Monday February 11, 2013

For dinner I made Italian chicken with a garlic herb rice pilaf. It's a meal full of neutral colors, but it's really tasty. Time: 25 minutes. Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts, 1/3 cup Italian dressing, salt, pepper, and a package of garlic herb rice. Directions: this meal is pretty easy to make. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a baking pan, sprinkle a little salt and pepper on both sides of your chicken. Next, pour the Italian dressing all over. When your oven is at the correct temperature, bake the chicken for about 10 minutes. While your chicken is cooking, make your rice. Once everything is done, you'll have a meal full of wonderful flavors.

Happy Cooking!

Sunday February 10, 2013

I'm back! I've been out of the kitchen for the past few days with the flu. One of the worst things I've ever experienced, especially since it was the first time I had ever gotten the flu. I'm definitely getting that flu shot as early as possible next winter. Since I couldn't really eat anything (not even soup!), I was so, so happy when my appetite came back.

For dinner I made mozzarella tilapia with Italian dressing, smokehouse bacon Parmesan pasta and peas. Talk about a good meal after being so sick for days! Time: about 40 minutes. Ingredients used: 1 tilapia filet, 1/2 cup of Italian dressing, 1/2 cup of mozzarella  salt, pepper, 1 can of peas, and 1 package of Pasta Sides smokehouse bacon Parmesan pasta. Directions: first, heat  your oven to 450 degrees. Next, start cooking your smokehouse bacon Parmesan pasta by following the directions on the package. In a baking pan, salt and pepper both sides of your tilapia and drizzle the Italian dressing all over. When your oven is at the correct temperature, bake for 20 minutes. Take tilapia out, top with the mozzarella and bake again for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. While your tilapia is baking, heat your peas. When everything is done, you'll have a tasty meal!

Happy Cooking!

Wednesday February 6, 2013

For dinner I decided to make chicken with onions and garlic in a Worcestershire and soy sauce with Parmesan couscous. Time: 20 minutes. Ingredients used: 1 chicken breast, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1/2 cup of chopped onions, 2 garlic cloves chopped, and 1 package of couscous. Directions: in a small pot, add the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic. When the onions and garlic are done, add in the Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce and mix well, then take off heat. In a different pot, cook your couscous by following the directions on the package. In a skillet, cook your chicken over medium heat. When your chicken is done cooking, plate and top it with the onion, garlic and Worcestershire and soy sauce combination. Add your couscous and you're done. 

Happy Cooking!

Tuesday February 5, 2016 

I am a lover of vegetables, so naturally I am a lover of broccoli. Since I had some scallops, I thought it would be good to have a broccoli and scallop salad with Italian dressing for dinner. Time: 10 minutes. Ingredients used: broccoli, 1 cup scallops, 1 tablespoon olive oil and Italian dressing. Directions: In a skillet, pour olive oil in and add scallops and broccoli. I used about 1-1 1/2 cup of broccoli, but you can use more or less. Cook/saute broccoli and cook/roast scallops. When both are done cooking, remove to a bowl, add a little Italian dressing and you're done. I really like this meal because it's quick and easy to make, plus it's on the healthy side and it really fills you up. 

Happy Cooking!

Sunday February 3, 2013

In honor of Superbowl Sunday, I made two of my favorite foods to have while tailgating-salsa and spinach artichoke dip. I'll start with the salsa recipe first-Time: 15 minutes. Ingredients used: 3 Roma tomatoes chopped, 1/2 red onion chopped, 2 jalapenos chopped (without the seeds), 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, a little less than 1 tablespoon of cilantro (stems removed), and a few sprinkles of oregano. Directions: Put the tomatoes in a mixing bowl (without the seeds), and add the onions, jalapenos, cilantro, lemon juice and oregano together and mix really well. That's it! Seriously, how easy is it to make salsa? Serve with Doritos or Tostitos chips. 

Spinach artichoke dip-Time: about 25 minutes. Ingredients used: artichoke hearts from 1 artichoke (I used an actual artichoke, but a can of artichoke hearts works just as well), 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese, a 16 ounce package of frozen spinach (thawed), 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 an onion chopped, 3 garlic cloves chopped, a few sprinkles of ground pepper and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Directions: put artichoke hearts in a mixer bowl and pulse until they're chopped. Remove from mixer bowl. Put the cottage cheese in the same mixer bowl (without the artichoke hearts) and process until smooth. Now heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add in the onion and garlic and saute. Now add in the spinach, chopped artichokes and pepper. Cook until warm. Next, turn heat on low and add in the cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese and stir until all the cheese melts. When done, put spinach artichoke dip into a serving dish and enjoy! Tip: I ate my spinach artichoke dip with crackers, but my boyfriend had a pretty good idea. He suggested taking a round loaf of bread and cutting a big hole in the middle and adding in the spinach artichoke dip in and eating it that way. Sounds tasty to me!

For dinner I went the more traditional route and made Chicken Parmesan. Time: 15 minutes. Ingredients used: a little less than 1/2 package of spaghetti, 1 chicken breast, 1 slice of Parmesan cheese, and marinara sauce. Directions: Heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a pot, bring water to a boil and add spaghetti. When your oven reaches the correct temperature, put the slice of cheese onto of your chicken and bake for about 10 minutes. Put spaghetti on a plate, pour some marinara sauce on and top with the chicken. 

Happy Cooking!

Saturday February 2, 2013

For dinner I made a mixed greens salad with lemon basil tilapia. I was in the mood for fish (I'm from FL) but I didn't want to do the regular fish and rice. Time: 15 minutes. Ingredients used: mixed greens, 1/2 a Roma tomato cut up, 1 tilapia filet, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, and slightly more than 1 teaspoon of basil. Directions: Make your mixed greens salad first and add the cut up Roma tomato. Pour a 1/2 cup of lemon juice in a skillet and the 1/2 teaspoon of basil. Add your tilapia filet and cook on medium heat. Cooking the tilapia in the lemon juice will give it more flavor. When your tilapia is done cooking, plate it with your mixed greens salad and enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Friday February 1, 2013

Since I'm surrounded by authentic Mexican food, I normally don't ever feel like eating it, but I wanted to do something with chicken that wasn't just chicken and pasta, or chicken and rice. Not that there's anything at all wrong with those meals, because I love them. I happened to have a few sort tortilla shells in the fridge, so I came up with my own little twist on a Mexican burrito and Italian chicken Parmesan-I call this meal a Parmesan chicken burrito. Time: about 10 minutes. Ingredients used: 1 chicken breast, 2 soft tortilla shells (for 2 Parmesan chicken burritos, but can do more depending on how hungry you are and how many people you're feeding), a little more than 1/2 cup of marinara sauce, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan flakes. Directions: Cut chicken breast into strips. Place in a skillet and cook on medium heat. For this last step, you can do in one of two ways-either lay your tortilla shell out and spread some marinara sauce on, and when your chicken is done cooking you can place it on the sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan flakes, or you can wait until your chicken is done cooking and put it on the tortilla first, then cover it with marinara sauce, and the Parmesan flakes. This meal is quick and easy to make. 

Happy Cooking!