Category Archives: Recipes

The Best Healthy Chicken Spaghetti

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A glass pan with healthy chicken spaghetti in it

Healthy chicken spaghetti? Is it even possible? If you grew up eating the classic version of this dish, you might find yourself wondering.

Honestly, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I first ate this dish. My siblings were in town visiting and a friend had us over for supper. My brother loved the chicken spaghetti they made. Of course we got the recipe. Her recipe (and I discovered all the typical chicken spaghetti recipes) contains Velveeta and cream of chicken soup.

Cream soups were something my mom never had in the house growing up. In fact, the only time I remember her using cream soup was for beef stroganoff. Velveeta cheese my mom bought once a year to make cheese dip. So neither ingredient have ever been a part of my pantry either.

I decided to try and make this Mexican Spaghetti using ingredients I keep on hand while keeping the recipe almost as simple as the original.

The experiment was a success! This is my recipe for healthy chicken spaghetti without using any velveeta or canned cream soup. Score.

Such a easy meal and it makes a ton – perfect for eating again a day or two later. This would also be a great dish to bring to a church potluck. Serve with salad or veggies of your choice. The most recent time we had it with sauteed zucchini and carrot & celery sticks.

close up of a glass pan filled with baked healthy chicken spaghetti

A couple of comments:

  • Use whatever type of noodles you like – spelt, wheat, brown rice, or gluten free. (These pictures are with brown rice pasta)
  • If you don’t have access to Rotel (a can of diced tomatoes and green chilis), you can make your own! I’ve done it a couple of times. The Humbled Homemaker has instructions here. I like to use some jalapenos and to roast and peel the peppers before I chop them. (I also de-seed the jalapenos)
  • If you or someone in your house doesn’t care for cream cheese, you can’t even tell it’s in the recipe. It just adds a little extra creaminess and depth of flavor. My husband doesn’t like cream cheese and he doesn’t even know it’s in this dish. So be sure to add it!
  • If you don’t have half and half or cream, you can use milk. In these pictures I used 2 cups of whole milk and decreased the stock to 1 cup.
  • Arrowroot. If that’s something that you don’t have on hand, you can substitute cornstarch or try using flour. I’ve even made this with tapioca flour (I used 2 1/2 tablespoons).

Horizontal picture of a pan of baked healthy chicken spaghetti

Healthy Chicken Spaghetti

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Chicken Spaghetti (without Velveeta and Canned Soup)
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10
 
Ingredients
  • 16 ounces noodles
  • 1-2 cups diced onion (I used two)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can Rotel or 1 cup homemade (regular or mild)
  • 2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1 cup cream or half and half
  • 1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder
  • 2 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 cup diced cooked chicken
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar (can use more)
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles to al dente. Drain.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or a soup pot, saute the onions. Add garlic and cook until tender.
  3. Add Rotel, chicken broth, and salt and bring to a simmer.
  4. Mix the arrowroot powder in the cream and stir into mixture in the pan.
  5. Add the cream cheese and gently heat the mixture and stir to melt the cream cheese and let the arrowroot powder thicken.
  6. After thickened, stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese and the chicken.
  7. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Add the cooked noodles to the pot and stir to combine.
  9. Pour into a 9x13 pan (it will be full) and top with the remainder of the cheese.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This recipe was originally published May 15, 2014. Updated comments and pictures May 2, 2019.

 

A spoon of healthy chicken spaghetti being taking from the baking dishtwo pictures are healthy chicken spaghetti in a 9x13 panscoop of mexican spaghetti being taken from the baking dishChicken Spaghetti without Velveeta or cream of chicken soup! Yay! We love this and the leftovers are awesome.

Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes

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whole wheat apple pancakes stacked on a plate with a bowl of apples next to them

Anyone else have kids who LOVE eating pancakes? I think my family would be okay with a rotation of pancakes and waffles for breakfast everyday of the year. In fact, they frequently make an appearance as an easy weekend lunch too. Today, I have a recipe for whole wheat apple pancakes to switch things up a bit. They are still super easy and if you want to use good old all purpose flour, you can. 😉

[If you want a wonderful, fluffy buttermilk pancake recipe, you need to try this one! Or if waffles are more your thing, I have the easiest sourdough waffle recipe here.]

Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes

This apple pancake recipe is fairly standard recipe but with the addition of some cinnamon (yum) and grated apples!

If you prefer chopped apples, go for it. I find taking a couple washed apples, with the peels still on, to a box cheese grater is the quickest way to get it done. If your apples are super large, you might only need one. I ended up using 1 1/2 apples (my 3 year old gladly helped me out by eating the remaining half).

My girls love these pancakes topped with maple syrup. I recommend making extra and keeping them in the freezer to a fast weekday breakfast. Reheat in the toaster or microwave. Yum!

These whole wheat apple pancakes are also the perfect thing to use up those bruised or slightly past their prime apples. You know, those ones your kids refuse to eat. What they don’t know won’t hurt them. 😉

I know this calls for whole wheat flour (and it’s definitely a great recipe to use it in) but as I mentioned earlier you can definitely sub all purpose flour. If you do choose to use whole wheat flour in this apple pancake recipe, I highly recommend using the soft white variety! It really does make a big difference.

I have young kids, so I don’t make huge pancakes (I know all the other moms out there understand that philosophy) and I got 12 pancakes out of 1 batch.

This batter is fairy thick so I spread the batter out slightly after placing it on the preheated skillet.

One more tip before we get to the recipe.

When you are baking with fruit, or other ingredients that add moisture, you often have to turn down the temperature and cook slightly longer to ensure no doughy middles or overcooked exteriors. These really do pretty well but I keep an I on how quickly they are cooking because no one likes a burnt pancake.

close up shot of whole wheat apple pancakes stacked on a plate with a bowl of apples next to them

Apple Pancake Recipe

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Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes
Serves: 6-8
 
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar (I used sucanat)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or apple pie or pumpkin pie spice)
  • 2 cups milk
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups grated apples (I left the skins on)
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.
  2. In a small bowl whisk eggs, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir gently. (I just use a fork.)
  4. Fold in the grated apples.
  5. Cook pancakes over medium heat (or slightly lower).
  6. Top with butter and maple syrup.

This post for whole wheat apple pancakes was originally published November 17, 2013. 

whole wheat apple pancakes stacked on a plate with a bowl of apples next to them

 

Easy and healthy apple pancakes! Freeze well too.

Easy English Muffin Bread Recipe

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Row of sliced english muffin bread

Do yourself a favor and add this English muffin bread recipe to your repertoire! Bake up a few loaves, slice, toast, butter and enjoy! We love having this with soups and for breakfast. You can turn it into breakfast sandwiches, serve along side eggs, or simply enjoy spread with your choice of toppings.

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I’ve made traditional English muffins before and they are delicious but I’m all about saving steps and therefore saving time! Those minutes add up when we are taking care of our kiddos and trying to get all the things done. That’s where this bread comes it. English muffins without the shaping, griddling, flipping and all that.

Side note, have you ever wondered where English muffins came from? I was curious so I Googled. Wikipedia says that there were references to English muffins as early as 1850. But English muffins were “officially” invented in New York by a man who moved there from England and started his own bakery! This man was Samuel Bath Thomas. Ever heard of Thomas English muffins? Yep, that’s him!

Now, back to this English muffin bread recipe!

This recipe has ingredients you should have on hand. Flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk, water, and baking soda (to help with the holes in the bread).

This dough is very sticky, it will not be like a traditional bread dough, so don’t add too much flour! You dump it into the pans and spread the dough out.

English muffin bread batter in the pans

See the stickiness of that dough?!

You will need to make sure you have prepared your pans properly, besides you need cornmeal for the traditional English muffin look! I used my USA pans (this set of 4 mini pans), spread with a little butter and sprinkled the bottom and sides with cornmeal. If you want, you could also sprinkle a little on the top before baking.

I like making this in 4 small loaf pans, but you could also do it in 2 regular sized ones. If you don’t use USA pans be sure you butter and cornmeal really well!
A great thing about this English muffin bread is that it comes together quickly! Hooray! I pull out my stand mixer and use the paddle attachment but the dough is soft enough that you can easily make it in a large mixing bowl using a wooden spoon.

Let’s get to the recipe! I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Be sure to check out this recipe for Homemade French Bread as well – you will love it!

Sliced English muffin bread on a cutting board

English Muffin Bread

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English Muffin Bread Recipe
 
Ingredients
  • 5½ cups flour
  • 2 pkgs. yeast (1½ tablespoons)
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 c. milk
  • ½ c. water
Instructions
  1. Measure 3 c. of flour, yeast, salt, sugar, soda into large bowl or stand mixer and mix. Have 2½ additional cups of flour ready.
  2. Heat liquids in pan on stove to 120-125 degrees.
  3. Add hot liquids to yeast/flour mixture. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon until mixture is very smooth, elastic, about 5 minutes or in the mixer using the paddle attachment for 3 minutes.
  4. Add remaining flour, continue beating until smooth. Divide into equal parts.
  5. Grease 2 pans and sprinkle with cornmeal. Put dough in pans. Pat top of loaves smooth with floured hands as well as you can. Let rise 45 minutes. (Covering with a tea towel - no plastic wrap because this dough is sticky!)
  6. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
  7. You can divide the dough into 4 parts and bake in 4 smaller pans - what I like to do, or use 2 regular sized bread pans.

Slice english muffin bread and a partial loaf sitting on a cutting board

 

Healthy Broccoli Chicken Stir Fry

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plate with broccoli chicken stir fry

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During our recent Whole30 we made this recipe three times. We also served it with brown rice for the reintroduction phase. All that to say, we are fans of this easy, healthy broccoli chicken stir fry! My husband proclaimed it his favorite way to eat broccoli.

Most days I don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen so fast recipes are my favorites. This one is really so simple!

If you are gluten free or on Whole30 soy sauce is a no no, however coconut aminos is an option, but I couldn’t find it in our Wal-Mart and didn’t want to spend a fortune on a small bottle so we did without. Even without soy sauce or coconut aminos this recipe had great flavor.

I recommend that you make this broccoli chicken stir fry without the soy or aminos and instead have the bottle of coconut aminos or soy sauce at the table to use to taste.

If you like an extra kick, I highly recommend serving this with Sambal Oelek chili paste! It’s how I had mine and it was so good. I love the spice and depth of flavor the paste adds. (I also always add it to my serving of fried rice.)

We loved this served with either cauliflower rice or brown rice! Both ways made a delicious meal.

Ingredients:

Chicken. I used boneless chicken breasts each time, but boneless thighs would work as well.
Broccoli. Fresh broccoli is the best for this recipe! I buy a head and wash and cut it myself.
Onion. Half of a fresh onion, diced!
Garlic. Don’t skimp! Get two large cloves of fresh garlic. I love to use a microplane to grate it.
Ginger. Buy a knob of fresh ginger. Keep what you don’t use in the freezer for later. Again, the microplane is perfect for grating the ginger.
Chicken broth. Because this recipe doesn’t use soy sauce, you need broth instead of water to get a good depth of flavor.
Arrowroot Powder. You could also use cornstarch. You just need a little to thicken the liquid slightly.
Rice Vinegar. Rice vinegar is so good! I love using it in pretty much all stir fry type dishes.
Sesame Oil. Another of my favorite ingredients for this type of food (and for Asian style salad dressings)
Coconut Aminos or Soy Sauce. Totally optional. We did without during Whole30.
Sambal Oelek. I love adding this chili paste for an extra kick!
Cooked Rice or Cauliflower Rice. Choice one to serve the broccoli chicken stir fry on. Both are amazing!

plate with broccoli chicken stir fry

How many does this serve? My family of 2 adults and 3 kids got one meal out of this recipe. It would depend, also, on how much caulirice or brown rice you served it on and if you had any sides.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

P.S. The other recipe we ate weekly on our Whole30 were these amazing baked crispy chicken thighs!

Broccoli Chicken Stir Fry

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Healthy Broccoli Chicken Stir Fry
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound fresh broccoli
  • 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
  • oil for sauteing
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
  • 1.5 cups chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooked brown rice or cauliflower rice
  • soy sauce or coconut aminos, optional, for serving
  • sambal oelek, optional, for serving
Instructions
  1. Cut and wash the broccoli.
  2. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken and diced onion in the hot pan. Cook a few minutes and then add the garlic and ginger. Continue cooking until the onion is tender and chicken almost cooked through.
  3. Add the broccoli and continue to cook.
  4. Meanwhile, combine the chicken broth, arrowroot power, and rice vinegar. Pour over the broccoli chicken mixture. Cover the pan and cook until broccoli reaches desired tenderness.
  5. Remove from the heat and add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Serve over prepared brown rice or cauliflower rice with soy sauce, coconut aminos, or sambal oelek if desired!

plate with broccoli chicken stir fry

 

Best Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

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Almost every Friday night, you’ll find an oven blazing with a round baking stone heating up inside. Homemade pizzas were made weekly when I was growing up and we’ve continued the tradition.  Try this basic pizza dough recipe and join in the tradition!

Last week I shared some ways to make homemade pizza frugally so that even if you are on a budget you’ll still be able to enjoy pizza night and my sauce recipe is here. Today I have my basic pizza crust recipe and baking instructions for you!

two lumps of pizza dough. The best basic pizza dough recipe and tips for making a perfect pizza. This is amazing and so easy. You need this for your pizza night tradition!

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My number one tip for a successful homemade pizza: A baking stone! We have a 15 inch round stone from Pampered Chef. It has become well seasoned over the years and is well worth the investment. 

My second tip: Don’t roll all of the air bubbles out of the dough. I use a combination of stretching, tossing, and rolling. I like to use my mini pizza and pastry roller (one similar to this).

My third tip: Preheat the oven and the stone. Give it longer than when your oven says it’s ready. You want the stone good and hot.

My fourth tip: Use a high temperature. I turn the oven to 475 degrees.

I know crust thickness is somewhat a personal preference. This crust recipe fits a 15 inch stone. in a hand tossed/New York Style type of thickness. If you like super thin and crispy, cut the flour back. If you like your crust thicker, increase it to 2 3/4-3 cups. Don’t forget, this means the water amounts will change as well. Gradually add the water to the flour until you come up with the right dough consistency. The first time you make this, it will be a little bit of a guessing game. Simply tweak it the next time to your family’s preference.

I prefer to let this dough rise for several hours but when I’ve been in a rush I’ve made and used it after a short 15-30 minute resting period and it was still good.

We’ve also used part whole wheat flour and all whole wheat flour. This will change the texture slightly and you’ll end up using more water.

Now that we are a family of 5, I always double this basic pizza dough recipe. Use a full tablespoon of yeast in a double recipe.
Picture of a lump of pizza dough and a yummy cooked pizza. The best basic pizza dough recipe and tips for making a perfect pizza. This is amazing and so easy. You need this for your pizza night tradition!

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

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Homemade Pizza Crust
Author: 
Recipe type: Main Dish
 
An easy and delicious pizza crust recipe that your family will love!
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar (optional, I no longer use)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ¾ cup warm water
  • Scant tablespoon yeast
Instructions
Dough
  1. Place flour in mixer bowl.
  2. Top with salt, sugar, and yeast.
  3. Add water and oil. Should make a soft dough that isn't sticky at all.
  4. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.
  5. Cover mixing bowl and let dough rise until at least doubled - a couple of hours. It's okay if it goes longer.
Preheat
  1. Thirty to sixty minutes before you are going to bake your pizza, preheat the oven and stone to 475 degrees.
Rolling the Dough
  1. Gently put the dough on a lightly floured surface.
  2. Next roll, stretch, and toss your dough into a 15 inch circle. When rolling, do it gently so not to deflate all of the air bubbles. I prefer to use my mini roller.
Topping
  1. Remove the stone from the oven and carefully carry and place the crust onto it.
  2. Spread with sauce of choice.
  3. Top with meats, vegetables, and cheese.
Bake
  1. Bake for 8-15 minutes.
  2. Cut and serve
Notes
I always double this recipe and simply use a full tablespoon of yeast.

 

a lump of easy pizza dough! The best basic pizza dough recipe and tips for making a perfect pizza. This is amazing and so easy. You need this for your pizza night tradition!