Food Lovers Central: Articles, Tips, and Recipes

Chocolate Love Me Hearts

Here’s something just in time for Valentine’s day! What could be better than chocolate and love?

What You Need:

8 (1 oz) squares milk chocolate

How to Make It:

Place the chocolate squares in a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave on high 1 minute remove the bowl and stir.

Continue at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth being sure to stir after each 30 seconds.

Allow the mixture to cool about 5 minutes.

Lay wax paper on a flat surface and spread the chocolate mixture on the wax paper to desired thickness.

Place the chocolate on the wax paper in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or until the chocolate is firm but still pliable.

Remove and place on the flat surface.

Use heart shaped cookie cutters of different sizes to cut out the solid chocolate hearts.

Serving Size:  24 to 32 hearts

Use these chocolate hearts in Easter baskets, at place settings or just hand them out throughout the day. 

You can add a little flavoring such as orange, lemon or raspberry to the melted chocolate for a special treat.

Oriental Noodle Chicken Soup

What You Need:

1 lb chicken thighs, boneless and skinless

1 (16 oz) pkg. baby carrots cut in half

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 (8 oz) can bamboo shoots, sliced and drained

1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, sliced and drained

1 (3 oz) pkg. oriental flavored noodle soup mix

1 (32 oz) can chicken broth

1 C frozen sugar snap peas, thawed

2 green onions, chopped

How to Make It:

Place the chicken thighs into the bottom of a crock pot.

Layer the carrots, celery, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts in that order.

Sprinkle the oriental seasoning packet from the noodle soup. 

Pour in the broth but do not stir.

Cover and cook on low temperature for 7 to 8 hours.

Remove the chicken from the crock pot and carefully shred it with two forks.

Return the chicken to the crock pot and stir to combine.

Break the noodles from the soup mix into the mixture.

Add the snap peas, cover and continue cooking an additional 15 minutes or until the noodles are tender.

Sprinkle in the green onion just before serving.

Serving Size:  6

3/4 C of regular sweet peas can be used in place the sugar snap peas.  Using chicken thighs is important when it comes to crock pot cooking.  They keep their shape better and remain moist during the long cooking time.  They also enhance the flavor of the soup better than chicken breasts.

Almond Wild Rice Chicken Soup

What You Need:

2 T butter

1/2 C dry wild rice

6 C fat free low sodium chicken broth

1/2 C onion, minced

1/2 C celery, chopped

2 C chicken, cooked and chopped

1/2 C slivered almonds, toasted

How to Make It:

Place the butter into a small skillet over medium heat.

Allow the butter to melt completely then add the dry rice.

Reduce the heat to low and stirring occasionally sauté the rice for 10 minutes.

Remove the rice from the skillet and place in the crock pot.

Pour in the chicken broth and stir.

Add the onion and celery and stir to combine well.

Set the heat setting to low, cover the crock pot and cook 4 hours.

Add the chicken and continue cooking on low 1 hour.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the slivered almonds.

Serving Size:  8

This soup is very low in fat due to the fat free chicken broth.  Regular chicken broth can be added if you prefer.  Chopped winter squash is also a great addition to the soup.