Crispy Breaded Chicken

After our day in Clear Lake, Brent made supper!! Breaded chicken with asparagus and rice! Like me, he sometimes just throws recipes together from his head with no measurements, so these are approximate, but it was soooo good!

1/2 cup flour (we used almond flour)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup plain potato chips, crushed

2 TBSP fresh grated Parmesan 

1/4 cup Panko crumbs

1 TBSP Roasted garlic and red pepper spice blend from Mom's Pantry (or could use any spices you want of course!)

1 tsp fresh ground pepper 

Chicken breasts (of course we used one real, one veggie!)

Rice (we used Uncle Ben's Parmesan and Butter flavour)

Pre-heat oven to 375F.

Lay out 3 small plates. On the first spread out flour, on the second the eggs, and on the third, mix together the chips, parm, Panko, spices and pepper. 

Dredge chicken in flour, then egg, then crumb mixture (if we're doing something like this we always coat Brent's chicken first so my raw chicken germs don't contaminate!!).

Place in separate baking dishes and bake, uncovered for about 30 minutes.

Then I just tossed some asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper and some garlic and baked in tin foil for about 15 minutes.

And Brent cooked the rice according to package!

Yum!

Lake Wedding!

We went to a beautiful wedding last night in Clear Lake! Gorgeous bride & groom, great company, beautiful decorations and awesome food!!!
Started with a mixed green salad with vinaigrette and some sort of amazing breaded goat cheese on the side - OMG! Then for dinner I had beef with baby potatoes, asparagus and carrots and Brent was served a delish gnocchi dish!  AND  a pie bar for dessert!!!

Veggie wraps!

Tonight, a nice fresh wrap! Garlic and pesto flavoured tortilla filled with chicken breast (cooked with a little pepper and thyme), lettuce, arugula, cucumber, avocado, strawberries and feta topped with Kraft poppyseed dressing and a few fresh herbs... And a small side of fries :)

Chicken Caesar Salad

Any vegetarians reading this will know, but anyone like me who had never bothered to read the ingredients on Caesar dressing will not – Caesar dressing is usually made with anchovy paste!  Did that just blow your mind? Cuz it blew mine the first time Brent told me haha 

For awhile when we first met there was a brand of dressing that was vegetarian but we haven’t been able to find it for awhile so have been making our own dressing when we feel like a Caesar!  I've sort of combined different recipes I found to make something with easy ingredients that mix together to taste right!

So, here is my home-made Vegetarian Caesar dressing!

½ cup Mayo

3 TBSP fresh Parmesan cheese

¼ cup olive oil

1 TBSP white wine vinegar

3 gcoves garlic

2 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp ground mustard powder

2 dashes hot sauce

Pinch of cayenne pepper

A couple pinches of salt and pepper

Put all ingredients in mixer and blend on medium speed until combined well!  I usually make this at lunch and then it has time for all the flavors to combine before supper time!

For our salad tonight, I grilled our chicken - my “real” chicken breast and Brent’s veggie chicken breast – just sprinkled with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil, BBQ’d until cooked through!  Tossed lettuce with dressing then topped with croutons, fresh parmesan cheese, some “simulated” bacon bits and chicken!

Southwest BBQ Pizza

That's what I'm calling it anyway... Brent cooked tonight! Pizza on the BBQ - Yum! We haven't done this since last summer! 
So, he made with BBQ sauce for the base, topped with black beans, corn, avocado and mozza cheese! Pre-heat the BBQ on lowest temperature and prepare pizza on stone then cook for about 20 mins or until crust is cooked (but hopefully not burnt!!!) and cheese has melted...

Cheesy Pasta!

Starting the week off with something easy – “Cheesy Pasta” – kinda, sorta like mac & cheese but I just seem to make up my own recipe every time!  Having said that, this is a very approximate “recipe” since I just tend to do my own thing with this… I just usually just throw stuff in a pot and see what happens! 

Here’s what I did last night:

 

Cheesy Pasta with Chicken and Roasted Vegetables:

3 cups uncooked pasta (cook according to package directions – I used shells this time but you can really use any shape)

Approx ½ cup of chicken cut into small chunks (I used “real” chicken for myself and Brent’s veggie chicken strips)

Approx 1 ½ cups of vegetables (I used broccoli and cauliflower)

2 TBSP olive oil

½ cup cream cheese (I used Philadelphia Light Herb and Garlic flavored)

¼ cup milk

1 TBSP pre-made Pesto

1 tsp garlic

2 tsp of herbs (fresh or dried!)

A few “turns” of fresh ground pepper

A pinch of salt

Approx ¾ cup shredded cheese (I used a mozza cheddar blend)

 

Start water boiling in pot on stovetop and turn oven on to 350F to pre-heat.  Chop your vegetables into small pieces and spread on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and put in oven to roast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

While the vegetables are roasting and water is boiling, heat olive oil in 2 separate frying pans and cook each type of chicken through.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper if you’d like as it cooks! 

While chicken, veggies and pasta are cooking, start the sauce! Combine cream cheese, milk, spices, pesto and salt & pepper in a small pot and stir on medium heat until cream cheese has melted and mixture starts to boil slightly. Remove from heat

Put desired amount of pasta and vegetables in 2 separate baking dishes, each topped with your chicken and pour sauce over each.  Mix everything up thoroughly in each baking dish, top with shredded cheese, cover with tinfoil and bake for 15 minutes. Take foil off and broil for a few minutes until cheese is browning and bubbly!

 

I will sometimes get this prepared in the morning or on my lunch break and then just have to bake when we get home in the evening! So usually bake at 350F for 30-45 mins in that case and then broil for a few minutes! 

(I apologize for this picture... apparently there was a shadow covering one plate I didn't notice until after we'd eaten lol too late to take a new pic!)

Dinner at Chris and Kyleigh's!

We went for dinner at Brent’s brother and sister in law's tonight – we brought a salad and they made a fabulous vegetarian “pot pie” (a little Pinterest Project below!) and a pork loin for those of us who wanted it… Devlan took seconds.  I made my salad with leaf lettuce and arugula, topped with blueberries, feta, toasted quinoa and homemade fresh herb vinaigrette (recipes below!).  Kyleigh adapted the pot pie recipe to exclude meat of course for Brent and it was delish!

 

Toasted Quinoa (Quinoa 365 by Carolyn Hemming and Patricia Green):

½ cup uncooked quinoa

1 TBSP butter or margarine

1 tsp garlic salt

 

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Start melting butter in a small saucepan, add garlic salt and stir together. Once melted, remove from heat and pour quinoa in, tossing to coat.  Spread on baking sheet and cook in pre-heated oven for 6-10 minutes, until quinoa is browning.  Use to top salads in place of croutons!

 

Fresh Herb Vinaigrette (www.foodnetwork.com):

2 TBSP white wine vinegar

2 TBSP fresh peeled garlic (again, I just used a little under 2 TBSP pre-minced garlic)

8 TBSP fresh lemon juice (it was quite lemony, I MIGHT cut this down to 4 TBSP)

1 TBSP lemon zest

4 TBSP fresh herbs chopped (I used dill, parsley, and basil)

2 cups extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp Dijon mustard (I omitted because I am not a mustard fan)

 

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on medium speed for about 60 seconds until emulsified.

This makes quite a bit of dressing too, so might want to half the recipe if you don’t need much. I used a bit of my leftovers for lunch!

 

Pot Pie Crescent Ring (pilsbury.com):

Of course to modify this, Kyleigh didn’t include chicken and used a cream of vegetable soup instead of chicken soup!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/A6-rfwAQgCIDDO6d5nYAAAA/?invite_code=be1024d40ad956ddd4d65da917dc45c2&sender=369717588067894059

 

BBQ Lemon Chicken

We BBQ’d tonight! This kinda looks like the most bland, boring, colorless meal I’ve ever made but the flavors were there!  Lemon chicken for me (recipe below), just BBQ Sauce for Brent (he’s not a lemon fan), cauliflower tossed with olive oil, fresh chopped herbs and salt & pepper, and white and wild rice to go along with!  I should have BBQ’d the cauliflower in tin foil though, I just cut up and put in our “basket” that cooks openly in the BBQ and the outside browned a little faster than it took to cook the cauliflower through.  So think it would have been even better if I still tossed with olive oil, herbs, etc but wrapped in foil to cook for about 20 mins.  I’ve been a little obsessed lately with using fresh herbs from my little herb garden – I’m very proud of my little window pot that’s actually growing something and not dying!

 

Lemon BBQ Chicken (my mom’s recipe, not sure where it originated!)

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic (I usually buy the pre-minced garlic and just take a few small spoonfuls)

Pinch of cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt

 

Mix together (I usually shake in a sealed container to make sure everything is combined well), then marinate chicken for at least 3 hours in the fridge.  Take out of marinade and BBQ for about 10 minutes on each side, brushing the excess marinade a few times as you cook!

Lazy Day...

Ok, we had chicken fingers  tonight… we had company and didn’t get eating until quite late, so went the lazy route… but to go with my theme of course, half of them were veggie chicken fingers, half were “real”… no pictures to go with this embarrassment to my blog!

BUT I did see this article about meat eaters and vegetarians eating together - most are so totally true!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/19-things-every-mixed-vegetarian-non-vegetarian-couple-will?utm_term=.tnYnqXrz#.exdJBxAK

Black Bean Vegetable Soup!

Devlan’s request for dinner tonight… soup! Maybe not the smartest thing to make in the slow cooker all afternoon when it’s 30 degrees outside but if he’s got a suggestion for something with vegetables he’ll eat, I’m all for it!  So we all went “vegetarian” tonight with a recipe from our slow cooker book! I blended it for Brent and I with the immersion blender, but before that, scooped some out for Devlan – he likes to “see” the vegetables he’s eating!  

 

Black Bean & Vegetable Soup (Canadian Living New Slow Cooker Favorites):

2 cans (540ml each) black beans, drained and rinsed

2 carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp each ground coriander and cumin

½ tsp each salt and pepper

2 cups vegetable broth (original recipe says chicken broth)

1 cup water

2 TBSP lime juice

(I also added some fresh chopped dill!)

 

In slow cooker, combine all ingredients (excluding lime juice). Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours then stir in lime juice. Using immersion blender (or in a standing blender in batches), puree soup until almost smooth. 

 

The original recipe suggested garnishing with sour cream, green onions and cilantro

I garnished ours with shredded cheese, a few croutons and some fresh basil with a side of garlic toast!

 

Taco Wednesday!

Well, I prove my point the first night…we’re having tacos! Convenience food if I’ve ever heard of it… pre-packaged Old El Paso taco shells, seasoning and sauce!  Brent likes his in taco salad form, I prefer to struggle to eat tacos they way they’re meant to be eaten, falling all over my plate! So for Brent, I used his Yves’s Veggie Ground Round… I don’t like ground beef, so I have chicken tacos with a chicken breast cut into small strips. Then toppings include any leafy green we have in the house – lettuce, spinach, tonight was arugula – tomatoes, shredded cheese, avocado, and jalapenos! 

 

“I’ll Have What She’s Having”

“I’ll have what she’s having” said my husband…never. 

 

I’m a meat-eater... my husband is a vegetarian… our 3 year old son is somewhere in between… so we adapt our cooking each night to fit everyone at the table!

Most of the time when we cook dinner, it’s 2 separate versions of the same meal, the same foundation with 2 types of protein! We try to give Devlan a bit of each, although he seems to prefer “real” meat… he did eat a whole steak at the Keg the other night…  
 

Full disclosure - you’re not going to find a home-made from scratch 5 course meal here every night here – we both have jobs and a kid and each other – we generally don’t have a ton of time (especially on weekdays) to spend too much time cooking and sometimes do fall to “convenience”! But these are recipes to fit into your everyday life, whether you eat steak or tofu or both!  Some days you will see the healthiest meal you have ever seen full of quinoa and arugula and hemp seeds … some days you will see a big pot of spaghetti with Prego sauce from a jar and garlic toast covered in melted cheese. 

 

So now it’s time to break out our massive amounts of cook books that we’ve been collecting and share some mixed dinner ideas!