Balsamic Vinaigrette Crock Pot Chicken

*This has quickly become one of my favorite dishes. Very flavorful and super easy! And not to mention pretty healthy.

Ingredients:
1 bottle Kraft Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
3 or 4 tomatoes on the vine (cut up)
1 tub feta cheese
4 to 6 chicken breasts (frozen)

Directions: Place all ingredients in crockpot on high for 4 hours. I've found if you do it for 8 hours the chicken tends to dry out. Serve over rice.

Mykonos Burger

This is yet another recipe from Maria Menounos. My husband calls her Maria "my-new-nose". Ha!! I keep finding recipes of hers that are healthy, but really yummy! I'm really wanting her new book, "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life". I think their's a bunch of other healthy recipes in there. Can you tell that I like Maria?!!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 lb lean ground turkey

3/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 3/4 oz crumbled feta cheese

sliced red onions

4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted

Preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, mix first 8 ingredients. Use an ice cream scoop or 1/2-cup measure to make equal size patties.

2. Broil for 5-6 minutes on each side or until done. (We did ours on the George Foreman and it turned out delish).

3. Place burger on bottom half of bun. Top with onion slices and other condiments you like. Cover with top half of bun and enjoy!!!

Healthy Stuffed Chicken

This is another recipe I got from Maria Menounos. Yeah, I'm a big fan of hers! Love her!! My husband said this recipe was a definite keeper and a "home run" (he associates everything with sports. Hahaha!)!! If he approves then it must be good!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flattened

Stuffing:

3/4 lb low-fat feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup packed, chopped baby spinach

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground black pepper

Sauce:

one 14oz can tomato sauce

1 diced mango, peeled and seeded

1/4 tsp seeded and diced jalapeno pepper (I left this ingredient out)

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl. Spoon out half of the mix onto each flattened chicken breast. Wrap the chicken around the stuffing and place in a small greased baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer, stirring off and on, for 15 minuted or until sauce becomes thick.

Spoon the sauce over cooked chicken and serve.

Yield: 2 (the stuffing makes a lot, so you could even get 3-4 stuffed chicken breasts)

Mango Black Bean Salad

This recipe is from Maria Menounos (she's on "Access Hollywood"). It was featured on "The Nate Berkus Show" the other day and it looked so good that I wanted to try it. So I googled it and got the recipe. It's delicious and very healthy! Makes a yummy snack!!

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1/2 cup Italian dressing, any kind you like (use fat-free or low-cal)

Two 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped red onions

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/4 cup of the mango with the Italian dressing until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the remaining mango with the beans, red onion, and peppers. To the bean mixture, add the mango puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and chill until ready to serve.

Note:

This makes a good side dish or a good snack. We added fresh chopped avocados to it and ate it with chips. It was so good!! But if you do add the avocados don't add them until ready to eat or else they'll brown. We also thought it would taste yummy with cilantro and corn in it. The possibilities are endless!!

Hacienda Hamburger

This is a yummy main dish. You won't really need any side dishes with this meal because it has everything in it!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb hamburger or ground turkey

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1 small can sliced olives

1 tsp salt

1 can of diced tomatoes

2 cup uncooked wide noodles

1 cup diced cheese

1 diced carrot

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1 cup frozen corn, drained and thawed

DIRECTIONS:

Cook hamburger, onion, celery, carrot, and bell pepper for five minutes until onion is translucent and hamburger is cooked well. Drain grease from skillet. Add remaining ingredients; stir lightly. Cover and cook slowly for 20 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

Mango Black Bean Salad

This recipe is from Maria Menounos (she's on "Access Hollywood" -- I think!). It was featured on "The Nate Berkus Show" the other day and it looked so good that I wanted to try it. So I googled it and got the recipe. It's delicious and very healthy!

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1/2 cup Italian dressing, any kind you like (use fat-free or low-cal)

Two 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped red onions

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/4 cup of the mango with the Italian dressing until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the remaining mango with the beans, red onion, and peppers. To the bean mixture, add the mango puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and chill until ready to serve.

Note:

This makes a good side dish or a good snack. We added fresh chopped avocados to it and ate it with chips. It was so good!! But if you do add the avocados don't add them until ready to eat or else they'll brown. We also thought it would taste yummy with cilantro and corn in it. The possibilities are endless!!

Venetian Apricot Chicken

Yesterday, before our little brother Scottie left on a Mormon mission we all went to the Olive Garden. The sisters all ordered the same thing! It is by far one of the best tasting dishes they have to offer. Here is the recipe!

Venetian Apricot Chicken

Ingredients
Apricot Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken stock (broth)
1/2 cup apricot preserves
Salt and pepper to taste

Tomato Mixture:
1/2 lb roma tomatoes, cut into 1” pieces
6 basil leaves, cut into 1/2” pieces
1 tsp garlic pepper
Salt to taste

Garlic Herb Seasoning:
3 tsp garlic pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 bunch asparagus (remove bottom inch of stems)
1/2 lb broccoli florets
1Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Chopped parsley to garnish

Procedures

1. COMBINE Garlic Herb Seasoning ingredients in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
   
2. BLEND chicken stock and apricot preserves in a sauce pan. Add salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
   
3. COMBINE tomatoes, basil, garlic pepper and salt in a separate mixing bowl and set aside.
   
4. BLANCH asparagus and broccoli for 1 minute in a pot of salted boiling water. Transfer immediately to ice bath to stop cooking.
   
5. COAT sauté pan with 1Tbsp olive oil. While keeping ingredients separated in pan, heat cooled asparagus, broccoli and tomato mixture and until hot. Do not overcook.
   
6. GRILL chicken until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
   
7. PLACE grilled chicken on a platter next to hot broccoli and asparagus. Sprinkle Garlic Herb Seasoning on broccoli. Pour tomato mixture on top of vegetables.
   
8. TOP chicken breasts with apricot sauce and garnish with chopped parsley.