Tag: diced tomatoes

appetizers · Breads · Daily Thoughts · Super Bowl Recipes · Vegetables

Bruschetta Melts

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One of my favorite foods is bruschetta. Sometimes on a Friday or Sunday evening, instead of making dinner, we choose to just have a plate of bruschetta. When I saw this in a Taste of Home magazine from 2015 (ok, I have been kinda busy and am just sitting down to go through some old magazines) I knew this would be our dinner next time we went for a little healthier dinner than running to Baskin-Robins for a hot fudge sundae. Yes we do that about once a month, nothing like a gorgeous hot fudge sundae for dinner….try it sometime. It will make your heart sing.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teas lemon juice

1/2 teas seasoned salt (such as Lawry’s)

1/2 teas pepper

1/4 teas garlic powder (I will use probably about 3 cloves as we just cannot get enough garlic, hum…I wonder why we don’t have many friends?)

4 plum tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion

2 tables minced fresh basil

1 carton (8 oz) spreadable chive and onion cream cheese

24 slices French bread (1/4″ thick)

2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Additional minced fresh basil

Preheat oven to 425. In a small bowl, wish the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder until blended. Stir in tomatoes, onion and 2 tables fresh basil

Spread cream cheese over French bread slices and place on greased baking sheets. Top with tomato mixture; sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake 7-9 min or until mozzarella cheese is melted. Sprinkle with additional minced fresh basil if desired.

Chicken · Meats · Starches

Chicken Cacciatore

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This is one of my favorite spaghetti recipes. I love making it and I love eating it. It makes me feel so gourmet when I am chopping all the celery, onions, bell peppers and mushrooms, so I put on my pearls, apron and music and chop away. It is low fat but tastes great. One of the great things about it is that you don’t have to have exact measurements, so you can adjust it to your liking and it will always be delicious.

1 can of Hunts Italian Original Spaghetti Sauce (24 oz can)

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes (1 lb, 12 oz can)

1 c chicken broth

2 cups chicken, chopped

1 (14 oz) package of white mushrooms

1 cup each of chopping celery and onion

1 cup of green bell pepper

2 cups cooked spaghetti noodles

Italian seasoning, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper and dried parsley (I put about a table of each in, except for the pepper, about 1 teas of that)

In hot oil, sauté the bell pepper, onion and celery. If you like, you can also add chopped carrots to this veggie mixture. Add 1 cup chicken broth and cook until veggies are tender.

Add all the seasonings and then the Hunts spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes.  Add the chopped chicken and then cook for at least 2 hours over low heat or at 325 in the oven for about 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hours in heavy pot, covered.

Serve over warm spaghetti and then sprinkle flaked parmesan cheese with lots of buttery, garlic bread. Since the sauce is low cal, you can save the calories for the yummy bread that you will want to dip into the sauce.