Fiesta Pork and Cheesy Polenta

Fiesta Pork and Cheesy Polenta
Pork loin is an incredibly easy, versatile ,cost kind and lean meat. Sometimes my pork turns out too dry, do you ever have that problem? I think I turn up my heat to high. This dinner turned out perfect and the pork was tender. If you haven’t tried polenta I would describe it as tasting like a corn flavored mashed potato. I love it! As a plus it is friendlier on the waist line that potatoes. Love love love this easy and tasty dinner. Happy cooking, Chaeli


3 tbsp. evoo
1 ¼ lb. boneless pork loin, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 tbsp. chili powder
Salt and pepper
2 cups frozen or fresh bell pepper strips
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
¾ cup instant polenta
½ cup heavy cream
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded or cubed
1 ½ cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Directions:
1 In a medium saucepan bring 2 ½ cups water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat, swirling to coat pan. Add the pork to the skillet in an even layer and season with the chili powder, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Cook stirring until just brown all over, 2-3 mins. Transfer pork and any juices to a plate.

2Add the remaining olive oil, bell pepper and scallions to the skillet and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 2 mins.
3 Whisk the polenta and ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper into the boiling water and cook, whisking, for 2 mins. Lower the heat to low, whisk in the cream, then stir in the cheese; cover to keep warm.

4 Add the corn to the bell pepper mixture and cook for 1 min. Return the pork and any juices to the skillet and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 min. Serve over polenta.

(Not a very pretty picture :()

Tortellini Florentine Soup *FAVORITE SOUP TO DATE*

Tortellini Florentine Soup
This soup is melt in your mouth AMAZING! I promise you will not be disappointed! Not only is it delicious but you will only dirty one pan & it’s lightning fast!
I came home from a long day of school, to a toddler who hadn’t had a good nap. I decided to swing by the store and just grab a to-go chicken (the rotisserie kind) and a loaf of French bread. Perfect meal for a long day. When I got home it didn’t look as appealing as it did at the store so I threw together some ingredients and made my favorite soup to date! The spinach would add a great touch for nutrients and color, I just didn’t have those things on mind that evening at the store. Happy cooking, Chaeli

-286 calories per serving (w/o bread)

1 9 ounce pkg refrigerated 3 cheese tortellini
2 14 ounce cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1 10 ounce container refrigerated light alfredo pasta sauce
2 cups shredded deli roasted chicken ( I used one of the already cooked warm rotisserie chickens)
½ cup oil- packed tomato strips, drained (don’t skip this part!)
3 cups fresh baby spinach (you could use frozen, I prefer fresh)
Sprinkle of pepper jack, or a cheese you prefer over each bowl of soup
Directions:,
1 In a large pot/pan cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2 In the same pot combine broth and Alfredo sauce. Stir in chicken and tomato strips. Heat just to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered for 5 mins.
3 Add cooked tortellini and spinach to chicken mixture. Cook for 1-2 mins to heat through and wilt spinach. Sprinkle with your choice and amount of cheese that pleases you  Enjoy!


Makes 6 servings
*sorry about lack of pics, I didn't plan on blogging this one but it turned out so great I had too!

Omelet of Champions

To start off I must show you how I am blogging today  My little wanted a bath, I wanted to blog. Compromise!


So today starts my “diet”, I hate that word. I am attempting a life style change. They say it takes 3 weeks to break a habit right? We will see. I am keeping my calorie intake under 1400 a day and exercising about 40 mins a day. This is a food blog… so I won’t get into details but now you know why you may be seeing some healthier meals.
Today I started my morning with a omelet. This is my first time making a omelet, crazy, I know! I was successful, obviously or I wouldn’t be posting pictures. It was always a good day growing up when my dad made us omelets on the weekend  I needed to start this life style change with a good day.
I would not recommend this for a rushed morning. It took about 30 mins total, with chopping and all. Next time I think I will prepare the chopping the night before, since I am not a morning person. Happy cooking, Chaeli

Omelet of Champions
Serves 1
4 tbsp chopped broccoli
2 tbsp chopped onion
2 tbsp finely chopped carrot
4 lg. egg whites
1 lg. whole egg
½ tsp. Mrs. Dash seasoning (get some!)
1 wedge laughing cow light cheese ( I used 1/8 tsp. light cheddar cheese instead to reduce my cal.)
2 tbsp. fat free refried beans
Directions:
1 Lightly coat small pan with evoo



2 Heat pan and add broccoli, onion, and carrot. Cook for about 2 mins until tender but still bright.


3 While veggies are cooking whip the eggs until foamy and light; add Mrs. Dash. Pour the eggs over veggie mix and cook until eggs are set. About 2 mins.


4 Spread beans over half of omelet, sprinkle with cheese. Fold the omelet in half and let cook for 2 mins longer.


If using 1/8 light cheese =211 calories, laughing cow= 226 calories
I paired mine with half an orange and a hot cup of pomegranate raspberry tea. Enjoy!

Cal-Mex veggie wraps

With the a new year comes new resolutions or for some like me the same year after year. Eat better, exercise more. This year I added a new one to my list of less facebook more life  By less facebook in my life I have more time for blogging! Welcome 2011!
This recipe is super quick and easy. I was worried with it being only vegetables that it wouldn’t be filling but it was! The cheese makes a huge difference so make sure to use a pepper jack or jalapeno cheese. I paired ours with some brown rice mixed with mild salsa and a dash of red hot sauce. We also had pineapple chunks on the side perfect addition to this dish. You will see in the pictures that I used a grill basket to “grill” my vegetables. I don’t know where I got this but I have had it for years and this is the first time I have used it. It worked great! You could also use a grilling tray or the good ole’ bbq.
Happy Cooking,
Chaeli
(sorry about the pic overload and then text, gotta get back in the swing of blogging)







CAL-MEX VEGGIE WRAPS
1 Orange or red sweet pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 Green sweet pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 medium yellow summer squash, halved and sliced
1 large sweet onion, sliced thin or thick as you prefer
Dash of EVOO
12’’ tomato or spinach flavored flour tortillas (we only needed two but recipe says up to 6, for that many I would double the peppers)
Drizzle of light ranch dressing for each tortilla ( ashamed to say we used buttermilk, I need to get some light ;)
Sprinkle of pepper jack cheese (recommend the kind with chunks of pepper) for each wrap
Sprinkle of cilantro (if you fancy that- I wasn’t feeling cilantro this day)
Directions:
1 Slice up your vegies, place on grill of choice, add a few dashes over vegies to coat lightly.
2 Grill 5-10 mins until crisp or tender turning as needed.
3 Drizzle ranch on tortilla, add grilled vegetables, cheese, and cilantro.
4 Roll up & enjoy or Roll up place back on grill and crisp up for a min or two then ENJOY!
Makes 2-4 wraps

Guess what?!

We are coming back! The last post was early September and that explains a lot! Things got crazy!I wont go into detail but there were birthdays holidays and... We went from being full time stay at homies :) Ah that is adorable... Because we were homies (friends) that stayed at home! Anywho, Courtney got a job at a hospital with demanding hours. Chaeli went back to college, that plus a 2 year old (who might I add is far from terrible) made for some demanding hours as well.

Although we still remain busy... Courtney recently got a job that will allow her to blog and cook more often. Yay & Congrats to Courtney!! && Chaeli still in school and with more hours this semester has things under control for the most part and should have the time to sit down and type up recipes :) Things probably will not be as frequent as they used to be, but...

WE'RE BACK!!!

To our faithful readers (all 7 of you ;):
Because we still have a lot going on if any of you out there ANY have recipes that you are dying to share, that you have thought were so good, so great that you wished everyone could try it. Send them over! Take your pictures attatch them in a email along with the recipe and directions and your recipe will be featured as a guest post on Honeydontiknowit! Amazing right ;) Send them in to Honeydontiknowit@yahoo.com

Chile-Chicken Posole

This recipe is delicious (I think I say that with all my recipes :)) It is loaded with super tasty and filling hominy. If you have never tried hominy now is the perfect time, it's a form of corn but it is wayyy tastier!

***Note: I boiled my chicken beforehand with salt pepper and thyme and then added it to the pan and cooked for 10 mins.
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced
1 tsp. dry thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lg. white onion
1 jalepeno pepper, chopped, remove seeds for less heat
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 6 oz cans green chiles, chopped
4 c. low fat, low sodium chicken broth
2 15 oz. cans hominy (found by the canned corn)
baked corn tortilla chips for dipping
and lots of cheese to top!

1. Season the chicken with 1/2 tsp. thyme, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside
2. Heat the vegetable oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno and garlic, cook until soft. Transfer to a blender, then add the chiles, and remaining thyme and puree until smooth. Return to sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens and turns deep green, about 5 mins.
3. Add the broth, hominy and chicken to the sauce pan. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender. Garnish with cheese and corn chips.
Happy cooking,
Chaeli

P.S. I LOVE YOU

Dear little cooking blog,
I have not forgot about you. In fact I think about you everyday, every meal. I still love you, but life has got the best of me. Ever since I was in the hospital July 12th I believe it was, things have been pretty hectic around here and healthy nice meals have taken a back seat. Now add in working A LOT on ebay and school and homework now in the mix... The hours, the days fly by. I promise I will be back, soon, maybe not as often but I will be back !!
In the meantime...
Happy cooking,
Chaeli