One Pot Wonder

I love one pot meals. If I can do it all in one dish, I see it as the perfect way to clean less later!

*Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

This cheesy and creamy concoction is made with some chicken, veggies, and a soup can.

In an oven safe casserole dish, combine your selection of vegetables (some suggestions: cauliflower, chunked or diced potatoes, broccoli) with one (1) Campbells Broccoli and Cheese soup can.

Next, take boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them into chunks.

Place the chicken on top of the veggies, drizzle some olive oil on top of the chicken.

Sprinkle a handful of breadcrumbs (I like 4C brand Plain breadcrumbs) on top of the entire dish.

If you're feeling extra cheesy, grab some shredded cheddar and top it with that as well.

Place in the center of the oven rack and cook for approx 35-40 mins or until the chicken is golden and the veggies are tender! (every oven works at a different rate, so keep your eye on the casserole).

Scoop it up, place in a bowl, and curl up on the couch like I did.

Enjoy!

"Slim" Meat and Potatoes

If you like meat and potatoes, but fear cooking a steak (as do I), this recipe is perfect for you.

The meat takes all of 5-7 minutes to cook, and the potatoes go in the oven for 35. You can't beat the simplicity of this.

For the Potatoes
---Pre-heat the oven at 450 degrees---

*Cut some petite red potatoes in 4.

*In an oven safe pot, place the potatoes, 2 table spoons of olive oil, a palm-full of parsley and rosemary, as well as 2 table spoons of your favorite Balsamic Vinegar, my favorite is this one, found at Publix.

*Mix well, make sure all of the potatoes have been coated.

*Place these in the oven for 35 minutes.

The Skinny Steaks
--Make sure you find the perfect cut of meat for you, I like thin Flank Steaks.--

*Cut the steaks in two, they're pretty long and come in packs of 2

*Season them with salt, pepper, oregano, granulated garlic and onion, and thyme.

*Place them in a large flat skillet with a light sprinkle of olive oil.

*Make sure each side cooks by flipping them. (Typically it's 2-3 mins on each side)

*Once the potatoes are fully cooked (they will take the full 35 mins), remove them from the oven, give them a quick toss, and plate!

You're done! It really is simple and the best part about this easy dish is the fact that you can make it for 2 or 10 people...just increase the amount of steaks and potatoes. It still stays very easy to make with little effort at all on your part.

As an "extra", I like to take a small pan and cook some Boretanna Onions until they're golden. I love these because they're sweet and very tender. Top the steaks off with this delicious addition, it looks good and tastes good too!

Lean Pork Chops and Veggie Pasta

This recipe is a breeze, I love the fact that I can season the meat and walk away from it. Yes really, you can leave it alone and tend to something else for a good 15 minutes!
I love pork, but I personally love it very lean, a bit lemon-y, and definitely well done. I hate any pink meat, but that's just me. Cook this to your liking, as with any meat.
As for the simple pasta, add your favorite veggies to a pan with a pinch of olive oil, butter, salt and pepper and you're practically done!

Boneless Chops
**Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Start off with some lean pork chops ( I always figure 2 per person). I like the boneless ones.

*Trim the fat (unless you want to keep it of course)

*Season the meat (I like a light drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, granulated garlic, onion powder, and cumin to taste)

*Make sure you do this to both sides

*Place the chops on a flat cooking sheet (I use a cookie tray)

*In the oven they go for 15 minutes. Flip them at the half way mark for even browning.


Veggie Pasta
**Make sure to boil some water in a pot with a dab of olive oil and a bit of salt.

While the water is boiling, grab some of your favorite veggies. In this dish, I used Spinach, Red Peppers, and Parsnips.

*Wash and dry all of your veggies.

*Slice them up. (I do the parsnips at an angle, and the red peppers in strips).

*Heat a skillet with some olive oil (just to moisten the bottom of the pan, don't get carried away).

*Once the oil is hot, place all of the veggies along with some garlic into the skillet. Drizzle a bit of salt to help the veggies wilt and cook.


Place your favorite pasta (in this case, I used a spaghetti) into the boiling water. The pasta shouldn't take any longer than 7 minutes to cook.

By this time, your kitchen should be smelling delicious...which means those pork chops are just about ready to be plated!

* Stir your veggies and add a tablespoon of butter.

* Once the pasta is cooked, add the pasta to your veggies in the skillet. Make sure you mix it together and coat the pasta with the butter that you've just added.

*Remove from heat.

Take the pork chops out of the oven. Slice a lemon and squeeze some juice onto each chop individually. (If you would have done this any earlier, the heat would have cooked off the lemon juice, this is why we do it last)

In about 20 minutes, you've prepared an awesome dinner! Enjoy.

Buffalo Chicken Strips

I couldn't find a recipe that I absolutely loved, so I made my own. I love making these because they're fun, they taste good, and who doesn't like some crispy chicken every once in a while?


For the Sauce, You'll Need:
* Any brand of Hot Sauce (add as much as you like, or go sans spice)
* a palm full of ground garlic powder
* a palm full of powdered onion
* 3 tablespoons of butter (melted)
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1/2 cup Heinz ketchup


Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

For The Chicken Strips, You'll need:
* A package of Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into 1 inch strips
* Panko Breading (this can be found in the bread aisle at the market, or with the seasoning. I like the Ian's and PROGRESSO brands.
* 2 eggs, beaten

What To Do

This isn't as hard as it may sound, I promise.

Prepare a deep skillet or frying pan and add about half of an inch of CANOLA oil to it.
Heat this until it is hot.
*Tip* Sprinkle some breading into the oil after a few minutes to test the heat. You don't want it to burn, but you want it to cook.

* Take a piece of cut chicken, dip it into the egg, then dip it into the Panko breading.

*Make sure to get breading on the entire piece of chicken.

* Take that piece of chicken and gently place it into the skillet with oil.

* Once the breading is golden on both sides (you may need to flip it) take the chicken strip and place it into the sauce bowl.
*TIP* I recommend tongs for this process.

* Once you get comfortable with the process, you may be able to do a few at a time.

*Repeat until you have all of strips breaded, fried, and sauced!

Clean Up Tips

Please remember to carefully, and generously soap the items that contained chicken. You don't want to spread salmonella throughout your kitchen and onto items you'll reuse later.

I always use anti-bacterial soap, and a lot of it!

These are perfectly paired with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Enjoy.

A Lemon-Aid, literally.

A kitchen gadget I have recently taken to, and now swear by, is probably one of the oldest kitchen contraptions known to any cook. Simply stated, it's the age-old "Juicer".

I never realized how important this device was until I desperately needed it. I'd squeeze my lemons until they looked dry but always found myself disappointed in the amount of juice I received.

The age-old juicer has been "re-vamped" to look sleek and modern, like the one: .
Here are the problems with this modern contraption:
* It eventually hurts the palm of your hand.
* The seeds easily fall into your juice collection.

Sometimes the original product needs no modernization!

With the old version, you can:
* Easily collect the juice in a built in collection cup.
* Keep those pesky pits away from your juice collection, as this method is designed to filter the juice, and only the juice, into the collection cup.

In comparing the old with the new, my vote goes for the original juicer. It happens to be my favorite lemon "aid" in the kitchen!

Let me know what you think if you try these two out for yourself.