Caprese Chicken

I feel like it's often I make something and we think its our new favorite...but really, this is one of our new favorites. So take that for what it's worth.

This is super fast and simple to put together. We had  rotini with pesto on the side and everyone loved it. I used fresh mozzarella but a sprinkling of shredded cheese or a slice would be just fine.







Caprese Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 c. balsamic vinaigrette
2 cloves garlic
1 large tomato or 2 small, sliced
fresh basil leaves
4-8 slices mozzarella cheese
balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction

Pour the balsamic vinaigrette in a ziploc bag and add in the garlic. Marinate the chicken breasts in there for a few hours or even all day. Cook the chicken on a heated grill until cooked through, at the last minute top with tomatoes, basil and cheese and wait until the cheese melts. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar or a balsamic reduction. Enjoy!

Veggie Enchilada Bake

We're trying to eat more veggies.  This recipe is a direct reflection of that.  I threw it all together in my "Magic Pot" from Pampered Chef and microwaved it for 15 minutes and wah-lah...we all loved it.  You too can make this in the microwave, or if you don't have a magic pot, use a baking dish and bake it in the oven.

I had a bunch of collard greens sitting around and I chopped them up and put them in but spinach would be just great so use a bunch of greens of your choice.

Veggie Enchilada Bake

8 corn tortillas, cut in quarters
1 tsp olive or vegetable oil
1 poblano pepper, chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 bunch greens, chopped
1 c. frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1 can black beans, drained
1 heaping Tb. adobo sauce, from a can of chipotle in adobo (or 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder)
2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 10-oz can green enchilada sauce (check for gluten if you're GF)

Preheat the oven to 350 (if you're using the oven.)  Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add in 1 tsp. oil.  Saute the peppers, onion, tomatoes, garlic, and greens 5-7 minutes, or until they are soft.  Stir in black beans, corn and adobo sauce and season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.  Pour some enchilada sauce on the bottom of your deep covered baker or an 8x8 or 9x9 pan.  Layer half the tortillas, half the veggie mixture, half the cheese.  Then the rest of the tortillas, enchilada sauce, veggies and top with the cheese.  Bake 20 minutes (or microwave 15).  Once you remove from the oven, let stand 10 minutes before serving.

1/6th is 7 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

Greek Inspired Stuffed Peppers

I ended up with numerous small green bell peppers and they just seemed perfect for stuffing. So, I came up with this recipe and we all really liked it. I would prefer using colored bell peppers so if you have those available that would probably be even better.

I bought a case of tomatoes that I needed to use up so I used fresh tomatoes in this recipe, but a can of chopped tomatoes would be an easy substitution if you have one of those around. Also, I used a can of black beans, but if you prefer, rice would be a good addition.







Greek Inspired Stuffed Peppers
6 small bell peppers, any color (or 4 large peppers)
1 lb chicken or turkey sausage
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 can black beans, drained OR 2 c. cooked rice
1 box frozen, chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
4 oz. feta, crumbled

Rinse the peppers, cut off the tops and remove the ribs and seeds, then set aside. In a large skillet cook the sausage and drain off the fat. Add in the onion and jalapeno and cook over medium until they begin to soften. Next add the garlic and tomatoes and cook a few more minutes, once the tomatoes start to soften and break down crumble in the spinach and stir in the black beans and feta. Stuff the peppers and place them in a baking dish. Bake 25-35 minutes, or until peppers are fork-tender.

BBQ Chicken Bowls

I made the cilantro-lime rice and grilled chicken the other day, and I made too much...way too much. Then--after church Sunday a plan came to me with the leftovers and I came up with this, we all loved it. Somehow the picture looks a little onion-y, but we like onions so it worked. You can adjust how you see fit!

I roasted a red pepper, but you don't have to go to the trouble, a chopped bell pepper would be really good.

This is a rough recipe, I just sprinkled on the toppings to our liking so adjust as you like!

BBQ Chicken Bowls
makes 4-5 servings

1 recipe cilantro-lime rice
1.25 lbs grilled chicken breast
1/2-3/4 c. bbq sauce
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
cilantro, chopped

Chop the chicken and stir in the bbq sauce, adjust the amount to your liking. To assemble bowls layer rice, chicken, cheese, onion, black beans, corn and red pepper and garnish with cilantro.  Enjoy with a margarita to really kick it up!

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes

Again...Pinterest. I heart Pinterest.

I had 2 large heads of cauliflower to use and wanted something different so...I searched Pinterest and found the base of this recipe. We really loved this pasta and I will make it over and over again. I used brown rice penne, but any short-cut pasta would be great.

To make prep go more quickly, I roasted the tomatoes, cauliflower and garlic in the morning so I could just throw this all together quickly at dinner time.


Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes
recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

1 small head cauliflower or 1/2 large head, chopped
3 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
10 cloves garlic, peeled
olive oil
1 lb short-cut pasta
1 box spinach, thawed and drained completely
1/2 lb. bacon, chopped
a few Tb. julienned sundried tomatoes
1 c. white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. granulated garlic
salt & pepper to taste (hold off on the salt until the end)

Preheat the oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay out the cauliflower and tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Wrap the garlic cloves in foil and stick it in the oven with the other vegetables.  Shake the pan every 10 minutes until the cauliflower is browned and somewhat crispy and the tomatoes look soft, about 25-30 minutes.  The garlic may take longer, it should be lightly browned and soft. Remove from the oven and let cool. When the garlic is cool, chop it.
While the pasta is boiling, cook the bacon until crisp.  Drain the grease out of the pan.  Add in the sundried tomatoes, cauliflower and spinach.  Pour in the wine and cook a few minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes and garlic, cooked pasta, granulated garlic and parmesan cheese.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.

Pulled Pork Tacos with Smoky Cilantro Slaw

One more Pioneer Woman success. I love her. I made this slaw and I have to admit that I had to make a couple changes b/c it wasn't super flavorful, which I'm assuming was my error but after I added my flair we loved it!! I decided to make tacos instead of sandwiches because it seemed like the right thing to do. And it was. As you can see, we like an even slaw-to-pork ratio.  Don't let that scare you.

For the kids I made this into quesadillas and layered the pork, slaw, and some cheese in between two tortillas which was also super delicious and they scarfed it down, which is more than I can say for their usual behavior towards anything with the word "slaw" in it.

Smoky Cilantro Slaw
recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman

1 head cabbage, sliced
4 green onions, sliced
1 c. cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. milk
3/4 c. mayo
1 Tb. vinegar
1-2 Tb. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of cayenne pepper
2 Tb. adobo sauce (leftover from pork)

Mix everything together and refrigerate an hour before serving.

Pulled Pork Tacos
recipe from Pioneer Woman

3 lbs pork loin roast
1/2 can chipotle in adobo (just toss 3-4 chipotle peppers and drizzle some of the adobo sauce on there)
1 can Dr. Pepper (I used diet, worked great)
1 Tb. brown sugar
1 onion, quartered
corn tortillas


Place the onions on the bottom of a crockpot and put the roast on top of them. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Pour the chipotles and adobo sauce on the top of the roast. Pour in the Dr. Pepper and stir the brown sugar into that. Cook on low heat all day. When the roast easily falls apart with two forks, remove it from the pot and shred. Chop the chopotles up. Skim the fat off of the top of the cooking liquid and discard. Put the shredded pork back & chipotles into the liquid. Keep on warm setting until you're ready to eat. To assemble tacos put a couple fork-fulls of pork onto the corn tortilla. Top with lots of smoky cilantro slaw. Enjoy!

Quinoa Salad with Shrimp & Lemon Vinaigrette

I found this recipe and it looked amazing. It called for quinoa but I had on hand some "Harvest Grains" from Trader Joes that had Israeli couscous, quinoa and some other stuff and that was really good! So I say, make it with quinoa or Israeli couscous.

I ate some leftover for lunch on a bed of spinach and it was really great, so good that next time I'll serve it as a tossed salad on spinach or arugula. A few things I'll do differently next time: leave out the pomegranate arils (turns out I'm not a fan), add the corn (that I defrosted and left in the microwave), and serve on greens.

I must admit, that as much as I liked this, my family wasn't a huge fan of this salad....kids especially and they pretty much eat everything so maybe not super kid-friendly!


Quinoa Salad with Shrimp and Lemon Vinaigrette
recipe adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/2 c. plus 2 Tb. fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
5 garlic cloves, pressed
dash of sugar
1 Tb. honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
lots of fresh black pepper
1 c. olive oil
dash (or two) of cayenne pepper

Mix everything together in a jar and shake well.

Quinoa Salad:
1 1/4 c. dry quinoa or Israeli couscous, prepared & cooled
2 oranges, peeled, segmented and chopped
1 c. frozen or fresh corn
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2-3/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 c. pomegranate arils (optional)
4 green onions, chopped
1 lb shrimp, peeled and rinsed

Toss the shrimp with a few tablespoons of the dressing and refrigerate while you prepare the salad. To make the salad mix cooked quinoa or couscous, oranges, corn, cucumber, black beans, cilantro, pomegranate and onions together in a bowl. Then heat a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat, add in the shrimp and coook until just pink. Try not to overcook the shrimp. Serve the salad at room temperature or cold, with shrimp on top and drizzle with dressing.

Green Chile & Cheddar Chicken and Cilantro Lime Rice

We love green chiles. And cheese. And cilantro. This is one of our favorite cominations. I found the rice recipe on Our Best Bites (shocker) and I find that it goes with almost anything. Next time I'm going to try making it with brown rice.

We were lucky enough to be in Flagstaff Labor Day weekend when the farmer's market was roasting and selling fresh Hatch green chiles and we bought a case. I mean a half case or quarter case just wouldn't have been enough...right? This is a great way to use a fresh, roasted green chile OR just use a while green chile from a can.

I marinate the chicken in a mesquite marinade that I love from Fry's, but any mexican/smokey marinade would be great or you could season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic and cumin.

Green Chile & Cheddar Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 c. bottled mesquite marinade
4 whole green chiles, roasted
4 slices sharp cheddar cheese (preferably Tillamook)

Marinate the chicken in the mesquite marinade for several hours. Heat a grill and cook chicken several minutes on each side. When the chicken is almost cooked top with a green chile and slice of cheese. Close the grill just long enough to melt the cheese.

Cilantro Lime Rice
recipe from Our Best Bites

1 c. white rice, cooked as directed
2 Tb. butter
1-2 limes, juiced (taste as you go, I use 2)
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained well
3/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Once the rice is cooked, and still hot, stir in the butter, lime juice, pineapple and cilantro. Serve immediately. Goes great with enchiladas, tacos, or just about anything.

Steak with Onions and Blue Cheese Sauce

My husband came home from 12 days in China and requested a big American steak so...I delivered. We wanted blue cheese and I remebered this sauce from Our Best Bites so I whipped it up really quick and it turned out great! (It's also great on burgers which is what they use it for.)

Any kind of steak would be fantastic, we used porter house steaks from Costco--or do the whole thing on a burger too.



Steak with Onions and Blue Cheese SauceBlue Cheese Sauce:
adapted from Our Best Bites

1/2 c. mayo
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tb. red wine vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. blue cheese

Mix everything together and let refrigerate until you're ready for it.

Caramelized Onions:
2 medium yellow or white onions
2-3 Tb. butter

Slice the onions thinly. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add in the onions and saute until they begin to soften. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook until they are brown and caramelized.

Steaks:
4 small or 2 large steaks (about 1 1/2 lbs)
sea salt
fresh black pepper
granulated garlic

Heat a grill or grill pan. Drizzle steaks with a little olive oil and season both sides liberally. Cook the steaks according to your done-ness preference. We like ours medium-rare so we cook a couple minutes on each side.

Remove steaks from grill and top with lots of onions and serve the blue cheese sauce on the side.

Quick Pesto Marinara

I whipped this up the other night to have over spaghetti squash, which is not exactly a complete substitution for actual noodles, but it is better on the daily calorie count so...anyway--this sauce is very good! I don't know why I never thought to put some pesto into the marinara before but it added lots of great flavor.

Next time I'll double or triple this and freeze the leftovers.







Quick Pesto Marinara

1 Tb. olive oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
6 oz can tomato paste
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
14.5 oz can tomato sauce
2-3 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. sugar
dash of crushed red pepper
2-4 Tb. pesto

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Saute peppers and onions for a few minutes, until soft. Add in garlic and lower heat to medium and cook a minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook a couple minutes until the paste starts to deepen in color. Add in seasoning, sugar, crushed red pepper, tomatoes, sauce and pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings.