What? A Healthy Lunch?

I set my alarm clock for 6am. Exactly 1 hour before I need to be at work. When I factor in the 20 minute drive, that leaves me 40 minutes to shower, put on makeup, eat breakfast, and dry/straighten my hair. My tight schedule unfortunately doesn't include time to prepare a healthy lunch to eat at work.

Why don't I just wake up 10 minutes earlier you ask? Because then my alarm clock would say 5 something and that is not an acceptable time to wake up. It doesn't matter if it says 5:59. I don't wake up at 5.

As a result of me not taking the time to make a lunch  in the morning, I usually just go out. I spend an average of $5 a day. That adds up. I get tired of fast food and am usually craving something fresh and healthy. Unfortunately fresh and healthy = more money which I don't have a lot of.

Today I had an idea (ok I've had this idea 100 times before, but I have never actually done it...the phrase should more accurately state...today I acted on an idea)

Why not buy all of the ingredients for a yummy salad, make a yummy homemade dressing and divide the salad into Tuperwares that can easily be taken out of the fridge on my way out the door. Healthy, delicious lunch that takes no time out of my morning routine.

I found a recipe for a creamy balsamic dressing click here to go to the original blog

Creamy Balsamic Dressing:
4 cloves garlic, grated
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Morton's Nature's Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup extra light olive oil


(a hint...Morton's Nature's Seasoning can be found by the spices in your grocery store)

The dressing can be expensive up front, but once you have all of the ingredients you can make it again for little or no cost. I put all of the ingredients in my blender to mix them.

For the salad
Romaine lettuce
Cucumber
Red onion
Cherry Tomatoes
Cilantro
Gorgonzola cheese
Bacon
Mushrooms
(add any other ingredients you like in a salad)

I spent 30 minutes preparing the dressing and chopping the veggies. I prepared 3 Tupperware containers of salad and 3 containers of dressing. Lunch for the next 3 days. Amazing.

Bacon, bacon, bacon

I love eating bacon. I HATE cooking it. It is one of my least favorite things to cook.

I recently came across a brilliant beyond brilliant idea on pinterest. It is from the genius mind of Martha Stewart and can be found here.

It is literally so easy, mess free, and is totally genius. I don't know why I've never done this

1. Place tin foil on a baking sheet
2. Place the bacon on the foil
3. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes

I like really crunchy almost burned bacon, so I cooked it for about 30 minutes...AMAZING

Missed the Memo

For real though...I am a full time working mom and you know what? 

Some days I just don't have the time.

Or the energy.

No washboard abs for me...

Chicken Quesadillas

I know, I know...my post last Sunday promised more posting this week. I can't help  it if the week flies by before I realize it! Just in case you were wondering, I did NOT sit on the couch and do nothing all week. That is actually the main reason for not blogging. Turns out working full time and having a one year old keeps you kinda busy. That and Allie yells at me every time I try to get on the computer. The other day she literally pulled me off the couch (with all of the baby might she could muster) and dragged me across the room to the front door because she wanted me to take her to see the chickens.

Anyway, you will be happy to know that I made dinner most nights this week. OK I made dinner 3 nights. But that is better than none. I want to post my favorite go to recipe for a busy night. Chicken quesadillas. Nick loves them, they are quick to make, and usually I have the ingredients on hand. (I am going to apologize in advance for being a terrible recipe writer...I will do my best)

Chicken Quesadillas

Makes 4 servings

8 small flour tortillas
2-3 chicken breasts
1 package taco seasoning
Ranch dressing (I believe Hidden Valley is the only way to go when it comes to ranch)
Cheddar cheese

Cut up chicken into small cubes
Heat up frying pan (If there is one thing I have learned about cooking anything it's that the pan needs to be hot before you throw the food into it)
Put chicken into pan with taco seasoning and ranch (I don't always use the whole packet of taco seasoning, it depends on how much chicken you have. Use your judgment. I also don't have a measurement for the ranch. Again, use your judgment...enough to coat the chicken, but not so much that it is drowning) (In my defense, I warned you that I'm no good at recipe writing)
Cook chicken for 3-5 minutes or until it is cooked all the way through
Heat up another frying pan (or use the same one if you prefer)
Spread some butter on the outside of the tortillas
Place the tortilla butter side down in the hot pan. 
Put desired amount of chicken, cheese and more ranch on tortilla and cover with a second one. (haha wow I'm really terrible at explaining this but you get the idea...you've had a quesadilla before)
Flip quesadilla to brown tortilla on other side. Cook until cheese is melted.   

So there you go. My terrible explanation for making a delicious meal. Seriously though, we eat these once a week.

In other news, I had to call poison control for the first time in my life today because Allie decided to snack on some sunscreen. Apparently sunscreen isn't dangerous unless consumed in large quantities...at least now I know...

Ten Dollar Dinners

Part of my road to a better me is to become a better cook. And by better cook I just mean a cook. I have never cooked much (read more about that here) and until now have been content with my handful of recipes that I've picked up here and there. My new goal is to add one new recipe a week to my collection.

I have found that the most frustrating thing about adding new recipes to my list is finding the recipes. I try looking online, but there are just too many options and I end up getting frustrated and going back to frozen pizza. I have also tried cook books. The problem with that is that I have about 3 of them and they are all full of casseroles. I recently tried to buy a cookbook which didn't go well. I spent an hour at the bookstore only to come out with a book that I have not used once.

As I was searching through my TV guide the other day, I came across a show on Food Network called Ten Dollar Dinners. I started to record it thinking that they sounded like my kind of dinners and after about 2 weeks of the shows deleting themselves, I finally watched one. OK I watched part of one (I've never been one for cooking shows). The chef is Melissa D'arabian and while she is kind of annoying, she made some pretty good looking food.

I looked online for the recipe and decided that I will try it this week as my new food. Below is the recipe...stay tuned for a post on how it tastes.

Parmesan-Crusted Pork Loin Cutlets

4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (12-ounce) pork loin
• 3 slices white bread or crusts from 8 slices
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 lemon wedges

Directions

Cut the pork loin into 4 equally-portioned pork chops. Place each chop between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until the chop is about 1-inch thick.

Place the bread in a food processor and pulse into large breadcrumbs. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, and pulse a few more times. Transfer the crumb mixture to a shallow bowl.
Prepare a breading station: In a shallow bowl or plate, place the flour along with salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water, until the egg is no longer stringy, about 1 minute. Line up the flour, egg, and breadcrumbs in that order.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat, and add the vegetable oil and butter. Dip the pork chops in the flour to dust lightly, shake off the excess flour, then dip in the egg and finally the crumbs. Cook the pork until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Once cooked, remove to a paper towel-lined plate to blot the excess oil. Season the cutlets with salt, and pepper and serve with lemon wedges.

Garlic Oil Sauteed Pasta with Broccoli

4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 head broccoli, sliced into very thin florets, stalk peeled and cut into matchsticks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Few tablespoons water or pasta cooking water, if needed
• 2 cups penne pasta, cooked al dente
• Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes over medium heat until fragrant. Once the garlic has turned golden in color, remove it from the pan. You are left with garlic-infused oil in the pan. Add the broccoli to the pan.

Cook's Note: Be sure the broccoli is completely dry before tossing it into the pan.

Toss the broccoli to coat with the oil. Season with salt and pepper and saute over medium heat until the broccoli barely loses some of its crunch, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat up to high and deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar. Add a few tablespoons of water, if needed.
Cook's Note: Use pasta water if the pasta was made fresh.

Add in the pasta and toss to coat with the oil. Top with Parmesan cheese for serving.

Chicken Enchiladas

I made these tonight for my friends and I to eat while we watched the Bachelorette. They are quick and easy to make and taste delicious if I do say so myself.  Also, I made the recipe up, so that is an added bonus since I don't make up recipes very often. Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

2 chicken breasts (cubed)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn (drained)
1 can green chilies
8-10 flour tortillas
Cheddar cheese

Cook cubed chicken in frying pan
Add cream of chicken soup, beans, corn, and green chilies to chicken.
Cook until hot stirring often.
Grease 9x13 pan
Fill tortilla shells with 1 scoop of mixture and roll in pan
Save some of the mixture to put on top of tortillas
Grate cheese and sprinkle on top

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Strawberry Jam

My mom makes the best strawberry jam. Every time we go to visit her Nick and I eat about a gallon of it. It just makes everything taste better. Each time we leave to come back home I try to think of a way to smuggle it in my suitcase, but it never seems to be that practical. Never once has the thought occurred to me to make it myself. You see, jam is one of those things that I have always thought you had to be a super-mom to make. Or at least be over 50...

Today, I made jam.

Seriously, it was not that hard. It contains 3 ingredients (sugar, strawberries, and pectin), cost about $15 (strawberries were on sale for $1.40/lb), and took all of 30 minutes. I now have 7 containers of jam to put in my freezer. Amazing.

Aparantly being a super-mom isn't that hard.

Next step is homemade bread to eat with the jam...or maybe not.

Below is the recipe if you want to make it yourself! (The recipe also comes in the box of pectin)


Strawberry Freezer Jam
yield-6 cups

Ingredients

4 cups crushed strawberries

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 box Fruit Pectin (I used Sure-Jell brand)

1. Crush strawberries using a food processor (don't puree-it should be chunky)

2. Measure out sugar into saucepan

3. Stir box of pectin into sugar until thoroughly mixed

4. Stir in 1 cup water. Bring mixture to a boil stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.

5. Stir crushed strawberries into mixture and stir for 1 minute

6. Pour into containers leaving 1/2 inch space at top to allow for expansion during freezing

7. Set out at room temperature for 24 hours until set. Refridgerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 1 year.

Thoughts on cooking, and some Lettuce Wraps

Let me start off by saying, I don't cook. Ok, I have a handful of menu items that I occasionally rotate through including tacos, chicken quesadillas, spaghetti, and frozen pizza. I have been trying to figure out why I hate cooking so much and I have come to a few conclusions...

1. My mom didn't cook a whole lot. Don't get me wrong, we were always well fed with a pantry stocked with everything we wanted, she just didn't enjoy cooking gourmet meals and didn't cook them often.

2. We are a family of 2 1/4 and it often isn't that practical. It is easier and often cheaper to just take a trip to Cafe Rio.

3. Nick could care less about food. He literally is just as happy with a frozen pizza as he is with a gourmet meal. He also has a list a mile long of foods he won't touch. I often feel underappreciated when I do cook and therefore do not care to make the effort. Our lives just don't really revolve around food. (Ok they don't revolve around GOOD food. They do however revolve around the icecream in the freezer)

With that being said, I am in the process of turning a new leaf and becoming a better homemaker. With that comes cooking. I am in the very early stages of my family and at some point eating out will no longer be practical. I need to start cooking and I need to like it.

Yesterday I spent some time online looking up recipes and made a shopping list. I bought the necessary ingredients and tonight made a copycat PF Changs Lettuce Wraps recipe. DELICIOUS!! And it wasn't that hard to make. The best part? Nick actually said these words...

"WOW. This is really good! I could eat these all day long!"

Success. I am appreciated.

I have now decided that if I cook, Nick will start to like food. (I even snuck some onions in the mix and he didn't even notice. One step at a time)

For all of you wanting the recipe for this tasty little number it can be found here.