Comfort food week

One of the things I love about moving up here is the fact that I feel like a "semi" normal wife. When Jon travels so much I rarely cook b/c it's just Tay and I. It's such an awful excuse b/c I need to be cooking for the both of us. I blame myself for Tay being such a picky eater. I'm praying to break the pickiness with lots of home cooked meals! Now that Jon is home for dinner every night I've been cooking a lot more. At the beginning of the week, since it was kind of chilly, I cooked a White Chicken Chili from a low-fat cookbook called "Body for God". Good thing I've been trying to cook low fat b/c the meal I made today is nothing but fat....but boy is it delicious!!! (isn't everything fattening delicious!!!) This was a Shrimp Pasta...or "cheesy noodles" as Meredith calls them....that came from Mandi's family of WONDERFUL cooks. You can put shrimp, crawfish or chicken in it so I put chicken. WOW...it's good!!!!

So here are my two new recipes of the week....

White Bean Chili

1 lb dried large white beans soaked overnight in water, drained
6 cups chicken broth (you'll need more to add while beans are cooking)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, chopped (divided)
1 TBSP olive oil
2 cans (4 oz) chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups chicken breast, cooked and shredded
3 cups low fat cheese (cheddar or Monterrey jack)

Combine beans, chicken broth, garlic and 1/2 the onion in a large soup pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are very soft, 3 hours or more. Add more chicken broth if necessary. In a skillet, saute remaining onion in oil until tender/ Add chilies, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Add to bean mixture. Add chicken and continue simmering 1 hour. Serve topped with grated cheese.

For buffet, serve with these condiments: chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, chopped scallions, fat free sour cream, salsa.

Serves 8-10


Shrimp Pasta

3 lbs shrimp (peeled)
1 lb tri-color spiral noodles (cooked)
16 oz Velveeta
1 cup Margarine (yes, I said 1 cup!)
1 TBSP Worcestershire
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp BBQ sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1 TBSP salt & pepper

Melt margarine and mix in all herbs, Worcestershire, lemon juice & BBQ sauce. Pour over the shrimp in casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Melt the cheese with a little milk. Mix melted cheese, cooked pasta with the shrimp and bake an additional 10 minutes.