Saturday pizza night. This is another easy, yummy pizza recipe.

MEXICAN CHICKEN PIZZA

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks
1-1/2 c chunky salsa
1 cooked pizza crust
1/2 c red pepper strips
1 t chopped fresh cilantro
8 oz package shredded Mozzarella cheese

Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Add chicken. Cook on medium heat until chicken is fully cooked, stirring occasionally. Stir in salsa. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 5 minutes.
Spoon mixture over crust; sprinkle with red pepper and cilantro. Sprinkle with cheese. Spice up the chicken with a sprinkle of cumin.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 1 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Tip: To get extra nutrition, flavor, and color, I also like to add some green pepper strips.

I've worked hard all week and we're going out to eat tonight. So, I think I'll bake cookies today. This is a pretty healthy cookie and very tasty. It is quite high in calories; about 60 per cookie, so you want to eat just a couple. Many of the calories come from the walnuts, which are heart healthy. Then we cheat with a little butter and chocolate. This is a rare treat.

APPLESAUCE COOKIES

1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 c + 2 T unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites or equivalent in egg substitute

1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t each; cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
1 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c oatmeal

1/2 c choppedwalnuts
1/2 c mini chocolate chips (or less if you want to cut more calories)

Cream butter and sugar. Stir in applesauce and eggs until well mixed. Sprinkle baking soda, salt, and spices over top and blend with mixer or vigorously with a spoon. Gradually add flours and oatmeal, mixing well after each addition. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until done. Cook on rack.

Tip: This called for regular chocolate chips, which can be used, but I find that you can use less of the minis and they go a lot further. If you want a milk chocolate or other flavor that doesn't come in the mini chip, just chop fine before stirring in. That way you get a little chocolate in every bite!

It's another beautiful day..finally, after some pretty chilly May days. We are working outside today so I'm making a simple meal, again. I really like simple, even though I love to cook. But I've been cooking a lot lately for a lot of people. Today, I will use the crockpot and work on a side dish salad. There's already fruit and vegetable in the salad, so we'll just have a warm loaf of french bread with this.

PORK CHOPS

6 lean, boneless pork loin chops, with all fat trimmed off
1 jar of your favorite barbeque sauce or your own recipe

Put in crockpot and cook all day until meat is very tender.

See, wasn't that easy. These are great in the oven, also. If you cook slow and then broil at the end, they carmelize a little and taste great. You can do that with the crockpot version, too.

BROCCOLI SLAW

1 bag broccoli slaw
2 c pineapple chunks
1/2 c almonds slced
2 c apples, diced
1 c pears
1 c homeade slaw dressing (recipe below) or store slaw dressing

In a suitable size mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix in dressing. Blend thoroughly.

This is a recipe I got from my daughter. It's great having two grown daughters to share recipes with. I've gotten some great ones.

HOMEMADE SLAW (MULTI-USE) DRESSING

3/4 c mayonnaise, light (not salad dressing)
2 T red or white wine vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 c sugar to taste (I use 1/4)

Mix together and stir into the broccoli slaw ingredients. This can be used for a multitude of vegetable and salad ingredients. I have used bok choy, cauliflower, and broccoli florets, to name a few. Added ingredients can be the fruit as in the recipe above, or chopped red or green onions, chopped celery, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, bacon pieces, walnuts, almonds, carrots. The choice are endless. Create a salad with your own personal favorites.

More chicken!!! The original recipe called for sour cream. I use either fat free or reduced fat sour cream or plain fat free or light yogurt. Great either way.

NAUTICAL NUGGETS

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
Mix 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, and 1 t oregano together. Rub into chicken breast strips and set aside.

Marinade: 1/2 c fat free sour cream or yogurt
2 t lemon juice
1 t Tabasco
3/4 t minced garlic

Put chicken in marinade and stir around. Regrigerate while preparing topping.

Topping: 2 c crushed saltines
1/2 c sesame seeds (my favorite ingredient-it makes the dish)

Take marinated chicken and cover each piece with cracker ixture. Place on lightly oiled or non-stick sprayed baking sheet and drizzle with 4 T melted butter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

This works well served with baked french fries and light fare.

A nice day but a very chilly evening. We haven't had beef in awhile, so we indulged today with this warm and comforting soup.

BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP

1 T olive oil
2 lbs lean beef, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
3 large carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes with liquid, chopped
2 quarts water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1/3 c medium pearl barley

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown beef. Add onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, water, and bouillon; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours or until beef is tender. Add barley; simmer another hour or until the barley is done.

You'll see that we eat a lot of chicken. This dish is so simple and very good. We're rounding this out with steamed broccoli and baked potatoes. The potatoes can cook with the chicken making this easy and energy efficient.

EASY FETA CHICKEN BAKE

6 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves-about 2 pounds
2 T lemon juice, divided
Salt and black pepper
1 package Athenos crumbled feta cheese with basil and tomato
1/4 c finely chopped red pepper
1/4 c finey chopped fresh parsley

Arrange chicken in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish

Drizzle with 1 T of the lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Top with feta cheese; drizzle with remaining 1 T of lemon juice.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with red pepper and parsley.

What an unseasonably cold day today. A good day for a yummy hot soup/stew. This is a favorite at our house and with a side of low-fat corn bread and a serving of fruit is a meal in itself.

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 T olive oil
1-16 oz jar great northern beans
1-16 oz can chili beans
1 c chunky salsa
2 t ground cumin
1-2 cans corn (drain 1 and use juice of the other), or just use 1 can with juice
1-8 oz bag reduced-fat co-jack cheese

Brown chicken chunks in oil for about 10 minutes or until done. Add beans, salsa, cumin, and corn. Heat through, stirring occasionally. Add grated cheese, stirring constantly until cheese is melted.

This is great with baked corn chips instead of crackers.