Long overdue...Meal #23!

So, I'm a tad behind with my posts...lol. Not because I haven't been cooking, but because I haven't had the time with the arrival of Maggie! I'll do my best to keep posting, but I'm probably not going to put as much detail into the posts as I had been doing previously! Sorry folks:)... food tastes just as good though!:)

Easy Garlic Chicken 

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:
1- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Grease casserole dish (very important! I greased my dish and I still had to scrub to get it clean).
2- In a small saute pan, saute garlic & olive oil until tender.
3- Remove from heat and add brown sugar.
4. Spoon mixture over chicken in casserole dish.
5- Add salt & pepper to taste.
6- Bake for 15-30 min. I had thin chicken breasts, so it only took 15 min.

Verdict: Very sweet and yummy! Will definitely make again!

Zucchini, Black Bean, & Quinoa Skillet 

Ingredients:
1 T canola oil
1 1/2 c quartered lengthwise, sliced zucchini
1 1/2 c diced green bell pepper
15 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 c water
1 c quinoa
1/2 c shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese blend

Directions:
1- Heat oil in a large skillet over med heat. Add zucchini and bell peppers; cook 5 min, stirring occasionally. Add beans, undrained tomatoes and water. Increase heat to bring to a boil.
2- Add quinoa (the recipe actually called for rice, but I had quinoa in my pantry. Quinoa can be subbed for rice in any recipe, in my opinion!). Let simmer until liquid is absorbed (10-15 min). Sprinkle with cheese.

Zucchini and peppers simmering

Quinoa...yum!!

Finished product!

Verdict: LOVED this!! I am so glad we have leftovers! 

So, I'm what... 10.5 months into my 2012 New Years resolution! I must say, this is the first one I've kept! And secretly... I never thought I'd say this.. I've enjoyed it (when I'm not tired and when I have the time)!



 

Catching up....two must try recipes!

I'm slowing down here, peeps! Baby girl is coming in 5 weeks!


Recipe # 22 ~ Crash Hot Potatoes

I've been seeing this recipe all over Pinterest... My mom made it a few weeks ago for company and recommended we try it, so we did!!

Ingredients:
Small, round potatoes
Salt
Olive oil
Pepper
Spice (fresh or dried) of your choice: rosemary, thyme, chives...

1. Bring salted water to a boil & boil potatoes until fork tender (mine took about 18 min).

 2. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Generously spread olive oil on a cookie sheet....don't be shy as this will make the difference between the potatoes sticking or not sticking to the cookie sheet. Add your potatoes to the cookie sheet. (Please ignore my incredibly worn & old cookie sheet!!).

3. Now smash your potatoes with either a potato masher, or if you are like me & don't have one, I used the bottom of a cup to smash my potatoes. You want them to kind of resemble a cookie.

4. Now spread olive oil over each potato with a pastry brush. After that you'll add some salt, pepper, and spice of your choice. We opted for dried thyme.

5. Now plop these guys in the oven for 20-25 min and your done!

For dinner we had grilled BBQ chicken, crash hot potatoes, peas, & a side salad!

The verdict: This recipe was soooo yummy! The potato skins got super crispy and tasty. We will make these probably weekly now. The best part about them is minimal clean up and ingredients!

Link to Crash Hot Potatoes recipe

A sweet treat: Oatmeal Creme Pies

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c butter softened
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 c flour (I used wheat flour)
3 c oats
1 egg
2 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Begin by beating butter. Add white sugar then brown sugar. Mix well. Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, & cinnamon). Add the oats in with the dry ingredients.

3. Gradually add your dry mixture to your wet mixtures, until combined.

4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper & scoop cooking dough in small balls 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheet.

5. Bake cookies for 10 min. Leave on the pan for an additional 2 minutes to continue baking. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Creme Filling

Ingredients:
1/2 c soft butter
2 c powdered sugar
1-2 T whipping cream
1 t. vanilla

1. Begin by beating butter. Sift the powdered sugar and add it to the butter and mix. Add the vanilla and whipping cream and mix on med speed until combined. Turn the mixer on high and whip for about 2 min until fluffy.

I am horrible at making icing! I fail every. single. time. For me, this turned out super runny. If your icing turns out runny, just keep adding powdered sugar until it gets to the right consistency. I swear I double or tripled the amount of powdered sugar in this recipe until it thickened up (woah..sugar high!!). I also added some blue food coloring...just for fun!

Ryan let Connor lick the spoons...knowing how much sugar was in this recipe....this killed me a little bit inside! ha ha. Oh well, the kid doesn't get much sugar.

Once your cookies are cooled and your icing is ready...assemble the cookies! This is pretty self explanatory, right??

The verdict: Absolutely delicious!!!!! Minus the loads of butter and sugar in this recipe, it does have some good stuff in it (oatmeal & wheat flour!!).

Link to Oatmeal Creme Pie recipe

Meal # 21 ~ "Healthier" comfort foods!!

Sunday was the most perfect IL day; the weather was beautiful -- it was in the 70s, sunny, with a nice light breeze!! We decided that we would grill & eat on our porch. We decided on two "healthier" comfort foods. Ryan manned the grill & made bruschetta turkey burgers with avocado mayo & I made "skinny" broccoli mac & cheese! We couldn't decide which of the two we liked better!!

Skinny Broccoli Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
12 oz high fiber pasta
2 T light butter
1/4 c minced onion
1/4 c flour
2 cups skim milk
1 cup fat free chicken broth
2 cups fat free shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
12 oz frozen broccoli florets
1/8 c grated parm cheese
1/4 c bread crumbs
cooking spray

 

1. Cook your pasta to 'al dente'. During the last 2 minutes, add the frozen broccoli to the pasta. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Drain pasta & broccoli and add to baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. While pasta is cooking, start your sauce. In a large skillet, melt butter and add onion. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes.

3. Add flour and cook another minute until flour is golden and well combined.

4. Add milk & chicken broth. Whisk while raising heat to medium/high until it comes to a boil. Cook about 5 min until sauce becomes thick. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until melted and mixed well.

6. Pour on top of pasta and broccoli in casserole dish. Mix well. Top with grated cheese and bread crumbs. Spray top with cooking spray.

6. Bake for 15-20 min then broil for a few min to get breadcrumbs golden.

For dinner we had the bruschetta turkey burgers with avocado mayo & the broccoli mac & cheese.

The verdict: Like I mentioned earlier...we couldn't decide which we liked better. They were both really yummy. I will add the burger recipe at the end!

Link to Skinny Broccoli Mac & Cheese
Link to Bruschetta Turkey Burgers with Avocado Mayo *note -- I used plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo

Meal #20 ~ A family favorite!

I made this last week, but forgot to post it. I have some good recipes in the works for next week, so hopefully I'll get back on the bandwagon with posting my recipes!!

Corn Pudding
2 cans of cream style corn
2 eggs
12 oz can of evaporated milk
1/3 c cornstarch
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c melted butter

1. Spray an 8x8 casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Mix the milk, eggs, and cornstarch. Mix well or else the dish can get lumpy.

3. In casserole dish, mix the milk mixture, sugar, butter, corn...and then stir. I usually cut back on the sugar and butter amounts. The original recipe from my Nana calls for 1 cup of sugar!!! It keeps getting cut back as it is passed down through generations!! Ha ha.

4. You can bake this, but I like to put it in the microwave. Microwave for about 10 min and you are done!  If you bake it, bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 min until top is browned a little bit.

For dinner we had spicy kale lasagna, corn pudding, & garlic bread. Ryan used to think it was weird that we would have this dish with Italian meals, but it is a good pairing! The lasagna was a recipe that I posted about a month ago and froze. It was really good and we will have it again. And, of course, the corn pudding is delish!! :) It is usually at all of our holiday celebrations too!

Meal #19 ~ Pasta with Chickpea Tomato Sauce

We are back home from PA, did a bunch of grocery shopping today, so we were in the kitchen cooking tonight!!:)

Pasta with Chickpea Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t red pepper flakes
3 cups cooked chickpeas
Salt
28 oz crushed tomatoes
14.5 oz chicken broth
Dash of oregano (the recipe called for 1 sprig of fresh basil, but I had dried oregano in my pantry and decided to use that instead)
12 oz pasta
Parmesan cheese, for serving

1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil, garlic, & red pepper flakes over medium heat until fragrant (about 30 sec).

2. Add chickpeas & season with salt. Cook 5 min.

3. Add tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook to reduce for 20 min. I also added my dried oregano at this point. If you are using the fresh basil, add it after the sauce has reduced, cook an additional 5 min, and then remove the basil. 

 4. While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta. Once the pasta & sauce are both done, combine them. Serve with parm cheese!

For dinner, Ryan grilled chicken because it was so nice outside & we had the chickpea pasta and broccoli with cheese!

The verdict: Loved it!

Link to Pasta with Chickpea Tomato Sauce

A few homemade things...

A few months ago I posted a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent. It is working great & we are still using the same double batch. The cheese cloth/rice is essential to keep the powder from getting hard (by the way).

We are in PA this week and my mom asked me to make her homemade fabric softener & laundry detergent. We are already using both of these items at home, but I didn't have a chance to post the recipes to share! Here they are...Sorry for no pictures, but it is pretty self explanatory!

Homemade Fabric Softener

Ingredients:
6 cups HOT water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups Suave conditioner (I used ocean breeze for my mom)

1. Combine the hot water & conditioner until dissolved.
2. Add the vinegar & mix well.

That's it! You will use about 2 tablespoons per load.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
1 bar of Ivory soap

1. Combine the Borax & washing soda.
2. Grate the soap using a cheese grater. Add the soap to the powder mixture.
3. Combine well!

Another easy one! I recommend doubling this if you do a lot of laundry. You'll use about 1 tablespoon per load.

Meal 18 ~ Southwest Quinoa Wraps

The posts are slowing down now..I'm running out of new recipe ideas. This will be the last one for awhile because Connor and I leave for PA tomorrow for 10 days!

Southwest Quinoa Wraps

Chipotle Dressing:
6 oz greek yogurt
1 t adobo sauce
1/2 chipotle chili, seeded and chopped
1/4 t garlic, minced
1/2 lime, juiced
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients together. Set aside.
**Note: I found the adobo sauce & chipotle chilis in the canned aisle together (canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce).

Wraps:
1 c quinoa, rinsed well
2 1/2 c broth (I used chicken)
pinch of salt
1 can black beans, rinsed well (you can serve them in the wrap warm or cold)
1 med onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 avocado, sliced
2 ears of corn, shucked (I used canned corn)
2 bell peppers, grilled and sliced into strips (Any color will work. I didn't grill my peppers. I actually didn't noticed that they were supposed to be grilled until right now as I am typing this..Ha ha.)
Tortillas
Hot sauce, garnish

Heat broth and quinoa in a saucepan until boiling. Turn to low/med heat and simmer for 25 min until liquid is absorbed & quinoa is tender. Set aside.

 Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat & add the onion. Cook until browned and carmelized (about 10 min). Set aside.

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place corn on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Bake until just browned - 7-10 min, stirring occasionally.

To assemble:
Slather chipotle sauce over middle of tortilla. Add black beans, quinoa, onions and corn. Place bell pepper strips over top and finish with avocado slices. Roll and serve with hot sauce, if desired!

For dinner we had the wraps with leftover minestrone soup that I had in the freezer!

The verdict: They were very good! Both Ryan and I agreed they would have been better with some salsa on top (we were out -- bummer!). I ate the leftover "fillings" for lunch the next day!

Link to Southwest Quinoa Wraps

Are you like me and wondering why you need to rinse your quinoa?? I finally looked it up and the reason is because quinoa has a coating of bitter tasting chemicals called saponins to keep away birds and other seed eaters! You learn something new every day!

I also made Spicy Kale Lasagna this week, but froze it right away. We obviously haven't tasted it yet, but here is the recipe if you want to try it:

Link to Spicy Kale Lasagna