Tea's Creamy Chicken & Broccoli Pasta Bake

I got this of of Sparkpeople.com. We tried it tonight, and it was super yummy! Todd even liked it, and the kids gobbled it up. I'm trying to be healthier, but I've been craving Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo. This satisfied the craving! Yay! I'm posting it with the modifications I made.

Ingredients

1.5 LB Chicken Breasts - Boneless, Skinless 3 Cups - Albertsons Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta 12 OZ Broccoli Florets (I just estimated the amount) 3/4 Cup - Onions, raw, chopped (I completely forgot to add this...woops) 8-10 mushrooms, sliced 2 TBSP - Country Crock, Shedd's Spread Country Crock Plus Calcium & Vitamins (just used butter) 3 Cups - Albertsons Fat Free Mozzarella Shredded Cheese (couldn't find this so I used Weight Watcher's brand reduced fat mozzarella) 6 OZ - 1/3 Less Fat Neufchatel Cream Cheese 12 oz - Chicken Broth - Low Fat - Low Sodium (I just used one can MINUS 1/3 cup)

Directions

(Instead of the directions below, I grilled the chicken on the grill, cut it up, and added it at the end with everything else...really added to the flavor!)

Prep - Cut raw chicken into bite-size chunks. Cut broccoli into bite-size florets. Heat oven to 375*F. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli the last 3 minutes. Meanwhile, heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Melt butter, and add chicken, onions, and mushrooms. (if you're grilling chicken, just saute the mushrooms, garlic, and onions and add the broth and cheese to that); cook 3 minutes or until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic, saute 1 minute Stir in broth; simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Add cream cheese; cook and stir on low heat 1 minute or until cream cheese is melted. Stir in 1.5 cups mozzarella. Drain pasta and broccoli. Add to chicken mixture, mix lightly (add chicken now if using grilled). Spoon into a 9x13 pan coated with PAM. Bake 15 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake 3 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Serve. Number of Servings: 4 Nutritional Info (not sure how they figured this or how accurate it is) Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount Per Serving Calories: 338.9 Total Fat: 8.7 g Cholesterol: 37.5 mg Sodium: 988.1 mg Total Carbs: 30.5 g Dietary Fiber: 4.4 g Protein: 30.7 g Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MOUSESB. Number of Servings: 4

Banana Bran Muffins

Okay, sorry I didn't post this last week, but life is crazy. I have more "healthy" recipes I'll try to post soon, and I'll try to find some 5 ingredient ones, but I always make things too complicated and honestly don't think I have anything with only 5 ingredients! :) In the meantime, here's a yummy muffin recipe that I found that is actually pretty good considering how healthy it is, and the kids love them! They're MUCH better the next day than they are right out of the oven...I know, seems backwards, but it's true! :)

Banana Bran Muffins

1/2 c. natural applesauce (sweetened with apple juice...I used cinnamon flavored)
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
3 very ripe bananas
1/4 c. milk (I used 1%)
1 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (we have a mill, so I ground my own...you could use the stuff from the store, though)
1/4 c. wheat germ ( I buy this in bulk at WinCo...TONS of fiber and filling)
1/4 c. crushed bran flakes ( I crushed it until it was all crumbs and then measured 1/4 c. crumbs)
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 375 for regular muffins or to 400 for mini muffins ( I made mini muffins because they're a great size for my kids)
Grease muffin tins or spray with PAM or line with liners
Beat bananas, applesauce, and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, milk, and eggs and mix well.
Mix dry ingredients together and add to wet ingredients, beat until smooth. Add nuts if desired (walnuts might be yummy).
Pour into prepared tins
For regular sized muffins, bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. For mini muffins, bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.
Let cool on a rack and then place completely cooled muffins in a gallon sized ziploc bag overnight.

Hope you like them if you try them...I think they're pretty good, the kids love them, and Todd took one bite and spit it out! :)

Dari's Picante Chicken

So here is yet another one from the Biggest Loser Cookbook. It's one we like and it only has 4 ingredients!

1/3 + 1/2 c. salsa
4 medium boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed of visible fat
6 Tbs. light cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. finely shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spread 1/3 c. salsa in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Set aside.
Lay chicken breast on a cutting board. Use the flat side of a meat mallet to pound the chicken breast to a uniform thickness.
Spread the chicken evenly with the cream cheese. Lay the chicken, cream cheese up, in a single layer in the prepared baking dish. Spoon the remaining 1/2 c. salsa evenly over the breasts. cover the pan with tin foil.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tin foil. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the breasts. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until no longer pink. Serve immediately.

Erin, UT

Frozen Gramwiches

Since no one has posted today I thought I would add one I am planning on making very soon. Another one from the Biggest Loser Cookbook

Graham Crackers
Fat free whipped topping

Break each graham cracker in half. Spread 2 TBS. of whipped topping on half of graham cracker, then top with the other half. Freeze at least 2 hours. I like to freeze it for a few days, because the crackers get soft like an ice cream sandwich. You even use chocolate graham crackers.

One serving is two sandwiches
150 calories, 2 g. protein, 28 g carbs, 4 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, less than 1 g fiber, 150 mg sodium

New-Fashionsed Meat Loaf

This is another one from the Biggest Loser Cookbook (I think most people in my family have it, hence Cori and I both sharing from it).
Also I hope you guys aren't losing interest already we just started. Maybe the healthy recipes aren't ones we have a lot of. I hope to see the rest of the contributors back.
So here is the recipe

2/3 c. old fashioned oats
1/2 c. fat free milk
1 lbs. 96% lean ground beef
1/2 c. chopped fresh spinach leaves
1/4 c. minced onion
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 Tbs. prepared horseradish (I usually leave this out because I don't like it)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. mushrooms, finely chopped (this is something that isn't in the original recipe, and my kids have no clue they are eating them)
1/3 c. reduced-sugar or unsweetened ketchup (I usually use normal but that will affect the nutritional info)


Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a bread pan with cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine oats and milk. Let stand for 3 minutes. Add the meat, spinach, onion, egg whites, horseradish, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and mushrooms. Mix well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Press into the pan, patting the top flat. Spread the ketchup over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center registers 160 and the meat is no longer pink. Let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into 8 slices. Serve immediately.

224 calories, 29 g protein, 14 carbohydrates, 5 g fat (1 g saturated) 91 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 552 mg sodium

Erin, Utah

Better Blueberry Pancakes

This recipe is one of my kids favorites, they love pancakes!! I got it from my Biggest Loser Cookbook. I ordered a huge box of frozen blueberries from my grocery store last September and those work great in this recipe.

1/2 cup reduced-fat buttermilk
1/2 whole grain oat flour
1 large egg white lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh or frozen( not thawed) blueberries


In a small bowl combine the buttermilk, flour, egg white, baking soda, vanilla and salt. Whisk until just blended. Stir in the blueberries. Let stand fro 10 minutes. In the mean time heat your skillet, when the 10 minutes is up pour the batter in 1/8th cup dollops. Cook and top with your favorite pancake topping. If you are wanting to keep with the healthy theme serve with low cal, low sugar syrup, and use I cant believe it not butter spray. It is still so yummy!!!

** this recipe makes 8 pancakes. We always double for my family of 5!! **

1 serving = 4 pancakes
140 calories , 8 g protein, 20 g carbs, 3 g fat ( less then 1 g saturated) 3 g fiber.