Author: Lisa P

eMeal Plan Week of Jan 21

eMeal Plan Week of Jan 21

Posted on by Lisa P

Dinners This Week

This week we are going back to those amazing roasted chicken breasts, but this time we are going with a creole/mediterranean themed seasoning.  Hopefully you still have some leftover pork in the freezer from a few weeks to use up one night this week, but if you don’t I have some easy alternatives for you.  We also go big on salads this week (no specific reason, it just kind of worked out that way) and we have 2 nights of shrimp (frozen raw shrimp was on sale). You can substitute any relatively firm white fish or seafood (bay scallops work especially well) for the shrimp if you don’t have any on hand or can’t find any that’s reasonably priced.

Below is the week’s menu.  Click the links to get to the recipes and additional information. Continue reading “eMeal Plan Week of Jan 21” →

Weeknight Chicken + Avocado Lettuce Wraps

Posted on by Lisa P

Serves: 2-4 people
Hands-on time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min

I grabbed this recipe out of one of those BH&G special issues that you find at the supermarket checkout stand.  It’s pretty true to the original but we are using leftover chicken instead of making it from scratch.  Since the chicken is a leftover from the fridge it helps to take it out and leave it on the counter for about an hour before serving so it isn’t so cold.  Sometimes I’ll even zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds before putting it on the salad. Continue reading “Weeknight Chicken + Avocado Lettuce Wraps” →

Dirty Quinoa

Posted on by Lisa P

Serves: 3-4 people
Hands-on time: 15-20 min
Total time: 30 min

This recipe for “dirty” quinoa is adapted from the dirty rice I used to make all the time when I was single and cooking was a low priority.  I also used to chop up hotdogs and throw them in to make a meal, but um I don’t do that anymore. Now it’s just clean, whole, unprocessed food for me.  I sure wish they made a natural hotdog flavor I could add to a dish to get my hotdog fix.  Anyway, enough about hot dogs, let’s make some dirty quinoa!

Ingredients

Continue reading “Dirty Quinoa” →

Fresh Pears With Cinnamon

Fresh Pears With Cinnamon

Posted on by Lisa P

Dessert! Who doesn’t crave something sweet after a meal? If you said “me” you’re lying (or deluded). Even if you truly don’t crave sweets, you’re missing out on one of the best things life has to offer.

The best, healthiest dessert is a simple pile of whole fruit, whatever’s in season.  In the middle of the winter, pears are perfect because they are still widely available and didn’t have to fly from Peru to North America (very bad for the environment).

  1. Cut a ripe pear into eight wedges
  2. Cut out the seeds and stem.
  3. Sprinkle with cinnamon, then sprinkle with some more cinnamon.
  4. Eat.

The. Best. Ever.

Photo of pear with cinnamon

Classic Rice and Beans

Posted on by Lisa P

Use the beans recipe here, but make the below adjustments.

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/classic-black-beans-and-rice-46221

Adjustments:

  1. Don’t use sazon, it has MSG in it, just add some adobo seasoning instead, or a mix of garlic powder, paprika and salt.
  2. Double the recipe
  3. This will taste way better if you use beans you’ve cooked from dried and stored in your freezer using this recipe.  Home cooked beans are always better than canned.
  4. Serve over long grain brown rice, not white rice.

Super Easy Baked Chicken Breasts

Posted on by Lisa P

Serves: 4-8 people
Hands-on time: 5 min
Total time: 30 min

This recipe for baked chicken breasts is truly super easy.  Baked (or roasted) chicken breasts can easily dry out and taste tough, but this recipe gives consistently moist, delicious results.

Ingredients

2 to 2-1/2 lbs chicken breasts (chicken thighs work well too but have a different nutritional profile)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1-1/2 Tbsp Adobo or other seasoning blend Continue reading “Super Easy Baked Chicken Breasts” →