Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this chocolate chip cookie recipe on tastykitchen.com, and it was a hit with the boys :).

Aaron, like usual says he wishes these were just chocolate chip, but oh well :).  I followed the recipe exactly, I just didn't add as many sprinkles.  We took these to AWANA and everyone enjoyed them.  Each cookie was 155 calories, and Aaron gave these an 8, Owen and I gave them a 9, and Noah gave them a perfect 10.  These are fun, easy, and really delicious.

Cake Batter Pancakes

So we found these delicious pancakes at tastykitchen.com, I love that site, and we loved these.  The boys gave these a perfect 10, and Aaron and I gave these a 9.  Each pancake was only 78 calories each, because this made a lot, and there is no oil or butter in this recipe, which cuts down on the calories.  Anyway, I followed the recipe exactly, I just didn't make the glaze, which would probably be even more delicious, because my family always says they just want syrup, sigh :).  Try these, they are great!

Birthday Cake Batter Cinnamon Rolls

So these might be the most delicious things ever :).  I found this recipe for cinnamon rolls on tasty kitchen, and although I made a few changes, I will just link to the recipe and tell what I changed.  I really dislike shortening, so I used butter in this recipe instead of shortening, and I used 8 T of butter rather than 6 T of shortening.  Also, I let the dough double in size both times, before and after shaping cinnamon rolls, rather than just doing a quick rise before rolling out the cinnamon rolls.  Lastly I made 41 cinnamon rolls, rather than the 16 the recipe called for, and each cinnamon roll was 243 calories. These had great flavor, they do taste like a cinnamon roll birthday cake, and the texture was so light and fluffy, just so great.  I loved these, and I'm looking forward to making them again!

Cinnamon Waffles

These were some great waffles!  I liked the little difference the cinnamon made, and although if I make it again, I would add more cinnamon because I felt like there wasn't enough, it was still a fun change.  Owen felt like there was too much cinnamon, and so did Aaron, so who knows :).  Each waffles was 138 calories, and the recipe made 14 waffles for us.  Aaron gave it a 7, because of the cinnamon, Owen and I gave them a 9, and Noah gave it a perfect 10.  Jonah seemed to really like them as well :).  Anyway, I followed the recipe exactly, so go to the link and try them out!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Blondies

I found the recipe for these yummy cookie bars on tastykitchen.com, and here is the link.  These are tasty, easy to make, and my family really enjoyed them.  We actually made them for Aaron's work potluck, and so I don't know how everyone else liked them, but Aaron gave them an 8, and the rest of us gave them a 9.  This recipe made 24 cookies, and each cookie was 225 calories.  I followed this recipe exactly, so easy peasy :).

2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¾ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1 whole Large Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 cup White Chocolate Chips
1 cup Butterscotch Chips

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil (make sure there is extra foil hanging off at both ends – you’ll use this to pull the finished product out of the pan). In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate and butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.
Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting.
To serve, lift the cake from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Peel off the foil and using a sharp knife, cut into 24 squares.  

Pumpkin and White Chocolate Mousse Parfait

So this is a recipe we tried out for Thanksgiving, and everyone except for Aaron really loved this.  Oma, Opa, Owen, Noah and I all gave it a 9, while Aaron gave it a 4 :).  White chocolate and pumpkin are both things he really dislikes.  Oh well :).  You have to have pumpkin on Thanksgiving.  This was unfortunately incredibly high in calories, but if you make the serving small enough, which we did, it's not too terrible.  The servings for 1/16 of the total are 460.

The white chocolate has a lot more subtle flavor than the pumpkin, so it's important to make the white chocolate layers thicker than the pumpkin ones.  I also made the choice to add more cinnamon graham cracker crumbs than ginger snap crumbs, because I don't love ginger or ginger snaps.  We also didn't add any caramel to this, as the recipe suggests, but it was delicious just the same.  Here's what we did:

1 c pumpkin puree

4 c whipping cream, divided

1/2 c sugar

3/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

12 oz white chocolate chopped

1 T vanilla

15 ginger snap cookies, crushed

9 cinnamon graham crackers, crushed

 

In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine pumpkin, 1/2 cup of cream, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mixing until sugar dissolves. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
In another medium saucepan (or wash and reuse the same one) over low heat, combine white chocolate and 3/4 cup of cream until smooth. Transfer melted chocolate mixture to another large bowl and set aside.
As both of these mixtures are cooling to room temperature, prepare the whipped cream. Beat the remaining cream and the vanilla in a bowl using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Fold 1/4 of the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture using a spatula. Then fold in another 1/4.
Fold 1/4 of the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture using a spatula. Then fold in another 1/4. (All of the whipped cream should be worked into the mixtures by now.)
Cover each bowl and chill for at least 2 hours.
Assemble the parfait by transferring each mousse to a separate piping bag (OR use handy Ziplock bags and cut a small corner off of each) and layer the mousse and ginger snaps into the serving glasses in any order you like. Top with caramel sauce and more ginger snaps. Chill for another hour. Serve chilled.



Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins

These were a really good, easy muffin.  We liked it, and Jonah helped me make them by banging measuring spoons and cups together while I made them :).  I found the recipe here, and am glad we tried these.  I love me some pumpkin, so I'm glad they turned out well.  Noah and I gave them a 9, and Owen gave them a 7 because he didn't like the apple chunks.  He said otherwise they would've been a 9.  I followed the recipe exactly, so here it is from the tastykitchen.com website.
1-⅔ cup All-purpose Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 cup Pureed Pumpkin
½ cups Butter, Melted
2 whole Large Eggs, Lightly Beaten
1 whole Granny Smith Apple, Peeled, Cored, And Finely Chopped
* * * * * *
FOR PUMPKIN SUGAR CRUST:
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs in another bowl and add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.
Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

These were super simple and they turned out well.  I only got 20 out of the recipe, rather than the 24 the recipe said, and so each muffin was 141 calories.

Slow Cooker Fajitas

 

We had these great fajitas the other night, and although not traditional fajitas, they were really good.  I love how easy these are.  One of these days I'll share my favorite fajita recipe from Cook's Illustrated, but for now, these are really good and easy.  I of course changed things a little, but that is normal for me :).  We had 12 servings for this, so each serving of meat was 127 calories.  Here's what I did.

1 1/4 lb beef chuck roast, seasoned
1 10 oz can rotel
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
salt
1/2 t garlic salt
a couple of dashes of tabasco sauce
3 stalks dried lemon grass (I didn't have any lime juice, so I made do.  I just removed the lemon grass before serving.)

Place onions and peppers in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the rest of the ingredients on top.  Cook for 8-9 hours on low.  Serve how you desire.

Aaron and Owen and I gave this an 8, Noah gave it a perfect 10.

Pumpkin Banana Breakfast Cake

We had this pumpkin banana breakfast cake the other morning, and it is not really very much like a cake.  It's very healthy, and easy to make, and definitely not very sweet.

I didn't add the oil to the batter, I just added a little more banana and more pumpkin, so the calories on this are astonishingly low.  For 1/16 of the total, the calories are only 130.  I used hazelnuts instead of walnuts, not surprising, and blended my hazelnuts with the sugar, but other than that I followed the recipe.
 FOR THE CAKE:
¾ cups Oat Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Table Salt
1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Cloves
¼ teaspoons Ginger
⅛ teaspoons Nutmeg
2 Bananas, Mashed
1 cups Pumpkin Puree
⅓ cups Maple Syrup
¾ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon creamer, I used creme brulee flavor
FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
⅓ cups hazelnuts, Ground Into Flour
¼ cups Rolled Oats
¼ cups Oat Flour
½ Tablespoons Sugar
½ Tablespoons Maple Syrup
½ Tablespoons Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 8×8” pan.
In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg). In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the mashed bananas, pumpkin, syrup, vanilla extract and creamer. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Scrape the batter (it will be super thick) into the pan and smooth the top.
Add all of the streusel ingredients to the bowl and stir until everything is evenly coated. Sprinkle the mixture over the cake and press it lightly into the batter using your hand.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly under your finger instead of sinking in. Remove it from the oven and set pan on a rack. Let it cool slightly and serve warm.
Store leftover cake in a refrigerated, sealed container.
We ate ours warmed up with a little cream over the top.  This sounds strange, but my Grandpa used to eat cake this way all the time, and it really does taste great.  Anyway, Owen and I gave it an 8, and Noah gave it a 9. 

Oatmeal Pie

This was such a fun experiment!  Oatmeal pie sounds weird, but it really tastes good.  It is kind of like pecan pie, but I like it better because it doesn't have nearly as many nuts, and is a little less sweet, which is a good thing ;).  The calories are around 300 for 1/16 of the pie, and we gave it a 9.  It's almost healthy enough to have for breakfast :).  I found the recipe here, and made only two changes, but here's how I did it.

3 whole Eggs
½ cups Granulated Sugar
½ cups Dark Brown Sugar
¾ cups Light Corn Syrup
½ cups Butter, Melted And Cooled Slightly
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
¾ cups Old Fashioned Oats (uncooked)
½ cups flake Coconut
2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
½ cups hazelnuts, chopped
1 whole Unbaked 9 Inch Pie Crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Mix well. Add the corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine the oats, coconut and flour. Add the oat mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until blended. Pour into a prepared un-baked pie crust. Top with chopped pecans and bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 30 – 35 minutes. Bake until the center is set. Test by touching the pie center lightly to see if it is almost firm. Do not over bake.
Cool completely on a wire rack. Store leftovers tightly sealed in the refrigerator.  

Hamburger Gravy

This was such comfort food for us.  I started with this recipe, and went off of it a little bit.  Everyone enjoyed it, and we will have it again.  Owen gave it a 7, Aaron gave it an 8, I gave it a 9, and Noah again gave it a perfect 10.  I liked it paired with the mashed potatoes that I will share the recipe for soon.  Here's what I did for the gravy.

1/2 lb extra lean ground beef
1 T butter
3 T flour
thyme, garlic salt, onion powder to taste
2 c beef broth

Brown beef and drain grease if necessary.  Put in spices and butter, then add flour and stir well.  Add in beef broth, bring to a boil and let thicken.  Serve over mashed potatoes or baked potato as in the original recipe.

The calories for 1/4 of the total were 203, so not high in calories really.  We had this with salad and rolls.  Yummy!

Classic Thai Fried Rice

I found this recipe for Thai Fried Rice on Tasty Kitchen, and although it wasn't great, it wasn't terrible.  We liked the pineapple the best, we felt the rest was rather tasteless.  Aaron gave it a 6, I gave it a 7, and Noah and Owen gave it an 8.  This was super easy to make, so that is one positive.  Here is where you can find the recipe, I followed it exactly, except I mixed everything together instead of trying to mold it.  The calories for 1/6 of the total recipe were 405, and that includes the rice.  Not great, but not bad.

Cranberry Orange Spice Muffins

Yay!  Baby is coming today!  We had these very healthy muffins the other day, and I made them just a little less healthy, because I don't like any sugar substitutes.

These were kind of a disappointment, because the cloves were overpowering, but I liked the texture and the taste mostly.  I also liked how healthy they were.  Noah and I gave them a 7, Owen gave them a 5, and Aaron gave them a 6.  You can find the original recipe here, but here is how I made them, changing the spice amounts, and they were still too clovey for us.  I don't know how anyone could eat them the way the original recipe suggested.  We made 12 muffins, and the calories for 1 muffin were 154 the way I made them.

1 c whole wheat flour
1 c oats
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves (next time I will lower this to 1/8 t probably)
1/2 t nutmeg (I'll also lower this amount and maybe add some vanilla for flavor)
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
2/3 c skim milk
1/2 c sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c Craisins
1 medium orange, zested

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a muffin tin and set aside.  Combine flour, oats, spices, salt and baking powder.  Set aside.
Combine milk, sugar, egg and applesauce.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, then stir until just moistened.  Gently stir in cranberries and orange zest.  Pour into muffin tins, and bake for about 10-12 minutes.  (I cooked mine longer, about 14 minutes). 

Lauren's Latest Chicken with Cucumber Bruschetta

So tomorrow I'm having my baby, so for the next few weeks, we'll have only two posts per week, hopefully Tuesdays and Fridays.  I should be back on schedule mid-end of May, but we'll see ;).  Anyway, today I'm featuring Chicken with Cucumber Bruschetta, which is a family favorite of ours, and this was not a failure, thankfully :)

 

I cook this recipe in my George Foreman grill, and it is so easy and healthy and delicious, it's hard to pass up.  For 1 chicken tender with salad, I think the calories are only 190 or there about, we love how fresh and low in calories this is.  This is a recipe from Lauren's Latest, and here is a link to the recipe.

 

12 oz chicken breast tenders

1/2 bottle Italian marinade

2 roma tomatoes

1/2 cucumber

1 garlic clove

8 leaves basil

1 t balsamic vinegar

1/2 oz parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

 

Marinate the chicken for at least 1/2 hour in the marinade, I like to do more.  Grill the chicken.  Cut up veggies and top with balsamic, salt, pepper and parmesan.  Serve over chicken.

 

So easy, so good!

 Aaron gave this an 8, and the rest of us gave it a perfect 10.

Lauren's Latest Pumpkin Maple Rolls

We had these pumpkin maple rolls, from Lauren's Latest, and they were delicious!!  I made just one or two changes, and this recipe, although time consuming, was not very difficult, and so moist and yummy.  Aaron gave these an 8, which is really high for him for sweet rolls, I gave them a 9, and Owen and Noah gave them a perfect 10.  They loved these.  I used cinnamon maple syrup instead of regular maple syrup, and I used more pumpkin than the recipe called for because many people said they couldn't taste the pumpkin.  The calories per roll were 352 for 16 rolls.  Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Maple Rolls
1 T Active Dry Yeast
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c warm milk
1/4 c melted butter, cooled
2/3 c sugar, plus 1/4 t for proofing yeast
1 t salt
3/4 c pumpkin puree
6 c all-purpose flour (I used 5.5 cups)

1/4 c maple cinnamon syrup
2 T melted butter
remaining pumpkin from a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
3/4 c brown sugar
2 T cinnamon

2 c powdered sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon maple syrup
3 T milk

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast and 1/4 teaspoon sugar over the warm water. Stir and proof 5-10 minutes. After yeast has foamed, stir in milk, butter, the remaining sugar, salt, pumpkin puree, and half the flour. Stir in flour by 1/2-cup increments. When you can no longer stir, remove dough to a board and knead in remaining flour or until dough is similar to bread dough, slightly sticky but won’t stick to your hands. Lightly grease dough ball and place into a clean bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft free area in your kitchen. Let dough rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
While waiting for dough to rise, grease a 9×13 pan and 1 pie plate or an 8×8 square dish. In a small bowl, stir maple syrup, pumpkin and butter together.
Punch down dough and remove to a clean, lightly greased board. Roll dough out to a 24×12 inch rectangle (approximately). Pour butter, pumpkin and maple syrup mixture over rolled dough and spread out to moisten entire surface. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top of the dough and press down lightly. Roll dough up lengthwise into a long, skinny log. Pinch edges of dough together. Using a sharp knife, cut entire log in half (to get 2 pieces). Cut those halves in half again (to get 4). Cut those halves in half again (to get 8 ) and then again (to get 16). Place rolls in prepared pans. (12 rolls in the 9×13, 4 in the other.) If some of the filling oozes out onto your board while cutting, scrape it off and place on top of the rolls to bake (we don’t want to lose any filling!). Cover rolls to rise again for 1 hour or until they have almost doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until top of rolls are golden brown. (Check them after 18 minutes just to be sure you don’t over bake them.)
While rolls are baking, whip powdered sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, and milk together until smooth. Drizzle over hot rolls and serve warm.

 

Samoa Bars

We tried these samoa bars the other day, and although the taste was amazing, the caramel was too hard, the recipe said to cook it to 260 degrees, which makes hard ball caramel, and that is just too hard for these bars.  I may make these again with the caramel being a lot less firm, and then I think they will be delicious.  We couldn't actually eat these, because of the texture of the caramel.  They are like those caramel chews you get at the store that are quite difficult to eat, and having that as a layer in a bar makes it impossible to eat.   Since we had to throw the whole pan out, I'm giving this a 0, even though like I said the flavor is good.  I'm also not posting the recipe, just follow the link to find the recipe.  I followed the recipe exactly, using a candy thermometer and everything.  I was frustrated at this recipe, obviously, because throwing out that much food really sucks.  The calories per bar for 24 bars was 640, another reason not to make these :).  Anyway, great idea, poor execution.

Pantry Chicken and Beans

We had this pantry chicken and beans for a meal the other day, and this is a great way to use up some of your canned goods ;)  This was an easy recipe, and everyone liked it, although Owen thought there were too many beans and he didn't like the tomatoes, which Aaron and I thought might be the best part.  Aaron, Noah and I gave it an 8, and Owen gave it a 7,  and the calories for 6 servings were 378 per serving.

1 t Olive Oil
1 can (14.5 Oz. Size) Black Beans, Drained And Rinsed.
1 can (14.5 Oz. Size) Kidney Beans, Drained And Rinsed
1 can (14.5 Oz. Size) Navy Beans, Drained And Rinsed
1 can (14.5 Oz. Size) Diced Tomatoes, Slightly Drained
1 pinch Crushed Red Pepper
2 t Anchovy Paste (I didn't use this, I just added a little more salt and garlic powder)
⅓ c Chopped Kalamata Olives (I used California olives)
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
½ c Cherry Tomatoes
6 whole Chicken Breast Tenders
1 pinch Coarse Salt And Freshly Ground Pepper
½ c Freshly Grated Parmesan
¼ c Parsley, For Garnish (I didn't use this)

Grease 9x13 pan, then place beans and canned tomatoes in the bottom.  Cover with olives and spices, then season the chicken pieces and place on top of the chicken.  Cook for about 40-50 minutes, or until chicken is done.  Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Cinnamon Streusel Baked Donuts

Cinnamon Streusel Baked Donuts

We had Cinnamon Streusel Baked Donuts for breakfast the other morning, and they were a treat.  I love how they were slightly salty, slightly sweet, and really moist.  Aaron said he'd never had a donut like it, and I agree.  The kids and I really enjoyed them, Owen and Noah gave them a perfect 10, I gave them a 9, and Aaron gave them an 8.  The recipe made 6 donuts, and the calories/donut were 255.  I substituted applesauce for part of the oil, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.  Here it is:

1/3 c sugar
2 whole eggs
1/4 c vegetable oil (I used 2 T oil, 2 T unsweetened applesauce)
2 T plain yogurt
1/2 t vanilla
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

1/4 c brown sugar
2 T oats
1 T butter
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t salt

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease/spray your donut pan.
Whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, yogurt and vanilla until smooth.  Gently fold in the flour, baking powder and salt.  Distribute the batter evenly in the donut pan.
Toss all the last ingredients in the food processor, then top the donuts by pressing the streusel into the top of the batter.  Bake for 9-10 minutes (I did it for 9), then let cool for 5 minutes.  Serve

Chickpea Pancakes with Ginger Apple Compote

 We had chickpea pancakes with ginger apple compote for a breakfast for dinner meal the other night, and I like that these pancakes are a little healthy :)  Noah and I gave them an 8, Aaron and Owen gave them a 7, but everyone liked the pancakes better by themselves except for me.  I love fruit topping on my pancakes, but not the rest of the family.  Without the apples, everyone gave the pancakes a higher score.  Sigh...:)  With the fruit topping included, we made 21 pancakes and each pancake with the fruit was 103 calories.  Without the fruit topping each pancake was 93 calories.  This was an easy recipe, I just threw everything in the food processor instead of just processing the chickpeas, so the preparation was a breeze.

 

FOR THE PANCAKES:
1-½ c flour
1 T Baking Powder
¾ t Salt
1 can (16 Oz. Can) Chickpeas
1 c Applesauce, No Sugar Added
1 c Milk
2 Eggs
1 T Honey
4 T Butter, Melted
1 t Vanilla Extract

FOR THE COMPOTE:
2 whole Apples
1 t Fresh Ginger
¼ t Vanilla Extract
2 T Brown Sugar
¾ c Water

In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt).
Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and mash. You can also use a blender or food processor but make sure not to over puree.
Add the rest of the wet ingredients (applesauce, milk, eggs, honey, butter, vanilla) to the chickpeas and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
Cook pancakes.
To make the ginger apple compote, peel, core and dice the apples. Peel and grate the ginger using a microplaner. If you wish, you can substitute fresh ginger for 1/2 teaspoon dried ground ginger.
In a saucepan, add the apples, ginger, vanilla extract, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until apples are cooked, water has reduced and the consistency is thick. Pour over pancakes and serve 

Easy Chicken with Black Beans

We had Easy Chicken with Black Beans, and this was such an easy great recipe, perfect for lunch for us on a Saturday.  I found the recipe on tasty kitchen, Aaron gave it an 8, and Owen, Noah and I gave it a 9.  I love how simple, healthy and fresh this was.  I had to change just a few things, so I'll post the recipe the way I made it, but click the above link for the original. The calories for 4 servings were 200 per serving.

FOR THE CHICKEN:
6  Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast tenders
1 T Olive Oil
½ t Ground Black Pepper
½ t Garlic Salt
¼ t Red Pepper Flakes
¼ t Ground Cumin
¼ t Salt
FOR THE BEANS:
1 can Black Beans (15 Ounce Size)
1/2 c drained canned diced tomatoes
¼ c Diced Jalapeno Pepper
3 dashes Onion Powder
2 dashes Cumin
FOR THE TOPPINGS:
Grated Cheese
1 whole Lime
¼ c Chopped green onions
1 avocado, chopped

For the chicken:
Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.
Heat a skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the pieces of chicken to the skillet with the hot oil. Next add the ground black pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, cumin and salt. Stir the spices in with the pieces of chicken.
Continue to stir chicken. It should start to brown fairly quickly. It may take about 8 to 10 minutes for the chicken to cook.
For the beans:
While the chicken is cooking, add the beans and tomatoes to a microwave-safe bowl.  Then, add the chopped jalapeno, a few dashes of onion powder and a couple dashes of cumin.
Stir the beans and cook them until they are hot (about 3 minutes).
Toppings and assembly of dish:
Add the beans into four dishes. Then split the cheese between the dishes.
Next, add the chicken and squeeze the juice from the lime over the chicken (1/2 a lime per serving). Top with the remaining cheese.
Lastly, garnish with chopped green onions and chopped avocado30+.