Salmon with lemon dill sauce

                                  Baked Salmon

I love fresh salmon and when ever it goes on sale I love to get it! I love to cook it different ways but this is my hubby's favorite way I make it. Its quick and easy to make. In the summer I will make this on the grill in a big foil pouch, but since my grill is covered in snow I chose the oven tonight. Also tonight I used frozen salmon because the commissary was out of fresh :( however it still turned out pretty darn good!

Baked Salmon

2 large salmon fillets

1 lemon sliced thinly

1/2 onion sliced

1/2 jar capers

butter

salt and pepper

dill

Place fillets in a large pan. Top the salmon with tabs of butter, onion slices, lemon slices, capers, salt and pepper and sprinkle with dill. I used dried but fresh would be great!

Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 425 for 20-30 min. mine was closer to 30 because my fish was frozen when I started. While this is baking I make a lemon dill sauce that is super easy.

Lemon Dill Sauce

1/2 lemon juiced

1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp dried dill

salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients and chill. Sometimes I will add a little garlic powder (depending on my mood)

Tonight I took some help from my prepping earlier this week for my side dish and I also steamed a little broccoli. Its nice when part of the meal was already done!

I forgot to take a pic of my plate..I guess I was too starving and just dug right in..luckily I caught my daughter before she started eating and I snagged a pic of hers :)

Prepping

                                         Veggie Prepping

I often like to prep cook at some point during the week to make my week easier so I'm not cooking every night. I will also cook up chicken or steak but today was just the veggies :) This week I was a feeling a bit under the weather so prepping really came in handy along with a couple rotisserie chickens from Costco and dinner was at the ready for the kids to reheat!

Foil pouch veggies

potatoes

carrots

onion

mushrooms

butter

garlic

salt and pepper

I didn't put amounts of the veggies because its really a personal preference and also how many you are cooking for.

 I often make this as a side dish for dinner in one large pouch and cook it on the grill, however today I am making individual ones in the oven. It tastes the same but you can customize them however you like!

I like to cut all the veggies and assemble them in a line! I usually spray the foil with a little cooking spray just to make sure it doesn't stick.

 

Start layering with potatoes

 

next add onions, carrots, and mushrooms

 

Add a pad of butter or olive oil, garlic salt and pepper

Next you simply roll up!!

 

throw in a 450 degree onion for about 30 min. *side note if not using heavy duty tin foil place them on a big cookie sheet. regular foil sometimes leaks and butter on the bottom of your oven causes a lot of smoke!  :)

 

My kids,and I do too love to dip these in ranch but they are great on their own. Another thing I love to do with these is throw one into a skillet in the morning to heat up and serve a fried egg over the top! It is a great breakfast.

Roasted sweet potatoes

3-4 sweet potatoes

olive oil

salt

This is the easiest side dish...Simply peel and cube up sweet potatoes. toss in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Throw in a hot oven around 450 for 25-35 min. I usually toss them about half way through with a spatula. 

After they are cooked you can sprinkle them with a little cinnamon and sugar, or I like to sprinkle a little chipotle chili powder on them and make them a little spicy! both ways are delish!

Roasted Broccoli

Broccoli

olive oil

salt and pepper

simply place broccoli on a large cookie sheet and toss with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and cook at 450 for about 20-30 min or until it starts to char a bit. I somehow didn't a pic of the broccoli but you want it to be charred just a bit so it almost looks burn. It give it such a great flavor. ( you can use fresh or frozen both work great)

Baked oatmeal muffins

5 cups rolled oats

2 1/2 cups over ripe bananas

 3-4 Tbs real maple syrup

1/4 cup veg or coconut oil

 2 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 2/3 cups water

optional add ins: nuts, dried fruit, choc chips, cinnamon, coconut, raisins etc

mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Line 24 cupcake tins. Bake at 380 for 20 min.

I added 2/3 cup of choc chips and 1/2 cup toasted almonds. I usually like to use mini choc chips but all I had is regular. I love these for a quick breakfast or as a late night snack when I have a sweet craving. Also you can use a mix of banana and unsweetened applesauce if you don't have enough bananas.


I know this isn't something that everyone does, and I don't do it every week but it is an easy way for me to stay on track with healthy eating and nights that I just don't have time to cook!

Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup

This past week I found myself really sick and all I wanted was some chicken noodle soup, but I am really not a fan of soup in a can. I love chicken soup and I make it all the time. Sometimes I add noodles, dumplings, or just eat it as is.

Chicken Soup

2 large chicken breast

3-4 celery stalks with leafy tops

1 large onion

1 cup shredded carrots

1 large potato or 2 smaller ones

1-2 bay leaves

1 tsp poultry seasoning

salt and pepper

olive oil

 5 tsp chicken base powder

8 cups water

Start by dicing the onion and celery and saute them in olive oil in a large stock pot. After about a minute throw in the carrots and  diced potato. (you can peel the potato or not its up to you, I did in this recipe but often I don't)   Next add the salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and bay leaves. continue cooking for a few more minutes until the onion and celery begin to soften.

 

 I happen to have frozen boneless skinless chicken breast but if you have chicken breast on the bone its best. I then threw in the frozen chicken and added 8 cups of water and about 4-5 teaspoons of chicken base powder. If you would rather use chicken broth then do it I just never have it on hand. If using the powder just know it is very salty and don't add too much. You can always add more but you cant take it back!

 

Turn it on high and bring it to a boil, then turn down to med/low and cover it with a lid and walk away for about 45 min or until the chicken is tender. Once the chicken is tender I like to shred it with two forks. At this point your soup is done, but you want to taste it for seasonings. I usually end up adding more salt and pepper at this point or more chicken base powder. If you would like to add noodles you can do it now and cook until the noodles are done. I personally didn't want to add noodles to all of the soup so I cooked up some noodles separately and added it to my own bowl.

I then Pile on the soup on top of the noodles!!! My little guy enjoyed the soup with me while we were both not feeling great :)

tips for this recipe:

You can customize this soup to your liking. If you want it to be more brothy and less stew like add more water/broth. If you would like it to be a creamery soup add a can or two of cream of chicken soup to this. You can also throw in any other veggies you like but this is my favorite probably because its so basic. If you don't want noodles you can make homemade dumplings or simply cut up Pillsbury biscuits and cook them the last ten min or so. They are the easiest dumplings ever and they taste great!

Taco Bake

                                              Taco Bake

This is another meal that I grew up eating in my home...my mom really made some great things while I was growing up and this one was one of my favorites! This really is such a simple concept that it is simply amazing. I mean really what is better then tacos in the form of a casserole???

Taco Bake:

1 package soft flour tortillas

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion

1 can refried beans

1 24oz jar of favorite salsa or picante sauce

lots of shredded cheese

1 can olives

toppings:

shredded lettuce

diced tomatoes

sour cream

guacamole

hot sauce

salsa

jalapenos

etc

Start by browning the ground beef with the diced onion and salt and pepper until cooked through. Then add the whole jar of salsa plus 1 cup of water. This is pretty runny at this point kinda like soup...but that is what it is suppose to look like I promise :)

Next step is we start to layer the Taco Bake! There is 2 rules: start with the meat mixture and end with the meat mixture. Simple right!

Next add a layer of tortillas, beans and cheese.

Next top with tortillas a layer of meat mixture and cheese....you will repeat this process at least 2 times until you get to the top which has to end with the meat mixture remember.

Once the last layer is covered in sauce, top it with a bunch of cheese and then the olives.  Cover with tin foil and place in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 min or until bubbly. I like to take off the foil the last ten minutes of cooking to brown up the top. If you want to make this ahead of time like I did today, you can cover it in foil and put it in the fridge until you are ready to bake it for dinner, but it will probably take a little longer to cook through because it will be cold( mine took 40 min to bake tonight). You can even freeze it and use it for a make ahead meal it lasts well in the freezer. Be careful to not over fill the baking dish because it does grow some in the cooking process!!!

Now you want to top it with whatever toppings your heart desires!!!

Guacamole:

2-3 avacados

1/2 tomato diced small

1 guac season mix

2 Tb mayo

mix all ingredients and chill for 20 min.

I usually use fresh avocado however the store had slim pickings

when I was shopping so I will use the packaged avocado in a pinch.

This is how I like to make mine up I start with a square and then pile on loads of toppings!!!

Best Spaghetti

Best Spaghetti!!!

This is seriously the best spaghetti that I have ever eaten and probably because it reminds me of growing up and this is how my mom makes it...(well almost). I have only added a few things as I have grown older but in all seriousness it simply is the best!

Sauce:

1lb sweet Italian sausage (or any ground meat you like)

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic ( or 2 tsp prepared garlic)

1 small bell pepper or 5-7 mini peppers

1 small package of button mushrooms

1 zucchini

hand full of shredded carrots

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 thick and zesty ( most important ingredient)

1/2-1 cup of water (depends on how thick you like your sauce)

1 tsp of Italian seasonings

salt and pepper

Start off by browning the meat with the onion, peppers, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. When the meat is almost cooked I add the carrots. You can then drain off any fat if you wish to but I don't usually.

While the meat is cooking I cut up the zucchini

and mushrooms...

There is no substitute for this spice pack!!!

At this point you have one of two options...you can then toss the meat, uncooked veggies, tomatoes, and thick and zesty into the crock pot and cook on low for a few hours, or if you are running low on time which most of the time I am :) ... just toss the rest in a pot and cook over med/high for about 20 min or until the veggies are nice and tender. At this point you can adjust the thickness of your sauce by simply adding some of your starchy cooking water from the noodles. I like my sauce really thick so I don't usually add much if any at all. Serve this sauce over any kind of noodle you like!!! This night I chose spaghetti noodles and I opted to serve it with a frozen garlic bread!

Not that I don't enjoy making amazing fresh french bread but honestly that recipe will be for another day!

This recipe is usually enough for my family for one night of dinner plus about 2-3 cups of extra sauce which I then freeze and save for a round two dinner :)  Top your spaghetti with parm cheese (and ketchup if you grew up in my family) Don't knock it till you try it:)  I hope you all try this recipe and modify it how you like the most!!!

Oh one last tip if your kids don't like chucks of zucchini, then shred it with a cheese grater and they will never know it is in there!!

Breakfast for dinner anyone?

Sausage Quiche and Protein Pancakes

I love breakfast. So we make breakfast for dinner all the time. Quiche is a favorite among the kids and hubby. I make several different kinds and love to just throw in whatever I have in the fridge. It is such an easy dish to throw together and fast, especially if you buy store bought crust! 

Pretend you cant see that the egg over flowed :)

Sausage Quiche:

1 lb breakfast sausage

1 small onion

1 bell pepper or 4-5 mini peppers

1 small tomato

shredded cheddar cheese

8 eggs

1/3 cup milk

salt and pepper

1 store bought pie crust

Brown the sausage with onion and peppers until sausage is cooked through and onions and peppers have softened. Drain off any extra fat. Add meat mixture to the unbaked pie crust. I then top with the diced tomatoes and cheese. ( I like to seed the tomatoes as well but you don't have to its personal choice). In a large mixing bowl beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Then add as much of the egg mixture to the quiche that will fit without overflowing. You want the eggs to cover the filling or at least to be wet. Be sure to put the pie pan on a cookie sheet just in case it overflows ( not that that has ever happened to me notice above pic :)  bake at 375 for 35-40 min or until top is brown and eggs are set.

Now I like my quiche with lots of filling and less eggs but you can adjust this to your liking! I also did not put an amount of cheese, use as much or as little as you like....but I add lots! I love cheese.

mmmmmm cheese

Protein Pancakes:

1 cup oats

1 cup dry pancake mix

1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

 optional blueberries, raisins,( any fruit you like really)

mix all ingredients and cook on a greased griddle. I usually use blueberries in mine because I love them, but I have also added raspberries and that was delish as well! I also like to use greek yogurt in mine to bump up the protein. I have used plain and vanilla and both work great, just use what ever you have on hand.

I got this wonderful recipe from a fab friend of mine Alicia who got it from her mother in law and I am so glad she shared it with me. These are easily my favorite pancakes now!!!

Apparently I forgot to take a pic of my fancy plate, but then again maybe I just don't want you to see how much I ate this night :)  Just a little side not I always double the pancake recipe because my kids eat so many and if for some strange reason I have any leftovers they reheat great the next day! Of course you could make this for breakfast but seriously who has that kind of time in the morning. Enjoy!