About the Microwave to Marth Stewart in 90 Days Challenge

I hate cooking. The microwave is my best friend and I love anything that comes in a box for quick fixing. However, since making the change to healthier eating, I have been trying to actually use the stove more often. I have decided to try and go from microwave to Martha Stewart in the next 90 days, without the stint behind bars of course.



Each day I will be sharing a new recipe with you that I have never tried before. Sometimes it will be an old recipe made with a new type of food that we have never tried, but regardless of the food, it will always require a fair amount of cooking on my part. I know right, I may not make it out alive!

If you are domestically challenged like me, I invite you to share in this challenge with posts of your own cooking adventures. Who knows, I may find I enjoy cooking, but chances are I will probably find I still despise cooking, but love eating delicious food that didn't come from a box.

Day 1: Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (inspired by Olive Garden)

I found this recipe online and did a slight bit of tweaking to make it healthier and better fit our needs. I would suggest you try it out, because it was AWESOME! It tasted exactly like the Olive Garden soup, but without the expensive cost.

Ingredients:

1 tbls. vegetable oil
1/2 onion diced
2 carrots peeled and diced
1 stalk of celery diced
1 clove of garlic minced
3-4 boneless skinless chicken cut into small cubes
4 cups of chicken broth
2 cups skim milk with 2 tbls cornstarch dissolved into it. (the original recipe calls for 2 c. half and half, but this cuts out some of the fat and calories)
1 tsp. basil
salt and pepper to taste
1lb. gnocchi (a potato pasta found with the noodles in the grocery store)
1 c. fresh spinach leaves chopped
1 tbls. cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbls. water

Instructions:

1. After your onions, garlic, celery and carrots are cut, place them in big soup pot with 1 tbls. of oil and begin cooking until tender. At the same time, put your chicken pieces in a skillet to cook until no longer pink in the center. You can cook the chicken before hand if you like.



2. When vegetables are tender, add cooked chicken, chicken broth, milk mixture, basil and salt and pepper to the soup pot. Bring to a boil.



3. Once the mixture in the soup pot is boiling, add gnocchi and boil for 4 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

5. Add chopped spinach to the soup mixture and cook until spinach is wilted.



5. Bring to a boil again and add in the 1 tbls. cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbls. water. Boil until soup thickens to a desired texture and then simmer on low to keep warm until you serve.