Super Quick Loaded Baked Potato Omelet

At least once a month I serve loaded baked potatoes and soup for dinner because it's a fast and easy meal during the work week. Hold the bacon bits, and it also makes a good meatless Monday meal. The only problem is that my 3 year old usually only eats a few bites of her potato and I end up with almost an entire left over loaded baked potato. This morning, due to all of the snow, I decided to get a little creative and made an omelet out of the left over baked potato. My daughter and husband had seconds because they liked it so much. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
3/4-1 left over loaded baked potato-sour cream, cheese, bacon bits, chives, skin and all
4 eggs beaten
1 T olive oil

Directions:
Mash up the left over potato making sure to break the skin up into little pieces.
Beat 4 eggs until fluffy
Mix the potato mash in with the beaten eggs

Meanwhile, heat a skillet with the olive oil on medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the egg and potato mixture. Let it sit and cook for 3-4 minutes. Once the edges are solid, flip the omelet and add shredded cheese to melt on top. If desired, the omelet is really good topped with sour cream, chives and bacon bits. This recipe makes 4-5 servings.

Slow Cooker Chicken Risotto (8 servings)

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 finely chopped onions
1 cup shredded carrot
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 cups water
4 cups uncooked instant white rice
4 tbs butter or margarine
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
In 5 to 6-quart slow cooker, mix the chicken, carrots, onions, garlic, and water. Cover; cook on Low heat setting for 6 hours.

Increase heat setting to High. Stir in instant rice and butter. Cover; cook 5 minutes until rice is tender. Stir in soup and cheese. Cover; cook 10 to 15 minutes or until heated.

Beer Braised Chicken and Onions

• 5-6 Chicken thighs bone-in, skin on
  
• Allspice to taste
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 pound Onions finely sliced
• 1.5 Tbs Dark Brown Sugar
  
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 1 Tbs Spicy Mustard
• 1 cup Beef Broth
• 2 cups good quality Porter or Stout
• 2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
  

1. Season thighs on both sides with allspice, salt and pepper. Fry skin side down (no need to use oil) first for 4 minutes on medium-high heat; flip and fry for another 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
   
2. Stir onions into pan with drippings. Turn heat down to medium. Sprinkle onions with brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Cover pan and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in mustard and bay leaves. Place chicken on top of onions, skin side down. Pour broth, beer and vinegar over chicken. Simmer for ten minutes, covered.
4. Remove lid, and occasionally turning chicken continue to cook until chicken is done and sauce is reduced.
5. Freeze. This can be re-heated in the microwave quickly for an easy main course. Enjoy!
   

Cottage Pie

Cottage Pie

1 Tbs butter (or substitute)
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 chopped onion
2-3 shredded carrots
1.5 pounds ground beef, cooked, drained
1 can corn
3 cups gravy
2 pounds of mashed potatoes

Saute the onion and carrot in the butter with the oregano and salt and pepper. When done, mix with the cooked ground beef, corn and gravy. Pour the mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are golden and meat filling heated through. To bake from frozen, add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time.

As a post script, I cooked this one up last night and was concerned about the texture of the meat being too tough. I think this may have been the result of cooking such a large volume at one time since there were a lot of juices the meat ended up giving off and then stewing in. I don't think you will run into this issue with a smaller batch.

Creamy Pepperjack Chicken

This dish is one of the most customizable I have ever known, so have fun and go crazy with it!

Ingredients

6 chicken breast halves, cubed

1/2 onion, sliced

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 family size cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (do not add water!)

10 slices pepperjack cheese

Make-Ahead Preparation

• In a large skillet, cook chicken. I prefer to cube it and add half an onion and minced garlic with black pepper and red pepper flakes. (These aren't in the original recipe.) I don't add salt because the soup has plenty. Drain liquid. Place in freezer bag or container.
• Add soup to freezer container; freeze.
• Place cheese slices in a freezer bag or container and freeze with other ingredients.

To Serve

• Thaw in refrigerator; or run cold water over bag to thaw. (If using this second method, add 10 minutes to your baking time in the next step.)
• Place chicken/soup mixture in a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for fifteen minutes.
• Top with cheese slices and bake for another fifteen. You will be halving the last two slices to cover the whole dish.

Serve as a hearty soup or spoon over rice or pasta. We like it over jasmine rice.

White Chicken Chili

This is a great chili for the upcoming cold weather. I love to pour my chili over fresh cornbread!!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of chicken, cut up into cubes

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 red pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 (4-oz) can, chopped (can substitute fresh chilis)

8 green onions, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour (can substitute 2 Tbsp cornstarch for gluten-free preparation)

2 cups chicken broth

2 (14-oz) cans white northern beans

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

Make-Ahead Preparation

• In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through. Remove from pan.
• Saute onion, red and yellow pepper, chili peppers, and garlic in the same skillet. Return the chicken and add ginger, salt, sage, cumin, and white pepper. Mix thoroughly. Allow to cool, and transfer to freezer bag or container; set aside.
• In a separate dish or pan, melt butter and add the flour to make a roux. Whisk in the chicken broth. Stir this mixture into the freezer container with the sauteed vegetables and chicken.
• Add the beans with the liquid to the freezer container. (If you like it thicker I suggest that you don't put in the liquid from the beans.) Seal and freeze.

To Serve

• Stovetop: Thaw in refrigerator. Bring to a simmer in a medium pot. Simmer for 15-20 minutes and serve.
• Slow Cooker: Can cook from thawed or frozen. Place meal in slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours (or low for 6 hours).

Winter Squash Chili

It's been awhile since I've posted any recipes, so it's about time that I contribute. Speaking of time, it is now the time of the year to start thinking about using squash in weekly meal planning. Here is a great recipe that I got from a squash farmer a few years ago; every time I make it, I just can't get over how easy and tasty the recipe is.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups celery, sliced

2 cups carrots, sliced

1 clove minced garlic

3 cups cubed squash

3 Tbsp chili powder

2 (14-oz) cans stewed or diced tomatoes

2 cans undrained black beans

1 (4-oz) can mild chopped green chilis

4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

Make-Ahead Preparation

• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Brown onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Place in plastic freezer bag.
• In a second freezer bag, combine remaining ingredients. Add both freezer bags to another bag (so they don't get separated in the freezer), label, and freeze.

To Serve

• Combine all ingredients in a stew pot. Simmer on low for 30 minutes (or longer if cooking from frozen instead of thawed).

Garnish each serving with cilantro and sour cream; tortilla chips or hot crusty bread are great to add on the side. This recipes yields quite a bit of soup, but luckily, it freezes well so you can have an easy make-ahead meal later.

Enjoy!

Jessica Finger, RD, CD