El Paso Chicken Burgers

Pepper Jack-stuffed, Southwest-spiced Chicken patties are piled between toasty buns and on the side we have a heap of garlicky oven fries.

12 ounce Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
Red Onion
¼ ounce Pepper Jack Cheese
Potato Buns
Poblano Pepper
10 ounce Ground Chicken
2 tablespoon Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon Southwest Spice Blend
2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder

1. Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry all produce. Cut potatoes into ½-inch-thick wedges. Toss on one side of a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, 1 tsp Southwest Spice, ¼ tsp garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
2. Halve poblano lengthwise; remove stem and seeds. Peel and slice onion into ½-inchthick rounds. Toss veggies on opposite side of baking sheet from potatoes with a drizzle of oil; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle insides of poblano halves with ¼ tsp garlic powder, arrange cut sides down. Roast on top rack until potatoes are crispy and veggies are lightly charred, 20-25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine chicken, remaining Southwest Spice, ¾ tsp salt, and pepper. Form mixture into two ½-inchthick patties. Divide Jack cheese between centers of each patty. Fold edges of meat around cheese, shaping and sealing to create cheese-stuffed patties.
4. When veggies have about 10 minutes left, heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook until browned and cooked through, 4-7 minutes per side. Turn off heat; transfer to a plate.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and remaining garlic powder. Season with pepper. Halve buns; toast in oven until golden brown.
6. Spread bottom buns with garlic mayo. Fill buns with patties, poblano, and onion. 

Tupps Tidbits:  if your poblano pepper halves are very large, cut in half crosswise
 

This was a simple and easy recipe to put together and somewhat of a copy cat recipe from Hello Fresh (they made it with pork).  This recipe  is a KEEPER at our house! 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies used to be sold in the Center Cafe at the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center (DAHLC). The dietitians & chefs at the DAHLC did many cooking demonstrations and also created their own recipes. These cookies were very popular & always a favorite of mine. I have always wanted to recreate them at home, so I finally did!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 cup Egg Beaters
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1.5 oz. dark chocolate bar (60% cocoa), grated

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. 
2.  Place oats in a food processor (or small blender) & process until it turns into a powder.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered oats, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
4. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars for 3 minutes on medium speed. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in dry ingredients.
5. Sir in chocolate chips.
6. Roll or scoop dough into 2-inch sized balls & place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 12 minutes
8. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Tupps Tidbits: We omitted the white sugar &  the dark chocolate bar. We lowered the oven temp to 350 (the bottom of the cookies were browning faster than the top). We also pressed the dough ball down a bit on the baking sheet to flatten the cookie before baking.  We ended up with 26 cookies.

Recreation was success!  Sweets are such a challenge when focusing on nutrition and healthy foods can taste great!  This recipe is a KEEPER at our house (well at least for me, Tupps will take a real chocolate cookie instead).  They came out to be about 120 calories per cookie for us. Fit & Flavorful!  

The recipe stated the scooped dough freezes well and bakes up as delicious as fresh but you would need to add 1-2 minutes to bake time for frozen dough.  

Steakhouse Soup

Enjoy a steak dinner in a bowl with this super simple, hearty steak soup. We forgot to take a picture of our end result of this awesome soup.   Instead, you might need a little help in locating where "Beef Stew" comes from???  It typically comes from the large shoulder of a cow, more commonly called “chuck”. But roast, top & bottom round, tips, and even steak can be used as stew meat. MOOO!

Ingredients

1 carton (32 oz) beef broth
1.5 pounds red potatoes, cubed
1.5 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 package (16 oz) frozen veggies, thawed
2 cups water
1 medium onion
1 cup steak sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or 2 tsp. dried 
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 5- or 6qt slow cooker.  Cook, covered, on low 8-10 hours or until steak and potatoes are tender.

Tupps Tidbits:  We recommend adjusting to a little less than 1/2 cup of the steak sauce.

We did not have any leftovers, but you could freeze cooled soup and then to use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight and add water if necessary.  The steak was super moist and tender.

KEEPER RECIPE AT OUR HOUSE!