Quick fix chicken & veggies

This is one of those meals you can throw together in 30 minutes and it's still totally yummy.




Ingredients

1 chicken breast
1/4 onion- thinly sliced
1 garlic clove- minced
Handful of asparagus
1/4 cup rice- I usually cook a whole cup and keep extras for other meals later that week
Soy sauce
Butter
Seasoned salt
Sriracha

Cook it

Start cooking the rice first, one cup of rice and two cups water. Simmer around 15-20 minutes.

Put a few tablespoons of butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Throw in the chicken, lightly salted with seasoned salt. Let cook about 10 minutes until browned and cooked through.

Remove chicken and add asparagus & onions to same pan with a little soy sauce. Let this cook around 5 minutes over medium high heat. Throw the garlic in for the last minute.

Chop the chicken into strips.

Serve it all together in a bowl. Rice first, then chicken, then veggies on top. Sriracha once around the top if you like it spicy!

Enjoy!

Stephanie

Caprese for Mamacita

Served up this simple dish for my mama the other day. Took 5 minutes to prep, was inexpensive, looks artistic & tastes great with some white wine! Try this out next time for feel like gettin fancy!

Caprese



ingredients

2 of your favorite large tomatoes
Fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

Thinly slice up your tomatoes and mozzarella. Get out a nice serving dish and stack tomato then mozzarella slices on top of each other in a row as pictured. Take 5-6 basil leaves and roll them up in your hand. Take kitchen scissors and cut into thin slices over the plate & distribute. Top it off with S & P, drizzle olive oil on top and serve fresh!!

Enjoy

Stephanie

Mexi Stir Fry

This meal incorporates everything I love- spicy, nutritious and simple to make.  It has definitely become a staple in my house, I'm sure it will steal your heart as well. 

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove minced

1/2 onion chopped

1 bell pepper (any color) chopped

1 handfull fresh cilantro chopped

2 chicken breasts chop them in half long the long way to help cook faster

1 can black beans

1/2 cup frozen white corn thawed

1/2 Jalapeño Seeded or non-seeded depending on how brave you are!

1 Avocado

Shredded cheddar or jack cheese optional

Rice brown or white

Spices:

Seasoned salt  season as desired

Chili powder 3 tablespoons

Cumin  1 tablespoon

Hot sauce to flavor I prefer Cholula

Oil   I prefer extra virgin olive oil for health factors, but any will do.  

Making the meal:

Coat a saucepan with oil and over medium heat add the chicken.  Add a little seasoned salt. Chicken should take around 10 minutes to cook through.  As it's turning white, start shredding it into thin bite size strips.  If it's cooked, it should easily tear with a firm pull with a fork.  Once this is shredded & cooked through, remove from heat and set aside.

In the same pan, add a little more oil and add in onions.  Cook these until translucent- 2 to 3 minutes.  Once these are done add your bell peppers, jalapeño, garlic.  Let these cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until bell peppers start to soften.  

Add the chicken, corn, black beans, cilantro and all spices in.  Let this cook 5 minutes, allowing time for all of the flavors to blend together.

Remove from heat and serve on top of rice with cheese & sliced avocado!  Add some more veggies on the side as I did for extra nutritious goodness.

Happy Lent!  Don't give up any of this, it's not worth it!!

Spicy Bacon, Potato & Leak Soup

This past week I met two publishers.  I shared my book idea with them, and both loved it!  I don't think I could have gotten more of a hint to finish then if baby Jesus came down and slapped me in the face himself.  So, I heard you.  I'm finishing my book in 2013, and it will be on shelves or online by 2014.  

1st recipe of the new year... Spicy Bacon, Potato & Leak Soup!

Ingredients

6 red gold potatoes

3 cups chicken broth

2 leaks

1 jalapeño

Pack of bacon

5 tablespoons cream cheese

Olive oil

Spices

Sriracha

Salt

Pepper

Red pepper flakes

Cook It

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot.  Add peeled potates and let cook 30 minutes.    

While that cooks slice your leaks into thin strips and chop up the jalapeño.  Place in a baking dish and coat with a layer of olive oil.  Cook this in the oven until golden brown, around 10 minus.

Once potatoes are done cooking, remove them from chicken broth and chop into bite size chunks.  Throw potatoes, leaks, jalapenos, and chicken broth into a blender or food processor.  Most likely you will need to do 1/2 then the other half.  Blend until smooth.

Put mixture back into big pot.  Add cream cheese & spices.  Stir until cream cheese is well blended.

Serve with crispy strips of chopped bacon!  Happy New Year!

Eggs Your Way

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast.  I cook eggs different ways for breakfast just about every day and never get sick of it.  It's quick, easy and delicious.  Most of my friends throughout college and even into mid 20's still cook breakfast for dinner.  There will be a whole section of the book dedicated to breakfast because of this.  I'm sure everyone knows how to scramble eggs, but here's one of my favorite morning meals.

BAJA SCRAMBLE

INGREDIENTS

2 Eggs
Fresh Salsa
1/2 Hass Avocado
Freshly Chopped Cilantro
1/4th Chopped Sweet Onion
2 Tblspoons Olive Oil

MAKING THE MEAL

Use a small sauté pan.  Line it with olive oil and over medium heat add your onions.  While that cooks about 2 minutes, crack open your eggs and whip them up in a small bowl.  Once the onions are translucent, add your eggs and cilantro.  Cook another two minutes or so until eggs are fluffy.

Serve on a small dish topped with the sliced avocado and salsa.  Makes for a colorful, nutritious meal.

ENJOY!

Say Yes to the BACON BLOODY

   

Ok so I'm totally stealing the bacon idea from a restaurant I went to recently, but DAMN... best idea ever.  What is it?  BACON IN YOUR BLOODY INSTEAD OF SALT AROUND THE RIM!!!

Duh, why didn't we think of that years ago?!  Maybe we did and I'm just now discovering it.  My world has changed.  Helloooooo Bacon Bloody Mary.  Damn, Gina.

I already had a good bloody concoction, but this just made it epic.  You taste a hint of bacon in every sip.  If you're a fat kid on the inside or out, this drink is for you.  Try it next Sunday when you feel like getting a jump start on your day.

BACON BLOODY

Ingredients:

Spicy bloody mary mix 

1/2 lemon- freshly squeezed juice

Freshly cracked pepper

Dash of Worcester sauce

squirt of Sriracha

Dash of sea salt

Garnishes:

1 piece crispy thick cut bacon

Thin slice of lemon

1 stick celery

Don't be afraid to drink this at night.  Still delicious.  Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Roasted Pepper & Hummus Wrap

OMG she's blogging two days in a row?!  Stop it.  

So I saw a recipe like this in my Cooking Light magazine I subscribe to and it looked delightful.  I created a spin off of what I saw there for lunch today.  It was the perfect light lunch for a busy work day.

This was simple enough for me to prepare in less than 10 minutes on the way out the door.  If you are making it for work, it would be an easy one to prepare the night before as well.

Ingredients

Red bell pepper - thinly sliced

Cucumber- thinly sliced

Crumbled goat cheese

Onion - thinly sliced

Spicy hummus

Wheat tortilla

*No measurements used only because I just stuffed as much of each as I could into the wrap.  And to be honest, you will want seconds, or your friend may steal this from you.  So extras are OK.

Preparation

Lightly brown the bell pepper & onions in skillet.  I didn't use any oil because I wanted them to get the charred taste, I suggest the same.  But using a little olive oil would be good too.  

Once those are browned, assemble your wrap!  I spread the hummus out first, then stacked veggies and topped it with goat cheese.  

Eat up!

Shrimp & Vodka Bow Tie

"Write whatever you just did down immediately, that's making the cookbook" 

- Trinity.  AKA professional recipe tester.

Simple Ingredients

Farafalle (AKA bow tie pasta)

Fresh Basil - thinly sliced for garnish as shown above

1/2 lb cooked jumbo shrimp

4oz heavy whipping cream

8oz package mini pearl grape tomatoes - chopped in half

1/2 cup good quality vodka 

3 garlic gloves - minced

2 shallots - finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Olive oil

Nom Nom Directions

Start boiling water for pasta first.  When it's ready, throw in desired amount of pasta, a dash of salt & start your vodka sauce.

In large sauce pan, coat a few times around with olive oil & throw in the shallots.  Sauté over medium heat for a minute, then add the vodka, tomatoes, garlic, & heavy whipping cream, spices & bring to a boil.  Let the alcohol cook off a few minutes and allow sauce to reduce.  Take the sauce out and pour into a blender or food processor.  Blend together until almost smooth (some chunks are kind of nice).

Put the sauce back in the sauce pan & add shrimp.  Cook for a five minutes over medium heat, allowing all of the flavors to mix together and shrimp to warm up.

Serve immediately and add fresh basil garnish on top.

Enjoy!  And keep reading... more delicious original recipes coming soon!

This Week's Lineup

It's seems there's never enough time in the day to do what you want.  For me it's blogging.  I'm going to try 4-5 new recipes every week starting now, and make the time to blog about them!  Here's my lineup for this week:

1. Hummus & Grilled Veggie Wrap  

2. PB Omelet (this sounds disgusting but I'm going to give it a go)

3. Avocado & Egg Bake

4. Shrimp & Vodka Penne

Recipes starting TODAY!  Cheers.

Almost Paleo Chili

 

My recent decision to change to a mostly paleo diet is still holding strong.  From February 1st- 26th (the beginning of my epic trip to Honduras) I have made a pact with the Crossfit crew to eat paleo and Crossfit 5x week.  I'm on week two, day 1.  It's hard.  And I've definitely cheated with the paleo thing already, whoopsie!

This recipe has been past down to me from my late Grandma Barbara.  I am all about the original recipe, but over the years I have began to alter it a little.  I've made it a bit heart healthier, and given it a bit more Mexican flare.  I think it's great.  Here's where the recipe stands today...

Ingredients.

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can whole tomatoes

2 cans black beans (Paleo kids-remove beans/ sub steak)

1 package ground turkey

1 green bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3 garlic cloves

2 yellow onions

1 can black olives

Herbs & Spices.

5 tablespoons chile powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon black pepper

Dash of oregano

Handful chopped parsley

Handful chopped cilantro

Cook it.

Chop up all the veggies.  Line a large pot with olive oil a few times around.  Throw in all the veggies and cook over low heat until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes).

While that is cooking, in another pan sauté the turkey meat.  Cook thoroughly adding salt & pepper.

When the veggies are done cooking, add the turkey, beans, and tomatoes to the pot.  Add all of the herbs and spices and lower the heat to a simmer.  Cook for 40min- 1hour covered.

Serve with freshly baked cornbread if you aren't doing a silly Paleo diet!  Enjoy!