A while back I decided to try my hand at fish tacos. They turned out great, are are husband approved! It's really simple, and a good option for a healthy, fast weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

Your favorite prepared fish fillets (I use the tortilla crusted tilapia from Costco)

Corn tortilla shells

Avocado

Spicy Cole Slaw

How To:

Prepare your coleslaw ingredients

I cook my fish in a hot skillet with EVOO

It's sort of a combo between sauteed and fried

The crust gets nice and crispy

Warm tortilla shells over burner on stove (monitor closely so not to burn)

Keep them wrapped in a cheese cloth towel until ready to serve

Mix all coleslaw ingredients

Slice avocado

Top two tortilla shells (so they don't tear) with fish, coleslaw and avocado

See, I told you this was easy! Literally, dinner is ready in about 30 minutes. You could add a side of rice, beans, chips and salsa, or any other side you like. Yum. I think this might be on our menu tomorrow!

Enjoy, friends!

David and I are huge fans of an easy, order delivery, pizza night. Let's be honest, who isn't? In an effort to make something a bit healthier I decided to take delivery pizza night into my own hands. I am SO happy I did this. Here's the scoop.

I actually made one pizza, and one stromboli. Either way you can really get creative with your ingredients. I went basic with the pizza, and used spinach that I had already as my inspiration for the stromboli. To make this a do-able meal on a weeknight I started with the Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust. If you're making a normal pizza you'll pre-bake it. If you choose to make a stromboli, no pre-baking needed. I just cooked it in 6-8 minute increments and kept a close eye on it.

Our pizza was pepperoni, green pepper and cheese. I went light on the cheese and heavier on the other toppings. Super easy to do. Pre-bake your crust on a cookie sheet. Add toppings of choice. Put back in the oven to cook and melt cheese. Your pizza will be ready in approximately 15 minutes total!

As mentioned, my stromboli inspiration came from some spinach that I already had at home. I picked up some mushroom alfredo sauce (I decided to make a white pizza), prosciutto (I was going to do bacon bits, but our market didn't have any, darn!), sun dried tomatoes, a red onion and garlic. You'll saute the onion and garlic in olive oil (probably 2-3 tbsp) to start. Once those are starting to cook down and soften you'll add your sun dried tomatoes, and prosciutto. I added my spinach when the prosciutto started to golden in color. Since the prosciutto is a salty meat, you don't need to add more salt. I seasoned with black pepper and red pepper flakes. Don't cook the spinach all the way down, I'd say about 2/3 of the way. It will finish in the oven. Now that your toppings are cooked, roll out your dough just as you would for a regular pizza. Pour your ingredients "long ways" across the dough in the middle. I topped it with a bit of shredded Italian cheese mixture (the same cheese that I used for our pizza), then wrapped the dough around the spinach mixture, pinched closed, and topped with a bit more cheese. Total, I think my stromboli cooked for about 20 minutes.

I'm sorry I don't have measurements. I guess I really am becoming a home cook. I just throw things together, and hope for the best! I promise though, if I can do this, you can do this. Happy cooking!

The baby has been bathed, fed, and is snug as a bug in bed. Dinner has been cooked - chicken caesar salads tonight - and I'm enjoying a little quiet time (with House Hunters) before the hubs gets home from work.

Tonight I have a delicious new recipe to share. Although the hubs hasn't tested it yet, I'm sure he'd approve. It's made with a common theme that we use often in our house...Italian sausage and peppers! (You can find my sausage and peppers pasta recipe here.) Many of you saw my Instagram picture yesterday of me cooking with Noelle. This is what I was working on.

It's definitely a bit more work than I usually like (especially on a weeknight) but is totally doable. Here's what you'll need:

1 lb hot Italian sausage ground (I use the links and remove them from their casings)
1 red pepper diced
1 green pepper diced
1/2 an onion diced
2 medium zucchini cut into wide thin strips (I just cut mine as thin as I could, but would probably use a mandolin slicer next time)
1 jar of vodka sauce
2 cups of Italian blend shredded cheese

Instructions:
1. Drain zucchini (some people prefer to salt it, and some bake it for a short time)*
2. Pre-heat oven to 350
3. Brown sausage and drain grease
4. Add chopped peppers and onion to the sausage until tender
5. Add 3/4 jar of vodka sauce and stir until well mixed
6. Put thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish
7. Add layer of zucchini strips
8. Add layer of sausage and peppers mixture
9. Top with 1 cup of cheese
10. Repeat steps 6-8
11. Put in oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to turn golden brown**
12. Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes
13. Cut, serve and enjoy

*I did not drain my zucchini (forgot how much moisture it has) and it was a bit waterier than I would have preferred. However, it was perfectly fine reheated today for lunch.
**Mine didn't brown in the 30 minutes, but the cheese was totally melted so I put it under the broiler until it was golden brown.

So, like I said, it's more work than my usual weeknight recipes, but it's so easy and you can actually do most of the steps while other pieces are working (i.e. draining zucchini while you brown sausage while you chop veggies).

I really hope you like this one. It makes 12 servings, and if you're like us, is perfect for leftovers to take for lunch the next day. Bonus? Yup, there's a bonus with this one. It's only 200 calories/serving!! If you ask me, that's a hell of a deal for a delicious and filling dinner.

ENJOY!

A combination that can't be beat.

One of our favorite meals, sausage and peppers, rolled into the most delicious pasta dish. 

This one is really easy too, guys. A perfect weeknight dinner!

You'll need:

Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage links

(removed from the casings or start with the ground if they sell it at your grocer)

julienne cut red peppers, green peppers and onion

pasta of choice (this time I used fresh spinach fettuccine)

vodka sauce

How to:

get water on the stove and bring to a boil

brown sausage 

add onions until soft

add peppers until soft

add sauce (as little or much as you like)

boil pasta to al dente

 (if you buy fresh pasta it only takes a few minutes)

drain pasta and finish cooking in sauce

While pasta is typically not the first thing that comes to mind when it's 80 degrees outside, sometimes you just need a no brainer meal that's easy to throw together after a long day. It re-heats well, and is perfect to take to work for lunch, too!

Enjoy!

Summer is here, and it's time to start mixing some salads into our weeknight menu! We used to make big chicken salads with tons of delicious veggies all of the time, and somehow it has been missing for a while now. We menu planned last weekend, for the week, to ensure that we wouldn't let the lazieness take over after a long day of work, and order take-out.

We decided to make a chicken caesar salad, and it would be one of my nights to cook. What does this mean? Well, since I do not know how to grill, the chicken was getting cooked one of two ways: 1. in the oven, or 2. on the stove top. A few weeks ago we learned that our smoke detectors are quite sensitive, and since hubs wasn't home yet, stove top cooking was out of the question. I just couldn't risk them going off while I was trying to cook after Noelle went to sleep. I pulled out my trusty chicken tender recipe and got to cooking!

The salad was so delicious! The crispy chicken was an awesome compliment to the caesar salad. We'll definitely be making this more often. What are some of your favorite summer recipes?

Continuing my quest to cook most of our meals during the week I found another recipe in my Food Network magazine that I will definitely be using in the future. This Skillet Chicken Parmesan is amazing.

It is very rare that I cook something and Dave and I think it's just right the first time. This one was a huge success, and I'll definitely be making it again soon. The sauce was simple and delicious. The chicken cooked perfectly in the cast iron skillet, and with a quick shot under the broiler we had a crispy melty top!

*apologies for the crummy cell phone pic!

I did make a couple changes to the recipe. I did not use baguette to make the breadcrumb topping. Instead I used panko breadcrumbs. This was much simpler. I just mixed some shredded parmesan (instead of mozzarella because I already had that in my fridge) with the panko before putting it under the broiler. Dave doesn't like so much cheese, so I only put it on half when it went into the oven.

If you're interested in how I prepared the broccoli, here's the run down.

Broccoli (trimmed into manageable pieces if you buy if fresh, we get ours frozen in portions from Costco) - enough for the family
Olive Oil - enough to coat your pan
Red pepper flakes - to taste
Garlic powder (you could probably use fresh if you prefer, 1 or 2 cloves smashed) - to taste
S & P

Sorry that my "recipe" doesn't really have exact measurements, but it's more about how you like it. If you don't like things so spicy go easy on (or eliminate) the red pepper. I saute my broccoli until it starts getting a bit brown (the color adds flavor, promise). This usually only takes about 15 to 20 minutes if your working from frozen (I throw it in the pan frozen), fresh will be much faster.

Ta-da! A 30-minute dinner is served!

Who doesn't love chicken tenders? Well, we love chicken, and in the tender form was definitely the way to go with this recipe.

I had this chicken for the first time while visiting my parents in Florida. My mom prepared it so quickly, and it was delicious, so I had to have the recipe. Come to find out, she got it out of the Food Network magazine that we both got subscriptions to from Grandma & Grandpa for Christmas. When I got home I pulled out that issue, and lo and behold, I had bookmarked the recipe!

I made some green beans (though definitely not enough), and roasted potatoes to go with it.

For the green beans, I sauteed them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. They almost took on a sort of fried texture in the approx. 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. The seasonings are to your taste. When I cook veggies, I like them on the simpler side with very little seasoning so you can actually taste what you're eating.

My roasted potatoes can be one with any potato you prefer. These were a golden potato, but we often will use red skin potatoes, too. I cubed them, and coated them with olive oil before seasoning them with a rustic italian blend.

The potatoes went into the oven for about 30 minutes at 375 before putting the chicken in with it. When the chicken went in the oven, the temperature goes up to 450 (per Ted's recipe), and cooks for 15-20 minutes.

This was a really easy weeknight meal. We don't like to spend too much time cooking during the week, and I think this meal will definitely be added into our rotation.

Enjoy!

Earlier this week I promised a post about a favorite weeknight meal. The first thing I will tell you is I'm sorry for the horribly low quality photo that is to come. It's just not in the cards lately, getting out the DSLR and setting a scene for my food shot when I barely have time to eat it.

Our nights with the babe are short and sweet on a weeknight. Dave and I both typically get home around 6 pm, the sitter leaves, the dog gets a walk, Noelle gets a bottle, and then it's bed time between 8-8:30 pm (for her, not us). In that two hours somewhere one of us makes dinner and we eat. 

Years ago Dave and I started making "Mexican Stirfry." It was one of our favorite dishes. Over the years though, it has transformed into more of a taco bowl. We love eating mexican food, and this is a super easy way to get that fix without all the work and assembly that tacos require.

You'll need ground beef, seasoned with taco seasoning, and your veggies of choice to mix in. This night, we chose a red pepper, a green pepper and half an onion that was leftover. We made a side of my favorite yellow rice (Zataran's is the best if you ask me) to go with it. I put my rice and taco mixture in a bowl together, and topped it with chunky avocado. 

In the old days where we had more time to linger over our meals, Dave would make his own pico de gallo, and guacamole. We would have other toppings such as salsa, sour cream, and melty Chihuahua cheese. If you like, I highly recommend these items! However, the sour cream and cheese definitely pack on the calories, so if you're looking for something with slightly less, don't cave into their deliciousness!

From start to finish, I'd say this takes about 35 minutes. Get your rice going first, and when it has about 15 minutes left, start your ground beef. After you've drained the fat out of your pan, add the taco seasoning. Once that is blended together throw in your veggies until they're soft. By the time this is done, your rice will be finished, and you're ready to chow down.

Enjoy!

Well, it might not be on a Sunday, but the slow cooker, cooking, returned to our house this last week. It totally slipped my mind to even take photos while I was putting everything together, but it was delicious, so I wanted to share what I did with all of you.

The fall, and cooler temperatures always make me crave chili, and more hearty meals. I had two cans of shredded chicken (you know, like how tuna comes) in my cupboard and was trying to find a good use for them. In the summer I make a mean chicken salad, but it's certainly not the time of year for that, and chili is a pretty easy meal to throw together without any instruction. I'm usually not that adventurous, but I was confident that I couldn't screw this one up!

So, after deciding I was going to make a chicken chili, I had to run to the store to get the remaining ingredients. At the store I grabbed a can of red kidney beans, a can of corn, a can of stewed, sliced tomatoes, a packet of chili seasoning, and of course a box of Jiffy corn bread mix. The cans of chicken that I had on hand were large cans (from Costco) and I used two. (If you had the "normal" (tuna sized) cans, I'd probably use four cans.)

Everything can go into the slow cooker together. Drain the beans and corn, and use the juice from the tomatoes. I also added about 2/3 a bottle of beer. You can use whatever type of beer that you prefer. I used a brown ale since that's what we had at home. The chicken is already cooked, so it basically will just need to marinate together and warm. I had ours in the cooker for about 6 hours on low. Before we got ready to eat I whipped together the corn bread muffins so they would be warm with our meal. I also added a bit of flour to the chili to thicken it before we dug in. If you like a more soupy chili, don't add the flour, this is purely personal preference.

Next time I make this chili I'll be sure to take some photos and update the post.

In the mean time, now that Noelle and I are into a better routine, I should be able to find some time to write more. I wrote this last week, and am just now finishing it. We have a big milestone coming up though - Noelle's one month birthday!

Today for Slow Cooker Sunday we tried meatloaf. Now, I'm not posting a picture of this one. Not because it didn't turn out, but because I'm not a food stylist, and don't know how to make meatloaf look great in a picture. I do however have some comments about this one.

I got the recipe off of GMA's website from a slow cooker contest that they had back in 2009. The biggest problem that I had is that my Crock Pot is vintage. It's not like the shallower, oval shaped ones they make now-a-days, it's a four quart Crock POT. This made making an actual loaf in it a bit of a challenge.  Ours was more of a giant meat ball. It was very juicy, and the flavor was great, just not the best item to make in this vessel.

The recipe also includes a ketchup-y sauce which I loved! It was very sweet and somewhat tangy. Dave on the other hand was not so much a fan. He preferred A.1.

All in all, dinner was good, but I'll probably stick to meatloaf in a loaf pan, and probably whip up some of this ketchup sauce on the side.

They all can't be winners I guess, so, until next Sunday ... happy slow cooking!

Have a great week, all!

You know what another Sunday means. Another delicious slow cooker recipe!

This week I made a recipe that was found on Pinterest. You can find the recipe here at Chocolate Therapy. As usual though, I did improvise just a little bit.

1 packet fajita seasoning ~ 16 oz your favorite salsa ~ 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

mix all ingredients into your slow cooker

cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours

remove chicken from slow cooker and shred chicken ~ return to slow cooker

prepare with your favorite topings ~ we used soft taco shells, lettuce, jalapenos, sour cream and cheese

ENJOY!

UPDATED 2.20: So, I just ate the leftover shredded chicken on nachos, and oh my gosh, I think it was better the second day! It's like the flavor just developed that much more, yum! If you have leftovers, and want to try this, here is what I did.

on an oven safe plate spread a layer of tortilla chips

spread leftover shredded chicken onto chips

top with shredded cheese (I love the Mexican Chihuahua cheese!) and any other toppings you want

put nachos in oven under broiler on high until cheese is melty

ENJOY!

Slow Cooker Sunday has returned!

Chili is a great meal to have on a cold wintery night, and today we wanted something warm and comforting.

Whenever we make chili it's never made the same way. We kind of just go with whatever feels right, and add ingredients as needed. This was my first attempt at making chili in the slow cooker, and I think it turned our really great!

2 thawed chicken breasts, cubed
1 red pepper cut into pieces
1 green pepper cut into pieces
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups corn
2 cans diced tomatoes seasoned for chili
1 can beans in chili sauce
1 can kidney beans
cheese & sour cream for top


*If you wanted you could add more or less of these ingredients. You could also throw in some other ingredients that you felt could go well. That's the fun thing about chili! you don't need an exact recipe, just good proportions.

layer all ingredients in slow cooker

cook on high for 4 hours

ENJOY!

Second Installment: Slow Cooker Sunday!

Do you ever have a craving for the comfort food of your childhood? Hoping for something to hit the spot,  and is just like your mom used to make? Well have I got the answer for you, or what!!

Today for SCS I whipped together a grown up's version of Hamburger Helper. I took the essence of HH and put a twist on it, for a more adult friendly, heathy, improved recipe. And, bonus for families out there, I think the kids might like this one too!

2 lbs ground beef, browned & drained
1 green pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes, diced
1 10 and 3/4 oz can of mushroom soup
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 box of spiral pasta 
Salt & pepper to taste
Shredded Italian blend cheese to top

brown & drain ground beef ~ dice green pepper & onion ~ dice stewed tomatoes

add all ingredients (except cheese) to slow cooker

cook on high for 4 hours

serve Hamburger Casserole & top with shredded cheese

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Sunday!


Today I am going to start a tradition - Slow Cooker Sunday! The idea of SCS is to spend the day enjoying ourselves, and not having to interrupt a relaxing afternoon to cook dinner. SCS will be a family day through and through.

My first SCS recipe was found in Real Simple magazine. It was extremely easy to throw together. The best part is that after it goes in the cooker, I don't have to touch it, and five hours later, dinner is served!

4-6 quart slow cooker
1 1/2 lbs red potatoes, cut into large cubes ~ 2 cups sauerkraut, drained ~ 1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth ~ 1/4 cup dry white wine ~ 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt ~ 1/4 teaspoon black pepper ~ 1 1/2 lbs bratwurst links ~ whole grain mustard

mix potatoes, sauerkraut, onion, broth, wine, caraway seeds, salt & pepper in slow cooker

nestle the brats in the vegetables ~ cover and cook until potatoes are tender

*7-8 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high

serve with a side of whole grain mustard

Enjoy!