5 Meals I've Made For Dinner Recently

Like many of you, I love searching the internet for weeknight dinner ideas. The dreaded "what's for dinner tonight" question can hit the moment we open our eyes, right? And if you have kids, they are definitely going to ask you that as soon as they get home from school. If I haven't figured out our dinner plan by then, I'm most likely going to grab a box of pancake mix and call it a day. 

Sometimes I do meal plan on Sundays and that makes a world of a difference for my week. But let's be real- I also kind of dread meal planning. Deciding what to eat in advance can feel like such a CHORE. I'm sure I'm not alone in this, so here are five meals that I've made recently that you can throw together fairly quickly on a weeknight. I've made each of these meals more than once in the last month. Hopefully one of them will be a guaranteed crowd pleaser in your home.

This baked ravioli from How Sweet Eats latest cookbook, Everyday Dinners, is SO good. It is an indulgent meal- not going to lie, but it is a meal that comes together SO fast. A bag of cheese ravioli, spinach, jarred pasta sauce, mozzarella (or burrata cheese) make up the components of this meal and I typically have all of those items on hand at all times. If you want to feel better about it, grab a bagged salad mix to serve alongside!

I love that you don't have to boil the pasta beforehand- it goes into the oven frozen. I've made this probably 3 times already and I've added ground italian sausage to it but I also like it as is, without any protein, which is how her recipe is originally written. I honestly could eat this once a week if I didn't care about the calories. 

See that one enchilada there without any cheese or sauce? That's for my son. :) Keep it plain please, mom. I've made many, many enchilada recipes and I love them all, but that's because I could eat Mexican food every day for the rest of my life and die happy.

For a weeknight, I like to reach for my Joanna Gaines cookbook, Magnolia Table, and make her Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. I do customize her recipe to whatever I have on hand. On the night I took this photo I had a jar of salsa verde to use up, so I used that to pour over the enchiladas. I like her version better though. She mixes up a tub of sour cream, a can of cream of chicken soup, and green enchilada sauce. I also love how quick it is to throw together. Buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it up to use in the filling.      

This is another recipe from How Sweet Eats, Crispy Orange Chicken. I just love her. I've read her blog for years and she is so creative in the kitchen. It's also from her cookbook, Everyday Dinners, so I don't have a link for the recipe as it's not on her blog. This was really good- bite sized oven baked crispy chicken with a homemade orange sauce.  

Pot roast! I don't make pot roast often since I don't gravitate towards meals with red meat (unless I'm at a steakhouse, then I'm getting a steak). Sometimes the mood strikes and on this particular Sunday I had everything for it. I also love using my dutch oven and love that this recipe using ONE pot. One pot meals are amazing! I don't use my dutch oven enough and would like to use it more, so if you have any recipes for it please send them my way! 

A friend sent me a screenshot of this recipe from the book The Weekday Vegetarians. It's a white bean bake with tomatoes, cheese, oregano, and a panko topping. It's another one pot, or one pan meal, since I made it using my cast iron skillet. This was very easy and delicious!

I hope one of these meals will make it to your table this week. Tell me what you've made recently, I'd love to hear!

What We've Been Eating Lately

It's been awhile since I've shared a new recipe. That doesn't mean I'm not trying out new things in the kitchen; quite the opposite really. I get bored of our meal rotation and aim to try at least one new recipe a week. Sometimes more if I have the time. Here are a few meals we've had recently that all three of us have enjoyed.

Chicken, Black Bean & Quinoa Enchiladas

I love making Mexican food at home. These enchiladas were delicious. I don't like enchiladas that are weighed down with sauce and spice and that have a pound of cheese. Peppers, black beans, and tomatoes go into the filling, along with quinoa (I didn't have any on hand so I used brown rice) which makes these enchiladas a healthier version than the original. Definitely a keeper!

Brown Sugar Crusted Salmon

We went a while without eating salmon because I got bored of making it the same way. I saw this recipe on one of my favorite blogs and figured I'd give it a try. It's SO easy there's really no excuse not to make it. The first time we tried it we couldn't believe it. So simple, so tasty. Another meal I'll be adding to our rotation, seeing as I've already made it like six times since. 

Mustard & Herb Marinated Chicken

I apologize for the crappy iPhone picture. I've got to get back into the habit of taking pictures of our food with the real camera. Anyway. Now that it's hot out, we've been grilling a lot. Mostly chicken and sausage. This is my favorite summer marinade and I make it so often that I think it might be time for me to find a new one before we get sick of it. Any recommendations?

Baked Pork Chops with Herb & Cheese Breadcrumbs

I saw Rachael Ray make this on her show a few weeks ago and it looked so good. She made it using chicken breasts; I thought it would be just as good with bone-in pork chops. Delicious! The dijon mustard coating is something I never would have thought of and pan frying it first then putting it into the oven is a great way to prevent the meat from drying out. Loved it!

I'm always looking for more things to try, so please tell me, if there's been something new you've made recently that you enjoyed!

What We've Been Eating Lately

I don't know about you, but I love seeing what other people are eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's probably why I love Instagram so much, an endless stream of good eats and inspiration. I get stuck in food ruts all the time. We're currently in one right now with breakfast. Miss A is refusing to eat eggs, oatmeal (not like she ever did before), and yogurt. She'll only eat toast or waffles right now. And blueberries by the carton. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of our recent eats with you in case you're looking for something new to eat!

Breakfast- toast, peanut butter, and banana is still one of my go-to's. I also like to add a drizzle of honey or agave with granola.

Lunch- lettuce wraps! A few weeks ago I was on a huge lettuce wrap kick and was stuffing them with roasted turkey, dried cranberries, sliced carrots, and mozzarella cheese. On the side I'd have a chopped cucumber, tomato, and feta salad, lightly tossed in olive oil and lemon juice. 

Dinner- This is one of my favorite dinners we had recently. Sweet and sour chicken over fried brown rice, mixed with chopped carrots, frozen peas, corn, scrambled egg, and diced red pepper. I sauteed all the veggies first in some sesame seed oil, added cold day old rice, an egg, and scrambled it all up. Then I dosed it with soy sauce and topped the whole thing with diced green onions. It was delicious! 

Another favorite is Alaskan Baked Salmon with lemon risotto and sauteed zucchini. This is how I usually make salmon. It's super easy and fast to put together. The oven does all the work for you and I love the crunchy topping. 

Not the best picture, but these potato nachos were a lot of fun to make and a new thing for us to try. I sliced up idaho potatoes very thin, tossed them in some olive oil, salt and pepper and placed them on a wire rack on to of a baking sheet. Then I added cheddar cheese, black beans, tomatoes, and green onions. 

Hope you find something new to try!

Inside-Out Burrito

If you follow me on Instagram, then you've seen me share this a million times. I've had many questions as to what it is and how I make it, so today, I'm going to tell you all about it! I struggle with what to call this. I toyed with "burrito on a plate" or "burrito bowls" (I love to serve this in large bowls) and "inside-out burrito". I thought that was a good fit, hence the title of my post. Whatever you want to call it, this is one my favorite meals. I'm obsessed with it. I'll make it for lunch or dinner, at least once a week! It's my fall back to those nights I don't want to make anything on my menu or don't have much left in the house at the end of the week.

The great thing about this is there isn't really a recipe for it, and you can customize it however you like it. Don't like red onions? Leave them out. A regular onion works just fine. Want it to be spicy? Add some jalapeno peppers, crank up the cumin, or add some red pepper flakes to the mix. You can even leave out the chicken and just have the beans, which I do ALL the time, for a meatless meal. Really, anything goes!

This particular night, I had a red onion, lettuce, black beans, cheddar cheese, and chopped chicken. You could also use:

Red/Green Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers

Yellow Onions

Tomatoes

Corn

Spinach

Shrimp

Here's how I make it:

Step 1. Start the rice first (we only eat brown rice in our house, but it would certainly be delicious with white rice).

Step 2. Season the chicken with cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. I spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook the chicken for five-seven minutes, on both sides. Once it's cool enough to handle I chop it up.

Step 3. Layer the rice in a bowl or on a plate, then add the chicken, and whatever veggies you're using. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Add a dollop of sour cream and salsa. Serve and enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

We don't order take-out very often. If we do it's because I'm sick, or had a really bad day and can't muster up the energy to cook. Typically we order Chinese food if we want take-out and my favorite things to order are monogolian beef, sesame chicken, and sweet and sour chicken.

I've tried making monogolian beef at home a long time ago. It failed miserably! I do make fried rice at home (I didn't this time around) but that still needs work too. I came across this recipe for sweet and sour chicken on Mel's Kitchen Cafe and was amazed at how many people love it. I kind of feel like the last blogger on Earth to make it!

This did not disappoint! It was true to and I'd even say better than most take-out places that I've ever had. I loooooved it. When my husband got home I gave him all that was left after the mini me and I attacked it (which was still a lot, this makes plenty of leftovers) and he devoured it. Needless to say, this will definitely be added to our dinner rotation. Don't you love it when that happens- a recipe that is a true winner.

Source: Mel's Kitchen

For the Chicken
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite-size pieces
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

For the Sauce
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. 

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. While the oil is heating, cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Season the pieces with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Add

the chicken to the bag and seal, tossing to coat the chicken. Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and place them carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet (it's best to do this with tongs). Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip each piece over to cook the other side until nicely golden but not all the way cooked through. Do this in batches until all the chicken is golden, transferring to the baking dish, making sure the chicken is in a single layer. 

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and pour it over the chicken in the baking dish. Bake for one hour, turning the chicken pieces over at least once, so they're all coated in the sauce. Serve over hot, steamed rice.

Dinner Lately

Lightened Up Chicken Parmesan

I made this chicken parmesan from Cooking Light last week. It's a little better for you than traditional chicken parmesan- instead of using bread crumbs, you use panko, and the tomato sauce isn't weighed down by lots of salt and tastes like you've been slaving away on the stove all day. We both loved it, including the mini!

Rotisserie Chicken with Lemon Risotto 

& Bacon Brussel Sprouts 

Last Friday I wasn't in the mood to cook so Miss A and I made a last minute trip to the grocery store for a rotisserie chicken. As we were leaving I saw that arborio rice was on sale and picked some up, suddenly with a huge craving for some risotto! The only risotto I make is lemon risotto, a Rachael Ray recipe. Gah, it is SO good!! I could easily sit there and eat the whole pot.

I also grabbed some brussel sprouts while we were at the store to make a super easy and quick veggie side dish. I don't know why brussel sprouts get such a bad rep- they are delicious, if you make them correctly! I follow this recipe from Picky Palate, but I omit the extra toppings and I cook mine in bacon fat. ;) I fry up three slices of bacon in a skillet, remove the bacon, leave the drippings and add a tablespoon of olive oil, then I add the sprouts. Perfect every single time!

Classic Cheeseburgers 

My husband loves having burgers for dinner. Sometimes we have burgers once a week, especially if I'm looking for something easy to make. I make them pretty much the same every time- salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and spoonful of barbecue sauce go into the mix. I cook them on the stove top and top them with cheddar cheese, red onions, and lettuce. 

Baked Potato Soup 

This is my favorite baked potato soup recipe. I made it two months ago while my parents were visiting. My dad loves to eat soup when it's cold out, which means he doesn't eat it very often, seeing as it rarely gets chilly in Miami. He requested soup one day for lunch and I had this recipe from Skinnytaste pinned that I really wanted to try. I love that the recipe calls for a head of cauliflower, so it's easy not to feel bad about eating this soup! Crispy bacon and cheddar cheese are a must for toppings!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Are you looking for an easy meal to entertain with this week? With family and friends in town or dropping by, this is a great dinner to serve for company. Pot roast is one of those meals that has a bad reputation. Some people love it, and some people hate it. My husband hated it. I grew up hating it, so as an adult, pot roast never sounded appealing to me, and it didn't to him when I told him what we were having for dinner that night.

Until we had a bite! Oh my word, this is good. This is a keeper folks. Leave it to the crock pot to change things around. How I love that thing.

I think all the prep that goes into this before it goes into the crock pot is what makes this so delicious. It's not a drop and dump crock pot recipe. There is some work to do before the cooking gets started. Peeling the carrots, chopping the onions, obviously, but what you might not do before you put something in the crock pot is cook it a little first on the stove. Well, not really cook- but sear. You want to lock in some flavor first. I'm convinced that is the key.  

So yes, if you are leaving to work in the morning, this will take some time. Maybe you'll want to save it for the weekend. Or if you're a SAHM, then use it on a day you know you're going to be busy most of the afternoon, and prep it in the morning. You'll be so happy you did!

Source: adapted from this recipe
Servings: 4-6 people (this makes a lot of leftovers)

3-4 tbsp olive oil

6 carrots, peeled, and diced (use more or less if you like)

1 yellow onion, cut into quarters  

4-5 pound boneless chuck roast

1 tbsp flour

1 cup red wine (I used chicken stock)

1 1/2 cup chicken or beef stock

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried rosemary

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the pot.  Add the carrots and onions. You want to brown them well on all sides, 4-5 minutes (you're not trying to cook them, you just want them to have some color). Once you see them starting to brown, pour the carrots and onions into the crock pot.  

Add another tablespoon or so of olive oil to the pot you cooked the veggies in. Generously salt and pepper the chuck roast. Place the roast into the pot and sear for about 2-3 minutes on each side until nicely browned. Remove the roast and add to the crock pot, using tongs. You don't want to pour any of the juices into the crock pot just yet!!

Add a tablespoon of flour to the oil. Grab a whisk and start to whisk the flour, while you pour in the red wine or chicken stock to the pot. Continue to whisk to deglaze the bottom on the pan. Let it simmer on the stove for about five minutes, until the liquid has thickened up just a bit. Pour the mixture into the crock pot, along with the other 1 1/2 cup of beef or chicken stock (the liquid should be about half way up the meat, don't add more than that). Add the crushed garlic, thyme, and rosemary. Cook on low for 6 hours. 

I served mine with roasted potatoes and garlic bread. I wouldn't add the potatoes to the crock pot, because they get so mushy, unless you like them that way. Enjoy!

What We Ate Wednesday

I'm loving linking up every week for What I Ate Wednesday. It always amazes me how much of my day revolves around food every time I snap a picture of what we're eating. Since my pictures were just terrible last week I whipped out the real camera so that you would actually find our meals appealing! I hope these posts give you inspiration on what to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, along with some new ideas for your kids. Miss A has had quite the appetite lately and I'm loving it!

Breakfast: 8:30 am

I ate: my favorite- whole wheat toast with peanut butter, bananas, honey, and granola

Miss A: toast with applesauce and banana slices

Snack: 11:00 am

We've gotten into the habit of having a snack right before nap time. Miss A will walk over to the pantry when she's ready, grab a yogurt, and wait by her high chair.

I ate: pumpkin pie yogurt with granola and chocolate chips

Miss A: two banana cookies with yogurt

This is what happens when I allow her to "feed" herself. She's insisting on being more and more independent while she eats, but of course, she hasn't gotten the hand of holding a spoon and feeding herself that well. She can manage fairly well and there are plenty of bites that make it in- but...this is what happens sometimes. Yogurt gets EVERYWHERE. And banana cookies make great dippers!

 Lunch: 12:30pm 

I ate: leftover white bean chicken chili that I made the night before with cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips. So good!

Miss A: ham and cheese wrap with tomato slices, which, she didn't eat, but she LOVED them a few days ago.You never know with this girl. 

Afternoon snack was on the go. We attempted to tackle some Christmas shopping but failed miserably. Why are men so hard to shop for? She ate some Mum Mum's, a granola bar, and cheerios. 

Dinner: 6:00pm

Dinner was early since I was starving and didn't take a handy dandy snack cup for me!

I ate: slow cooker ranch chicken over brown rice and roasted carrots, which I'll be adding to our dinner rotation, it was that good!

Miss A: the same, which she devoured and begged for more! I love when she's a good eater.

What good eats have you had recently?

Apple Chutney Pork Schnitzels

Hello folks. Happy Monday to ya. I hope you had a good weekend! We sure did- lots of lounging around the house, catching up on our DVR, and checking out the state fair. Fun times all around.

Before I start to tell you all about this apple deliciousness, I have to say something-what kind of word is chutney? If you ask me, it doesn't sound very appealing. But I'll eat anything with apples. And cinnamon. And butter!

Believe it or not, this is actually really easy. The first time I made this it was just for Miss A & I. Surprisingly, she loved the pork and ate every bite. She wasn't a big fan of the chutney, but that was before her recent I'll-eat-all-the-things attitude. I'll bet $50 she'll eat it now.

• Hello Fall! If you've gone apple picking recently, this is a great way to use them up!
  
  Every two months I buy pork tenderloin (and most of our other meat) from Costco. I usually roast pork in the oven but it's always hit or miss. Does this happen to you- sometimes it's moist and flavorful, but more often than not, it's dry and flavorless. I don't understand! Such an unforgiving piece of meat! So now I like to slice it and use it other ways.
  
  The original recipe (I included the source below) is actually for pork schnitzel sandwiches. No thanks. That sounded like more work to me. I also didn't have the right bread on hand (I didn't think regular ol' whole wheat bread was going to do the trick) so I decided to forgo making these as sandwiches and have the pork and apples shine on their own. After eating it this way I can't imagine having it as a sandwich. It's so good just like this.
• 
  
• Source: adapted from Rachael Ray
• Serves: 2

For the Chutney

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 a sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 apples (honeycrisp, fuji, or braeburn) peeled and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• Salt and pepper
• Nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

For the Pork

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 boneless pork loin cutlets, slightly pounded

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup flour

1/8 nutmeg

Salt and pepper, to taste

Parsley, for garnish 

• Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onions, apples, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, a light sprinkle of nutmeg, sugar and lemon juice. Cook until soft and tender, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
  
  
  Crack eggs into a bowl and scramble with the milk. Season the pork cutlets with salt and pepper, then dredged in flour, lay in the egg wash, and last in the breadcrumbs. Fry the cutlets in a thin layer of olive oil until crisp and golden. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. To serve, top pork cutlets with the apple chutney and garnish with parsley if desired.

Shrimp Carbonara

I've never had carbonara before. I'm not sure why, as it's pasta and I love pasta and I love bacon. I've probably eyed it on a restaurant menu before and ordered something else. Now I can't wait to try this on a night out. 

I have so many recipes that I rip out of magazines, pined on Pinterest, and dog-ear in books that this one fell through the way side many moons ago. I'm so happy I was finally able to try it a few weeks back, after searching through my cookbooks for menu planning ideas.

This was so good. And so easy! I was under the impression that carba was heavy and that it would be difficult to make at home. This wasn't at all what I expected. The entire plate came together in twenty minutes. I'm serious! It might be a tad heavy for some people, but I imagined this to have a goopy, slippery sauce. This wasn't like that at all. 

There's a bit of a kick from the red pepper flakes, a salty bite from the cheese and bacon, and there's something about it that makes it feel like a restaurant dish. It's so decadent! Make it for a date night at home and pour yourselves a glass of wine, toast some bread and light some candles. A fancy night in! 

In case you're wondering, Miss A did not have any of this. I'm still weary about giving her fish and seeing as there's raw egg yolks in the sauce I didn't want to give that to her either. She gobbled up her own pasta and shredded chicken happily. Next time we might try to wait until she's in bed to experience a true date night at home!

Servings: 4
adapted from Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals

1 lb angel hair pasta
1/2 lb cup raw shrimp, peeled and devined
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Parsley, to garnish

Fill a large pot with water and set to boil. When water comes to boil, add a generous amount of salt and the angel hair. Stir and cook until al dente, about 9-10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and brown for 3-4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes more until fragrant, stirring so the garlic doesn't burn. Pour the white wine into the pan and scrap up all the pan drippings.

Beat the egg yolks and add one large ladleful of the pasta water. This tempers the eggs and prevents them from cooking when you add it to the pasta.

Remove the bacon mixture from the skillet and place in a small bowl. Add the shrimp to the pan, and season with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil if needed. Cook until shrimp is pink, turning once, about 2-3 minutes. Drain the pasta well and add it back to the pot. Pour the egg yolks and bacon mixture into the pot and toss rapidly to coat the pasta. Add the cheese, lots of pepper, and a little bit of salt. Continue to toss until the sauce has thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and extra cheese if desired.

Pumpkin, Sage, and Sausage Pasta

I'm writing this post late at night, with the baby and hubby asleep. The house is quiet. I have the TV on for background noise. A pumpkin caramel latte candle is burning. I'm tired, but it's a good kind of tired, after spending the weekend with good friends and eating good food. I'm trying to think of something witty or original to write about, but my mind is blank. I can only think about how much I loved this dish.

It was on our menu plan to try a few weeks back. We loved it so much that it was on our menu again the following week. It's the perfect meal to make as we transition into Fall and wait for the leaves to change. I have a feeling I'm going to be making this again and again, all season long. It's so easy, budget-friendly, kid-friendly (Miss A devoured it), and so stinking good.

I absolutely love the sauce. It's definitely what makes the dish and keeps you coming back for more. As it was cooking, it was so fragrant, my house already smelled like Fall. Pumpkin, heavy cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg bubble together and create this creamy, dreamy concoction. I can smell it just thinking about it!

Source: Rachael Ray
Servings: 4

1 pound penne
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bay leaf, dried
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 cup dry white wine (or chicken stock)
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup puree pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for topping

Grab a sauce pan to boil water for pasta. Follow directions on the box for the pasta.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage. When cooked, transfer th sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain the fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, the garlic, and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are soft and tender.

Add the bay leaf, dried sage, and wine (or chicken stock) to the pan. Whisk up any brown bits. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the wine is reduced by half. Add the stock and pumpkin. Cook until the sauce comes to a bubble. Return the sausage to pan and reduce heat, Stir in the heavy cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Take the bay leaf out and add the pasta to the sauce. Toss over low heat for about a minute. Garnish the pasta with parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. 

Link up at Kitchenspiration. 

Garlic Roast Chicken

Don't you love it when something turns out so right?

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. I don't know what's got into me and how I've been able to manage it with Miss A running amok and all. Actually, dare I say, she's been pretty good these days. If Daddy isn't home when it's time to start cooking dinner, I let her watch a little TV (after about 10 minutes, she's cruising on the sofa). It's the only way I can get started and I watch her from the sink as I chop and peel vegetables.  When she starts losing interest I scoop her up and put her in her highchair with some books and a sippy cup. This doesn't lasts long either So the next thing to try is measuring cups and bowls! She also likes to play with the kitchen towels and will pull them down to play peek-a-boo. Whatever works, right? Dinner has to somehow make its way to the table!

So, with that said, I was really happy at how easy this was to put together. I butterflied the chicken breasts, arranged them on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt, pepper, a few crushed garlic cloves, rosemary, and lemon zest. This was a great compromise for cooking a whole chicken. Instead of having it cook for an hour and a half, this was done in 20 minutes! The end result was moist and tasty. The juices rest in the oven for about five minutes with the oven shut off, a great way to add even more flavor. I paired this with garlic rice pilaf and a cesar salad. I bet it would also go great with roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes!

Source: adapted from Classic Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals Cookbook
Servings: 4

2 large boneless chicken breasts, butterflied
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon rosemary
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juice and zest
1/2 cup chicken broth or white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Butterfly each chicken breast so that you have four thin pieces. Arrange chicken in a 13x9 baking dish and salt and pepper both sides. Add the crushed garlic cloves, rosemary, olive oil, and lemon zest. Toss and coat with the ingredients and roast in the oven fro 20 minutes. Add the chicken broth or wine and lemon juice to the pan and combine with the juices. Turn the oven off and allow to stand in the warm oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, serve the chicken with the pan juices.

What We Ate Wednesday

Today I'm participating in What I Ate Wednesday, a link up I've always wanted to try. I'm always looking for new ideas on what to eat, I get bored easily, especially with breakfast and lunch! I took a different take on it and decided to show you what Miss A and I ate one day. Here we go!

Breakfast: 8:15 am

I ate: frozen waffles with sliced bananas, granola, and honey

 Miss A: toast with applesauce and slices of banana (which she poked at and fed to the dog)

Morning snack: 10:30 am

Miss A: Strawberry yogurt and a couple of Mum Mum's

I ate: A Kashi cookie spread with peanut butter and a couple graham crackers dipped in peanut butter

Lunch: 12:30pm

 I ate: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a sliced apple (it was a peanut butter kind of day!)

 Miss A: A whole wheat tortilla ham and cheese melt

Afternoon Snack: 3:00pm

I ate: Greek yogurt with sliced bananas, granola, chocolate chips...and a swirl of peanut butter!

Miss A: toddler cookies and watermelon 

Dinner: 6:30pm

I ate: garlic roast chicken, rice pilaf, and cesar salad. So good!

Miss A: pieces of chicken and a few bites of rice, she usually eats whatever we're having for dinner

Happy Wednesday! What did you eat today?