Tortellini Soup

I'm always on the lookout for quick, easy, healthy recipes. I made Taste of Home's Tortellini Soup for dinner one night this week, although I modified it just a little bit to fit our tastes, and added twice the vegetables. It was perfect for a cool, rainy day!

Chicken, Bean, and Broccoli Burritos

This is a quick, easy, healthy recipe. I came up with it last year when I was doing Weight Watchers. My husband and I love Mexican food, but usually for us, that meant tacos and nachos loaded with lots of meat, cheese, and sour cream. Not very Weight Watcher "friendly." This recipe "feels" like mexican food, but with less fat, and not so many calories.

Here's what you do. Start with one package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Trim the fat off, and cut into pieces. Drizzle olive oil in a frying pan and place chicken pieces in the hot oil.

As the chicken cooks, I usually cut the pieces up into more bite-sized pieces. I also add the following - salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic salt. Season according to your taste. My husband likes food VERY flavorful, so I tend to put in alot of spices. Cook the chicken thoroughly. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients. I used one bag of broccoli florets, and cooked the bag in the microwave. Do not over-cook the broccoli, since it will cook for a little bit with the chicken later.

Next, you need a can of dark red kidney beans. I drain the kidney beans and rinse them a little.

Then I chopped up some fresh cilantro. I just love using fresh cilantro in mexican-type foods. It has such a nice flavor. I didn't really use enough cilantro this time, so I would add a little more if you really want to taste the flavor. If you don't like cilantro, you could just as easily leave it out.

Once the chicken is completely cooked all the way through, add the broccoli, beans, and cilantro. Cook a few minutes, just until heated through.

I like to serve this on top of Flatout Flatbread.

And of course, top everything with cheese. I got in the habit of using mozzarella cheese, since it had fewer WW points than cheddar cheese, but really, use whatever you like. You could add sour cream and/or salsa as well.

And it's that easy!

photos by me

Favorite Food Blog

Gina over at Skinny Taste posts some pretty awesome recipes! She has a good mix of "traditional" American food along with some more ethnic foods, too. And the pictures are fabulous as well. I tend to not try a new recipe unless I can see a picture of it beforehand. In other words, the picture is what usually sells me on making that recipe. A few of our favorites include Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken, Turkey Zucchini Burgers, Cilantro Lime Shrimp, and Skinny Strawberry Romanoff. The recipes are pretty healthy, and Gina does all the work to calculate out the Weight Watcher points - so win, win! (She has done the calculations for the old Weight Watcher points, as well as the new system, Points Plus!)

Note: She does post some recipes that use alcohol. I just skip over those since we do not drink or cook with alcohol.