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Sundays are super hectic for us. Mr. Daddy Hill runs the media at church and plays in the band. Then I join him with the kids a little later. After church is family lunch in fast forward, so I can make it to work. This past Sunday I decided if I put something in the crock pot before I went to church I could have a nice, healthy dinner waiting when I got home for work. :) We tried this crock pot chicken soup.
Prep was not too bad to do before church. Just a little chopping (onion and carrot). I like buying chicken tenderloins, because they are cheaper, easier to deal with, and cook nicely in the crock pot. (I'm not very knowledgeable on healthy choices yet, so this might not be the BEST choice) I just threw them in whole. They fell about nicely while cooking and stirring.
My other adjustments were minor and hardly worth mentioning. I used diced tomatoes, because that is my preference. (Stewed tomatoes creep me out....no idea why) I also used a carrot/pea frozen vege combo, since that is what we had on had. I added a little extra for good measure. I didn't bother with the one bay leaf, because I didn't want to buy a bunch just for one leaf. That may have a greater effect than I realize. If you try it with the bay leaf, let me know.
I liked this recipe other than the thyme was overwhelming. It is not a seasoning I ever use, so I think about half would be plenty for us. I also would add about double the carrots because it was the kids favorite part. Beyond that, it was easy, convenient, tasty, and filling.
Of the recipes we have tried this is probably our least favorite, but that is only because of the seasoning. Easy fix. :) Don't let that stop you from giving it a try though. We have been SUPER happy with these recipes, they taste great, are filling, and have easy prep.
If I had any complaint about switching to finally cooking healthy instead of hitting the drive thru is that we are spending a lot more time and money at the grocery store. But then the amount we were spending at the drive thrus is now next to nothing. (Sometimes you just have to grab a drink bigger than your head on the way to work. lol) I think the amount we are spending will decrease as we stock up on spices and learn what new items to watch the sales for. Since this is all new to me, I am excited just to find the items I'm looking for, let alone a good price. That will come with practice. :)
Let me know if try this one. Hope you enjoy!
Becca
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This Hungry Girl Olive Garden Swap was our next adventure. We are starting to get more adventurous and willing to try "healthy options" with this dinner that features 4 cups of spinach. My short and sweet review on this one is that is is slightly harder to prep, has a fancier feel to it, and has a good, but slightly rich flavor. (from the creamy filling)
I substituted a 10 oz can of chicken which made prep a little easier. I also accidently bought "thin crust" instead of "classic crust". I think in the long run the thin crust was actually easier to work with. There is not an exact measurement of how much filling to put in each pouch. This made bundling the pouches a little harder than it needed to be. Unfortunately, we didn't figure out how much went in each to help you out.....Sorry. :)
It makes 5 pouches. We found 1.5 good for the adults and half for the kids. (3 years old and 6 years old) The kids were a little slow to warm up the the green interior, but found they really enjoyed it after they gave it a try. We served it to them as a full half (is that an oxymormon?), so they could see how pretty it looked. Then we offered to cut it in small manageable pieces for them. Presentation is 90% of the food battle with kids, so we like to let them see it whole before handing it to them looking pre-chewed. ;)
We will do this one again with the same changes mentioned above. I don't think there is any additional changes needed. :)
Let me know if you give this one a try! Enjoy! :)
Becca
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The next recipe we tried was Hungry Girl's Version of mac and cheese, a kid favorite, with the added nutrition of cauliflower. I Loved the concept as soon as a read about it. Guilt free, yummy, comfort food...can you go wrong? :)
Because we are phasing out some of our "not so good choice" food, I used your standard elbow noodles this time. Thus, meaning my version was not quite as healthy. For the same reason, I also used a standard bread crumb, but used less than half of what it called for. I was okay with these swaps because 1. I want to get rid of the food that is already paid for. 2. Even with those swaps all the cauliflower made this dish WAY healthier (and filling) than a fast food run.
I prepped this in the morning, covered with foil, and put it in the frig for my husband to toss in the evening when I was at class. I would imagine you could prep it the night before and have it ready to to go in the oven after a long day at work too. I thought the prep was pretty easy and low maintenance. I did have my husband plan on using the full 30 minutes of baking time since it would be cold when it went into the over.
So how did the cauliflower go over? It blended in quite nicely into the noodles. The texture and size (after chopping) was right on the money. If anything it added an extra taste dimension to this dish without sticking out at all. I'm sure the kids had no idea it was even in there.
Hope you enjoy! Let me know if it give it a try. :)
Becca
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Somewhere between kid 1, kid 2, and going back to college our sensible eating went out the window and we went right to survival mode. We got to the point where, I was so sick of all the local fast food places that I just rather not eat than have to eat that junk again. But what else were we suppose to do?! How could we possibly eat healthy and continue our excessively busy lifestyle???? I reached out to a co-worker who is known for her healthy eating style who reminded me of Hungry Girl. She is an AMAZING chef that focusses on LARGE HEALTHY portions.
So here we go on our new healthier lifestyle. No turning back now, because.....let's be honest.....our live's depend on it. ;)
Our first culinary adventure was not a stretch from our norm, a healthier mexican pizza. Here is the official recipe and how it compares to our former fav, the Taco Bell version.
My Review:
First and foremost, WE LOVED IT! Bonus, so did the kids! :)
Don't be afraid of the "meatless meat crumbles". They aren't bad at all and super easy to work with. I found them at Kroger in their healthy living/vegetarian freezer section. (but I've bought them from Target in the past.
I was super excited to discover an EVEN lower calorie white corn tortilla at Kroger in the Mexican section.
We ended up substituting the taco sauce/diced tomato/taco seasoning blend with mild rotel, because in our craziness my never ending dice tomato stock....dun Dun DUN....ENDED. lol It actually worked out great and was probably even easier.
When baking, I suggest cooking a couple minutes less on the 2nd side and add that minute or so to the final baking time. We found our tortillas got a little dark during the 2nd side baking (possible since we were using white corn tortillas) but our toppings didn't get super hot on the final baking stage.
Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you give it a try. :)
Becca
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