Kelli's Kitchen

Chicken and Dumplings

Super Easy Weeknight Chili

Now that there is a chill in the air, I am ready for some good comfort food.  Unfortunately our schedule is still out of control crazy and I don't have time for a long simmering chile recipe.  This is my very easy week night recipe for chili.  It's not the slow cooking chili that is full of all things good, but it's got the basics and it's quick and easy with a lot of taste. 


Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 16 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
2 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon minced onion
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
 Place all the ingredients in a dutch oven and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the meat.  I serve this with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Squash Crunch

An easy side dish with a lot of taste! This is a great CSA (community supported agriculture) recipe.  This was our first year involved in the CSA.  I liked knowing where my vegetables were coming from but I was warned that there would not be a lot of variety each week and more than likely an over abundance of one vegetable at a time.  I was able to feel my freezer with things that I can use in the winter.  I also had to come up with some new ways to eat veggies.  This was one of those.


Ingredients
1 yellow squash sliced
1 large tomato sliced
1 green pepper sliced
1/4 cup Feta cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil


Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350'.
In a small baking dish layer squash, tomato and pepper slices. Crumble feta on top of veggies.  In a separate small bowl mix bread crumbs and olive oil together.  Mix well and sprinkle on top of veggies and cheese.  Bake 10-15 minutes or until bread crumbs are browned.

Pizza Bites

Well, it's that time again, the packing of school lunches!  This is a tough one for me, I have a child who does. not. eat.  He is picky and social, a bad combination at the lunch room table.  I am constantly trying new things with him, to only have him return home with a full lunch box.   Last school year,  I tried letting him pack his own lunch and he only chose fruit.  He wanted nothing else.  Though I am happy he eats fruit, I know that he needs other things to get through the day.  I thought this recipe would be great since he like's pizza.  It is small and easy to eat since he would rather talk than eat, and it has some hidden goodness for his paranoid mother that is always worried about him eating.


Ingredients
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup chopped pepperoni or mini pepperoni
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup finely chopped spinach
2 teaspoon pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese


Directions
Pre heat oven to 375', grease a mini muffin pan or muffin pan well.
Mix all the ingredients until blended.  It should be a wet mixture.   Pour mixture into muffin pan.

Bake for 13- 15 minutes

Lawrenz Potatoes

The Lawrenz Potatoes!  The first time my husband brought me home to meet his parents I was introduced not only to my future in-laws, but this tasty potato dish.  This dish was so very easy but really made an impact on me.  It shows you how just simple food made a simple way can be extraordinary.  Like most things in life, it's the simple things, right?  My mother-in law added morel mushrooms to hers, these were picked by hand.  Morel mushrooms do add a great flavor but I did not have any of these on hand so I used button mushrooms.  The beauty of this dish is the ability to put what you have on hand in and it will just taste good.  It's a wonderful side dish for most anything.


Ingredients
4 small potatoes cubed
2 large carrots chopped
1 large yellow onion chopped
1/2 cup of chopped broccoli
1/2 cup red peppers sliced
1/2 cup mushrooms
2 bratwurst or other sausage link sliced (optional)
1 stick of butter cubed
2 teaspoons of Crazy Jane mixed up Salt  (or other seasoning salt)
salt and pepper to taste


Directions
Place 2 large pieces of aluminum foil on the counter. Place all the ingredients on the foil, and crumble the butter on top of the veggies.  Season the veggies with the seasoning salt, salt and pepper.  Wrap the veggies in the foil. 
You can grill these on the top rack for 20-30 minutes or bake them at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Protein Pancakes

Lighter Egg Salad

Well, summer is coming to a close, with school starting right around the corner.  This means the end of vacations, and vacation eating.  Yes, over the summer I do indulge. Visiting family all over the country allows me to justify the overindulgence of food and drinks.  It's time for all those extra summer pounds to come off and it's time to start paying attention to what I eat.  Now I have to listen to the skinny girl that lives in my head, that I dream of being one day, screaming at me while I try to get back to the gym and take off my summer indulgence.  I really dislike her!

This is a quick and easy light lunch with lots of protein.  You can always substitute the mayo for plain yogurt but be prepared for a tangy zip.




Ingredients:
2 whole hard boiled eggs, crumbled
4 hard boiled egg whites, crumbled
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tablespoon low fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped stuffed Manzanilla Olives
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
Mix all ingredients and Enjoy!

How to make Hard Boiled Eggs:
Put eggs in a large pot and cover with water.  Put on stove top over high heat.  Bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes and then turn the heat off and let the eggs cool in the water.  This will allow them to continue to cook while cooling.