Category: Recipes

Get some great 30 minute recipes and organic food recipes to feed your family on a budget and in a jiff. Karie shares some of her classics and easy recipes for your family.

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Fiber Rich Pasta and Tastes Great

How do you get your kids and family to eat more fiber in their diet? How do you get more fiber in their diet without all the nasty taste?

The answer is Barilla’s Piccolini Rich in Fiber Pasta.

Personally I love and adore whole grain, whole wheat, off colored pasta, but I am not alone in my household and let’s face it, I am outnumbered 4:1 when it comes to choosing what is for dinner.

NEW Piccolini Rich in Fiber – White.

It looks and tastes just like regular
pasta but with 3X more fiber!

Play hide and seek with fiber!
Piccolini created a whole range of white fiber pasta that looks and tastes just like regular pasta but with 3x more fiber.

Introducing Piccolini Rich in Fiber – White
• Contains 3x more fiber than regular pasta
• Provides 30% of daily whole grains (per 100g serving)
• Looks and tastes like regular pasta

Creating your favorite pasta meals without adding additional vegetables and or fiber additives is a great way to get your daily dose of fiber without the after taste or off taste that may be accompanied by whole grain, whole wheat types of pastas or the gripes and complains that come from picky eaters.

One of my favorite recipes is a chicken de Provence with pasta, fresh grilled chicken and summer vegetables tossed with a dash of olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Not only do my kids love to eat this dish, but little do they know it is loaded in great nutritional value.

So try Piccolini rich in fiber pasta for your next meal and share your tastes and recipes. Visit the Barilla site for more details and recipe ideas.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, I was compensated for my time by posting this information and in no way were my personal views compromised or altered.
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Grilled Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

My husband took my family’s favorite household meal, Mexican food, and put a new spin on our favorite of chicken enchilada’s. I have been making this recipe for years. Our dear family friend Mary Herrera, taught me authentic Mexican cuisine. Salt over the shoulder, a small prayer to God and she won my heart by showing me that cooking is about love and making wonderful food for the ones you love. However my love for culinary adventure has been limited due to my working schedule which does not permit me the opportunity to cook as much. The Chad has been taking over the role as family chef and when we made my recipe,”lazy girls way to make enchilada’s” as Mary called it, I was in heaven, as were the kids.

My husband made “Man-chilada’s” as we called it that night, they were the best grilled chicken enchilada’s anyone could ask for and I hope you enjoy as much as we did that night for dinner.

4 large chicken breasts, slow grilled
Tortillas, small, corn or flour, about 8 0r so
1c. Sour Cream
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 can of Green Chile Enchilada sauce
2 small cans green chile
2c. shredded Colby Jack cheese (or more if desired)
1/2 c. chopped red onion, black olives (to taste, if desired)

My husband’s beautiful secret is the slow grilling of the chicken in this recipe as well as topping with onions and black olives to really give this dish some zing!

After the chicken is cooked all the way through, shred, and mix together the wet ingredients (sour cream, soup, sauce). Slowly add the chicken to the mixture. Shred the tortillas to cover the bottom of the baking dish. We like the 13×9 baking dish for lots of food to go around. Spread around the tortillas, spread the sauce and chicken mixture creating a layer, add a bit of shredded cheese to the top. Do this again and again, creating layers until all of the sauce and chicken mixture is used. Top finally with tortillas again and cover with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until all the cheese is melted. Cut and serve. Garnish with chopped cabbage, red onions and black olives.

Enjoy!

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Stuffed Baby Peppers Recipe

baby peppers, sweet peppers, baby bell peppersSo I have become more of an aficionado for the raw and vegetable based meals. Blessed be my love affair for organic, supporting local food co-ops, and VOILA! Fabulous family meals. My last offering with Bountiful Baskets pleasured my palette with an assortment of fragrant and beautiful baby peppers. These baby bell peppers are crunchy, sweet and a wonderful snack. Here is a great recipe for a snack, lunch or dinner option.

Now I have seen these little vitamin C filled cuties all over Costco and the farmer’s market and I see folks purchasing them and I knew a recipe had to exist outside of a Cacciatore. Don’t get me wrong, I love a hearty Italian meal, but the Irish in me screams for rich, filling, sticks to your bones where you didn’t know you had bones meal for very little. Something I have become accustomed to as a single income household is how my strong Irish descent has offered me creative ways of making a lot out of a little. Or maybe that fact that I am a finance guru with a way to dissect the bits and pieces. Oh I digress.

The peppers. The sweet, full of bite, tangy, orange, yellow and red baby peppers. What to do. So I sought out the net to expand my palette of culinary fare. But I did not want an extravagant amount of time exerted to make a delightful dish either as a light main summer meal or lunch time snack. Furthermore, I wanted to utilize my refrigerator and pantry to it’s fullest in order to stretch my ever weakened dollar. And my creation was such:

1-2 dozen baby peppers, washed and seeded

2T. red onions sauteed and caramelized, add more if desired

1 clove of garlic (because I big puffy heart garlic)

2 breasts of chicken (I had some left over in the fridge and wanted to use it up)

3T mayonnaise

1/4 c. Gorgonzola cheese, or to taste

I love cheese. I am a giant mouse stuck in the aura of a Leo so cheese of any sort is a staple in my house, and especially a great form of a blue cheese.

So saute and caramelize the onions and garlic, add them to the mayonnaise in order to maintain the flavor without being overly pungent. Finely dice or shred the chicken, you can substitute canned chicken, but I love grilled chicken, it has a slight smoked taste which is wonderful for this dish. Begin to mix together all the ingredients and to ensure all the chicken is coated with the mayonnaise mixture, then slowly add in the Gorgonzola, continue to stir until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Add small amounts of mayonnaise as needed but I found this was the perfect amount. Then begin to stuff the baby peppers, place in a Tupperware container to chill and serve later, or for a few moments in the oven melt some cheddar cheese over the peppers for a warm delight.

The chicken mixture can be served alone as well, we served all the excess on toasted French bread baguette slices with cheddar cheese as sandwiches and the kids loved them. Bon Appetit!

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The Next Mini Chef

Are your children adventurous in the kitchen? Do they offer to help cook dinner and or other meals for the family? Are your kids interested in trying a variety of foods that are both healthy and tasty?

My mini chefs definitely favor homemade quesadillas with a variety of cheeses and meats. In fact two out of three love making and choosing what is for dinner they end up wearing it! We even began experimenting with different sauces, vegetables, and textures for different flavors. They especially like mom’s homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes.

As they have begun to experiment with various tastes and recipes they have expanded their taste for great healthy food that will foster healthy eating habits for a lifetime.

Allowing children to create their own recipe can benefit them even further than the brain power and healthy living power but they can yield even additional brain power with the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship.

Barilla and their line of fiber rich pasta Piccolini are offering the opportunity to enter to win a $10,000 scholarship. But time is running out! You only have three days left to submit your favorite mini chef recipe with photo to be eligible to win.

For more details about the contest check out the Barilla site for your chance to enter to win the scholarship and other great prizes by boasting your favorite magic food moments from your little chef.

Encourage good eating habits and enter to win a $10,000 scholarship! Enter Now

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, I was compensated for my time by posting this information and in no way were my personal views compromised or altered.
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Organic Pancakes Recipe

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Sunday mornings are a ritual family breakfast for our family. Generally a large breakfast and one we all enjoy together. This last Sunday was pancakes, I love pancakes and I love to mix up my recipe ingredients to try a new spin. My newest addition made this batch, light, buttery, and fabulous with some fresh fruit. Even better….these pancakes are not out of a box and the cost is less than $2.00 for the these tasty delights! I have even updated to include vegan, gluten free and dairy free pancake options. Continue reading “Organic Pancakes Recipe”

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Fennel Herb Chicken Recipe

When I was taking part in my CSA this last fall and winter my kids and I had a BLAST picking out all of our foods and figuring out what they were. Honestly I was not introduced to a lot of foods as a child. My mother is a very picky woman as for tastes in foods. She likes asparagus but we were never fed this wonderful delicacy, nor artichokes (which are a personal favorite with drawn butter and capers), nor any family of squash that I can recall offhand, and my list can go on.

But in our CSA basket we received fennel, and I searched for recipes that would be fabulous for my entire family. My search was a failure. So I resorted to the old melon above my shoulders and came up with this FABS meal that your kids, husband, and you will LOVE!

4-5 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless are preferred)
sea salt and fresh ground peppercorn (regular pepper is also fine)
fresh grated lemon zest (the rind of a lemon)
fennel bulb, sliced thinly (reserve stalks to be frozen or used later)
2 T olive oil (or butter)
1/4 c. chicken stock
1 t. corn starch
4 T herb seasoning (I like Frontier Coop, but you can use the Mrs. Dash equivalent)

Wash off chicken and pat try. Cut into bite size chunks, set aside. Mix together all dry spice ingredients, salt, pepper and herb seasoning in a bowl with the corn starch. Add chicken to dry spice mix making sure the chicken is dry to be coated well with the spices.

Add olive oil to med-high pan to sauté sliced fennel and to begin to cook chicken. Quickly toss the fennel for a minute or two and add the chicken. Cook thoroughly and be sure the chicken is completely coated and again cooked through (170 degrees if you use a meat thermometer). Slowly add the chicken stock as a reduction to really boost the citrus bite of the fennel and enhance the flavor of the chicken.

The fennel will have a crisp yet tender taste and flavor, citrus and pepper based taste, the chicken will be tender and juicy.

Serve over a bed of rice or fresh spinach greens.

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Fancy Grilled Cheese Recipe with Green Chile

I love this dish. Simple. Exquisite. Full flavor and with a bit of flair and panache! Sounds like me minus the bad language. As you know I am an Arizona native but Arizona is not known for her food. So with this recipe I bring the flavor of New Mexico. Who doesn’t love grilled cheese sndwiches right? Great comfort food and just perfect for rainy days with a bowl of tomato soup. Here is my spin on an old favorite; I call her….The New Mexican.

2 slices Jewish Rye bread (marbled is my favorite)
2 slices sharp cheddar cheese or enough to cover the bread
1/2 of a 4oz can of green chiles (diced or whole works)
1T butter for bread
1 avocado sliced
1 tomato sliced

Butter each slice of bread as if making a traditional grilled cheese. Adding cheese and then add green chile on top of cheese and place final slice of bread for grilling. Slice an avocado and tomato to be served with the sandwich.

VOILA!

Jewish Rye bread has about 60 calories per slice* and less than 9g of carbs* per slice as well making the bread a healthier alternative to traditional white. I also love the flavor of rye coupled with the cheddar.

*May vary per baker and ingredients. My bakery claims these on their nutritional information.

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Easy Coleslaw Recipe

Food is such a fun project and you know the best way to save money nowadays is to make things at home from scratch. Plus you can control your ingredients so if you are health conscious (like me sometimes) this is the best bet. You can avoid all the pre-packaged food and all the garbage that is inside. I am a huge grilling fan too. I LOVE TO GRILL. With grilling comes favorites like burgers, chicken and my famous smoked brisket. Want to know what to serve with those as a side? Good old fashioned Slaw!

1/2 head cabbage
1/4-1/2 head of purple cabbage (or radicchio for a nice pepperly flavor)
1/4 c. shredded carrots
1T. finely diced onion
1 T sugar
1 T vinegar
6 T cream
1 T Mustard dressing

Shred the cabbage very finely, add in the onion and carrots. In a separate bowl add the sugar, vinegar, cream, and mustard dressing, mix well, drizzle over cabbage and toss. Serve chilled or immediately

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Morsel Monday and NutraSalt Giveaway

If you haven’t already please partake in the Extraordinary Mothers Morsel Monday link up! Participating is a lot of fun and a great way to find new dining delights for the family and hey, linky love!

nutrasalt, potassium, sea saltThis week I am “spicing” up the post with a review and giveaway of a product I received to try from the fabulous folks at NutraSalt. You are probably wondering what NutraSalt is and how nutra and salt can be combined together and not be an oxymoron. The NutraSalt product is a balanced product of sodium and potassium, 66% less sodium, to be exact, compared to common table salt. The proprietary product in NutraSalt’s recipe is the harvesting of Red Sea and Dead Sea salts from the Mediterranean.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the extra pinch of salt here and there can add up resulting in excessive sodium intake based on levels of sodium in processed foods, natural sources, and the extra shake during food preparation and at meal time.

Excessive sodium intake lead to conditions such as high blood pressure, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease which results in hundreds of thousands of deaths a year if not lifetime treatments such as dialysis for kidney disease. NutraSalt helps to replace the use of common salt in a healthier alternative to traditional table salt, allowing for the flavor but not the health risks often associated with excess salt intake.

NutraSalt comes in a variety salts and seasonings to “spice” up any recipe:

  • Low Sodium Sea Salt
  • Seasoned Salt
  • Texas BBQ
  • Savory Garlic
  • Zesty Italian
  • Lemon Dill
  • Lemon Herbs
  • Robusto Adobo
  • Spicy Cajun
  • Bold Chipotle
  • African Medley
  • Asian Fusion
  • Classic Curry

I received to try in my home the Low Sodium Sea Salt, Savory Garlic Lemon Dill, Bold Chipotle, Asian Fusion and the African Medley. I used every single one on some of my favorite meals. The Asian Fusion is absolutely divine on chicken and pork, I used them both on the grill and they added just that extra kick of spice to the flavor. Savory Garlic, I used that on my spaghetti dish when making garlic bread. Finally, my favorite is the African Medley which I used to make my Turkey Chili. The African Medley has flavors of cinnamon, peppers, ginger, and again the right balance of sodium and potassium. I know you are thinking “cinnamon? In my Chili?” YES!

How can you enjoy a 4-pack of your choice of NutraSalt and make this a staple in your home?  Go to the NutraSalt site and tell me ONE fact in a comment (that I did not mention above. As a recap I mentioned it is derived from Sea Salt, is 66% lower in sodium, is rich in potassium).

Extra Entries:

  • Follow my blog or tell me you do
  • Follow me on Twitter or tell me you do
  • Tweet another fact about NutraSalt making sure to use @KariewithaK, the link to this giveaway, so I see your tweets. Daily RT’s are available!
  • Subscribe to The Fish in a Reader or via email (at the top)
  • Blog this Giveaway! (worth 10 entries if you mention a fact, link to NutraSalt and this giveaway!)
  • Email this giveaway to a friend (worth 3 entries)
  • Fan The Fish on Facebook
CONTEST ENDS JANUARY 30TH
@ 11:59PM ARIZONA TIME
Best of luck!
Turkey Chili:
1.5lbs ground Turkey

1 can Pinto Beans

1 can Black Beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 can of corn
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 T. finely chopped Italian Parsley
2 T. finely chopped Cilantro
2 T. Olive Oil
1/4 c. Nutra Salt African Medley, divided (can be substituted with  2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. ground corriander, 1 T. chili powder, 1 tsp red peppers, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp onion powder)
I used my Cuisinart Multi-Cooker but a stove top cook pot works well too. Pour Olive oil into pan heating over medium heat, sautee onions and garlic until almost translucent add in ground turkey, parsley, cilantro, and 1/8 c. of NutraSalt African Medley (or the above substitutes halved). Cook until meat is browned and spices are mixed well. Add the can of tomatoes, beans, corn and remaining spices. Bring to a boil (add water if needed, but the canned juices should provide enough), stirring well, reduce to a simmer for at least an hour to let all the flavors mix. Serve with cornbread.
VOILA!
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Crock Pot Chicken Dumplings Recipe

Are you looking for some great recipes? If so link yours up and find a new one every Monday over at Extraordinary Mothers where my friend Casey hosts Morsel Mondays!

Last week I did some desserts so this week let’s do some favorite dinner recipes, and my favorite, southern or cold weather recipe is Chicken and Dumplings. I actually did my recipe in my Cuisinart Multi-Cooker and it was EASY, no hassle, no fuss. Here are your ingredients:

4-6 chicken breasts, cooked, diced and or shredded
Mixed vegetables (potatoes, corn, green beans, carrots, celery), you can also use a frozen bag of mixed vegetables.

Chicken broth (generally about 3-4 cups depending on how many people you are feeding)

Cream of Chicken soup, or you can use plain cream

Salt and pepper to flavor
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 c. Bisquick (or other baking mix)
2/3 c. milk

In a large pot, crock pot, or Cuisinart Multi-Cooker like mine, simmer chicken, broth, vegetables, until vegetables are tender maybe an hour or more depending on how much flaror you want your vegetables to absorb. Slowly add cream of chicken (or cream) and stir gently ever careful not to boil. Add bay leaf and let simmer for 20 minutes. While simmering mix the Bisquick and milk until a dough forms and slowly drop into soup mixture, cover and let cook for 10 minutes or until dough rises like bread and biscuits form. Remove from heat and ladel out into a bowl, serve with butter and pepper.

For more tasty morsels, visit Extraordinary Mothers.
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