Vomacka Soup

Vomacka Soup is a Czechoslovakian vegetable soup. I have never heard of this until I went out to eat at a restaurant in New Prague, MN called the Fish Tail. This is their specialty soup! My sister talking me into trying it. Eventhough I am more of a "salad before dinner than soup before dinner", kind of person, I trusted her judgement and gave it a try! Wow! It was great!! So I searched for a recipe and found one. Of course, you know me and taking recipes and making them my own by making them healthier, so I did modify this somewhat to make it healthier, without compromising taste! It was wonderful!!!

Vomacka Soup

2 Tbsp Butter
½ cup onion, diced ½ inch
½ cup carrots, diced ½ inch
½ cup celery, diced ½ inch
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Flour
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 Tbsp dill weed
½ tsp black peppercorns
1 Tbsp pickling spice
3 Tbsp chicken bouillon cubes
3 medium potatoes, diced ½ inch
1 can green beans
1 cup Fat-Free Half & Half
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Melt better in a large pot. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic, and sauté until vegetables are tender and clear. Add flour and stir slowly with a wooden spoon for two minutes, eliminating any lumps. Don’t brown.
Add chicken stock, bouillon and dill. Place peppercorns and pickling spice in a cheesecloth or tea strainers, add to sauce and bring to a slow boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add potatoes and beans, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Heat half and half to a simmer and add slowly to soup. Remove pickling spice and peppercorn and add in vinegar.

5 Servings
195 calories per serving

Chicken Piccata

Chicken:

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp basil

12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized cubes

Pasta:

2 cups whole wheat penne pasta

2 Tbsp butter

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup fat-free half and half

2 tsp dried basil

2 Tbsp capers

1/2 cup grated reduced fat parmesan cheese

Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well. Place chicken in a ziplock bag and pour marinade over chicken. Marinate for 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain; keep warm. While pasta is cooking, place chicken in a large skillet. Cook on Medium-High until chicken is browned and done. Remove from pan and set aside; keep warm. In the same skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Scrape up all the chicken bits left in the pan. Whisk in garlic and lemon juice. Pour in half and half and whisk until hot. Add the parmesan cheese, basil and capers, and heat until cheese is melted. Check the consistency of the sauce and add some of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary. Toss in pasta and cooked chicken.

5 Servings: 353 calories

*Hint: If you use Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread in place of the real butter, you can save around 20 calories per serving. I have to use real butter because of my little man’s allergy! So always feel free to substitute the butter in any of my recipes to make them even healthier for you and your family!!

Orange Julius

I have to apologize first. I started to drink this before I snapped the picture!! It was so good! I had about 1 cup of orange juice left in the fridge and thought, instead of just drinking that I am going to make a healthy orange julius smoothie! John and I have made these before, but it's been a long time. Usually it was frozen orange juice concentrate, water, milk, sugar, vanilla, and ice. So here is how I made it healthier!

Orange Julius
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 tps Truvia
1 to 1 1/2 cups ice
I used my Magic Bullet for this, but you could do this in your blender. I filled the cup with ice. Pour in the orange juice, almond milk, add the Truvia. Put cover on and mix it all until well blended! It is wonderful!!

1 Serving: 120 calories

I know we used to add in a banana once in a while too, so you could do that too. Just adjust the calories!

Crock Pot Orange Chicken

This was a new creation for me. I love Chinese food, but don't love that it is most of the time fried pieces of chicken. The original recipe called for coating the chicken in flour and frying it in oil until crispy. So of course I needed skip that step and make it healthier! I also chose to add all of the veggies, as the original recipe called for none. This was a great hit! My kids ate it and from the mouth of my husband, "This is fantastic!" I thought so too! Enjoy!


Crock Pot Orange Chicken
Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
½ Tbsp olive oil
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 can water chestnuts, drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tbsp brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar and ketchup.
Pour a olive oil in a skillet and brown the chicken.
The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot.
After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot. Add all of the veggies. Then cover the chicken and veggies with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.
Serve over brown rice, if desired.

Serves 4: 320 calories per serving (not counting rice)