Salmon Skewers with Smashed Potatoes

Source: Everyday Food Magazine

Serves: 4

Total Time: 30 minutes after water started boiling

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds waxy potatoes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 to 1 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
3 cups baby spinach (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Heat broiler, with rack in top position. In a medium saucepan, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water and cook until tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, thread pieces of salmon onto wooden skewers. Place skewers in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Brush salmon with oil and season with salt and pepper. Fold foil over exposed areas of skewers to prevent burning or soak skewers in water before using.

3. Broil salmon until opaque throughout, about 6 minutes, flipping once. Remove from oven and drizzle with honey.

4. Drain potatoes. While still hot, gently smash each potato with the back of a spoon to flatten slightly and place, along with spinach and butter, in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then toss to combine. Serve salmon skewers with potatoes and spinach.

Verdict: This was delicious, fast, and seriously easy. Be sure to have your fish guy take the skin off the salmon. Allison did put a bite of salmon in her mouth but promptly spit it out. Although, she was sick all weekend, so she wasn't eating much anyway. I'll definitely make this again and update her verdict then. But we loved it. YUM!

Garlic Chicken & Spinach Gnocchi

Source: Delish Food Blog

Serves: 2 and a half

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 (17.5-ounce) package shelf-stable gnocchi

2 large cloves garlic, minced (~1 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 – 3/4 cup chopped spinach

Cook the gnocchi according to directions.

Meanwhile, heat ~1 teaspoon of olive oil and add diced chicken in a large skillet over medium heat, until lightly browned.

Add minced garlic and cook until softened & fragrant, 2-3 minutes.

Add remaining olive oil (~2 teaspoons), butter, drained gnocchi, salt & pepper. Cook until gnocchi are golden brown on the bottoms. Use a spatula to flip the gnocchi.

Add the spinach, tossing frequently, until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Serve hot.

Verdict: Everyone loved this, especially Allison. It was quick, easy and yummy and will definitely have a place in our menu regular rotation.

Diner Meat Loaf Muffins

Source: Cooking Light

Served with mashed potatoes and a salad.

Yield: 6 Servings of 2 muffins each
Total Time: 55 minutes - 30 min prep & 25 mins to cook

Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
1 cup finely crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about 20)
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.

Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.

Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information
Calories:276 (28% from fat)
Fat:8.6g (sat 3g,mono 4g,poly 0.8g)
Protein:28.7g
Carbohydrate:21.7g
Fiber:1.8g

Verdict: The meat loaf was actually pretty good. The problem was that they took almost an hour to make. So by the time we sat down to eat, Allison had already eaten so many snacks she wasn't hungry. The nice thing is it did make enough to freeze half the batch, so maybe the next time we eat them Allison will get to try them too. But Dave and I were fans.

White Chicken Chili

(oops - I took the picture before I garnished it with yummy avocado)
Source: Kathleen T.

Serves: 4
Total Time: 20 minutes of prep

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb ground chicken breast
1 lg onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 cu. fat-free chicken broth
2 15 1/2 oz cans navy (or other white) beans, rinsed & drained
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 1/2 oz. chopped green chilies
1 can condensed cream of broccoli soup
1/2 cup milk
Garnish with tortilla chips, shredded cheddar, sour cream and/or avocado

Preparation:
* Warm oil in a large skillet over med.-high heat. Add chicken & cook
10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir frequently. Remove
chicken and place in crock pot.
* Add onion & garlic to skillet, cook five minutes or until tender.
* Spoon chicken, onion & garlic into slow cooker. Add broth, beans,
mustard powder, cumin, salt & pepper, chilies, cayenne pepper.
*Mix 1/2 can of broccoli soup and milk and add.
* Cover, cook on low 5-6 hours at a minimum or high for half that time. Mine cooked for about 9.5 hours.
* Garnish and serve!

Verdict: Allison gobbled this up, which is always a huge plus. It took me a little longer than I expected to get everything ready in the morning, but it was so nice so have dinner cooked when I walked in the door. Solid B+.

Lemonade Pork Tacos

So I've already lied. I do make up recipes now and again, and this is one of them. It is a combination of several different pork taco recipes I've made. It's super easy, fast and yummy!
Servings: makes 6 tacos
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
HEB Roasted Salsa Seasoned Pork Loin
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup lemonade
Couple shakes dried Cilantro
Flour Tortillas
1 Avocado

Directions:
Slice pork into thins strips. In a large pan, heat a little EVOO and sauté pork 4 minutes or until browned. Remove pork from pan; set aside.

Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender.

Add lemonade; reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return pork and accumulated juices to pan. Shake in cilantro; cook 1 minute or until pork is done and liquid has evaporated.

Heat tortillas and serve with sliced avocado.

I served this with refried black beans.

Verdict: We all loved this. Allison even liked the pork. Of course she ate 4 times more beans than tacos, but she ate some. Solid A.

Spanish-Style Cod with Israeli Couscous

Recipe Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 2 and a half (the half being Allison)
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
2 slices applewood-smoked bacon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb skinless cod or other white fish fillets
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 - 6oz package fresh baby spinach

The recipe orginially called for halibut, but HEB didn't have any fresh, so I chose Cod.

Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, and crumble. Set aside.

Combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, smoked paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle spice mixture evenly over fish. Add fish to drippings in pan, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove fish from pan, and keep warm.

Add 2 teaspoons garlic to pan, and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in bacon. Add spinach to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until the spinach begins to wilt. Serve with fish.

Nutritional information for fish:
Calories:214 (21% from fat)
Fat:5.1g (sat 1g,mono 2.7g,poly 1.3g)
Protein:37.4g
Carbohydrate:2.4g
Fiber:1.2g

I paired this with Israel couscous because that's what Cooking Light did.

Verdict: I really liked this. Dave really liked the fish and didn't care for the couscous, he said it was a texture thing, so I'm not sure if I'm going to count that as a dislike. Allison ate the couscous and wouldn't touch with fish or spinach. I give it a solid B and I'd definitely make the fish again.

Changes I'd make for next time: I could probably get away with only 3/4 lb of fish at least until Allison start really liking fish again. But it did make enough for me to have leftovers for lunch.

Intro

This blog is mainly for my own benefit. I'm not a chef, I just enjoy cooking. Working full time and having a 20 month old that has to eat dinner by 7pm has made cooking during the week even more of a challenge. Getting something yummy and healthy on the table by 7pm has become my ultimate food goal.

Sunday afternoons are spent menu planning and grocery shopping. This past Sunday's menu planning took me entirely too long to come up with and hence, I decided to keep a journal of tried and true recipes that I can turn to.

I don't create recipes, I just follow them. I'll try to always quote my source so no one thinks I'm snagging their great-grandmas super secret recipe as my own.

Now for the food!