quinoa Chicken and asparagus bake

This meal is AWESOME!!

I have also substituted the Asparagus out with broccoli (and it was amazing) and tonight I am trying it with Brussels sprouts (ill let you know how it goes!)

I usually bake everything at the same time, however I noticed that my veggies get a little OVER cooked, so tonight I am going to try baking everything, except for the vegetable, and then add the veggie halfway through!  But that really just depends on if you like your veggies firm, or not!

I know it looks really cheesy, but its not, for some reason when I freshly shred cheese it always looks overly cheesy!

Quinoa Chicken Asparagus Bake

1.5 C chicken broth

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 Cup Flour

3/4 C uncooked quinoa

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts- cut into bite size chunks

1 bunch of asparagus- cut into bite sizes

1/2 C shredded cheese

in a saucepan, bring chicken broth and milk to a boil, slowly (VERY SLOWLY) whisk in flour, until smooth and continue cooking for about 2 minutes, until thick.

in a large bowl mix the remainder of ingredients- except the cheese- and then pour into a baking dish (spray or use tin foil!) top with the shredded cheese, and cook for about 60 minutes at 375 degrees

you will know it is ready when the quinoa is sprouted, and the chicken is cooked through! 

Italian Dressing, Tuna salad- sala

My mom actually introduced me to this recipe, She wanted to make it, and then couldn't find her recipe for it, so she "guessed" and then once she got done making the tuna salad, realized she was out of bread, so she tossed it on some spinach and called it a day! and I FELL IN LOVE!!

and this is coming for a girl who usually does not really like Tuna, (I hate the smell, but I am ok with the taste).

Anyways, by the time I got home, I couldn't remember her recipe that she made up, so then I "guessed" and made it myself!! MM MMM MM.. so as many of you know, I don't usually measure things out, Aint nobody got time for that, so ill give you my guesstimates, but make it your own! if you like a lot of carrots, add a lot of carrots, not a big radish fan? don't add so many but actually, they radishes are BOMB in it!

Tuna Salad- Salad

a bag of spinach (or equivalent amount if you don't buy the bags)

2 cans of tuna (I prefer in water, but your choice)

5 red radishes- chopped

1/4 onion- chopped

2 celery stocks- chopped

2 Large carrots- chopped

1/2 cup Italian Dressing

salt and pepper to taste

mix everything, other than spinach, in a large bowl. 

when ready to serve. place a few large scoops onto of fresh spinach! and enjoy!!

it is OH SO GOOD!!

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

So I did another week-in-a-day Freezer meals day.  However I forgot to post about them :/ ehh  having a baby is very very distracting these days!

anyways, This was one of my recipes, it was AMAZING! I honestly usually HATE to shred chicken, this was so moist, it literally just fell apart into shreds!! it was amazing!  This is also awesome, because I feel you could really make it your own recipes! add jalapeños, peppers, salsa, etc..

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

1 lbs of skinless boneless chicken breasts

juice from 2 limes

1 bunch of cilantro - chopped

1 (16 oz) bag of frozen corn

1 can black beans -drained and rinsed

2 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 onion - chopped

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

TO FREEZE: toss everything into a large ziplock bag, lay flat in the freezer, when ready to cook, empty contents of the bag into crock pot on low for 4-6 hours (high for 1-2 hours)

TO EAT THAT DAY: mix all ingredients in your crock pot, cook on Low for 3-4 hours. 

serve on tortillas with all your favorite taco toppings!

THIS ALSO MAKES GREAT SANDWICHES!!! 

Chipotle Guacamole

So Chipotle recently released their WORLD FAMOUS guacamole... I myself, am perhaps Chipotle's biggest fan, I am also Guacamoles biggest fan... so this is a win win for me!!!

Im not going to make you wait any longer!!

here is the recipe, straight from Chipotles mouth!!

Chipotle Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

2 tsp lime juice

2 tbsp cilantro (chopped)

1/4 cup red onion (finely chopped)

1/2 Jalapeno, including seeds (finely chopped)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

cut avocados in half, and take out the pit (I usually stab it and twist) 

scoop the avocado out of the shell, and place in a medium bowl.

toss and coat with lime juice.

add the salt and using a fork (or masher) mash until smooth

fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well

taste and adjust seasoning if necessary 

And don't forget to make some AMAZING Margaritas to go with it!

One Pan Chicken and Vegetables

So I actually found this recipe on the back of a Swanson Chicken Stock box- but it wasn't actually "clean" (actually I'm not sure that chicken stock is even "clean" but I knew every ingredient in it, so that's clean enough) So I had to change it up a bit. Also when I read the world "oregano" for some reason I thought "cilantro" so theres that too- so feel free to use Oregano instead of Cilantro, although that cilantro tastes bomb in it (but I know some people say it tastes like dirt?? those people are not my friends)

Chicken with Vegetables

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

4 chicken breasts

1 medium onion- quartered 

1 lbs baby potatoes- cut in half

half a bag of baby carrots

1 1/2 cups Chicken stock

1/4 cup Cilantro chopped

few drops of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350

lather chicken with Paprika and pepper 

In a dutch oven, spread a few drops of olive oil, and place chicken on top, cook on the stove, for about 10 minutes, turning half way, until brown. Remove any fat from the bottom of the dutch oven (I didn't have any since I cut the fat off before I cooked the chicken, but if you didn't, drain it out, because that's gross)

Add the potatoes, and onions and cook and addition 5 minutes. 

add carrots, stock and cilantro and heat until boiling. 

Bake, covered for 20 minutes, stir and then uncover and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. 

Mexican Stuffed Pita Pockets

I actually just downloaded all of my phone pictures onto my computer and I found this GEM of a treat!!! I had almost forgotten all about it, and I didn't even use my nice camera for the picture, so I must not have intended on sharing the recipe- but I changed my mind, the world should know how delicious this is!!

Mexican Stuffed Pita Pockets

1 can of black beans - drained and rinsed

1 can of corn- drain

1 rice avocado- chopped into chunks

1/2 cup of shredded Mexican cheese

1 large tomato diced

1 small onion- diced

1/2 bunch of cilantro- chopped

salt and pepper to taste

package of pita pockets cut in half.

in a large mixing bowl, mix everything together (aside for the pita), fill pita pockets with mixture and enjoy!! 

Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry

So this is really less of a recipe, and more of any idea. since its so easy, its hard to even call it a "recipe"- you could probably just look at the picture and figure out how to make it, but either way I will share it- also I know soy sauce isn't actually a "clean" food, but it says right on the packaging that preservatives make up 1/10 of 1% of the ingredients, and well screw it, that's clean enough!

Chicken Asparagus Stir Fry

2 chicken breasts- chunked

1 bunch of Asparagus (ends cut off and then cut into 2-3 inch sticks)

2-3 cloves of garlic- diced

soy sauce- to taste

In a fry pan, add chicken, and asparagus (I suppose you could use some oil, but I'm trying to cut that out of my life right now) after a few minutes, add garlic and soy sauce to taste.  cook until chicken is well cook! boom too easy! 

dinner is served

Chicken Bruschetta

Chicken Bruschetta

2 chicken breast- baked

2 large tomatoes- diced

2 cloves of Garlic- Diced

1/2 red onion- chopped

1 Tbs Olive Oil

a few shakes of Sea salt

a few shakes of Dried or fresh Basil

Bake chicken at 375 degrees for 40ish minutes. (or however you like your chicken)

in a medium size bowl. combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt and basil. scoop on top of chicken and serve :) so so yummy!!

Roasted Cabbage

So if you saw my Roasted Garlic Brussles sprouts, this is a VERY similar recipe- also did you know Cabbage is one of the healthiest foods you can eat?! anyways Ill keep this short- P.s Its an awesome recipe! I was even able to talk my Husband into eating it! We both were wishing I had made more!

Roasted Cabbage

Cabbage- sliced into 12 inch slices

a drizzle of olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Place Cabbage slices onto pan, drizzle and spread olive oil over the top and top with salt and pepper. cook at 375 for 20-30 minutes. boom too easy!

Garlic Roasted Brussles Sprouts

HOLY SMOKES -that's all I can say. HOLY SMOKES.. these are DELICIOUS!!! Now I am a brussles sprouts kinda gal, but I have always disliked the "center" of them, I'm Not sure if that makes any sense, but hey, we all have our weird things!  but these are amazing, no "center" grossness!!!

Roasted Garlic Brussles Sprouts

1 lbs of Brussels Sprouts- Halved 

a few drops of Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic-diced (or garlic salt)

salt- to taste

Toss the Brussels Sprouts, olive oil, garlic and salt into a zip lock bag (or use the bag that you use at the grocery store) and shake it up, making sure that all the brussels spouts get coated in all that deliciousness! 

Bake on a pan at 400 degrees, for 25-35 minutes. 

Negative Calorie Soup

So the Wentworth family is in for a BIG change this year (so long as we keep it up, but I figure if I put it here we will have to keep it up).  We have decided that we are no longer college students, and that mac and cheese and frozen pizzas are not the way to a happy and healthy life- so we are committed to eating better (as well as being much more active).  Which means Darn Good Dinner will be getting a bit of a face lift, with much healthier, and cleaner recipes!! I am SO excited! and I hope you are too!

So to start off this change, we are doing a 2 week detox- out with the old, and in with the new (we don't really know what our detox consists of, but basically mostly just fruits and veggies  and chicken for the next two weeks!)  I found this recipe, and I thought "sure its healthy, but could it actually be good??" and guess what?! IT IS!!! I even helped myself to seconds, because, well, I Can!!!

Negative Calorie Soup

2/3 cup of carrots (chopped/diced/sliced- just make them smallish)

1/2 of a large onion- diced

2 cloves of garlic- diced

4 cups of Chicken, vegetable or beef broth

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 green cabbage- chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 large zucchini - sliced

In a large pot, spray non stick cooking spray,and heat- add the carrots, onion and garlic and saute until soft.  Add broth, cabbage, beans, seasonings and bring to a boil.  reduce heat and stir i

n zucchini- cook an addition 3-5 minutes.

that's it! so easy, SO healthy, and SO SO SO delicious!!

Beef with Broccoli...With Chicken

As most of you know by now, I am pollo-pescetarian (I only eat seafood and chicken, and actually I think most seafood is nasty!).  But that doesn't mean I never have a hankering for some red meat, and when I do, I just make a beef recipe, with white meat instead! So feel free to use beef if you so choose, but it tastes just as, if not better, than beef!!

Chicken with Broccoli

3T cornstarch

1/2 cup of water

2T  water

1/2 t garlic powder

2 chicken breasts- cut into strips

2 T Olive Oil

4 bunches of broccoli- steamed in the microwaved for 4 minutes

1/2 C of soy sauce

1 T brown rice

cooked brown rice

In a medium bowl, combine 2T of cornstarch, 2T water, and garlic powder.  add the chicken and mix well. 

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add 1 T of olive oil, and cook chicken until cooked through. 

remove from skillet

in the same skillet, add remaining 1T olive oil, and broccoli, heat for 5 minutes. return cooked chicken to the skillet, 

In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar and remaining 1T of cornstarch and water, stir until smooth.  

Add soy sauce mixture to the skillet, stir and cook for 2 minutes and serve over rice.

copycat popeyes chicken

When I was pregnant, one day I had a major craving for just about everything deep fried.  I decided to go buy a fry daddy, and by the time I got home, the idea of anything fried made me want to vomit... so I finally decided to pull out the ol fry daddy and fire it up for the first time.  Is fried chicken healthy? no, but hey, sometimes you have to splurge, and this is just the recipe to splurge on!

Copy Cat Popeyes Chicken

4 chicken breasts- trim the fat, and slice into chunks

1/3 cup of your favorite hot sauce (I recommend franks or Sriracha)

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

salt (I recommend about a teaspoon, but add to your own taste)

2 large egg whites

as much vegetable oil as you need to fry

Toss the chicken chunks into a gallon zip lock bag.  In a small bowl  combine buttermilk and hot sauce.  Pour half of the buttermilk/sauce into the zip lock bag, and save the other half in the fridge.  allow the chicken to marinate in the bag for at least 30 minutes. 

In a large bowl, mix, flour, cornstarch, salt and the remaining buttermilk/hot sauce mixture. combine until it is a sand consistency. 

in a small bowl whisk egg whites.

take 1 chicken chunk at a time, and dip it in the eggs, then cover it in the flour mixture. and place them on a wire rack in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

heat oil to a medium high heat, and cook for 8 minutes in a deep fryer, in a skillet with oil, just cook for about 4 minutes on each side.  

Cream Cheese Chicken

Is this a healthy recipe?? no.
 Is it delicious? yes!


There is nothing more that needs to be said about this.  The chicken literally falls apart in your mouth.. its amazing

Cream Cheese Chicken

2-3 Frozen Chicken breasts

1 Can of Rotel Tomatoes

1 can of corn (do not drain)

1 can of black beans (drained)

1 package of Ranch Dressing

1 T. cumin

1t. chili powered

1 package of cream cheese

stick it in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. serve alone, or over rice, or with tortillas, or chips, or anything! its so good!

Three Recipe Chicken Chili

What does Three Recipe mean!? easy- I took my three favorite chili recipes, and smashed them together... which made possibly the best chili I have ever tasted in my life!!

 Once again I used chicken, but that doesn't mean you couldn't use a more traditional, ground beef.  Or even ground turkey, which I have been meaning to try!!

I am embarrassed to admit, I made this yesterday for lunch, and then I had seconds, and then I warmed some up for an afternoon snack, and then I had it for dinner, and I may or may not have had it again today for lunch... its THAT GOOD.

When I make this next time, I think I will add an additional chicken breast, mostly because I like my meals with as much protein as I can get, however, there would be no reason to alter this recipe, unless you feel like it!

also where the recipe calls for a can to be "drained" I mean that in the most lazy sense of the term. I just leave the lid unattached but use it to squeeze some of the juices out of the can.. I don't do any of that emptying the contents into a strainer and rinsing water over the top!

Three Recipe Chicken Chili

2 chicken breasts- uncooked and chopped

1 can of black beans- drained

1 can of Great Northern Beans

1 can of southwestern style corn

1/2 block of cream cheese

1 jar of Salsa (or a couple cans of tomatoes)

1/2 can of diced green chilies

1 small onion, chopped

1 package ranch seasoning

1 package of taco seasoning

Stick it in the crock pot on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6 and top with all your favorite toppings

Buffalo Chicken Salad

this was my instagram picture, Just goes to show how lighting changes a picture!

This is a "cold dish" however, I had leftovers, and totally forgot that, warmed it up in the microwave with a little cheese on top, and it was almost better than it was fresh!! so, you can totally stick this in the oven instead of the fridge for a change of taste! either way, its excellent!!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

1 box Farfalle noodles- prepared

2 Chicken breasts, diced (or shredded)

1/2 cup of Frank's Sauce

1/2 Cup of Ranch dressing

3 celery stocks, diced

3 green onions, diced.  

salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

(or put into a baking dish, and top with cheese and stick it in the oven until warm and gooey!!) 

Chicken Noodle Hot Dish

So I am finally post-baby enough, that I was up for cooking again! I cannot believe its been a WHOLE MONTH since Bennett was born, and I am beyond thankful that I had a fridge full of frozen meals, however, I was beyond excited to eat something fresh from the oven!

What I was really craving was some tuna noodle hot dish (casserole for you who call it that!), however while I was pregnant the smell of Tuna made me want to puke! So I was too scared to open a can, so I switched it up!  I must say, this is to DIE FOR.  I loved the red bell pepper in there, mm mmm mm!

I must admit though, I did not measure ANYTHING I put into this, I just kind of winged it! although I'm guessing about how much I put in so you can copy it!

Chicken Noodle Hot Dish (casserole) 

2 chicken breasts- Chopped or shredded

1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup

1 cup sour cream (I used the light) 

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 red bell pepper- chopped

1 cup frozen peas

salt and pepper to taste

half package of egg noodles (cooked)

preheat the oven to 350

in a large baking dish, mix all the ingredients together. cover and bake for 30 minutes. 

would totally work as a freezer meal as well! 

let me know what you think of it!

Fiesta Chicken

I was thinking how it seems I am ALWAYS cooking "Mexican" type food... but actually I rarely make anything Mexican at all... its like the "one drop" rule, you know, where if you are 1 drop a minority, you are seen as that race... same thing, you toss a drop of Hispanic food into a meal and its all of a sudden "FIESTA" time, haha.

But let me tell you, this recipe is worth a party. And I always love a recipe that I can make ahead of time, and toss into the oven when we are finally ready to eat. so this is great, I'm actually eating the left overs right now, as I type, and they taste just as wonderful warmed up in the microwave.

I also love that this is one of those recipes you could totally adjust to your own personal preferences, add onion?  add ground beef? use brown or white rice, substitute for quinoa.  anything! plus it calls for a jar of Salsa, which might scare away my less than daring eaters, however salsa comes in a billion different flavors, try the mild kind, or go spicy, fresh salsa? jar? home made??  I love that in a recipe!

Fiesta Chicken

16 oz Salsa

1/3 cup water

1 can corn, undrained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 C. instant rice

4-6 chicken breasts

1 package taco or Cajun seasoning

shredded cheese to top

salt to taste

grease a 9x13" baking pan.  Dump salsa, water, corn, beans rice and stir together.

Place chicken breasts on top and season with taco or Cajun seasoning. 

bake at 375 for 45 minutes. sprinkle with cheese, or anything else (like sour cream? green onions?)

Mexi- Mac and Cheese

I made this wonder meal late at night, so don't mind the funky lighting! 

         I can pretty much assume this is a Rachel Ray recipe, and while the bitch can definitely cook some bomb food, she's just got way too much time on her hands.. I mean seriously this recipe calls for THREE pots and pans to be used, THREE, my dish washer will not be able to hold THREE large dishes, and there is no way in H- E- Double Hockey Sticks I plan on hand washing dishes on a Friday night... it just ain't happening.. so I changed up this recipe, to be just a TWO dish recipe (I think you could easily do it in just 1 pan, but I was not up for trying..)

Now I'm always excited to share a rock star recipe with the world, because, well I want everyone to know of all the good things in the world, but this recipe I feel extra excited about.  This recipe is like, woahhh... now I love me some mac and cheese (who doesn't?) but this, this is life changing, no way can you have "just Kraft" after having this... seriously...

I did not make this recipe with meat, because well I don't eat meat, however I think most people would think its even better with meat, and I wish I would have made it with chicken, because, that would have been delicious, or ground turkey, or basically anything! 

hot dogs anyone?? 

Mexi Mac and Cheese

1 lbs elbow macaroni 

1 lbs ground beef

1 package of Taco Seasoning (or a little chili powder)

1 Red bell pepper- chopped

4 green onions- chopped

4 oz Chopped Green Chiles (Whoops I think I forgot this!) 

2. T butter

2. T flour

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheese

a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring water to a boil, and cook noodles until al dente

While your noodles are cooking, brown your meat in a large pan, stir in Taco seasoning, Bell pepper, Green onions, and Green Chiles. sauté until veggies are tender.

In a THIRD pan (or just place that last pan of meat and veggies on a plate, and reuse it, that's what I did) melt your butter, stir in the flour, and stir constantly for about 1 minute. turn down to Low heat, and add milk and cheese, stir until cheese has melted into sauce.

After draining your noodles, return them to their large pot, mix in meat and veggies, and cover in cheese sauce.  stir until well mixed. 

I really don't see why you need to make the cheese sauce separately? you could probably get by with just tossing the cheese milk and butter onto the warm noodles and it would melt itself! 

Skinny Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Well we have made it another day of "cleaner eating" (I did have a Freezer Egg McMuffin this morning for breakfast- but what ever, clean enough- oh and they really do freeze and microwave amazingly! I'm even surprised!).  But its actually pretty hard to find recipes that aren't just like plain baked chicken and plain brown rice... which I just cannot do every single day... so we are off to try this new recipe! 

Skinny Chicken Broccoli Casserole

1 cup of brown rice

1 cup cold water

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks

4 cups of kale- finely chopped

4 cups broccoli- cut into small florets

1 cup milk 

2 T corn starch

1/2 T garlic salt

1 t Thyme, dried

1 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese- shredded

2/3 cup Colby jack cheese- shredded

In a large pot ( mine was not nearly large enough, so go big or go home) spray the bottom, add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to get cooked.  add rice and water. reduce heat to low. 

cook for about 10 minutes. 

remove from heat and add broccoli and kale. 

in a small bowl whisk milk, corn starch, garlic salt, thyme, salt and pepper.

Add to pot along with  mozzarella cheese, and combine.  transfer into a baking dish and sprinkle with the Colby jack cheese.  cover with foil and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

* this works great as a freezer meal as well* 

This is right before it went into the oven!

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 8 (bull shit, Eric and I almost Ate the whole pan) 

Amount Per Serving = 1 + 2/3 cups:

Calories: 280.0

Total Fat: 5.0 g

Cholesterol: 47.5 mg

Sodium: 492.3 mg

Total Carbs: 31.8 g

Dietary Fiber: 4.0 g

Protein: 29.3 g

WW Points+: 7