Chicken Philly Cheesesteak

So, after working a 7 hour shift, with no break at the beloved Einsteins, I am here to share another delicious recipe that the gentleman and I tried out.

Chicken Philly Cheesesteak!

While they may not be the best lunchtime snack, these sandwiches pack a ton of flavor and are a perfect quick dinner solution.

Ingredients:
- two chicken fillets
- oregano
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 C bell pepper
- 1/2 C onion
- Sub bread
- cheese

Directions:

Ok, so first things first, you'll want to cut your chicken up into thin strips.  Then season each little strip with oregano, salt, and pepper.  Unfortunately we went a bit wild with the oregano, so be careful how much you use.  Throw these chicken strips into a pan and let them start cooking.

So yummy!

You may need to add a bit of oil to keep the chicken from burning.  While the chicken is cooking, you can begin to cut those peppers and onion into small strips as well.  Feel free to add in some more veggies as well, the more the merrier.  You can go ahead and toss those into the pan as well.

When the chicken is all cooked, and the veggies are starting to soften, you can take them off the heat.  You'll then want to spread them out onto some sub bread.  We personally got ours from Walmart, because its only 1.68 for 6 subs. Once the chicken and veggies are on, top the sub off with some cheese.  We used cheddar, but mainly because that's all we had.  I'm sure any type of cheese would be delicious.  

Now the best part, pop these subs into the oven, or toaster oven, for just a few minutes. We set our oven to broil and left them in there for maybe 10 minutes at most.  You want to leave them in there for just long enough so the cheese melts and the bread begins to get toasty!

Pull them out and enjoy!  We found that they were even more delicious when topped with a little bit of ranch dressing as well.  Feel free to experiment and enjoy your yummy dinner.  

- Lizzie

Chicken and Vegetable Casserole... Lightened Up!

Tonight's dinner was such a success! We chose a recipe from my new favorite website SparkPeople. I love making casseroles, but they aren't always the healthiest, for example I highly doubt my chicken and broccoli casserole that requires two cans of cream of mushroom soup and tons and tons of cheese is really doing much for my weight loss.  We were able to find what looked like a really great recipe, so after our nightly run we headed off to Walmart to pick up a few supplies.  Let me tell you, this was one of our best dinners in a while... I'm talking Ben was licking the plate so good.  It wasn't the easiest to make, and I certainly don't suggest trying to make it on your own, but the end result was fabulous.
           
         What you need:

After baking

- About 2 chicken breasts cooked and cubed

- 2 Tbsp.  all purpose flour

- 2 Tbsp. butter

- 10 oz skim milk

- 1 tsp. italian seasoning

- 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

- 7 oz whole wheat penne pasta

- 1 head of broccoli, chopped

- about 1/2 a bell pepper - diced

- about a 1/4 C white onion - diced

- 1 zucchini - chopped

- 1/3 C cheese of choice

- salt and pepper to taste 

How to make it:

We served ours with a spinach
salad and italian dressing!

Begin by cooking the chicken.  We lightly breaded it and pretty much let it sit in a frying pan for a good 15-20 minutes, but feel free to cook it to your liking.  Add butter into a pre-heated sauce pan.  Once the butter begins to foam add in the flour.  Stir continuously for about 1 minute.  Add in milk and heat to a boil, stirring often.  Once boiling, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  While the sauce is simmering begin to cook the pasta.  When pasta is almost done add broccoli to the pot.  Strain both pasta and broccoli and set aside.  Returning back to your sauce, add in the parmesan, italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.  Pre-heat you oven to 350 degrees and prepare for your kitchen to smell wonderful.
In a large bowl mix together the chicken, broccoli, and pasta.  Add in pre-chopped vegetables and mix again.  Cover with the white sauce. Lightly spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Place the mixture into the baking dish.  Top the dish with cheese.  Let bake for 20 minutes.