Chicken w/roasted red pepper & Feta Sauce

Another quick & easy night!

First I made slits all over 4 chicken breasts. Then I stuffed the slits with roasted red peppers. I brushed and egg over the chicken and then placed the breasts in a ziplock baggie filled with panko bread crumbs, red pepper flakes, garlic, and Webber chicken seasoning and shook the bag until the breasts were lightly breaded.

Then I did something I NEVER do! I fried the chicken in a skillet with 2 tbls EVOO and sauteed garlic.

While the breasts were cooking, I put roasted red peppers, feta cheese, and a dash of unsweetened almond milk (you can use any kind of milk you prefer), in a small food processor. Once the mixture was processed, I simmered it on the stove until dinner was ready.

I also made my spinach cakes that were mentioned in a previous post. When everything was plated I poured the red pepper and feta sauce over the chicken and spinach cakes.

For a side we has Uncle Ben's roasted chicken flavored rice - in - a - bag! (90 sec. in the microwave) :)

The fam said the dinner LOOKED like someone threw up on their plates. But when asked if I should make it again or not, everyone said, "Make it again next week!"

Lemon/Garlic/Pepper Tilapia

EASY! EASY!

Tonight we had tilapia - a house favorite! I sprinkled the tilapia pieces with garlic powder and pepper. Then I squeezed the juice of one lemon over the tilapia and baked for 20 minutes!!!

I cooked a bag of frozen broccoli in the microwave and made a dijon mustard and soy sauce mixture to drizzle over top.

Pasta with soy sauce on the side. But, of course, I had shiritake noodles (with soy sauce)!

Easy - Fast - Healthy - MMmmmm Good!

Strawberry Lemonade w/strawberry infused vodka

The vodka infusions worked and they taste yummy! The difference, I think, between what you can buy in the store already infused or flavored and what I did myself is that there seems to be more of a fruit flavor to the self infused vodkas.

Today I tried this with the strawberry vodka:

I made a pitcher of flavored water. The flavoring I used was Crystal Light wild strawberry and Crystal Light lemonade. I squeezed one whole lemon into the pitcher. Rimmed a martini glass with splenda. Poured the flavored water into the glass. Added two shots of strawberry infused vodka.

VOILA! A nice refreshing drink for a hot summer day by the pool!

Kid Lunch!

This is not a dinner for busy Mom's, but a quick, fun lunch for a busy Mom with kids plus kid's friends!

I made jelly sandwiches with sugar free jelly. Dug out a heart and star cookie cutter and cut the sandwhiches. Sliced low-fat cheese to look like octopi. Used colorful fruit to make fruit kabobs. Then filled four dixie cups with pretzel sticks.

This fun lunch only took 30 minutes to prepare and the kids LOVED it!

Crock Pot London Broil

This one is super easy and one probably most of you already know how to do. Thought I would share anyway...

In the morning I fill the crock pot 1/2 way with water and add two low sodium beef boulion cubes. Turn crock pot on high while I get everything else ready. Throw in the london broil. Throw in the peeled potatos. Throw in a chopped onion. And of course any other veggies you want. I usually do carrots also, but we didn't have any today.

Let cook all day!

Since I rarely eat potatoes, I paired mine with the batch of quinoa that I made a few days ago. However, everyone else ate potatoes from the pot. Then we all had a fresh salad to fill the rest of our plates.

DELICIOUS!!!

Baked Cod with roasted red pepper and horseradish sauce

Tonights dinner prep took exactly 15 minutes! AWESOME!!!

I made a roasted red pepper and horseradish sause:

• 1 6oz jar roasted red peppers
• 1 cup horseradish
• 6 shakes of soy sauce or worchestershire (your choice)
• put all ingredients in food processor
• spread 1/3 of sauce on the bottom of your baking pan
• place 4 pieces of cod on top of sauce
• sprinkle cod pieces with pepper and garlic
• use the rest of sauce to cover cod
• bake at 375 for 25 minutes

When I first found this recipe, it called for a crunchy, cajun topping but that recipe was missing. I didn't want to add any calories so I sprinkled Old Bay Seasoning on the top and it turned out just fine.

For sides, we had a spinach/romaine salad and shiritake noodles w/soy sauce.

Since this was the first time making this roasted red pepper and horseradish sauce I was afraid no one would like it, but I was asked to make it again! :)

Grilled Steak, asparagus, & oriental style vermacelli rice

Steak on the grill - self explanatory!!! (season to your own taste)

Grilled steak on a bed of oriental style vermacelli rice. The rice is Great Value brand found at Walmart - right in the box. Yes, I try to cook really healthily, but we all know Mom's on the Run need to cook from boxes too!

A side of grilled asparagus drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled with salt, & pepper. And a side of grilled tomatoes and jalepeno peppers drizzled with EVVO and sprinkled with salt & pepper.

Bloody Mary with tomato and jalepeno infused Vodka

It's already done!!!!! 24 hours and that was it! I definitely would not recommend infusing longer than 24 hours with jalepenos. My husband and I love things to be hot and spicy and we both agreed this was plenty hot enough without infusing any longer.

The infused vodka has given the entire drink a bit of a different taste than usual. It is absolutely delicious!

tomato & jalepeno infused vodka

bloody mary mix

pepper

garnished with a tomato slice and celery stalk

ENJOY!!!!!

:)

Infused Vodka

O.k. so all mom's on the run need a break once in awhile! A good friend of mine tried infusing vodka with strawberries and it turned out well, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I did 4 different kinds.

First you will need containers and tight-fitting lids. I used quart sized canning jars. Next, slice the food you are using and fill the container. After the container is filled to the top, pour in vodka...all the way to the top of the jar. Seal tightly. Put in a dark, cool place for three days.

Here's what I'm trying. One jar of strawberry. One jar of blueberry because I LOVE blueberry wine. One jar of raspberry because raspberries were on a HUGE sale and I love raspberry flavored drinks. And one jar of tomatos and jalepenos. The last one is to make bloody marys. I did hear that you have to be careful that the jalepenos don't make it undrinkable...I'm going to check this one after only one day and taste.

You will also notice in the picture that the blueberry jar is not filled all the way to the top. I wasn't sure if I would like this one so I only did a half jar.

Once these jars are finished I will make a few drinks and let you know how they turned out!

jalepeno, mushroom, bacon & cheddar burgers

YUMMMO!!!! Tonight's dinner was absolutely scrumptious! I used the grill for everything...

First, I mixed a small packet of burger seasoning into the ground beef. Then, I made a few burgers by flattening out the meat pretty thin. (I usually use turkey burger, but the boys have been begging me to have ground beef. So, I gave them a treat tonight - LOL!). Next, I put some cheddar cheese, mushrooms, and bacon pieces in the center of the burger. I made a few smaller burgers and placed them on top of the ingredients already prepared and closed both pieces of burger together so all of the ingredients are in the center of the burger.

On the grill...now it's time to put everything on the grill. Burgers went on first. Then, I had pinapple pieces on skewers and added them to the grill. I also put ciabatta multi-grain buns on the grill to lightly toast and a foil holder containing chopped jalepenos and mushrooms.

After everything was done I topped the burgers with a piece of cheddar cheese, more mushrooms and bacon pieces, and jalepeno peppers. Of course, the kids skipped out on the peppers! I also have a plate of lettuce, tomatos, and onions out so each family member could make their burger to their liking. The kids used ketchup and mustard. My husband and I spread a thin layer of horseradish on the bun.

This was a super quick meal and gave me time to empty the dishwasher while everything was cooking on the grill. Just don't forget to keep a close eye on the buns as they are toasting!

Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken w/simple soy sauce

This is a YUMMY dinner! I suggest enlisting the kids to help prepare part of it the night before while you're making dinner, packing lunches, or doing dishes.

First, I have the kids pound out the chicken by giving them a cutting board, a ziploc baggie w/a chicken breast in it, and a large can of fruit/veggies from the pantry. You are not going to open then can. The kids will use it to hammer out the chicken.

Simple Soy Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup mayo ( I always use low fat or fat free)

4 teaspoons vinegar

1 clove garlic pressed

Combine and stir

Chicken (4 breasts):

- Cover each breast with fresh spinach leaves.

-Sprinkle low fat feta cheese over the spinach.

-Roll each hammered chicken breast and apply 2 - 3 toothpicks to hold together

-Place in baking dish.

-Pour 1/2 of your simple soy sauce mixture over the chicken.

-Place fresh or canned mushrooms on top of each chicken breast.

-Bake

When done and plated, pour the remainder of the simple soy sauce over each chicken breast.

For this meal I usually just boil or bake some potatos. Tonight I boiled, sliced, topped with butter & parsley. For myself, I substituted the potato for shirataki tofu noodles. I have an intolerance to barley and yeast, so I often substitute. Shirataki noodles are a very yummy and healthy substitute for carbs, pasta, rice, potatoes. They are purchased in a bag at your local health/nature store. Open, drain, heat!!! How's that for a healthy option for the Mom on the go?!? The noodles take on the taste of whatever you put on them. You can heat them with spices, sauces, etc. Tonight I stirred in a bit of the simple soy sauce and mushrooms.

Then for another side, I added a small spinach salad with tomato, olives, feta, and light Greek dressing.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tilapia - Spinach Cakes - Quinoa

Tonight was one of my favorites. Takes a little more time than the average busy mom meal, but still a tasty, quick pick.

Tilapia - lightly breaded with a mixture of panko bread crumbs, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes,

and garlic. Then baked! YUMMMMM!!!

Spinach Cakes - 1 box or small bag of frozen spinach, defrosted in microwave and squeezed. Stir in 1 egg, 1/2 cup parm. cheese, spices of your liking and stir. Sautee garlic in a pan with EVOO. Form spinach mixture into patties and cook in garlic/oil pan. To with a sprinkle of low fat shredded cheddar cheese.

Quinoa - Tonight I made the quinoa with a low sodium beef boullion cube, chopped cherry tomatoes, chopped jalapenos, and chopped onion. (I also make a big batch of quinoa when I make it because this is more time consuming. Quinoa keeps well in the fridge and then you can take it out and heat for the next day or in two or three days.)

Ps) If your family doesn't like quinoa, you can substitute rice.

Grilled Chicken Platter

Chicken Breast sprinkled with Weber's Seasoning (beer can chicken flavor)

Grilled Cherry Tomatos

Grilled onion drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled w/salt & pepper

chopped cucumber sprinkled w/low fat shredded fiesta cheese