I’ve learned this weekend that when it is cold outside – I want warmth to eat – and I’m doing a juice/smoothie fast – for the most part – and all I want is warm anything. But, pressing on! Until tomorrow night!
The other exciting thing for the home is coming this week for 7 days. The boys and her son will love that. So, I’m cooking a bit for that. I’m taking a little trip so I like to leave my family well-stocked with what they will love while I’m gone.
Baked Ziti PW style. I’m actually doing this in two batches so I can freeze one of them.
Whoever was the first person to eat brunch or brinner – they were genious. I love eating breakfast foods at different times of the day – other than breakfast of course.
And if you are trying to watch your carb intake – then this is a perfect recipe for you!
Roasted Broccoli and Spinach Frittata
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Eggs
Author: kd316
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Eggs and vegetables – great combination
Ingredients
1 head of broccoli, chopped and roasted (in directions below)
1 handful of fresh baby spinach
7 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk plus 2 T whole milk
3/4 cup sharp cheddar, grated
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
Instructions
Before you make the frittata, you have to roast the broccoli. This is my favorite way to eat broccoli. Chop one head of broccoli, using the florets, spread out on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes. Let cool.
Whisk together eggs, milk, spices, and mustard.
Add in vegetables and cheese.
Bake in a pie pan (I have a deep dish one) for 30-35 minutes at 350.
As a mother of two – a preschooler and a toddler – life in my kitchen has gotten really slim. Meaning – I used to love being in my kitchen. But, now I’m multi-tasking and keeping an eye on the kids and an eye on the stove – its a wonder I don’t burn dinners and chop off my thumb in the process.
My friend Kristin over at Dine and Dish (you so have to check out her blog for everything) did an enchilada casserole. I had been trying to make it for two weeks but kept either using an ingredient for something else, or forgetting an ingredient. So, I just changed the recipe. Thanks for the inspiration!
And my family loves some Mexican food. Wait, I love Mexican food. Therefore, I impose it on my family. I hope they don’t mind. This dish took 20 minutes to put together, takes 25 to cook, and it is great for leftovers. I call that a win – win – win. And it is only made better by avocados and more cheese – that has to be a good dish.
Mexican Lasagna
Recipe Type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Author: kd316
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8-10
Easy layered Mexican lasagna perfect for any time of the year
Ingredients
3/4 lb ground chuck (or whatever ground beef or turkey is cheapest)
1 onion, chopped
2 cups black beans (I used dry beans and cooked them down)
1 can whole kernel corn (frozen would work too)
juice of half lime
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp taco seasoning
6-8 flour tortillas, soft taco size
1 bottle green salsa (I used Trader Joes because it is Whole30 compliant)
1 can refried beans (or you can make them yourself)
Mexican blend cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook the meat until almost done. Add onion and cook until meat is done. Drain. (This is a good tip. You can buy cheaper meat with higher fat – just drain it really good when its done cooking.)
Put the meat and onion mixture back in the pan. Add corn, lime, beans, tomatoes, and seasoning. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Start your lasagna with 2 tortillas in the bottom of a 11×7 pan. Then spread those with 1/3 of the can of refried beans. Then scoop up some meat mixture and layer that on top. Top with cheese then salsa. Then repeat.
I left mine topped with cheese (just because I ran out of tortillas).
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
Eat it with a green salad. You can also serve tortilla chips if you want crunchiness and sour cream and more cheese and avocado are a must!
Happy Thanksgiving Week. Hit me up if you are still in need of recipes and you just don’t know what to cook for Thursday’s big meal. Normal life this week and I’m thankful for that.
Chicken Ramen Salad
Thick-sliced Turkey BLT
Homemade Applesauce (so much better than store bought)
I like normal weeks. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love doing fun things and love out of the ordinary with people, and events, and cooking times – but I also like the ordinary weeks. This week…we have no guests, I’m cooking one meal for a family in our church, I will probably do some baking with the boys – but other than that it is pretty normal and I’m trying to use ingredients I already have in my kitchen.
Pepperoni and Cheese Crescent Rolls for a quick dinner for my men on Tuesday night while I run to Target before the ever important NCIS comes on
Broccoli Rice Chicken Cheddar One-Dish Casserole (recipe coming soon on this blog)
When moving to a new place you always want to scout out a couple of things: parks, hiking trails, great local Mexican restaurants, and definitely a favorite sushi/chinese take out place. One of my favorite things to do is to sit on the couch eating take out Chinese. We haven’t done it in a while because we’ve not found a place that’s not really expensive here in our area.
There was a great local dive in Chapel Hill called Charlie’s. It had the best corn egg drop soup and was just down the strip mall from where I worked for a while. I loved everything on their menu. Would love to grab lunch with a sweet friend there or take some home for dinner. This is especially worth it for those cold, rainy winter nights.
It might not be winter yet, but its been constantly raining and cloudy with much of the same in the coming forecast – and I’ve been wanting to try something healthy with cauliflower. Speaking of cauliflower – I hope my Mister will eat this. There are only a few things that my mister doesn’t like – and I’ve changed his mind about one of them already since we got married. So, I think the flavor of this dish will win him over to the cauliflower side!
Sweet Chili Kung Pao Cauliflower
Recipe Type: main dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Author: kcreatives
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-4
A healthy satisfying twist on a Chinese favorite
Ingredients
2 T unsalted butter
1 head cauliflower, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce (bottled) – divide into three
1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers (red, orange, yellow)
1 tsp chopped garlic (1-2 cloves)
1/4 cup salted peanuts
2 T water
Instructions
Heat butter in a non-stick pan or wok.
Add cauliflower and season with salt and pepper.
Saute with the water for about 3-5 minutes.
Add some of the chili sauce.
Add peppers and garlic. Saute about 2-3 minutes
Add peanuts and more chili sauce. Stir until all combined
Remove from heat and stir in the remaining chili sauce.
You can add some green onions/chives or more peanuts on top for presentation.
Serve with rice for a complete meal.
3.3.3077
Trader Joes has a great Sweet Chili sauce that we use for some chinese chicken dishes. It was perfect in this dish as well. I also had chopped up some yellow, orange, and red peppers and had them in the freezer. This dish took all of 10 minutes. I love quick dishes – in between refilling preschooler sippy cups and singing the Dino Train song – quick is good for this busy momma!
