Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

I know I cannot speak for everyone when I say “it’s cold outside,” but I live outside Philadelphia where the winter months bring snow with chilly winds. This past week has been really cold and it reminded me that we are in the midst of winter in the Northeast. Only three more months until spring!

When it’s this cold, I really crave hot, comforting foods like soup and chili. I want to stick to my New Year’s resolution of eating healthy but when it’s cold outside, I want something that will stick to my ribs! Since next week is the Big Game and I will be surrounded by chips, dips and other yummy eats (see my last post about Buffalo Chicken Dip), I wanted to find a great, healthy recipe for a winter day. I found this in the Campbell’s Kitchen, and it’s one of the yummiest chili’s I have ever made. It was great because Swanson now offers larger cans of Premium White Chicken for the same price so the value and yummy factor made this recipe all the better! In fact, not only was it Sunday dinner, I also had it for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. Here is the recipe so all of you can enjoy a great chili without the guilt. Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili
From Campbell’s Kitchen
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 15 minutes
Serves: 5

Vegetable cooking spray
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 can (12.5 ounces)* Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
1 can (about 15 ounces) small white beans
1 medium red pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup Swanson® Chicken Broth (Regular, Natural Goodness™ or Certified Organic)
1 can (about 4 ounces) chopped green chiles
Shredded Cheddar cheese


Spray a 2-quart saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat for 1
minute. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes or until it's tender. Stir the cumin and chili powder in the saucepan.

Stir the chicken, beans, pepper, broth and chiles in the saucepan. Heat to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with the cheese and serve immediately.

*Or 3 cans (4.5 ounces each)

Nutritional Values per Serving: Calories 187, Total Fat 2g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 31mg, Sodium 620mg, Total Carbohydrate 25g, Dietary Fiber 6g, Protein 18g, Vitamin A 24%DV, Vitamin C 34%DV, Calcium 8%DV, Iron 19%DV

Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!

Party for the Big Game!

Whether our favorite team makes it to the big game or it’s our rival who guns for the prized ring, there is one thing for certain, and that is we will be celebrating! The real main event of the Sunday Big Game is the food. Every year we have the delectable spread of dips, chips and finger foods. Today, I have two recipes to share. The first being our infamous Buffalo Chicken Dip and another football favorite, Chicken Nachos.

Since one of the best recipes for any party is Buffalo Chicken Dip, I usually have to make at least three batches of this stuff to satisfy all my guests. This dip is so popular that its fan page on Facebook has over 17,700 fans, and it has a new and improved website, www.buffalochickendip.com!If you haven’t served Buffalo Chicken Dip, aka BCD, at one of your parties, you and your guests are really missing out. It’s perfect to dip veggies, chips and even pretzels. Since it is certainly one of our most popular recipes, and I often receive visitors looking for this particular recipe, I wanted to share this super easy and quick video from Campbell’s Kitchen.

In addition to serving BCD, I will serve my guests another great recipe from Swanson, Chicken Nachos.

Chicken Nachos

From Campbell’s Kitchen
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 5 minutes
Serves: 6

1/2 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
2 cans (4.5 ounces each) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
1 bag (about 10 ounces) tortilla chips
Chopped tomato
Sliced green onion
Sliced pitted ripe olives


Heat the picante sauce, soup and chicken in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling, stirring often.

Place the chips on a platter. Spoon the chicken mixture over the chips. Top with the tomato, onion and olives.


Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!

I also wanted to let all of those Buffalo Chicken Dip lovers know that we also have this really cool Evite for Football Parties. This will make your party planning that much more easy!

Uh, Oh. It’s the 5 O’clock Dinner Dilemma

You have probably heard me complain about having boring weeknight dinners and how it always seems like a 5 o’clock rush to figure out what will be on the table. I am pretty sure I speak for a lot of families when I say I have the “Dinner Dilemma” just about every day on my way home from work.

This added stress can be easily avoided with a little planning but who has time for that?! I thought I would make at least one day of your week a bit easier by sharing a great recipe, which can easily be made during the 5 o’clock rush to the dinner table. It comes from a great food blog named Picky Palate. It’s an extremely popular mom blog written by a lovely stay at home mom, Jenny. She shares all her highs and lows as a mother all while serving up some really good food! I made this last night and it was quick and delicious. Thanks, Jenny!

Penne With Fancy Chicken Sausage and Basil Ribbons
From Picky Palate

Ingredients:

½ lb whole wheat penne pasta, dry
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ white onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper finely diced
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
4 chicken sausage links, variety of choice, sliced into ¼ inch slices
10 fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced (chiffonade)
2-4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.

In a large skillet or medium dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and sausage. Cook and stir for 5 more minutes. Stir in cooked pasta, basil leaves and 2-4 Tablespoons of olive oil.

Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!

A New Year, a New You.

The holidays are officially over! I really enjoyed spending time with family, shopping, giving gifts, and entertaining. However, I must admit that I am quite happy for a break from the constant go, go, go of the holiday season. It’s really exhausting! Now it is time to start thinking about the New Year’s resolutions you make every year. For the most part, they tend to last throughout January and slip away the rest of the year, right? 2010 will be different!

As you all may know, I work for Swanson and we are not lacking on ‘better for you’ recipes for the new year. One of my favorite tips when creating a light and delicious meal is using Swanson White Chunk Chicken. It makes it super easy to prepare a whole range of dishes, from a Heart Healthy Chicken Salad Sandwich, to one of my favorites, Quick Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry, which I will share in a moment. Swanson chicken is 98% fat free, has no preservatives, and is, certified by the American Heart Association! Now that I’ve fully explained why it’s good for you, let’s get to the tasty recipe.

As I mentioned before, this is one of my favorite recipes as a quick and ‘better for you’ lunch, Quick Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry is just perfect to kick off the new year!

Quick Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry
From Campbell's Kitchen
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Stock
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
Vegetable cooking spray
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), cut into strips
5 cups cut-up vegetables *
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
OR 1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups hot cooked rice, cooked without salt

Stir the cornstarch, stock and soy sauce in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth.

Spray a 12-inch nonstick skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken and stir-fry until it's well browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

Add the vegetables, ginger and garlic powder to the skillet. Stir-fry until the vegetables are tender-crisp.

Stir the cornstarch mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken mixture over the rice.

*Use a combination of broccoli flowerets, sliced mushrooms, sliced carrots, sliced celery, red or green pepper strips and sliced green onions.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a green salad with shredded carrot and a light sesame-ginger dressing. For dessert, serve sugar-free vanilla pudding topped with mandarin orange segments and sliced almonds.

Best, and until next time, Kaitlin!