White Bean & Chicken Chili.

If you've tried my "regular" chili recipe, you know that I like my chili chunky. This white bean & chicken version is no different. And, like my more traditional recipe, this can be made in 30 to 40 minutes, start to finish.  I like my bowl of chili without added toppings, but the possibilities are endless: choose green onions, sour cream, cheese, salsa, lime juice or your own favorites.  My biggest eater - and true foodie at age 15 - loved his with sour cream and shredded cheese on top. He proclaimed that it tasted like "a warm burrito in a bowl."  The recipe below will feed a crowd, with leftovers.

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 pounds frozen chicken breast strips
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large leeks, white & light green parts sliced
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 cans cannellini beans, drained
• 3 cans diced tomatoes with mild chilis
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Heat oil in dutch oven.  Add frozen chicken strips and garlic and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, turning frequently.  Add leeks, chicken broth, salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat; simmer for 5-7 minutes. Using tongs and kitchen shears, lift chicken strips from broth and cut into bite-sized pieces, returning chicken to broth as it is cut. Add beans and tomatoes. Stir. Return to simmer and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro; cook 5 more minutes and serve.

Chocolate Dipped Starfruit.

Nothing fancy about this, but I hope this serves as a little reminder that simple preparations can be simply amazing!  This is so easy, no recipe is required!  The contrast between the sweet chocolate and the cool, juicy fruit is what I think makes chocolate dipped fruit so yummy.  Be creative with your fruit selection.  Strawberries, kiwi, apples, dried apricots, pears, citrus fruits...any fruit that can be sliced or can be dipped whole will work just fine!


I used Baker's Dark Dipping Chocolate. (It's also available in milk and white chocolate varieties.)  And the wonderfully versatile starfruit!  Clean & slice your fruit, dip in melted chocolate, and set it on waxed paper until the chocolate is firm.  Two starfruit, sliced & dipped in dark chocolate, were demolished in less than 8 minutes. Yes, it was good.  The picture below is what I could manage to preserve long enough to take the photo!

Bacon Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese

This started as a remake of a dish served in a local restaurant. Many of the ingredients are the same (pasta, ground beef, & bacon), but the overall dish is quite different, and definitely healthier - if you can say that about something that contains red meat, bacon and cheese.  Regardless, this is a quick and filling weeknight dish for my hungry athletes, and it’s a change from their usual fare.  All things in moderation!

For four servings

Note: Quantities of cheese, onions, & tomatoes depend on your taste & the appetites of those joining you. I need a lot!

• 4 servings of cooked pasta (spiral, elbow, or other short noodles works well)
• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound crisp cooked bacon, cut into small pieces
• shredded cheese
• green onions, sliced
• tomatoes, diced

Cook ground beef on the stove top, adding your favorite seasonings. I use paprika, parsley, garlic powder, and black pepper.  Cook bacon until crisp, and cut into small pieces. Dice tomatoes, slice onions, and shred cheese.

Spoon hot pasta onto plates or into shallow bowls.  Top with ground beef and a sprinkle of cheese.  Add bacon, tomatoes, onions, and more cheese on top and enjoy!

Easy Bruschetta.

My family loves bruschetta and I love the ease of this recipe! While many recipes call for blanching tomatoes as a first step, I prefer to use uncooked, diced fresh tomatoes for my bruschetta.  This is a simple recipe that can be adapted to your taste.  The better quality your balsamic vinegar, the better this will be!

• 8 tomatoes, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 8-12 basil leaves, sliced into thin strips
• salt & pepper
• baguette, thinly sliced

Gently toss tomatoes and garlic.  Stir in oil & vinegar.  Toss basil and add salt & pepper to taste, if desired.  Spoon tomato mixture on baguette slices and enjoy!

Busy Girl's Secret Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I have been making these chocolate chip cookies for as long as I can remember. Both my children know the recipe and make them, but when it's time to share cookies, only Mom's touch will do.  This weekend I made 5 dozen to share at swim practice in celebration of a big birthday in our family and a few for home.  There are never any leftovers - and in fact, I seem to NEVER get a picture of these cookies!

• 1 cup softened butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Soften (but don’t melt!) butter or margarine in the microwave (or allow it to soften at room temp).  Cream butter with both sugars.  Add pudding mix and vanilla.  Beat eggs in a bowl, then stir in to sugar/butter mixture.  Stir in baking soda.  Measure flour by dipping, and stir in 1/2 cups at a time, until all flour is added.  Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees 8 to 9 minutes, until cookies are just starting to brown.  Kept in a tightly sealed container, these cookies will stay soft for several days - if they aren’t eaten first!

You can experiment with the pudding flavor - we've used chocolate for chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, and white chocolate for a slightly different taste.  Vanilla is our favorite, though!

Chicken Cutlets & Spinach with Raspberries.

After making those great pork cutlets a few days ago, I decided to apply the same technique to chicken - and it was just as much of a success!  This is an easy recipe (despite the long directions!) and is packed with flavor. It looks good too - worthy of a celebration table!

Just like with my pork cutlet recipe, the cutlets are a little fussy to prep, but cook quickly and evenly.  Three dipping/dredging bowls (or plates) ensure good coverage of the seasonings: the flour sticks to the chicken and gives the egg white something to hold to; the egg white provides a sticky base for the breadcrumbs; the breadcrumbs & seasonings, when cooked, give a crispy and flavorful outside.

Prepare 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Trim all visible fat and flatten to 1/4 inch thickness using a meat tenderizer.  (To reduce splatter & mess, place chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap when flattening.) Cut chicken breasts in half, if smaller pieces are desired. Set chicken aside.

Set up three shallow bowls or plates for dredging & dipping:

# 1

• 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

# 2

• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/4 c water

# 3

• 3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground sea salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning

Additional ingredients

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 bags baby spinach
• 1/2 c pine nuts
• 6 ounces fresh raspberries
• balsamic vinegar
• shredded parmesan cheese

Prepare chicken for cooking in three steps: 1) dip in flour mixture, coating on all sides; 2) dip in egg white mixture, allowing excess liquid to drip off; 3) dip in breadcrumbs, pressing mixture in all over chicken.  Repeat for all pieces of chicken.

Heat 1 T of oil in skillet over medium heat.  Cook half the chicken in each batch;  cook 3 minutes on each side, turning once.  Add 1 T of oil to pan between batches.

While second batch of chicken is cooking, heat 1 T oil in large stir fry pan.  Add spinach and saute for 3 minutes, turning frequently. Add pine nuts, continue to turn and cook 1 more minute.  Remove from heat.  Add raspberries and turn one more time.

Arrange spinach mixture on platter. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Arrange chicken on top of spinach and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Pork Cutlets with Avocado Nectarine Salsa.

This recipe is a definite keeper. I (thought I) made more than enough for dinner tonight, foolishly believing I would have leftovers.  My swimmers came home from practice and literally ate every bite - of every dish - that I served.  I’ll take it as a compliment, though I now need to figure out what I’m having for lunch tomorrow!


The pork cutlets are a little fussy to prep, but cook quickly and evenly.  Three dipping/dredging bowls ensure good coverage & flavor: flour sticks to the meat and gives the liquid in the egg something to hold to; the egg provides a sticky base for the breadcrumbs; the breadcrumbs & seasonings give the cooked pork a crispy and flavorful outside.  Well worth the fuss in preparation!  Make the salsa first, prep the dredging bowls, and then cook the pork.  And the beauty of this recipe is that you can change the seasonings and the salsa to match your tastes - completely versatile!

Avocado Nectarine Salsa

• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 nectarine, diced
• 1 T chopped cilantro
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• juice of 1/4 lemon

Mix avocado, nectarine, cilantro, & onion together in a bowl.  Squeeze lemon juice over all and gently toss.  Set aside.

Pork Cutlets

• 4 boneless pork chops

Bowl 1

• 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground sea salt

Bowl 2

• 1 egg
• 1/4 c water

Bowl 3

• 1/4 cup panko
• 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground sea salt
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1 T olive oil

Prepare three shallow bowls for dipping pork.  In Bowl 1, mix together flour, pepper & salt.  In Bowl 2, lightly beat egg and mix with water.  In Bowl 3, mix panko, breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, oregano, and garlic powder.  Set all three aside.

Trim all visible fat from pork and cut each chop in half.  Using a meat tenderizing mallet, pound each piece pork between two pieces of plastic wrap to an even 1/4 inch thickness.

Prepare pork for cooking in three steps: 1) dip in flour mixture, coating on all sides; 2) dip in egg mixture, allowing excess liquid to drip off; 3) dip in breadcrumbs, pressing mixture in all over pork.  Repeat for all pieces of pork.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Cook pork 3 minutes on each side, turning once.  If pork is cooked in more than one batch, you may want to wipe crumbs out of the pan and add a bit more oil.

Serve with salsa.