Tilapia in Parchment

so super easy!

1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 oz sugar snap peas
3/4 tsp grated lemon peel
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Four 4oz piece tilapia
Cajun Seasoning
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425
Cut 4 pieces parchment 12by15 inches
Combine corn, peas, lemon peel and salt and pepper in a bowl.
Divide mixture among parchment and top with fish.
Season fish with lemon juice Cajun seasoning and drizzle with oil.

Bring long sides of parchment together and fold over twice, then tuck short sides underneath ti form a pouch. Transfer to a jelly roll pan and bake til fish is opaque about 10-12 minutes.

I served with wild rice.

Quinoa Burgers

i know that some of you (NIKKI) will stick up your nose but try it!

My 5 yr old out ate me having 5!!!

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

To cook quinoa:

In a medium saucepan bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender. Allow to cool for a few minutes..

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety)

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated

3 eggs

2-3 tablespoons all purpose flour (start with 2, if they won’t hold together add the other one)

2 green onions, including white parts

1 /2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

2-3 tsp Olive oil for frying

.

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Sugar, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Measure 1/4 cup and form into patties about 1/2 inch thick - mixture will be slightly sticky. Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Makes approx. 10 burgers.

Serve with lettuce, tomato, onion, just like a burger.

My kids loved dipping them in ketchup or bbq sauce

I also served with homemade sweet potato fries

Grilled Chicken Salad

I got this recipe from here. Every recipe I try from Our Best Bites is delish!

I sorta tweaked the recipe to what I had and use Romano cheese instead of Parmesan and honey-roasted nuts instead of almonds. So SO good

1/2 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
6-8 oz. baby spinach
Cooked shredded chicken
8 oz. strawberries, sliced
8 oz. blueberries
shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 c. sliced almonds, toasted

Berry Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. honey (or sugar) (I used a bit more honey than called for)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 tsp. kosher or other coarse salt
About 10 cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 c. raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries
2/3 c. canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

Combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

For serving a large crowd, toss all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and add dressing to taste. For individual servings, arrange ingredients on plates and serve the dressing on the side. Makes about 8 side dish servings and 4 main dish servings.

green chicken & corn enchiladas

1/2 sweet white onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup frozen sweet white corn
2-3 chicken breasts (or use rotisserie...Nikki!)
10 corn tortillas
1 can green enchilada sauce
shredded cheese (I used mozzarella and sharp white cheddar)

Set a large pot of water on to boil. Add chicken breasts and boil until done (about 8 minutes if not frozen). Once cooked through, remove from water and let cool. Shred the chicken and set aside.

Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion and saute until starting to soften. Stir in diced bell pepper and cook until starting to soften (not too long!). Add the frozen corn and saute until warmed through. Pour in cooked chicken and about 3 Tablespoons of the enchilada sauce. Season with salt and pepper and stir until combined.

Preheat oven to 375. Take a glass casserole dish (9x13) and pour about 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom. Swirl to coat the pan. Wrap the corn tortillas in a wet (and rung dry) paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds just to soften the tortillas.

One at a time, put about 1-2 Tablespoons of the chicken mixture inside the tortilla and wrap up tightly (being sure not to break the tortilla). Place in the casserole dish and repeat until used all the tortillas and the filling. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top and layer a good amount of cheese on top as well. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes until the top is bubbly and browned (I like my top really crispy).

Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole and salsa

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

 I found this recipe on my cousin Candra's blog, and she got it from Our Best Bites-which is where this picture comes from. IT IS SOOO GOOD! I don't think I could do it justice, so I am just posting the link: 
Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Pulled-pork Tacos

2 c. salsa, plus more for serving
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
2 1/2 lb pork butt or shoulder
about 12-18 corn tortillas (or flour if you prefer)
Fresh cilantro
Sour Cream
Lime, cut in wedges

Combine salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp salt in crockpot. Add pork and turn in mixture until coated.

Cook, covered, until meat is tender and pulls apart easily (about 7-8 hours on low or 4-5 on high)

Twenty minutes before serving heat oven to 350. Stack corn tortillas and wrap in foil and bake til warm around 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, using two forks shred pork and stir into the cooking liquid. Serve with tortillas, cilantro, sour cream lime and extra salsa

Shrimp Tacos

***IS IT OBVIOUS YET THAT I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD?**

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lime

For serving:
Warm tortillas
Shredded lettuce
Salsa
Avocados
Lime wedges

Add the shrimp to a large bowl. Add the garlic, cumin, chile powder, pepper and salt. Toss well until all the shrimp are coated. Let sit for 15 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add the shrimp. Cook, tossing often, until shrimp are cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and squeeze lime over the shrimp and toss.

Serve shrimp in a tortilla with whatever condiments you want.

**I have also used already cooked shrimp. Just thaw shrimp, mix spices and let sit as instructed above. Easy and delish.

Sticky Finger Quesadillas

So I think this is what Derek and I have decided for dinner tonight. This is one of our all time favorite meals.

-Chicken breasts cut into strips (do as many as you would like)
-Shredded cheese
-Tortillas
-Winger's original sauce (if you don't have access to the actual kind, I'll put the one that we use occassionally)
-Flour
-Salt
-Pepper

I first defrost my chicken breast and cut them into strips. I then bread them with a combination of flour, salt, and pepper. You could really use any type of recipe that you have for breading chicken, this just seems to be the easiest.

I then fry my chicken with canola oil. I let my oil get pretty hot and then keep it on medium heat to cook my breaded chicken strips.

After my chicken is cooked, I coat the strips with the Winger's sauce. If you do not have access to a Winger's, you can use the following:
-1 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
-1 cup brown sugar
You then let those two ingredients come to a boil, then place on low heat.

Once chicken strips are covered with sauce, start making your quesadilla. I use the tortillas that you cook on a pan from Costco. Those are the BEST!!!

You just then put the chicken strips and cheese inside the tortillas...and VOILA. Delicious. This would also be really yummy with Camey's potato wedges.

Crock Pot Pork Chops

This recipe comes from http://realmomkitchen.com/ and I got it from my cousin Candra. And let me just say, IT IS SO YUMMY! I found it to be really easy as well! The most work you do is whipping up those mashed potatoes for the side. 

• 4 pork chops
• 4 T soy sauce
• 1 1/2 C sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 medium onion, sliced or diced
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp parsley

Place pork chops in crock pot. Place onion and mushroom slices on top of pork chops. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours. Then remove the pork chops and strain the gravy. You may have to thicken the gravy a little but not much, it comes out pretty close to perfect. Top your pork chops with the onions and mushrooms. yum!

Chicken Lasagna

8 oz lasagna noodles, cooked (about 6)

Sauce layer:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half & half
3 cups diced cooked chicken (3-4 chicken breasts)

Make a white sauce with flour, butter, broth, and half & half. Add basil, salt, and chicken.

Cheese layer:
16 oz. cottage cheese
1 egg
10 oz. pkg. chopped frozen spinach
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan

Mix all.

In greased 9x13 pan layer 1/3 sauce, 1/2 noodles, and 1/2 cheese. Repeat. End with sauce. Bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

****** I like to top it off with more mozzarella and Parmesan but I love cheese!******

Mom's Finger Steaks

This one is a favorite of my meat-and-potato loving husband.

1 round steak
1 egg
1 c flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. garlic salt

Mix all but steak together. Mixture will look really dry. Cut steak into bite-sized pieces. Let meat soak in batter at least an hour. Fry in hot oil. Serve with ketchup and potato wedges (see above recipe.)

Balsamic Chicken

I have to give credit where credit is due--this is Camey's recipe. I am doing this for dinner tonight!

For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and ground pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

For the sauce:
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp butter, softened
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 cup of chicken broth

Set the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 Tbsp of the olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add two chicken breasts. Cook on each side until well-browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Once browned, place chicken breasts into the prepared baking dish. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil into the pan and brown the other two chicken breasts. Remove the pan from the heat and set the chicken breasts in the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

In a small bowl, combine flour and butter. Mix, making a paste. Set aside. In the same pan that the chicken was browned in, add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Once hot, add minced garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Add balsamic vinegar and bring to a simmer, while scraping the bottom of the pan. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Whisk in butter and flour paste and simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve sauce over chicken breasts.

I serve this over rice

Mexican CAN CAN

photo credit

This is similar to just a regular Taco soup recipe...just FASTER. and I love that. 

My grandma put this recipe together. You basically just dump in CAN after CAN. That's it! No adding cooked hamburger, spices, etc.

• 2 cans Mexican Style Tomatoes
• 2 cans of chili
• 1 can of corn (no draining necessary)
• 1 can white beans (no draining necessary)
• 1 can black beans (no draining necessary)

combine all and heat thoroughly. Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips.

White Chili

Ingredients:

3 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 medium onion diced
1 spoonful of mince garlic

2 15.5 oz cans great northern white beans rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
2 (4oz) cans chopped green chilies

Seasonings:

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper


1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

In a Large sauce pan saute chicken, onion, and garlic until chick has a few brown side and no pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer about 20 mins uncovered. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

Again I use rotisserie chicken from Costco or even canned chicken to make this meal that much quicker!!

Chicken tacos

2 large chicken breasts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 4 oz diced green chiles
1 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds black pepper
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chile powder
Corn tortillas for serving

In a large pot of boiling water, boil chicken breasts until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from water and set aside to cool. Once cooled, shred chicken into bite-size pieces, discarding fat. Set shredded chicken aside.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil. Once oil runs quickly in the pan, add onion and 1/2 tsp salt. Saute onion until softened and lightly browned. Add shredded chicken, pinto beans, green chiles, 1 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin and chile powder. Gently stir to combine, being sure to not smash the beans. Cook until beans are heated through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Serve chicken in tacos shells with tacos toppings. We've also used fresh flour tortillas.

We put shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, tomatoes ,sour cream on as toppings.

I also had it sit on the stovetop on low heat for about 10 minutes while we were waiting for the husband to get home and put a splash of chicken broth in the bottom so that the chicken would be tender. Yum

Crab and Shrimp Enchiladas

• 1/4 cup grated onion
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 4oz can crab meat
• 1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 ground cumin
• 1 8oz pkg Philadelphia cream cheese, cubed
• 8 flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cup chunky salsa
• 9 0z shredded monterey Jack cheese

***I just use the frozen already cooked shrimp, so skip cooking step, obviously!***
In a large skillet, saute onions in oil until tender.
Add Shrimp, green chilies,chili powder,cumin, salt.
Cook until shrimp turns pink.
Stir in cubes cream cheese until melted.
Turn off pan.
Grease 13 by 9 baking dish
Put 1/3 shrimp mixture down in center of tortilla
Top with some crab, and monterey jack cheese
Roll up and put seam side down.
Top with salsa, sprinkle monterey jack cheese

Pizza Calzones

Photo credit

So, my first post has to be attributed to one of my new, AMAZING finds! This recipe comes from allrecipes.com, titled, "Real Italian Calzones". We LOVED it! Just FYI- This recipe reflects some changes I made. Oh and just so you know, I'm planning on taking my own pictures, but since I didn't have one of this recipe...I just used some that looked the closest to what I made.


Yield: 4 medium sized Calzones.


1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour


To make dough, proof yeast, then add oil & salt. Mix in 1 c. flour till smooth. Gradually add in rest of flour. Knead for 5 mins. Lay dough in bowl containing 1 tsp olive oil, flip dough, cover, & let rise for 40 mins or until almost doubled. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate into 4 equal parts. Roll out into thin circles on lightly floured surface. Fill calzone dough with desired filling by using just 1/2 of the circle and folding over. Secure edges by pressing a fork down. 

Like so-

Photo credit

Then- brush the top LIGHTLY with olive oil or egg white (whichever you prefer), and place on cookie sheet(lightly greased) or cooking stone(my personal preference). Make sure to stick a fork in the top- it tends to help it not explode.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 mins- cookie sheet or 20 mins- cooking stone. serve hot.


Filling- Tyson is obsessed with Hawaiian pizza, so that is what I did for the filling when I made it. I added lots of cheese, pineapple, and ham. I think it's better to have pizza sauce on the side for dipping. I definitely prefer the dipping to a soggy calzone!