Recipe #1: Healthy Squash and Chicken Casserole

What better than to start my first recipe off with a good ol' casserole. At least I know this one is healthy!

I had to eat some semi-sweet chocolate chips to get me started, get the cooking and creative parts of my brain working. (I don't really think chocolate chips are part of the clean eating lifestyle...it may have to be my one area of weakness. I love chocolate.)

Healthy Squash & Chicken Casserole - Clean Eating Magazine

Ingredients:

10 slices whole-wheat bread

olive oil cooking spray

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to ¼ - ½ inc thickness and cubed

1 cup pre-shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese

2 tsp Italian seasoning

sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

(1) Cut bread into cubes, then spread out onto a cookie sheet and let air-dry overnight. (If you do not wish to dry the bread, toast it instead in an oven for 10 minutes at 350). Since I read this right before starting I did not end up letting it sit overnight. Too much work in my mind. I toasted my wheat-free, gluten-free, corn-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, rice-free bread (which I promise tastes good) and it turned out great. It even came from the freezer.

(2) Preheat oven to 350 F.

(3) Heat large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low (the level of heat is always a guess in my kitchen because all my stovetop says is off, high and light, haha), mist with cooking spray and add onion. Sauté for about 8 minutes (I love exact times!) or until caramelized. Add squash and garlic. Mist with more cooking spray, if needed, and sauté until cooked, about 5 more minutes (again, love the exact times). Remove vegetables from plan. Mist pan with cooking spray again and cook chicken until golden brown on each side, about 2-3 minutes total. (Note on the chicken. I didn’t actually measure the thickness of it or pound it, instead I eyeballed it. It seemed to work just fine.)

(4) In a large bowl, mix together cooked vegetables, chicken and bread cubes. Mix in mozzarella, seasoning, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into an 8-cup casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and casserole is lightly browned on top.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 180, total fat: 4g, Sat. Fat 1.5g, Carbs: 19g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 4g, Protein: 15g, Sodium 320mg, Cholesterol 20mg. From Clean Cooking Magazine, January/February 2010, page 68.

So this turned out pretty well. I meant to take a picture of it and completely forgot until it was all gone so here’s a picture from the magazine instead! I also added some potatoes to it. I was thinking it would add some thickness to the meal. My mess up was just sauted the potatoes with the other veggies and even after it was all baked the potatoes were crunchy. I should have boiled the potato first or something. Any ideas? Ryan said they were good and not crunchy. :D

Background before starting

So I wanted to give you a little more background of all that is involved for me to cook. haha. The main thing to overcome is the kitchen. Our tiny, bright yellow and pale green kitchen. Our kitchen that makes it crowded for two people to be in it. Our kitchen that if you open the fridge door you're either stuck in or out of the kitchen. Here take a look. P.S. this is the cleanest it will ever be!

the fridge door

Oven, you and I will get along, i promise!

the lovely table that all these recipes will be consumed at!

The other "thing" to overcome here is my belly. Yes, my good old stomach and digestive system that seems to want to attack me at any moment. So other than having successful cooking experiences my other goal is to make meals that have no wheat, no dairy (or as little as possible), no fried stuff, little to no sugar and . . . I'm sure there's one more thing but I can't remember. :) Or maybe I don't want to remember. Oh with lots of veggies. The fluffy green things my mom made me eat as a kid that I'm now supposed to eat and enjoy because I'm an adult. (I always liked my dad's version of mixed veggies . . . regular M&M's.)

I'm trying to do what's called "clean eating." I got this cooking book for Christmas one year called the Clean Eating Diet Cookbook, or something like that. I really like it and now have the magazine subscriptions. The goal is to focus on good protein, healthy carbs, and good fats. Most of the recipes I am going to try will be from this idea of clean eating. This link does a much better job at explaining it. Clean Eating. It's nice because it fits really well with a lot of the limitations I have with food and it's really healthy! Two things that are very nice.

One last thing. Starting Monday, my friend Kate and I will become workout war partners. We're going to start a pretty tough regiment made by ourselves. I'm sure it will make it's way to this blog. So, just as an fyi :) Oh and we're doing it via workout videos. Yes I did say the humiliating workout videos. It's called Slim in 6. Link. The goal is to get slim in six weeks. Will it happen, we shall see.

So there you are, the background.

Julie & Julia

My recently new favorite movie is a cooking one called, Julie and Julia. It's funny, and inspiring and you feel good at the end. No big tragedy occurs and there's no big drama except for those in the kitchen. I can relate to the breakdowns in the kitchen, I had one tonight. Oh and it makes me want to cook. I recommend that you see it, it's just so fun! Here's the trailer: Julie & Julia

Here's the dialogue from one of my favorite scenes. It's in the trailer as well. Julia Child and her husband just moved to Paris and this is their conversation at dinner. Julia is trying to figure out what she wants to do:

Husband: What is something you really like to do?

Julia: Eat!

H: And you're so good at it!

J: I am good at it.

H: Look at you, now how good you are!

J: I'm growing in front of you!!

haha! Meryl Streep is so good in it, so quirky and so funny. And Amy Adams is great too. I can relate to that...what is something I really like to do? Eat! I probably like it too much.

So I like to eat but I'm not good at cooking. Growing up my mom would always ask if I wanted to help her in the kitchen. If it involved baking cookies, I was in because I loved eating the cookie dough. If it was cooking, not so much. Now that I'm married I wish I knew how to cook. It would be nice. Ryan's sweet and eats all the food I make, but I know major improvements are needed!

So I'm going to start cooking and blog about my adventures. I'm starting off with one new recipe per week. That's all I can handle right now. So this blog is going to record my adventures, all successes and failures. I hope it's enjoyable. Hopefully these cooking experiences will be character developing... We will see.