation to nutrition and to try new things.

We are creatures of habit and often times choose not to deter from what we know we like. We go out to the same restaurants over and over again and often order the same thing every time; and why wouldn't we, our trusty favorite dish never fails us right? Eating the same foods over and over gets boring and following the Whole30 guidelines can seem scary for a lot of people when you truly realize how limited you are with ingredients. I realized this on day one but I also chose to accept the challenge and to really push myself to try new things and experiment with different foods. Thankfully not only am I loving the way I feel, but I am LOVING the recipes I have come up with along the way.

One of the struggles of the Whole30 program is fighting off the cravings. When you give up a lot of foods you think you can't live without, you find yourself daydreaming about them. This becomes a true test of willpower. Fortunately for me, I haven't had many cravings throughout this journey but I owe it all to the foods I'm eating, especially meals like this. These meatballs are not only 100% Whole30 approved, but they also taste amazing and seem indulgent. Oh, and did I mention, they come together in less than 20 minutes. 

Yield: 12 meatballs

• 1lb ground chicken
• 1/2 cup grated carrots
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (to keep this Whole30 use Tessemae's buffalo sauce or a mix of Franks hot sauce and ghee)

Preheat oven to 475°. Lightly grease a mini-muffin tin with oil. Add all ingredients except the buffalo sauce to a bowl and combine until mixed. Shape into 12 equal sized meatballs and place into the prepared pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Once the meatballs are done, transfer to a large bowl and top with sauce; toss to coat and serve.

Mini Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Scones

For the longest time I was very intimidated by scones. I'm not sure why I thought making them would be the most difficult thing in the world but I did. Last year I finally conquered my fear and made these carrot cake scones with cream cheese frosting. They were good. They were really good actually but scones aren't exactly the healthiest dessert choice. I decided to make it my mission to come up with a recipe for something that seemed indulgent but wasn't going to put people into a food coma after eating one. This past Friday we had a food day at work and what better chance to test out a new recipe than on my coworkers. This recipe makes 16 scones and after bringing these into work I was left with nothing...absolutely nothing, not even one single crumb in my container to take home. I'll take that as a compliment even though I didn't get to save an extra one for myself...

Yield: 16 scones • Serving size: 1 scone

Calories: 150 • Total Fat: 5g • Total Carbs: 24g • Fiber: 1.75g • Sugar: 11.5g • Protein: 3.5g

• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 3/4 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp red food coloring
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• Cooking spray
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk (I prefer almond or cashew milk)

Preheat oven to 375°. In a glass measuring cup, add milk and vinegar and whisk until just combined. Allow mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken (this is will end up being your "homemade buttermilk"). Once the mixture has thickened, add food coloring then vanilla and egg and whisk until combined. 

In a large bowl, combine the two flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; whisk together. Cut in chilled, cubed, butter with a pastry blender until mixture looks like tiny pebbles. If you do not have a pastry blender you can use your hands but don't spend too much time mixing, you want the butter to stay cold. Add chocolate chips to flour mixture and mix so the chocolate chips are coated in the flour (adding the chocolate chips to the dry ingredients prevents the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the dough). 

Dump dough onto a floured surface and form into two disks so that each is about 1/2" tall and 6" across. The dough will be sticky so make sure you have enough flour on hand to add to it if necessary. Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut each disk into 8 pieces. 

Place scones about 1" apart on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or sprayed with cooking spray. Brush tops of scones with egg white then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. While scones are cooling, make the frosting: in a small bowl mix the powdered sugar and milk until the frosting is just thin enough to drizzle (if it is too thick, add more milk 1/8 tsp at a time). Using a spoon, drizzle over cooled scones and allow frosting to harden. Serve. 

Recipe heavily adapted from: Skinnytaste

Chicken Dumpling Soup

It's very rare to have a perfect weather day in the midwest. It's the beginning of January and within the past two weeks we've had an ice/snow storm, rain, intense fog, and weather in the teens then a day later it's in the mid 40's. I can't really ever tell if it's winter or spring. With that said, what I do know, is that it's perfect soup weather.

Any time it's gloomy all I want to do is sit in sweatpants, catch up on some reading, and eat homemade soup. Anyone else weirded out by the mushy veggies in canned soup? No? Ok it's just me then. Anyways....

When I was in high school, the one thing I could not live without was chicken dumpling soup from Vegas in Antioch. I had their soup schedule memorized and would die a little inside if I ever missed my chance to get their soup. It was the BEST. Now that I have moved away and their hours have changed (I'm still upset about this), I don't get the luxury of enjoying their soup. So, naturally, I took to my cookbooks to learn how to make my own.  

This recipe is pretty easy so don't be intimidated and it's a lot healthier than buying canned biscuits from the store and throwing them in some broth. Bonus: it makes for amazing leftovers (just ask my coworkers).

Yield: 4-6 servings

• 3 chicken breasts (poached and shredded)
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 white onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 48 oz reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup cold low fat buttermilk
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted and still hot)
• 1 large egg white
• Fresh parsley (for garnish), optional

In a large pot, heat canola oil over medium heat. Once hot, add carrots and onions and sauté until softened (about 10 minutes). Add broth, thyme and shredded chicken. Bring to a low boil and simmer while preparing the dumplings. 

In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, stir chilled buttermilk into hot melted butter until small clumps form then whisk in egg white. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until combined. If you're having trouble getting the dough to combine, use your hands. 

Using a greased spoon or your hands, scoop and drop dumplings into simmering soup (about 1" apart). Dumplings should be about 1-2" in size. Wrap the pot's lid with a clean kitchen towel, cover pot, and cook on low heat for 14-16 minutes or until dumplings have doubled in size. To prevent towel from touching heat source, use a rubber band (or in my case a hair tie) to hold excess towel together overtop lid. Serve and top with parsley.

Healthier Jalapeno Poppers

If you're ever look for a good crowd pleasing recipe, this is the one. I love making this dish whenever a friend is having a get together or when we plan on having a few people over. This recipe is especially good during football season.

A typical jalapeno popper is breaded and deep fried. While I don't mind indulging every once in a while, I don't quite enjoy the feeling I get after eating greasy fried foods. Because of this, I take my favorite things about a dish and lighten them up without depriving myself of the good stuff too much. The best part about these jalapenos is that you can actually taste the jalapeno itself. Most jalapeno poppers taste like fried breading and either cheddar or cream cheese only. They never truly taste like a jalapeno! These poppers are SO addicting thanks to a little secret ingredient you'd never expect in a dish like this.

Yield: 30 jalapeno poppers

• 15 fresh medium/large jalapeno peppers
• 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup Hormel Real Bacon Pieces
• 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Old Bay seafood seasoning
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut the tops off the jalapenos then slice the peppers in half lengthwise. Using a small knife, remove the insides of the pepper (seeds and veins). 

In a small bowl, add cream cheese, bacon, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, and Old Bay and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon filling into each jalapeno half equally. I like to use a butter knife so I can press the filling into the jalapeno while also running the knife along the top so there is no excess filling spilling over top. 

Place jalapenos on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 15 minutes. While the jalapeno poppers are baking, mix together the Panko and olive oil in a small bowl. You want the olive oil to just barely moisten the Panko. When the poppers are done cooking, remove from oven and top with the Panko mixture. This step requires some time - sprinkling the Panko mixture on top quite doesn't work. The cream cheese mixture cooks so the Panko just slides falls off the top if you don't take your time to gently spoon it on top. 

Once each jalapeno half has been topped with the Panko, place back in oven and bake for 10 more minutes. After 10 minutes, turn on the broiler for no more than 2 minutes just to brown the topping. 

Taco Stuffed Shells

Every Friday, I spend about 20 minutes planning out my meals for the next week and making my grocery list. I like to plan what I will make for dinner Monday thru Friday and use the leftovers from each dinner as my lunch throughout the week. This helps me to make sure no food is wasted and that I don't have to buy any extra food for lunch!

A big part of my meal planning is coming up with meals that keep my budget in check. I love to cook but that doesn't mean I need to spend a lot of money doing it. I've been trying really hard lately to thing of budget meals that are not only healthy, but also fill me up. While strolling through foodgawker.com, I found a recipe for Mexican stuffed shells that not only sounded amazing, but looked super easy to make. The ingredient list was small and required little money to buy - two things I look for now when cooking during the week. I made a few healthy swaps of course and now find myself making this meal at least twice a month.

• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey 
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning
• 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
• 1/2 box jumbo pasta shells (16-18 shells total)
• 16 ounce jar salsa
• 1 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• Taco toppings: sour cream, green onions, black olives, diced tomatoes, etc.

Preheat oven to 350°. In a pan, brown the ground turkey and add taco seasoning. Once cooked through, remove from heat and mix in the cream cheese, allowing it to melt. Set aside and allow meat mixture to cool. 

While the meat is cooling, cook pasta according to package directions. Once shells are done, drain and set shells on a cutting board to cool. While the shells are cooling, add salsa to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth. 

In a medium bowl, mix 1/3 of the salsa with the meat/cream cheese mixture, and shredded cheddar cheese. Pour remaining salsa on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Stuff each shell with 1-2 tbsp of the meat mixture and place in the dish (open side up). Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheddar cheese. Continue to bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with your favorite taco toppings. 

Recipe adapted from: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ranch Chicken & Hasselback Potatoes

One of my all time favorite foods is the potato. I love potato soups, baked potatoes, oven roasted potatoes, breakfast potatoes, you name it. Every year for Christmas Eve, my aunt makes mini hasselback potatoes and I count down the minutes on the oven timer until they're done and I can dig in. Seeing the amount of time my aunt put into making them, I quickly realized that they required a lot of patience to make but for some reason I never told myself to just give it a try. 

If there's one thing I hate about baked potatoes, it's the time it takes for them to bake. One weekend, while craving potatoes, I finally sucked it up and gave hasselbacks a try and I was SO pleased with how they turned out - they are well worth the wait I promise you.

Along with the potatoes I decided to make baked ranch chicken. Now I'm not the best when it comes to cooking meat; it's hard for me to get it just right. Somehow though, I managed to get it right this time around. The chicken turned out so juicy that I had to take a picture just to prove it. 

Yield: 4 servings

• 4 medium or 6 small russet potatoes
• Olive oil for drizzling
• Sea salt
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp from a single packet Hidden Valley Greek Yogurt Ranch powder
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 sleeve whole wheat Ritz crackers
• 2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425°. Wash and dry the potatoes. Slice a small piece off the bottom of each potato to prevent the potato from rolling as you cut. Take two wooden skewers, wooden spoons, or anything you don't mind getting nicked with the knife as you cut the potatoes, and set on each side of the potato.

Cut small slits in the potatoes stopping before you slice all the way through - this is where the skewers/wooden spoons come in handy. Each slice should be about 1/8-1/4 inch apart. Place potatoes on a baking sheet (lined with foil), drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 30 minutes.

While potatoes are baking for their first 30 minutes, prepare the chicken. In a freezer Ziploc bag, add the Ritz crackers and crush with a rolling pin. Once crushed to the size of bread crumbs, add the ranch powder and Parmesan cheese. Empty contents into a shallow dish (you want something big enough to dredge the chicken in).

Brush each chicken breast with melted butter then dredge in the ranch mix. After each chicken breast is well coated, lay in a glass baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle any remaining ranch mix on top of the chicken and lightly spray with cooking spray. 

Once the potatoes have cooked for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Put the potatoes back in the oven along with the chicken and continue to bake for 25 minutes. Remove the chicken and cover with foil; bake covered for another 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and topping is golden brown.