Taco Tuesday

Tonight Chase and I are celebrating Taco Tuesday.  I grabbed an Old El Paso kit at Walmart earlier, so nothing too fancy!  Chase has mentioned several times how much he loves yellow rice and how his nanny always makes it for him with chicken so I also got a small package of Mahatma saffron yellow rice to go along with our tacos.  Round the meal out with some black beans and viola---tacos will be happening soon!  I totally forgot to get sour cream, but I did have some plain Greek yogurt in my fridge so I will be using that to top off my taco salad.

I was off work today and knew that I needed to get some things prepped before working all day tomorrow and most of the day Thursday.  If I don't pack it I generally won't have anything to eat (unless my techs are going out and pick something up for me)--unless it is JUNK!  In my recent endeavors to start clean eating I've read over and over that failure to plan is planning to fail.  I am becoming more of a believer in this, but have slacked recently in the planning department.  I ran to Walmart earlier and quickly did some simple food prepping while washing some clothes and eating lunch.  I made the taco meat and rice for dinner tonight, cut up a small watermelon from Whole Foods, marinated some chicken tenders in Wishbone light Asian with sesame and ginger dressing to have with salads, roasted a spaghetti squash, and popped some stove top popcorn.  (sorry for the lack of pictures, but my phone was charging).  I need to get some more fruits/veggies, but this should get me through the rest of my short work week.  I want to try some new recipes next week and plan on using Sunday to get things prepped and ready.

Thanks to my awesome mom and her ideas here is some of my work crew last week for Halloween:

Dinner at home!!

I really do love to cook dinner at home whenever I have a chance.  Not only do I feel better about what I am eating, but I usually have leftovers to either eat before work the next day or take with me!  I am always off Thursday evenings so it has become a time I regularly cook at home.

Last Thursday I knew I wanted to make a pasta salad type side dish with orzo pasta.  I usually go sort of Greek with it and wanted to have a main dish to compliment it.  Off to google I went and searched for "Greek Chicken".  I found the best recipe from Rachael Ray called "Lazy Baked Greek Chicken"

Lazy Baked Greek Chicken:
(From the Rachael Ray Show)

I used 3 rather large chicken breasts for this recipe and tried to semi pound them out so that they were all an even size and would be easier to stuff.

On the stove top I heated some olive oil, minced garlic (I used the jarred garlic so I used a small spoonful) and 1/2 a white onion, diced small.  Once the onion was translucent I mixed all this in a bowl with a box of thawed chopped spinach, feta cheese (I found a great feta cheese at Trader Joe's that also had Mediterranean seasonings added), and some pepper.

With the pan still on the stove I melted about 3 tablespoons butter, added a small amount of garlic, and about 1c panko breadcrumbs.

In order to stuff the chicken you need to slice through the middle of the breast, but not all the way through--kind of like making a pocket for the stuffing.  I stuffed the chicken with the spinach mixture, put on a baking sheet and topped with the panko breadcrumb mixture.

Bake at 425 about 20 minutes.

I cooked some orzo in boiling salted water until it was al dente.  Once I drained it I added some of the same feta cheese, halved grape tomatoes, some black pepper, and a little Kraft Cesar Italian dressing.

I served this up with some Rex Goliah Pinot Grigio.


I also wanted to cook dinner last night since I knew I could eat leftovers for lunch today.  I made a recipe I had first cooked for my mom for Valentine's Day.  It is super simple and from one of my favorite websites: Emily Bites.  I love her website because all the recipes are healthy and she also includes the nutritional information.

French Dip "Cupcakes"
(From Emily Bites)

10-12oz deli roast beef that I asked for thin sliced and then chopped up
4 laughing cow light cheese wedges, chopped
1/3 c. au jus gravy (I found Heinz in a jar, I think it said Bistro gravy on it)
16 wonton wrappers (or egg roll wrappers work if you cut them into fourths)
4oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 8 muffin cups with cooking spray.  Place one wonton wrapper into each of the tins.

In a microwave safe bowl combine all ingredients except the remaining wonton wrappers and shredded cheese.  Heat 2 minutes until the cheese wedges are melted and stir well.

I like to put the unfilled wrappers in the oven for about 2 minutes to just crisp them up a little before I start to fill them.  Once these are crisp spoon a small amount of the roast beef mixture into each cup.  Top with a small amount of shredded cheese, place another wrapper on top, add the remaining roast beef mixture, and top with the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake 18-20 minutes until the "cupcakes" are golden brown.

I served these with some spicy sweet potato fries and green beans.  This is a great weeknight recipe because it is super easy, but extremely tasty!

Crock Pot Love

I have really been trying to cook meals and also plan for leftovers so that I have something to take to work besides sandwiches.  With my schedule the crock pot is amazing, because not only are the recipes super easy, but I can just throw everything in and forget about it!

Crock Pot Taco Chicken:

I first mentioned a version of this when I made enchiladas last summer.  I originally found the recipe at SkinnyTaste and modified it some to make in the crockpot with ingredients I had on hand.  Recently, I have simplified it even more!

I used one package chicken breast tenderloins, 1 jar of salsa, and one pack of taco seasoning.  I wanted to add the black beans the whole time it was cooking, but I forgot to pick them up so I added them at the end, which still worked.  I put all the ingredients in the crock pot and cooked on low for about 8 hours.  (PS leftovers of this dish freeze very well)

I served this amazing chicken mixture with some shredded Mexican cheese, sour cream, and pepper jack Tostito chips.

Crock Pot Cubed Steak:


I like cubed steak, but I can never seem to get it to taste like when my mom makes it.  Mine always turns out kind of tough and chewy.  Tough cuts of meat (like cubed steak) are perfect for the crock pot because they cook slow and low.

How easy does that look.  Three ingredients (cubed steak, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, and a package of onion soup mix) into the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours and viola! dinner is served!  I found this recipe on Pinterest from The Post It Place and I made slightly less of it so I cut the amount of soup to one can.  Using the onion soup mix with the cream of mushroom soup makes a lovely gravy that can be served with the steak.  (its not the prettiest meal I have ever made, but the taste makes up for it)

To complete my meal I served it with some mashed potatoes and a fresh eat of corn and tomato from the Farmer's Market.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork:

Normally pulled pork is something I would never attempt, but I remember reading on PBFingers that she had made in the crockpot with TWO ingredients! Pork and a can of beef broth...that is all, nothing else!  Man, it doesn't get much easier than that.  I put a pork roast and can of beef broth in my crock pot on high for 6 hours yesterday while I chilled at the pool and did some baking and cleaning.  **I had forgotten the beef broth so I had to get it after church, otherwise I would have put it on before church and cooked on low for about 8 hours**

To round out my meal I added some steamed mixed veggies, brown rice, and sweet baby ray's BBQ sauce!

I always keep my eye out for new crock pot recipes because they are so yummy and easy!

Gramma's Meatloaf

Ok, so I know some people may not be a fan of meatloaf.  I know, I didn't think I was until I went to visit my college boyfriend's family one Sunday after church and his mom fixed meatloaf!  Ahhh, what was I supposed to do?!  I definitely couldn't be rude and refuse it so I decided to give it a try.  (I've always said dating him was a good experience on many levels, one being that I tried lots of new things eating with his parents most Sundays--didn't hurt that his mom was a great cook).  Surprise, surprise I loved it!  From that moment my love of meatloaf has grown.  I even fixed it for one of my girlfriends birthday parties :)  I knew my mom always bragged on her mom's (my gramma) meatloaf so once I moved out to Nashville I was pumped to try it.  Yes, it stood up to my mom's talk...it was DELICIOUS!

Fast forward 3 and 1/2 years.  I am finishing pharmacy school, moving back to North Carolina for a job, and trying to be more sensible and smart about what I eat.  I stayed at my mom's house most of March/beginning of April and one thing I was really looking forward to was cooking for her and my bother because I know it is something they don't always have the time to do.  I knew my 1st meal home had to be a HIT or the following month was going to be off to a rocky start.  I wanted to surprise my mom with something special I knew that she liked...enter in MEATLOAF!

I truly think it was a hit with my family and I was glad to see the smile it put on my mom's face.

Gramma's Famous Meatloaf


(when I emailed my gramma about this recipe she informed me she did not really do recipes so below is what I came up with based on her semi-recipe, but it could all be tailored to your personal tastes and preferences)




about 1 and 1/2 pounds of ground beef
approximately 3/4 c. oatmeal
1 egg
1 package dried onion soup mix
dash (or 2) of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 can of tomato soup
1/4-1/2 cup of ketchup
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar






Mix all the ingredients (except for the tomato soup, ketchup, and brown sugar) together and form into a loaf.  In a separate dish combine the tomato soup, ketchup and brown sugar.  Place on top of the meatloaf.

Bake at 350 30-45 minutes until the meat is cooked.  Mine definitely took more towards the 45 minute mark.

I also made twice baked potatoes which were really simple to do!

After baking the potatoes scoop out the insides then combine with butter, sour cream, salt/peppar, and I used Kraft Triple Cheddar finely shredded cheese!  Once combined put back into the potato skins and bake until warmed through and the cheese is melted. (I just put them in the oven while the meatloaf was baking)

Add some green beans to round out the meal and I say this dinner was a success!

I know I've said it before and this time I really mean it.  Now that school is finally winding down and I am about to have an actual life and routine I am really looking forward to have more time to blog about what I love.  Food! (while trying to be somewhat healthy about it)

Roasted Veggies

I really like almost every vegetable and enjoy eating them throughout the day, but especially with dinner.  I usually eat a salad or have some type of veggie on the side, but that can get a little boring and plain.  I decided I was going to roast some veggies last Friday when I got off work and then I would have some leftovers for the weekend as well.  I decided to use carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and onions.  I cut them all up (except for the carrots because I used baby carrots) about the same size and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some original Mrs. Dash.

I placed all the veggies in a single layer on a baking sheet.

I put them in a 400 degree oven for about 50 minutes, stirring about every 10-15 minutes.  Next time I make these I think I will see how they are after about 30 minutes because while they were delicious they were a little mushy.

I will definitely be making these in the future!

Veggie Hot Pockets

I have really made an effort to cook more at home and eat out less.  I love finding new recipe ideas, but I am often frustrated because I am generally cooking for one person and most things have at least 4 servings.  Sometimes it is easy and works out to half a recipe or occasionally I make extra and freeze several servings.  I don't mind eating leftovers, in fact I enjoy them because they make meal prep super simple.  I was browsing around online last week looking at several healthy living blogs I like to read and get ideas from when I found an amazing website:  Reservations for two  Not only is it full of recipes for 2 they are generally pretty healthy.  

I was off work last Friday so I made it a point to go to the grocery store and stock up and prep for this upcoming week.  I cut up 2 containers of strawberries, chopped and washed a bunch of romaine lettuce, cooked a spaghetti squash, and sliced up a cucumber for snacking and salads.  I found a recipe on the reservations for 2 website that used buffalo chicken in a salad so I decided to put my own little spin on that. 

 

Buffalo Chicken Tenders:

(adapted from reservation for two)

This was super easy, but I thought it would be a good way to add protein to a salad.  

I just took a package of chicken tenderloins and cooked them in a pan with a little olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side until they were cooked through.  After the chicken was cooked all I added was a 1/4c Frank's Red Hot.  I turned the burner down to low and let the sauce and chicken simmer together for a few more minutes until the sauce had thickened up.  

This chicken would be great on a salad with a little REAL blue cheese or ranch dressing (because the fat free versions taste like garbage), but considering I am about to be living in a hotel for a month then venturing back to North Carolina I didn't want to buy another bottle of salad dressing.  So I had a spin-off of a Greek salad with the chicken cut up on the side.  I ate the chicken cold because I am not a huge fan of chicken warmed in the microwave. 

 

I also wanted to make dinner Friday night and I found another recipe on Reservation for two that I only had to buy minimal ingredients for.  I used what I had and adapted some to my tastes.

 

Veggie Hot Pockets:

(adapted from reservation for two)

1/2 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup mixed veggies of choice (if using frozen thaw them before use)

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

4 crescent rolls (I splurged and used regular crescents because they were the only ones that came in a pack of 4 and only 10 more calories each than the reduced fat)

(**the original recipe calls for 1 tbsp of onion, but I didn't have i so I left it out)

 

Preheat oven to 375.  

Mix the cream of chicken soup, veggies, cheese, salt, and pepper together.  

Take 2 crescent rolls and mash them together so they form a big rectangle (FYI I should have smoothed them out/stretched it a little to make the rectangle bigger).  

Place 1/2 of the mixture in the middle of the crescents and fold over the ends making sure to seal off the sides to make something that looks like a hot pocket.  

Repeat with the remaining crescent rolls and veggie filling.  

Bake 15 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.  

I enjoyed this yummy "healthified" hot pocket with 1 cup of spaghetti squash.

 

 

**A few points I would like to make on the veggie hot pockets:

The next time I make this I will use less cream of chicken soup because it seemed to over power the veggies in the hot pockets

I used a shredded Mexican variety cheese because that is what I had on hand and it was delicious

These were wonderful right out of the oven, but unfortunately for dinner the next night it didn't heat up amazingly well.  In the future I will go ahead and make the veggie mixture, but bake the hot pocket on the night I will eat it.