Cooking with a kitchen - how novel!

The kitchen isn't fully finished (don't get me started), but as of yesterday, it's fully functioning (dishwasher, disposal, oven/stove, microwave, fridge).  We're waiting on a piece of countertop that will go in the bay window area, as well as the backsplash to come in so it can be installed.  The final piece will be the hood. 

In the meantime, I am THOROUGHLY enjoying having a kitchen again and holy cow did I find success with a new recipe last night!  I had to share this easy-peasy, super healthy and crazy tasty pizza recipe (adapted from Fitness magazine)...

Southwestern Pizza

Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
1 whole wheat pizza crust (used the Pillsbury Artisan in the tube)
1 cup (or as much as it takes to cover the pizza like sauce) prepared tomato salsa (I used a store brand mild plain salsa)
1 1/4 cups (or a few handfuls) shredded reduced-fat 2 percent mozzarella
1/2 cup (or small handful) of shredded parmesan
1 1/3 cups (or as much as you'd like to cover your pizza) canned black beans, drained
1 small sweet red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
3 small chicken breast tenders (salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili power, and cumin)
1/2 cup red onion
1/2 an avocado in chunks (optional - I'm OBSESSED with avocado and put it as a garnish on basically everything)

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a round pizza pan (or baking sheet) with cooking spray. Place crust on sheet and bake for 7 minutes by itself.
2. While the crust is doing its initial bake, cook the chicken in a skillet on the stovetop (your basic cooking spray, cracked pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, and then in the last couple of minutes before it was finished, I added in some chili powder and cumin).  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Take out pizza and top with salsa (try to avoid lots of the excess liquid and focus more on the chunks), 1 cup mozzarella, beans, sliced red pepper, cubed chicken and onion. Top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella and the parmesan.
4. Place pizza in oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until mozzarella is melted (8 on the dot worked perfectly for me). Remove from oven and garnish with avocado if desired. Cut into six slices and serve.

Whoops!
It was so good I forgot to snap a full pie pic!

When the need for pizza strikes this is way better alternative to delivery - and I'm not even kidding - just as delicious. The bonus is I had all of the ingredients (minus the crust) on hand!

*Based on the MyFitnessPal app that I use (and love), this comes out to be 326 calories for one (very hearty, filling) slice. 

Garnished with avocado :)

Homemade Salad Dressing

I've been toying with the idea of making my own salad dressings.  There's so much yuckiness in even the lightest of store bought dressings, that I'm at least going to give it a try and hopefully make them on occasion (because let's be honest, the likelihood I'll ALWAYS do homemade dressing is slim to none).
Haven't tried this yet, but we're HUGE ranch fans (thank you, Midwest upbringing), so I'm going to give this one a try as soon as I have a kitchen again :)  I'll probably do my first go round with light or ff sour cream and see how it tastes. 

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Makes 1 1/2 cup

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 scallion, finely minced
• 1 tbs. fresh chopped dill
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh marjoram or other herb
• 2 tbs. white wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  
  Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste, and have fun experimenting with different herb combinations. Keeps in the refrigerator for one week.

*Recipe from my LifeTime Fitness member newsletter

Cooking with no kitchen - Mexican Chicken Chili

I was so proud of myself because I'd found a recipe, made a grocery list, and got what I didn't have at home already...but when I went to make dinner I couldn't find the recipe anywhere!  I did some guessing and threw a bunch of stuff in a crock pot hoping for the best.  HOLY COW!  One of our favorite new recipes!   So healthy, so easy, and so delicious.  I wasn't sure what exactly it was going to be like - would it need to be rolled in a tortilla?  Eaten like soup?  The reason we ordered pizza?  I was so pleased to find it turned out like a PERFECT chili - the perfect amount of broth with tons of flavor.

Mexican Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
-3 fairly large boneless skinless chicken breasts (I think it was about 1.4 lbs)
-can of black beans, drained (we always use low sodium)
-can of kidney beans, drained (again, low sodium)
-can of corn, drained 
-7 oz can of mild diced green chiles
-28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes, drained
-can of tomato sauce
-packet of taco seasoning
-any toppings you like (shredded cheddar, avocado chunks, onion, etc)

Place the chicken on the bottom of the crock pot, and dump each ingredient in on top.  Once all ingredients are in, mix it up (don't worry about getting it under the chicken, just about mixing the other ingredients together), and cook on high for 4 hours. 

Open the lid and with forks, pull apart all the chicken - it should shred very easily.  Let it cook on low or warm for another 15 - 20 minutes.  Serve with toppings of your choice (we are reduced fat cheddar fans, ourselves, but next time I'm trying avocado, too) and ENJOY!

Again, kitchen renos call for paper/plastic products.
I bet it tastes even BETTER using real bowls and spoons :)

Cooking with no kitchen - BBQ Pulled Chicken

Trying to find meals to cook when you have no oven, stovetop, or dishwasher gets interesting.  We eat lots of salads, but that gets REALLY boring, so I've been working to find creative ways to cook healthy, substantial dinners.  The crock pot has been a lifesaver (just a pain to take to the bathroom upstairs to clean afterwards), as has the grill.  My first kitchen-less crock pot dinner was 3 ingredients.  That's right.  THREE.  And it was SOOOO delicious!  Thought I'd share the recipe (if you can even call it that) for my slow cooker BBQ pulled chicken:

Sidenote: I usually prepare enough in the crock pot for a family of 4 - and then Brad and I have leftovers :)

Ingredients:
(4) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
(1) 18 oz bottle of BBQ sauce
1/2 of a small bottle of zesty fat free italian dressing

Place the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.  In a separate bowl, pour in the 3/4 to the full bottle of BBQ sauce and the dressing, and whisk together.  Once fully combined, pour over the chicken.  Cook for 3 hours on high, then turn down to low for another couple of hours.*  Then using forks, pull the chicken apart and let cook for another 15 - 20 minutes. 
*If you wanted to start this in the morning and have it ready when you get home in the evening, I'd put it on low or warm for the whole 8 hour day, and I'm sure it would work just as well.

Yes, we're eating with paper and plastic these days :)
And the broccoli was steamed in the microwave in about 3 minutes and sprinkled with parmesan. 
Easy, healthy and so tasty!