Lindsey here with this week's edition of Renny's Recipes! This week I decided to give you a healthy Valentine's Day dinner option. I know Alicia did a post about a fun UnValentine's Day Party, but we know some people want to celebrate it and be all lovey dovey, so I am bringing you this delicious meal! I've really gone above and beyond. With this post I have a lot of links to things you can buy to decorate your table to have a beautiful, delicious, romantic dinner at home. First off, you'll need some placemats like these cute ones, or if you want to get really romantic, try these cute heart placemats! The next step, obviously, is some nice dinner plates like these to serve your delicious meal on! But wait, there's more! I've also provided links for your black napkin rings or these really nice napkin rings. Also, you know you're going to need something to drink out of (we'll be having Martinelli's). So here are some nice stem glasses or, if you'd rather, these classy stemless glasses to share your nice sparkly drink. I haven't forgotten the lighting either! Here are some classic tapered candles and I also love these flameless candles that will make your table look romantic, without the melty wax! You'll need these napkins for your napkin rings! Now that your beautiful table is ready, let's get down to the meal! If you remember our first Five Friday Faves, I talked about my spiralizer! You are really going to need one for this Shrimp Pesto with Zoodles recipe, because instead of pasta noodles, you make it with zucchini!! I found this recipe through Pinterest on the website Peas and Crayons, and tested it out this last weekend on PH. We loved it! The best part? Because it's lighter and healthier you don't have to feel guilty about finishing it off with dessert! (Don't worry, I have that recipe for you too!) Now you have the option to make your own pesto sauce, or, if you want something faster, there are plenty of delicious ones you can buy and use instead. I will provide a link to the recipe, but here is one little tip. The recipe tells you to buy uncooked shrimp and then cook it in the skillet for two minutes. However, at the grocery store they had frozen shrimp that was not cooked and still needed to be shelled, and I am not about that life. They also had them shelled, deveined and cooked. So, as you can imagine, those are the ones I bought. Just defrost them in some cool water for a few minutes and then toss them in the skillet with the seasoning before you add in the sauce. After your delicious, light, healthy, romantic dinner, you'll need dessert, and this skillet cookie a la mode hits just the spot! For Christmas my brother and sister in law got us this cast iron skillet that comes with a cookie mix and that's what we ate. You can also get something like this cookie skillet that comes without a recipe and just make your own, like the one I've posted here. We baked our cookie and topped it with this dairy free ice cream (PH is lactose intolerant so we got dairy free as much as possible and this brand really is So Delicious!) This is a yummy, guilt free dinner and since it's a holiday you can splurge on dessert. Sharing a skillet cookie a la mode is the perfect romantic treat! I took a picture of our dinner table on Sunday, but it won't look as nice as yours will, since most of our stuff is already packed in anticipation of us moving. Are you interested in more delicious zoodle recipes and discovering the health benefits of zoodles instead of regular noodles? Then head over to Nutrition Advance and find their Complete Guide to Zoodles!
9 Comments
I'm back with a new recipe! This week is chicken salad! Since PH and I are selling our house it needs to look perfect all the time. This makes me afraid to make anything, because I have to immediately clean everything up afterwards. This chicken salad is the perfect solution because its easy to make and a quick and easy clean up!
When I was younger I was an incredibly picky eater. I drove my mom crazy with my stubborn refusal to eat anything I thought looked gross. This obviously included anything that was coated in anything white, like chicken salad. Therefore I didn't try chicken salad until high school because it always looked gross to me. As with most things I refused to eat as a child, after trying it, I liked it! I wanted to come up with the lightest, tastiest version around. Floating around on the internet are a lot of 21 Day Fix Friendly recipes. If you haven't heard of 21 Day Fix it's an exercise and portion control program available through Beachbody (where I happen to be a coach!) You can find recipes going along with the program all over the internet, and you can guarantee it's always a valiant effort at healthy, tasty, clean eating. I found a 21 Day Fix recipe for Chicken Salad. I liked the idea of using Greek Yogurt like this one here (did you know that you can buy this Greek Yogurt off of Amazon and you'll get a case of 6? Talk about Food Storage Prep!!). I decided on my own concoction, partially based off of what we had in the house.
I have to admit that I intended on adding red onion, and then I forgot. I still included it in the recipe here because I think it would add the perfect bite to this great chicken salad. Finally, I had bought some great rolls from the bakery at our local grocery store. Unfortunately I made this a week later than I intended, so the bread went bad. Fortunately, PH and I have some baguettes in the freezer. An aside about these baguettes. You may or may not know, I have lived in France. First I lived there during law school for a semester, then I went back after law school as a missionary. The second time around I was there for about 18 months. Baguettes like the ones at the link are a favorite for poor students and missionaries on a budget. As you know, France has the best bread in the world. These baguettes are handy because you pop them in the hot oven for ten minutes and then you have yourself a decent baguette! Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Also, it's perfect for a chicken salad sandwich! Finding these and using them has brought me such joy. And you buy this package of bread and can stick it in your freezer so you'll have baguettes for awhile!
Anyway, back to the matter at hand, I cooked two of them and we used that as our sandwich bread. Let me know what type of bread you use, or maybe you'll do a lettuce wrap! (Although I exhort you to buy those baguettes and try them for yourself! You don't have to order them in bulk from France, They are at Costco!) (Here is another version, also from France.) I know we normally provide you with a separate recipe button, but I have to admit that there wasn't a lot of formal measuring here. I can tell you I used 1 lb of chicken breast, and 16 oz of Greek Yogurt. So the recipe goes something like this: 1 lb chicken breast 16 oz Greek Yogurt 1 Apple diced (I used Gala. I think a more tart apple like Fuji or Pink Lady would be fun as well.) about 2 cups of grapes about 1 cup of craisins 1 TBSP lemon juice 1 cup pecan halves about 1/2 a red onion, diced Salt and Pepper to taste Boil the chicken in salt water until thoroughly cooked. Shred chicken with two forks. Place in a mixing bowl. Add in craisins, apples, pecans, grapes, onions and lemon juice. Mix. Stir in half the Greek Yogurt and stir until the Greek yogurt is evenly spread. Then add the rest and stir until evenly coated again. Bake your baguettes as directed. Once cooled cut in half and slice open. Add some chicken salad and enjoy! I hope you all got your shopping lists ready to make Renny's Healthy Zucchini Lasagna, if you haven't, click the link and get ready because it is time for this week's... 5 Friday Faves! This is our weekly event when I ask, "What's your favorite_______?" and then we give you our answers! We have a lot of fun with it and hope you will, too as you consider what your answer would be. When you think of your answer, please share it with us in the comments! We would love to hear it. So, here is this week's question: "What is your favorite comfort food on a cold, rainy or snowy day?" The weather all over the country has been pretty unpredictable and even in Phoenix we have had some chilly days. All of the answers given this week really work for me! Alicia got to cheat last week, so this week we will start with her favorite. Alicia actually lives where it is pretty cool and rainy year round. When I asked her the question, she immediately gave this answer: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Alicia's grilled cheese has come a long way since I was a kid! We used to butter bread and stick it in a pan to toast it as the cheese melted on the inside. Alicia uses her panini maker to get those nice toasty grill lines on her bread. (I gave my kids panini makers for Christmas last year, but failed to get one for myself. I may need to rectify that situation.) And that isn't any old slice of cheese either. You could use Provolone, Havarti or Gruyere, like Alicia used here. Just looking at this picture makes me want to take that sandwich and dip it in the soup and bite it. The cheese would stretch out of it and it would be so warm and delicious! Yum! Good choice Alicia! The second Fave comes from Lindsey. On a cold day, she likes to snuggle up and enjoy a big bowl of Chili and a slice of Cornbread! You know Lindsey tries to be the super healthy eater, so her chili is usually made with turkey. She makes it in a crock pot. One of her specialties is Pumpkin Chili, which I am sure we can get her to give us the recipe for one of these days on Renny's Recipes. Also for the amazing Cornbread that she invented herself! This makes me feel warm just thinking about eating it! Madalynn is eating pretty healthy lately as well. She is limiting her meat intake and going for a lot of vegan options.. Remember these amazing chocolate cookies? She still has a sweet tooth, but is finding healthier ways to satisfy it. When I asked her for her favorite cold weather comfort food, she said, "Cinnamon Rolls!". Then she proceeded to make these vegan, yeast free ones! She has even given you the recipe! Now for my choice! When I was a little girl, we lived out in the country. We had a long driveway to walk down when the weather was cold after we got off of the school bus. Many times, my mom would have warm butterscotch pudding waiting for us to have as a snack when we got in from the cold. The pudding was still a little warm but soft set. It was delicious and it also warmed my heart, so whenever I think of comfort food, I think of Butterscotch Pudding. Now, if you make Butterscotch Pudding from a box, that is okay, but make sure it is the cook and serve kind, not instant! Yuck! The cooked kind is so much better. This time, I used my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook recipe for Butterscotch Pudding from scratch. That link goes to the edition I have. Here is a newer edition. This cookbook has been a go to for me throughout my married life. We received it as a wedding gift. When you make pudding from scratch, you use the egg yolks and not the whites. So, I made a little meringue with the egg whites, and browned them with my creme brulee torch. Then, I drizzled a little caramel sauce over the top. They were delicious, if I say so myself. The bonus was that I got to use the torch, it is so much fun to use. This set comes with little ramekins for your creme brulee! That was 4! Are you ready for #5? This week our special guest is Jessica Reynolds, my DIL and genealogy buff extraordinaire! She has a blog called "Do As I'm Doing" where she teaches some fabulous things about finding your ancestors and making a book like this one that she gave to my husband for Christmas. She spells out so clearly how to do it and includes things in the book that you may have never thought of including or even how to do it. So, I asked Jessica what her favorite cold weather comfort food is and she said that when it rains her mom would always say it was time to make cookies! So, that is when she bakes cookies! Chocolate Chip Cookies and she uses the recipe on the back of the bag. So, that is our Five Friday Faves! I hope we have warmed you up a little just reading our selections and maybe you can find some comfort from all of the cold weather out there! Let us know if you have a fave that we should know about!
Come back tomorrow and read about Alicia's Non Valentine's Day Party and Date ideas! She always has fun plans to share. You won't want to miss them!
Hi there everyone! It's Lindsey and I'm doing my first post for a new series. I have a goal this year of eating healthier, losing all the weight I've gained since PH and I started dating, and being better about meal planning and prepping.
I know these goals are similar to the goals many people set for themselves with the new year, so I thought, "hey, I should share a healthy recipe every week!" This is going to be great for all of us! It'll keep me on track with my goals since all of you wonderful readers and followers will be expecting a recipe each week, and you'll get to profit from it since I'll try new recipes and only share the ones I like! I decided to call it Renny's Recipes. Renny is a nickname I was given by some friends in college, and it makes for a nice title don't you think? This week I'll be sharing with you how to make some amazing and delicious Zucchini Lasagna!
Not only does this recipe up the vegetable factor, but it lowers calories and carbohydrates since you use zucchini in the place of lasagna noodles. It's also great for people with gluten issues. There is no pasta here, and it tastes great!
I originally found this recipe on a website called Skinny Taste, which you can find here. I've made a few tweaks to it which I will share with you here in Photo form. First and foremost I want to talk about my mandolin. Alicia got to be the cheater on our Friday favs and share two, so I didn't get to talk to you about my mandolin. I love my spiralizer for making long thin zoodles that are more like spaghetti noodles, but for this recipe, and many other recipes, the mandolin is where it's at. It'll slice your vegetables lengthwise and make them nice and even, which is especially handy when you're using them in a lasagna dish like this one. I actually have two mandolins, because PH had one before we got married, and I bought one before we got married too, specifically to make this recipe. You can find mandolins similar to mine here (this one has a bowl to catch the slices of veggies in), and here. I promise you, a mandolin slicer makes all the difference in the world! The first time I made this recipe, PH was very skeptical. I made it for a family with a mother undergoing chemotherapy treatments and a little girl that was getting tested for Celiac's disease. This was the first dish that came to mind, and of course, if I was making it for them, I was just going to make enough for the two of us as well! I can tell you, it was a huge hit, and when I told him I was making it this week, PH was pretty happy about it.
I adjusted the measurements in this recipe for what I used to feed PH and I. Don't worry, we still had PLENTY of leftovers. I've linked to the original. She makes hers in a 9x13 pan if you'd like a larger lasagna.
This lasagna is delicious and you'll love it! I served it with fruit since I'm trying so hard to have good balance in our meals. You could do a nice side salad, or some garlic bread! I really never understood a side of bread with pasta, but garlic bread is delicious so I never complained. Now you can have some and not feel guilty about it! Just heat some french bread in a 450 degree F oven with some butter and garlic spread over it. When it gets a little toasty it's done! Let me know what you serve as a side to your lasagna, and if you get a mandolin, give me a review on the difference it makes in your meals! |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
June 2024
|