Copycat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I LOVE Panera Bread's Brocolli Cheddar Soup, however - it can get pricey! $4-$5 for a bowl of soup is a bit steep! This recipe makes about 10 cups so feel free to share ;)

Ingredients:

-2 cups of shredded cheese ( I used a 3-cheese blend of asiago, parmesan and cheddar)

- 2 bunches of brocolli

- 1 white onion

- 1 cup of shredded carrots

- 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

- 3 cups of water

-4 tablespoons of butter

-3 tablespoons of flour

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1 cup of heavy cream or half and half

Directions:

Chop up the broccoli and carrots.Place in a pot with a steamer on high and let cook until broccoli is a bright green color like pictured below.

Dice up the white onion. In a separate large cooking pot, combine the diced up onion, minced garlic and 1 table spoon of butter and place on medium.

Once all of the butter melts, add in the chicken stock and water and mix.

In a smaller sauce pan, being making your roux and melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Slowly mix in the flour, whisking until it makes a paste-like mixture. 

Add the steamed broccoli and carrots to the big pot with broth. Slowly add in your roux and stir. Slowly add your shredded cheese and mix well. Once the cheese is all melted, add in the 1 cup of cream. Lower the heat to low and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Serve with your favorite bread. I went and bought a stick of bread from Panera to make it taste more like the real thing!

 

Super Easy Parmesan Crusted Chicken – 184 calories Per Serving!

My Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Steamed Brocolli & Brown Rice - 334 Calories & 9 grams of fat!

T.G.I. Friday's Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Tomato Salad & Tortellini - 790 Calories & 54 grams of fat!

I tried to make a copy-cat of the T.G.I.F’s Parmesan Crusted Chicken. I absolutely love theirs but looked up the calories and fat and almost fainted! I’d say it came pretty close to tasting like it, only I didn’t feel like I was in a food coma after eating it! I served mine with broccoli and brown rice and it was super filling and delicious!

Ingredients:

16oz of chicken breast (I like the ones that are cut thin – that way they don’t get chewy and dry when baking them)

-4 Tablespoons of light mayonnaise

-3 tablespoons of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

-2 tablespoons of Italian style or seasoned bread crumbs

- A sprinkle of Greek seasoning (or any other kind of mixed-spice to sprinkle on top)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, cheese and bread crumbs and mix well. Lay out the chicken on a non-stick sprayed casserole dish. Cover the chicken in the mixture. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Garnish with a sprinkle of Greek seasoning on top and serve with your favorite sides. Now how easy is that?!

Nutrition Information – (For (1) 4oz. serving, this recipe makes 4 servings.)

Calories : 184

Carbs: 2

Fat: 7

Protein: 29

Sodium: 350

Fiber: 0

160 calorie BLT!

My BLT - 160 Calories & 5 grams of fat

 Sonic's BLT - 500 calories and 29 grams of fat

I just love BLT's! The thing I hate about them is that they're usually high in fat because of the bacon and mayonnaise. Sonic's BLT has 500 calories and 29 grams of fat! To be honest, BLT's aren't even that filling, I sometimes even have them as a snack, so there's no reason why they should be so high in calories and fat! This sandwich is one of my favorite modifications because it tastes so much like the real thing!

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of Pepperidge Farm Light Oatmeal bread
- 1/2 tomato sliced
- Enough lettuce for one sandwich
- 2 slices of turkey bacon (I use butterball turkey bacon because it's the lowest in fat and calories)
- 1/2 tbsp of light mayonnaise (I used Cain's brand for this)

Directions:

Cook the turkey bacon as instructed on the package (it only took mine about 1 minute.) Toast the bread. Once the bread is toasted, apply the mayonnaise evenly. Add the bacon, lettuce and tomato. Easy and delicious!

Nutrition for 1 sandwich:

Calories - 160
Carbs - 23
Fat - 5
Protein - 8
Sodium - 417
Fiber - 3