Day 26 - chicken wraps

Fresh baby spinach
shredded monterey jack cheese
baked chicken breast
sour cream
salsa
flour tortillas

No recipe here. Just some plain old "tossing things together at the last minute" kind of dinner. Tortillas have a shelf life (before being opened) of upwards of three months. It's a good idea, especially with kiddos in the house, to keep these around. Something about wrapping food into something portable makes it oh-so-appealing to eight year olds.

Day 23 - Pollo y Cebollas Salteados

Tonight was Sauteed Chicken and Onion night. The recipe I found was in Spanglish, but here's the gist of it:

Garlic, 3 cloves Ground Oregano, 1 tsp a few dashes of black pepper a few dashes of salt 2 Tbsps olive oil 2 oz tap water 1/2 white onion, chopped 4 chicken breasts

1-Crush garlic, oregano, black pepper and salt.
2-Dice the chicken breast tenders and mix with the garlic paste until each piece is seasoned with it.
3-In a frypan, sauté chicken in oil. Add water and cook until water evaporates and chicken is cooked.
4-Add onion to chicken, cook until tender.
5-Makes 4 portions

The chicken tasted very light. The garlic gave it a sweet flavor and the oregano gave a slight Italian aftertaste. When I make this again (which I will), I would probably use a few more breasts and add cabbage or sweet peppers. This isn't a one-dish meal like what I prefer to make, so this alone as listed above would also work well over a bed of linguine. **NOTE** Original recipe only called for three chicken breasts, so note this in the nutritional value listed below:

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 3
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 111.1

• Total Fat: 7.1 g
• Cholesterol: 10.0 mg
• Sodium: 283.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 6.2 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
• Protein: 4.4 g

Day 15 - Crunchy Chicken!

3 fresh chicken breasts

1/4 cup dried Italian bread crumbs

9 tsp Olive oil

Salt (to taste, optional) 

Directions

Heat oven to 375 F. 

 Wash chicken and pat dry. 

Dip chicken pieces into breadcrumbs and turn so as to coat all over.
Place in a lightly greased baking pan and drizzle about 1 teaspoon of olive oil over each chicken breast.
Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes

Serves 3-4

The Italian crumbs take this dish's flavor to an entirely new level. Comes with all the flavor of a tasty fried chicken, with none of the grease.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 146.4

• Total Fat: 8.8 g
• Cholesterol: 38.0 mg
• Sodium: 121.2 mg
• Total Carbs: 5.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
• Protein: 11.1 g

Day 14 - Poor Man's Pot Roast

1 lean 2 lb beef roast 2 medium onions peeled and halved 4 carrots, peeled and cut in half 1/2 a large cabbage cut in 4 wedges 2 potatoes, peeled and cut in half 4 cups Emeril's beef broth 2 bay leaves 2 cloves of garlic salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Put Slow cooker at medium high heat.
2. Add all to pot and cook 3-5 hours.
3. Serve with vegetables and juices.

You know, I just wasn't a fan of this. The flavor wasn't there, so it was just an underwhelming dish for me. I haven't tried cabbage in a pot roast in the past, but I definitely will do it in the future...if I can just find a better pot roast recipe. :)

Day 12 - BBQ broiled chicken w/ steamed rice

We're still snowed in and the chill outside sits right in my bones. Though I'm totally craving a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, I had some thawed out chicken that needed to be used today. I wasn't really inspired to cook much of anything today. I just brushed some barbecue sauce onto the chicken and tossed it in the broiler. I steamed rice on the stove top, and called it a night.

Day 11 - Chicago Pizza

Tonight I was invited to have dinner at Katie's mother's house. They're both transplants from Chicago, so they're huge on Chicago pizza and Chicago dogs. The dogs are horrifying to look at. I don't imagine I'd ever eat one, even if it was a triple-dog-dare. No pun intended. Now Chicago PIZZA is an entirely different story. Let me make one thing clear right now. I am not (I repeat) I. am. not...a tomato person. Never have been, never will be. I find the appearance, texture and flavor repulsive in every way. What I can say, however, is if you're going to alter said appearance, texture and flavor, I'll be a trooper and try to choke one down. This is something I discovered I was willing to do, after I had eaten a slice of pizza shipped from Lou Malnati's Pizzeria in Chicago. Every winter, one or more of Katie's relatives ship two or three pizzas to us, pre-packaged. We had a huge snow storm yesterday, so cooking a meal was the last thing on anyone's mind. The pizza was so filling, and delightful. Props to Katie's mom for inviting us over.

Day 8 - steak tacos

Brr! It's freezing outside and I can feel it in my bones. Literally. So tonight's dinner, like most of the others, had to be very low-maintenance. It's also helpful to dish out a dinner that's more of a serve-yourself kind of meal.

1 lb stew meat
1 cup italian dressing
Daisy light sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese
salsa
2 avocados
flour tortillas

One of the most flavorful and simplest of marinades is using salad dressing. I had about a cup of Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing left. I tossed it in a tupperware container with the stew meat and stirred it up every hour or so. I let it marinade a total of 5 hours, but meat doesn't usually need more than 1/2 an hour's time to marinate. At dinner time, I just tossed the meat into a frying pan and browned it. In the future, we will be using beef for stir fry. The stew meat is less expensive, but it's a lot tougher. Pick my battles? Don't mind if I do. :)

I just put the sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, tortillas and avocados on the table and told everyone to knock themselves out. Kiddos seem to like the idea of building their own dinner, so it was a win-win situation.

Day 7 - Scrambled Omelets 2 ways

I like scrambled eggs for a few reasons. They're simple to make. They're a one-dish meal. It's a good way to take care of leftover cheeses, fresh veggies, and meats when you add them to the eggs.

For the first breakfast, I sprayed a little vegetable oil on the omelet pan to keep the eggs from sticking. I used a medium flame. I scrambled three eggs (remove one or more of the yolks if you're watching your cholesterol) in a large coffee cup. I mixed in some chopped up chives, bacon bits, and added a slice of Borden's cheese. I have some slices of cheese that's made for grilled cheese sandwiches, so I knew it would melt better than most cheeses. 2 slices of Pepperidge Farms cinnamon and raisin bread, and you'll start your day off right. The high protein, complex carbs and fiber will give your body the fuel you need to jump start your metabolism, and will keep you feeling full for several hours.

I personally prefer a spicier taste, so I switched up my eggs a bit differently.

Santa-Fe style eggs with wheat toast

Three scrambled eggs
1/4 c chives
a pinch of crumbled bacon
a dash of table salt
a dash of black pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Whip ingredients together in large mug. Cook over medium flame in lightly oiled saucepan. Takes only about two minutes to cook. Adding the spices to the eggs before they cook allows the flavors to permeate the eggs. I just scooped the eggs onto the toast and made impromptu folded breakfast sandwiches.

Day 5 - baked potatoes and mung bean salad

My energy's a little low today, so I wanted to make something that didn't require too much standing/walking. I used a pre-made iceberg salad mix straight from the bag. I added some fresh mung beans and drizzled italian dressing on top and I was done. The baked potatoes were just done in the microwave the same way I made the last baked potatoes. Topped with sour cream, freshly chopped chives and some freshly shredded cheese. Mung beans are hearty and bitter, so I don't think they're a good fit for salad, but I had to give it a try. They're usually best when added to a stir fry. Good thing I have some left over to try them on something else! :)