Heather's Farmhouse Chicken

This one is a long standing favorite at our house and is a tweaked version of Kraft Foods Farmhouse Chicken Dinner recipe. I simplified it and lowered the carb content as well. We like to serve this over brown rice and our whole dinner is ready in under 30 minutes!!!

Heather’s “Farmhouse Chicken”

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

¼ cup Italian Salad Dressing (I use Kraft Zesty Italian)

1 bag of baby carrots (approx. 12 oz.)

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

1 can (14 ½ oz) can chicken broth, divided

8 oz. cream cheese

(substitute 1/3 less fat Neufchatel Cheese and/or use 4 oz. to keep lower fat content)

Heat salad dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and cook approximately 4-5 minutes, or until just a little color appears. Turn chicken over, add carrots, onion and half of the can of broth. Cover. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are tender (may take a little longer if you have really big carrots).

Meanwhile, prepare your brown rice (remember for more flavor cook your rice in broth instead of water)

Use a slotted spoon to remove chicken and veggies from skillet and onto a plate (I then put the lid from my skillet over the plate to keep everything warm while I make the sauce). Increase the heat under the skillet to high, and add the cream cheese along with the remaining broth from the can. Heat sauce, stirring constantly (I use a wire whisk), until well blended, then reduce heat to medium-low; simmer approximately 5 minutes until sauce is slightly thickened, then return chicken/veggies to the skillet and incorporate into sauce, then serve over your brown rice. Sprinkle with some parsley, if desired. Enjoy!!!

Heather/Holly's Cabbage Roll Recipe

Here is a recipe that we have used before that I LOVE!!! I just wanted to share it...more to come tonight on our dinner...a take on a Kraft Foods Recipe...Farmhouse Chicken!!!

Heather/Holly's Cabbage Rolls

(this is kind of our recipe that started by looking at a few others and adding things we like and taking out things we don't to make it our own and keep it low-carb)

Filling:
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion chopped
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Garlic
1 tsp Onion Onion
1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
2 Tbspn Worcesteshire Sauce
1 cup of COOKED brown rice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese (optional)

1 head of cabbage - cored

Sauce
1- 15oz. can tomato sauce (We used Wal-mart brand - it is low-carb)
2-3 Tbspns Splenda brown sugar blend
1 Tbspn lemon juice
2 Tbspn Worcesteshire sauce

Bring a large pot of water to a boil (leave enough space so that it won't overflow when you add the head of cabbage); wait until it comes to a full boil before gently adding the head of cabbage

While the water comes to a boil; cook your rice and brown the ground beef along with the onions; add Seasoned Salt, Garlic Garlic, Onion Onion. Drain meat when browned to remove excess fat. In small bowl combine egg, milk, chili powder and Worcesteshire sauce.

Remove meat from heat add the cooked rice and allow to cool slightly (Holly's touch was to add 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar/jack cheese to the meat/rice mixture as well - it was good!!!) Add the egg/milk mixture to the meat and combine thoroughly.

The large pot of water should have come to a rolling boil by now, so gently add the head of cabbage and allow to boil for about 3 minutes, or until you start to see the first couple of leaves loosen slightly. Remove it from the water and carefully pull back one leaf at a time; you will want to trim out the main vein of the cabbage leaf - it can be rubbery and tough; You can return the cabbage to the water if you need to be able to loosen the layers further in. You will want about 12 cabbage leaves.

Take one leaf, slightly overlap the part where you removed the vein, add approx 1/4 cup of the filling mixture to the middle of the cabbage leaf; fold each side into the middle one over the next, then holding it together, roll from the end closest to you up to the top and use the top flap of the leaf to tuck over. You may want to use a toothpick as well, and carefully place in a crock pot or baking dish. Repeat for all leaves.

Combine the sauce, lemon juice, Splenda- brown sugar blend and Worcesteshire and pour over all of the rolls.

Cook in crock pot on low, for at least 4 hours - can go longer; or you can bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Enjoy!!!

It seems like a lot of work, but it is worth it, and it's a great crock pot meal for those dance nights or any other night when you want to walk in and have dinner ready to go.

Serves 4 (approx).

Low-Carb Stuffed Green Peppers

Here we go!!! The first of what I hope will be many entries in this...my new food blog!!! My approach to recipes, is to research a number of different cookbooks and on-line sites, look over the various approaches and then using my own culinary knowledge, come up with a simple and delicious recipe that is easy for people to make themselves. I plan to share these recipes with you as well as menu-planning, every day cook tips, entertaining ideas, and low-carb variations. Whether you like to cook or not, we all like to eat, and I want to encourage you to try new things and hope to help you have many kitchen successes which will inspire you to keep cooking!!


Tonight I made a classic, Stuffed Green Peppers...I try to make use of produce that is in season since it tastes so great and is typically less expensive. We belong to a produce co-op group and received some fantastic-looking peppers this weekend, so I wanted to make sure I took advantage of it!!!



Heather's Stuffed Green Peppers

4 large green peppers (you could certainly substitute another color)
1-1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup cooked rice (we use brown rice)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (divided)
1/2 - 3/4 c. thawed frozen corn or fresh (optional)
1 teaspoon Chili Powder

14 oz. can plain tomato sauce (not pasta sauce)
Worcestershire Sauce
Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (you may use Garlic Powder)
Lemon juice
Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

Begin by cleaning the peppers...rinse off the outside of the peppers and then carefully cut around the top of each of the peppers so that you will be able to just lift the top off and most all of the seeds will come out with it. Drop each of the peppers into a pot of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. (This is just long enough to soften it slightly and start the release of some of the peppers fantastic seasoning juices). Remove the peppers and rinse with cold water, then turn upside down on a piece of paper towel to allow any excess water to escape.

While peppers are cooling, saute ground beef and chopped onion in a pan until beef is no longer pink and onions are clear...drain meat of any rendered fat. Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce, 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Garlic seasoning,1/2 teaspoon of Seasoned Salt, 1 teaspoon Chili Powder, cooked rice and 3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese to meat mixture and combine thoroughly.

In a bowl, combine tomato sauce, with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and 2 Tablespoons of Splenda Brown Sugar Blend.

Add approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cup of tomato sauce blend to the meat mixture until it looks moist.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and place green peppers in 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish, fill each pepper with meat mixture until just full to the rim of the pepper. Bake peppers uncovered at 350 for 25 minutes...then add the remaining 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle on the top of each pepper and bake 5 minutes further at 350.

Serves 4.

***COOK'S TIP*** When making your rice, try cooking your rice in broth/stock instead of water...it makes for much better tasting rice. I used beef broth in this particular recipe, but often times I will use chicken stock.

VARIATIONS - depending on your family's preferences, you could certainly change this up to give it more spice by increasing the amount of chili powder used, or add a few green chilis to the meat mixture. This could be made into more of an Italian style dish by adding Italian Seasonings, like oregano or a blend, instead of Chili Powder and using mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar.