Chicken Stuffed Tomato Bakes

This particular meal came to me nearly by accident.  I had about ten tomatoes in my fridge that were starting to get soft, so I knew I had to eat them soon.  I also made my own chicken broth earlier that week, so I had a lot of chicken that I needed to eat up too.  Last night, I didn't have any any clue of what to cook for dinner... until it hit me: "How about I make some sort of chicken stuffing and put it in hollowed tomatoes... they do stuff like that as appetizers in fancy restaurants, right?" So I started looking through my fridge to see what I could use to make the "stuffing part". After looking, here's the ingredients I came up with:

10 vine tomatoes (they work best because they are round enough on the bottom, and not too big)

1 chicken breast , cooked and shredded

1/2 large onion

4 garlic cloves

1 handful of spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 tsp basil

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Rinse tomatoes. Slice off tops of tomatoes, then with a spoon, carve out the inside pulp of each tomato. Place hollowed tomatoes onto baking sheet, set aside.

 Place pulp remains into food processor of blender.  Add to pulp the remaining ingredients (except parmesan and oil), and blend until you have a pulpy mixture.

Spoon mixture into each tomato, leveling off the top of each.

Sprinkle each tomato with parmesan cheese, then drizzle the top with oil.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes, then enjoy!  Serves 2-3

Can be served as an appetizer or a main dish. We ate it as a main dish, with garlic toast as a side.

*Note: There will be left over stuffing. You can use it to stuff other tomatoes, or save it for the next morning to  be the filling of an omelet for two (which is what we did)!  :)

**Note Note: If you want it to be more creamy, try adding 4 oz. of cream cheese. I didn't add any because 1. I wanted it to be healthier, and 2. I didn't have any! haha

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Garden Salsa

This is my mom's recipe, and I have to say, my FAVORITE recipe! Note: After all the chopping, slicing and squeezing, it takes about 2 hours if you have no help... but TOTALLY worth it!

Here's what you need (makes a good party-size amount):

18-20 roma tomatoes*

1 large onion

1 bunch of cilantro

4 limes*

3-4 garlic cloves

1 jalepeno pepper

1-2 tsp. salt

Finely dice tomatoes, onion (I used a food chopper for the onion), cilantro, and garlic; add to a large bowl. Roll limes on counter top with pressure from hand to loosen the inside of the limes, then squeeze juice from all 4 limes into bowl. Finely chop jalepeno pepper (note: if you are a spicy wimp, like me, use only 1/3 of the pepper, and 1/4 of the seeds; otherwise go for it!) Add salt to taste. Let sit in the fridge for about 30 min to 1 hour for juices to combine, and ENJOY!

*Use organic if possible. Not only are they better for you, but they are much more juicy and flavorful! Makes for a very very delicious salsa!

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Vegetarian Fajitas

Earlier this week, my husband was really sick and I could not take care of him much because I had to work all day. On my way home from work, I was brainstorming with meal ideas that would be quick (because I was really hungry) and that would help fight his illness (because he was really sick). By the time I got home, this delicious meal popped into my head! Because everything is cooked in a pan, it was quick to prepare; and because of the ingredients, Chris started feeling better the next day! The combination of the onion and peppers provide a very powerful antiviral and antibacterial quality to this meal, not to mention the nutrients from all the other whole foods!

You will need (for 4-5 servings):

1 large onion, sliced

1-2 peppers, chopped or sliced (the more colors you have, the more nutritional variety you have!)

2/3 cup of sliced mushrooms (amount depends on your preference really)

1 roma tomato, chopped

1 lime, quartered

3-4 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1-2 Tbs of oil (preferably oil that is refined for high heat, like sesame oil, to avoid free radicals in your meal)

Multi-grain tortillas

1 can of black beans, heated, rinsed and drained

On Low-Medium heat, add oil to pan. When oil is heated, add onion, peppers and mushrooms. Stir frequently, until vegetables begin to soften. Do not overcook! Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, heat black beans on low heat.

When vegetables have softened, add tomato. Stir frequently for a few minutes until tomato is slightly cooked. Then remove pan from heat.

On a tortilla, layer: small amount of black beans, small amount of vegetables. Garnish with cilantro, and juice of lime quarter.

Wrap and enjoy!

Note: My husband and I each had 2, and they kept us full for quite a while!

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