Chicken Soup for your soul.....

On this edition of "Jason and Staci Cook Dinner" we have Chicken Soup made in the good ole crock pot. The best thing about this meal is it is SUPER easy and its made with your judgement, meaning you decide what spices to use, of course i can guide you if you'd like....but every one likes to put there own flare on this type of classic meal. :)

First Gather your ingredients like so...

that would be:

15- 20 baby carrots cut up

1 large onion cut up

3 long pieces of celery cut up (im real professional as you can clearly tell by my big vocabulary)

2 jalapeno peppers (we ended up using only one and it still came out ridiculous spicy but use your judgement, the greener the spicier)

1 can of cream of chicken and mushroom (its a combo not two different cans)

Some chicken broth (see im super professional right here :) ) we used reduced sodium and a lil more than half the box.

Some water

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salts and spices of your choosing (we used real parsley, dried celery leaves, some minced garlic, garlic salt and some pepper)

So first you cut up your celery, onion, jalapenos and carrots (didn't take pic of onions or jalapenos because it was 530 in the am and i could barely hold my arms up :) )

Put the veggies, the three breasts, the water and the reduced sodium (equal parts) and your spices into the crock pot.....
Then....and this is the best part.....set your crock pot on low and walk away :) Come back eight hours later, chop up some avocado to top it off, and you have your self a MEAL like so....

Enjoy!!

Black Bean Turkey Chili, YUM!

On tonights edition of Jason and Staci cook dinner, only Staci cooked ;) and i decided to make Black Bean Turkey Chili for din!! It is made with 99% lean turkey meat which makes it much healthier and it is just as delicious as if it were cow meat yo....

So first gather all your ingredients like so....

Here is a list just incase you cant see all the goodness in the pic....

Ingredients

1 package Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

1 cup onion, coarsely chopped (i used a red onion for more flavor)

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (i didnt have this so i did without it, didnt miss it either)

2 cloves garlic, minced (used a tablespoon of ALREADY minced garlic because really who has that kinda time)

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced, if desired ( i used a cup and a half of sliced pickled jalapenos)

1 tablespoon chili powder (this is a lil much considering you have jalapenos AND crushed red pepper so use discretion...i have a family FULL of people who love spicy so it worked for us but it was SPICY)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, if desired

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans of low sodium whole tomatoes, coursely chopped

1 (8 ounce) tomato sauce

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (did without this didnt miss it)

1/4 cup low fat cheddar cheese, shredded

So make sure if you just scrolled through the ingredients that you read through them cause i made a few adjustments that might help you in the way of ingredients....

So i didnt have ground coriander so i had to actually grind it up myself...i have this handy little food processor that attaches to my mixer (amazing i know) and so i threw a bunch of coriander seeds in there and whala....ground coriander...i had to let it grind for about 4 mins before it actually became powder like...

My hubs says I'm a messy cook, and ill admit, i am....he tried to help me by telling me to measure out all my ingredients before hand but that just made it MUCH worse for me.....but heres a pic to show i at least tried :) So now that you have all your ingredients measured out and ready to go combine your extra lean ground turkey breast, onion, red bell pepper, garlic, jalapeño peppers, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, marjoram, and red pepper flakes in a large stock pot and cook until the meat is cooked through... Then add to the mix your tomatoes and your tomato paste....make sure you don't drain your tomatoes leave the juice in the mix, let it begin to boil and then turn down the heat and let simmer for 10 mins.... Then drain and wash off your black beans like so... Add black beans to the pot and stir in, cook for 10 more mins......... After ten mins your chili should be all ready to go add your cheese and extra chopped red onion and you have your self a MEAL!! I was gonna add some avocado to the top as a garnish but our three avocado were all nasty :( if you like cilantro you can add that as well, if you wanna make it fattening you can add some awesome corn chips too!! ENJOY!!

Marmalade Chicken

So tonight we decided to cook Marmalade Chicken, I found the recipe on a Eating well website and its very low in calories but sounded really tasty, and for a side, since we still have some brussel sprouts left in the four pounds we bought we decided to have sauteed brussels, onions and zucchini for a side.

First gather all the ingredients:

• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade (i used just a tad more like 2 and a half tablespoons cause i like sweet :) )
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 pound chicken tenders, (we used two large chicken breasts and cut them into three's)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large shallots, minced
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (did without this)

Once you have all your ingredients measured out then you combine the broth, vinegar, marmalade, mustard, and cornstarch in a medium bowl like so......and whisk it

Then prepare your chicken, cut it into strips if you have breasts and then salt and pepper each side like so....

Heat 4 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and shallots to the pan and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 30 seconds.
Whisk the broth mixture and add it to the pan. Bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer; cook until the sauce is slightly reduced and thickened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Add the chicken; return to a simmer. Cook, turning once, until the chicken is heated through, about 1 minute.

This is where you would remove from the heat and stir in orange zest, but i didnt add the orange zest and it turned out just as yummy :) we left this on the stove at low heat simmering while we chopped up our brussels onions and zucchini like so .....

we then brought a sauce pan filled with water to a boil and softened the zuchinni and brussels, then we added a lil olive oil to another pan and sauteed the vegtables until they browned and softened a bit more.

AND WHA LA....Marmalade chicken with sauteed vegetables....

ENJOY!!!

First Edition of Jason and Staci Make Dinner

With Jason's recent diagnoses we have really tried to focus on our health, we've been doing crossfit with some of our close friends and trying to eat healthy as well. Jason is an amazing cook and so i figured I could start sharing some of the things we make.

First up Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa. And on the side "Orange Saucy Brussel sprouts! YUM!!

Here are the ingredients:

• Chicken:
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• Salsa:
• 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2) (we used cherry tomatoes and cut them in half)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

First you start with making the salsa, chop up all your ingredients and put them all together in a bowl like so...

Then squeeze in the lime and mix gently so as not to mash up the avocado.

place the salsa in the fridge while you prepare the chicken.

To prepare the chicken preheat the oven to 375, mix all the ingredients and marinate for up to 10 minutes like so...

Then spray your baking pans and place the chicken like so...

Put in the oven till cooked through.

Moving onto the Brussel sprouts. We bought this 2 lb bag at Costco

You will need freshly squeezed juice from one large orange, about a table spoon of butter, a teaspoon of ground ginger, salt and pepper, teaspoon of cornstarch and 12-15 sprouts cut in half, like so.....

Bring some water to a boil and place the sprouts in for about 5 mins or until soft.

once they are soft add butter to pan and then sprouts, let that start simmering then add your juice, your spice, your salt and pepper and your corn starch to thicken the sauce.

cook for about 5 mins and WHA LA you have Orange Saucy brussel sprouts.

Place the chicken on the place and cover with the salsa, add your side of sprouts and you have a FABULOUS meal!! Enjoy!!