Chicken Parmigiana Subs

Well, we must add this one to the totally awesome go-to weekly meals. 

It is simple, easy to make, and BEYOND delicious.

Truth be told, I thought about eating this sub the entire day. 

Seriously.

 It was a craving that I just had to satisfy and it was worth oh so worth it.

Also, I know I have said this before but truly slow cookers/crock-pots are a gift from above.  Easy assembly, easy cook, easy clean up. What more could you ask for?

So I give you this delicious sub. 

Ingredients: 
3 chicken breast, frozen or thawed
11.5 oz of your favorite Marinara sauce (so, half of a 23oz jar)
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1/8 cup water

4-6 sub rolls (thick, to hold the juices)
Parmesan cheese, powered
mozzarella cheese, slice
Optional: 2 tbs butter, melted

Directions:
Pour your sauce into the slow cooker. Add the spices and water stir  together. Then lay your chicken on top. 
Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Shred chicken with a fork and stir all together.
You can either start plating now or let it sit a bit longer on warm to help reduce some of the juices.

Optional: Toast your roll.
Slice open your roll and add melted butter. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 2 min or until edges are a nice golden brown. 

Add chicken marinara to half of the toasted sub.
Then sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and then lay a slice of mozzarella on top of that.

Broil again for 2 min or until cheese is melted over sub. 

Top with the other half of the toasted roll and ENJOY! 

Turkey with Zucchini "Pasta"

So, have you seen those "make pasta from your veggies" machines? If not, Google them.

Some look really cool, others look like a gadget thought up on Star Trek.

But hey, neat idea.

For this dish however, I used the good ol' fashioned potato peeler. I didn't get uniform "noodles," but I did get thin cuts of zucchini that I sauteed in the pan to make a delicious base for my ground turkey and my husband's homemade awesome tomato sauce.

This dish can be whipped up in minutes and is super healthy, clean eating, paleo, and ready to be in your tummy.

Ingredients
makes ~2 servings
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 large zucchini
1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: 
Cook and brown your ground turkey in a skillet. Season with some garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Take your zucchini and hold upright on a cutting board. Using your peeler, stroke from the top of the zucchini to the bottom in a quick motion to produce "strands". They should be thin.
In another skillet, heat a little olive oil on medium heat. Add in created zucchini noodles and saute them for about 2 min--until they are fragrant and beginning to get some brown spots on them. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as desired.
Heat up you pasta sauce.

Now place your cooked zucchini noodles as the base of your dish, then top with ground turkey and pasta sauce.
Mix it all up, and enjoy!

Feel free to sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, or crumble some croutons on top; No need to worry about calories with this "pasta" dish.

Enjoy!!!!

The Mex-I-Can Casserole

 

Love Mexican themed food?--MEX 

Believe in yourself?--I  

Have some canned beans and corn? CAN  

(get the title now?)

 THEN MAKE THIS!

I've made this several times for group gatherings because of its simplicity and unbelievably short prep/cooking time.  So far everyone seems to really enjoy it.

10 min prep 15 min bake. Done. 

Feel free to double the batch!

 

(doesn't it look delicious!?!)

Adapted from Panning The Globe

Ingredients: 

12 corn tortillas
1 can of rotel*
1 can of black beans--drained and rinsed (reduced sodium)
1 can of corn (no salt added)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice (I used a mexican blend)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 to 1/2 tsp chili powder (depends on your heat tolerance)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

* any flavor of  or spice preference or rotel--I've made with original, mild, and lime!
* feel free to add in a hot sauce if desired.


Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with a non stick spray of choice.
Layer 6 tortillas down in pan--is okay if they overlap and they bend up the side of the pan.
Mix rotel, black beans, corn, onion, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Evenly top the 6 tortillas with half the mixture. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of cheese over the mixture.
Lay out another 6 tortillas on top of that and repeat, ending with sprinkled cheese on top.

Bake for 15 min, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Cut into 15 portions or 9 if you want them bigger. 

Serve with some a side of your favorite salsa and guacamole!

Enjoy!!!!

 

Autumn Apple Chops

It's not Autumn, it's actually Spring,

 Well sorta. 

We are stuck in this Winter trying to be Spring, 

oh yeah and its the first week of May. 

This mid-west weather is crazy. 

Anyways, why Autumn Chops?

Well, I bought the pork chops and it came with a recipe; This recipe, title and all.

Could it get any better?

Why yes, as a matter a fact this meal takes 5 min to prep and 10 min to cook for a total of a 15 min meal.

So Thank you pork chop packaging company. You made my dinner meal planning a little easier this week so I'll post your recipe and use your tile. Thank you!

Ingredients: 
Serves 4
4 pork loin chops. 3/4 inch thick
1 tbs flour
2 tsp butter
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cup apple juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: 
Heat a skillet over medium heat.
Drizzle a little olive oil and saute sliced onions until they become translucent. Set aside. 
Season flour with a little salt and pepper.
Lightly flour pork chops and brown on one side in butter in the same skillet over medium heat.
Turn Chops;stir in onion and apple juice.
Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 7-8 min until internal temperature on a thermometer reads 145 F. followed by a 3 min rest time.

                                                               ENJOY!!!!

 

Lemon Zucchini Chicken

I am not one who can have the same meals every single day.

 My husband sure can, but not me. 

I love variety, I love texture, I love taste, I LOVE FOOD. 

So this dish came out of my desire for a quick, protein packed lunch with a kick.


I really love the taste of lemon and chicken. One of my all time favorite Italian dishes is chicken piccata where it is infused with wine, lemon, and capers. 

However, this dish may not have battered chicken in a wine sauce but it does have quinoa--a new staple to my diet-- lemon, zucchini, and sauteed onions. 

So if your looking for a quick, clean eating, and filling dish give this a try 


Recipe adapted from The Gracious Pantry

Ingredients: 
5-6 oz chicken breast, cooked
1tbs  olive oil 
1/4 onion, chopped
2 tbs lemon juice 
1 zucchini, chopped 
1-2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste 
1/4 quinoa, cooked

Directions: 

Heat a skillet with oil on medium heat. Add onion and saute for 2-3 min, until onions start to turn clear. Add in chopped Zucchini and cook for 1 min, until tender.
Add in chicken and stir in seasoning. 
Add lemon juice and let cook for 2 min until everything is well heated and juices are combined. 

Remove from heat. 
Scoop out lemon chicken mixture and top over a bed of quinoa. 

 

ENJOY!!!!

Skillet Tomato Beef Rotini

30 min meal are truly the best.

Using left over ingredients to create that meal, even better. 

The story goes as such: 

My husband had been asking me "what's for dinner"  for quite sometime that day and I was at a standstill. I really didn't want to cook a crazy meal.

I opened my fridge and found half a pound of ground beef, half a jar of pasta sauce,  and half an onion. I chuckled at my luck and said: spaghetti it is! But my husband had other plans. 

Noticing I was going for the spaghetti noodles, my husband hollered out, "hey what kind of past noodles do we have?" I listed the names elbow, rotini, linguini, penne, and spaghetti. He looked at me with a cute but puzzled face, so I rephrased my sentence and said, "mac and cheese noodles, swirly noodles, round noodles, thicker spaghetti noodles, and spaghetti"; he got it. 

"I want the swirly!" he said with a smile; 

and thus I give you Skillet Rotini. 

Ingredients: 
3 cups  whole wheat rotini, uncooked
1/2 lb 97% fat free ground beef*
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 jar of  pasta sauce, any type you want!( I used Prego heart healthy traditional)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp organo
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes, not rinsed --I didn't have this, but would HIGHLY suggest it!
  
 *If you can't find ground beef at that percentage  just cook your beef like normal. When fully cooked, rinse under hot water in a colander/strainer. Quick rinse skillet and place rinsed meat back in skillet, then season. You are rinsing away the accumulated grease. 

Directions: 
Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 3 cups of rontini and let cook  on boil, uncovered for 10 min. when done, drain and set aside.
meanwhile, heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add ground beef and chop and cook until no longer pink.  
Add onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, and the rest of spices to beef and let cook for 2-3 min, until onions start turn transparent. 
Turn heat to medium low. 
Stir in pasta sauce and mix well.
If pasta is done, add drained noodles to large skillet and and mix  very well noodles with meat mixture. 

Serve hot with some homemade french bread and a side salad!

ENJOY!!!

Nutritional Information: 
Makes ~ 5 servings (a little more than 1/2 cup each)  
251 cal * 35 carbs * 5g fat *  14g protein * 6g fiber