Meal Plan Aug 14 - 16

Meatless Tuesday - black bean Quesidillas, this will me my own recipe....hope it turns out!

Wednesday - Cajun BBQ Pork Tenderloin medallions and Skinny Texas Cheese fries

Thursday - Applesauce Oatmeal Pancakes

Friday - Tacos!

Blackened chicken and cilantro lime Quinoa

Blackened chicken and cilantro lime Quinoa

So, I was hesitant about this recipe because I did not love Quinoa when I made it in the form of "Quinoa Mac and Cheese". Honestly, I think if you are going to make Mac and Cheese....don't mess with it. Nothing can replace or be as good as a traditional homemade Mac and Cheese.

I went ahead and tried Quinoa again and I am glad that I did. I messed up on the recipe because I used less Quinoa and I didn't adjust the lime, so it was very "limy". However, I  still liked all the flavour combinations when the Quinoa, Chicken and Avocado sauce were eaten together. The chicken was my favourite part of the dish. I was full of flavour and it was spicy, but the avocado sauce helped balance the heat.

I found this recipe easy to follow and it came together pretty quickly. I will be making this again!

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
½ Teaspoon of Paprika
¼ Teaspoon of Salt
¼ Teaspoon of Pepper
¼ Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
¼ Teaspoon of Onion Powder
¼ Teaspoon of Cumin
1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil
2 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock
1 Cup of Quinoa
Juice and Zest from Two Limes
A Dash of Salt and Pepper
2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped
2 Avocados
½ Small carton of Greek yogurt

Teeny bit of milk to thicken sauce to desired consistency

Combine all the dry seasonings in a small bowl. Mix them together and then season both sides of each chicken breast. 

Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over medium/high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for seven minutes on each side with the lid on.

Add the chicken stock and quinoa to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium/low heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on, until all the stock has been absorbed.

After the chicken breasts have cooked all the way through, remove them from the pan and let them rest for seven minutes before slicing them.

Add the warm quinoa to a large bowl. Toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.

Serve the sliced chicken breast on top of the quinoa. If you find the blackened seasoning too spicy, you can add a quick and easy avocado cream sauce to cool it down.

 Avocado Sauce -  combine avocado, greek yogurt, teaspoon of lemon juice and a little cilantro in a mini-food processor. Add milk to obtain desired consistency. **I didn't use a mini food processor, I just mashed it all up and then used a hand blender to mix it up.**

Meal Plan Aug 5 - 9

Monday - homemade frozen pasta sauce with spaghetti

Meatless Tuesday - a favourite recipe from my own blog Rustic Tomato Pizza

Wednesday - left over pizza since I will be by my lonesome

Thursday - going to my parents

Friday - Blackened chicken and cilantro lime and Quinoa

Salad Dressing

We are big fans of salads in our house, especially in the summer. It is a perfect side dish with BBQ. We mostly make our own salad dressing and this is one of our favourite dressings to make. It is SO easy. We got it from The Best of Chef at Home by Michael Smith. It is one of the "most used" cook books that my man uses when he cooks.

He made this beautiful salad with all local organic ingredients from our new favourite Farmer's Market called Kredl's.

Salad Dressing: (we actually halved this recipe, but I will give you the original one)

1 cup of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup of honey
1 heaping tbsp of dijon mustard
1 heaping tbsp of fresh herbs (we used parsley)
sprinkle or 2 of ground salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and shake it up. It can last a few weeks in your fridge.

Meal Plan July 29 - Aug 2

Monday - Steak, Asparagus with butter and parmesan cheese and Honey dijon roasted potatoes

Tuesday - Honey Garlic Sausages from Kredl's (with fried onions and peppers) and a salad

Meatless Wednesday - My man is making a Mac and Cheese recipe, I will post it if it is good.

Thursday - The Chicken Gyros that I didn't get to make last week

Friday - I am leaving this day open as a surprise or cause we may not eat at home this night, haha!

Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice Bake

This dish was a hit! 

I made it on the night my son had his first film premier "The Last Laugh". He attended a 2 week long "Movie Maker Camp" and all the kids helped write and act in the movie about a clown apocalypse.....he did amazing and he learned so much. I was so glad to find this camp for him. Movie making is his passion and I hope someday he will earn an Oscar :)

Now back to the dish. I made it for my mom and my in laws and they all enjoyed it. My man loved it after his first bite and has since, told me how much he loves while eating the left overs. My mother just called to tell me to hurry up and post this recipe so she can make it for my dad so he can try it. This speaks for itself.

I would recommend doing some prep the night before, especially cooking the rice. However, if you can't, then I would suggest to just use jasmine rice instead of the brown rice to reduce cooking time.

I tweaked the original recipe A LOT, so I will consider this my own recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts *could use already cooked roast chicken to speed things up*
• 2 tbsp of oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 servings of Brown Rice (this rice takes longer to cook unless you buy the boxed stuff)
• 2 servings of Jasmine Rice
• 3/4 cups Frozen Corn (my mother hates corn, so I substituted with onions and red peppers)
• 15 ounces, fluid Can Black Beans, Drained And Rinsed
• 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt 
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 4 ounces, fluid Can Green Chilis
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 3/4 to 1 cup of Salsa
• 1 cup Low-fat Cheddar Cheese, Plus More For Topping
• Cilantro For Garnish
• Tomatoes, chopped and seeded for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 

2. Cook the rice and put in a large mixing bowl.

3. Put the chili powder, garlic powder and cumin in a small bowl and mix well.

4.  Cut up the chicken into chunks. Add oil to a skillet and then add the minced the garlic. Saute for 30 seconds, then add chicken. Sprinkle about half of the spice mixture on the chicken.  *At this point I added the onions and peppers, skip this if you want to just stick with the corn* Cook until the chicken is cooked through.  Add the cooked chicken in with the rice.

5. in a medium sized bowl, add the yogurt, sour cream, salsa and the rest of the spice mixture. Stir well and then add it to the rice.

6. Combine the rest ingredients except for cilantro and mix thoroughly to combine. Make sure the yogurt and cheese are stirred in throughout the entire bowl. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Transfer to an oven-safe dish and top with extra cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through. 

7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and tomatoes.

Meal Plan July 22 - 26

Monday - I had a busy weekend with my son and his friends, so I never got to meal plan on Sunday, so I had to wing it with some Bacon wrapped Sirloins, potatoes and raw veggies before me son's baseball game.

Tuesday - going to my parent's for supper, so no cooking for me!

Wednesday - Our Meatless day! Classic Pad Thai So, this is a new Pad Thai recipe then my usual. I just feel like trying a new one....could be a mistake....we will see!

EDIT: Tried it and it wasn't as good as my other recipe. I found it was as "saucy". I did like the heat though, so I will add some chili paste to my original recipe.

Thursday - Cheesy Chicken and rice bake

Friday - Chicken Gyros