recipe roundup

Wait, what's this?? A recipe roundup post? Yeah, I haven't been so good about doing these for the last few months. There are lots of reasons for my recipe laziness--busyness, eating junk over the holidays (as in, since Halloween. Oops), getting sucked into Pinterest... But I'm really going to try to do better! I really like sharing my recipes here, plus I tend to click on the little "recipes" link thing on my blog when I'm trying to think of things to cook each week. So I really need to continue posting my favorites! As usual, I'll post a healthy dinner or main dish recipe ("healthy" by my loose definition--not too much processed junk, few refined carbs, and sort of low-cal :) ) and a yummy (not-so-healthy) dessert. 

I found the website for this chicken dish on Pinterest (duh) when I pinned a different recipe from the site and then started browsing. It's from Linda's Low Carb Recipes, and I'm so glad I found this site! I have to say, many of her recipes are not so much low-cal even though they are low-carb, so I usually have to improvise a little bit to make them healthier. For instance, this originally called for heavy cream and full-fat cream cheese but I substituted milk and low-fat cheese. I also reduced the butter. We LOVE this dish though! It is way too simple to taste so yummy. I love it with black beans and sauteed zucchini. 

(this photo is from the original site)

Cilantro Cream Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts 

1-2 tablespoons butter 

1-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

3 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, cubed 

3/4 cup milk 

1 tablespoon lime juice, 1/2 of 1 small lime 

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, about 2 big handfuls

While heating the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, liberally season the chicken on both sides with the seasoning. Brown the chicken on both sides in the hot butter. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the cream cheese and milk to the drippings in the skillet. Over low heat, whisk to blend well as the cream cheese melts. Whisk in the lime juice and stir in the cilantro. Return the chicken to the pan; cover and simmer 15 minutes, turning after about 7 minutes. When chicken is cooked through, place on serving plates and pour about 1/4 cup of the sauce over each serving.

I saw the recipe for this pie in an issue of People magazine a couple of months ago. I was intrigued by the pretzel crust because I LOVE the salty-sweet combo. I tried it awhile back when we had some dinner guests and have even made it again since. So yum! It seems like a lot of steps because there are 3 parts that have to be made before it all comes together, but really it takes no time at all except all the time you have to refrigerate parts. (again, I found this picture online. I always forget to take my own!)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

1 1/4 C salted pretzels

3/4 C brown sugar, divided

6 T melted butter

1/2 C cream cheese, softened

1/3 C peanut butter

2 C heavy whipping cream, divided

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pulse the pretzels in the food processor until they are really finely ground. Mix in 1/4 C of brown sugar and the melted butter. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put the chocolate chips and 1 C of the cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Whisk it up and make sure the chocolate is all melted. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Combine the cream cheese, peanut butter, and 1/4 C of brown sugar and beat with a mixer until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat 1 C of cream with the last 1/4 C of brown sugar until soft peaks form. Fold this into the cream cheese/pb mixture then spread it on top of the crust and refrigerate for an hour. Lastly, take the chocolate/cream mixture out of the fridge and beat it until it is thick. Spread this on top and refrigerate the whole pie for another couple of hours before serving. This is definitely a recipe you have to make earlier in the day when you plan to serve it, but it's well worth the extra thought and planning!