Meats & Fish

Valentine’s Day is holiday that is such a welcome treat after all the New Year’s resolutions of eating healthy and working out more. It is the night that you get to indulge just a bit! But, one thing I don’t like about the Love holiday is the restaurant fight. It is just always such a pain to go out on Valentine’s Day.  The restaurants are crowded, the food is pre-made a week in advance, you feel rushed and plus it costs and arm and leg to be romantic on that day. I have found over the years that we prefer to just stay in on Valentine’s Day. This recipe for Filet Mignon with Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce sounds so fancy, but it is really simple and delicious!

You can use any cut of steak that you prefer and you can use any mix of mushroom you can find. The key to this dish being so fabulous is the sauce.  Please do not be scared off by the word SAUCE.  It is EASY, […]

Ok, who needs an EASY yet healthy dinner for the little ones? Or for you-these are so good and I often make them for the boys then end up eating most myself. I have to test them to make sure they are not poisoned, right? One for you, two for mama! Anyway, I promise these are easy and do not take that much time and so, so much better for you than Chic alay (as my son used to call it).  I mean don’t get me wrong we LOVE Chic alay, but I am trying to cut out the fast food in my boys diets as much as I can.  It is very hard when they can drive. I swear the only good a drivers license is for teen boys is for them to get fast food. I’m paying a bloody fortune in insurance so they can eat Taco Bell! So, if I can get them to eat at home it is a win in my book. And, if teenage boys like these Oven […]

It’s Sunday and I don’t know about you, but I am tired from the weekend. During the holiday season I feel like the weekends are a lot of work-I mean going from party to party and charity event to kids activities and dropping of neighbor gifts and just trying to be everywhere and be sparkly and cheery-its a lot of work:)  Don’t get me wrong I am SO grateful to be invited to parties and honored that people still want us around, but every weekend in December is packed full.  I love it, but by Sunday night I am DONE and the last thing I want to do is get in the kitchen! BUT, this dang family still needs to eat and you know how I feel about take out so here is a VERY LAZY dinner-Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken Drumsticks. Serve these with a side of Trader Joes mashed potatoes, a side salad (from a bag) and dinner is DONE. Or these are perfect to serve at a football bowl […]

Guests are coming and you don’t know what to make! Yes, you can order take-out or go out to a crowded restaurant, but there really is noting better than a host cooking a delicious, easy home cooked meal.  This Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin is the PERFECT dish to make for guests. It looks very fancy and complicated but is really so easy. Give it a try-I promise you will not be disappointed!

First things first start with really good meat! Pork tenderloin is not expensive so try to find the very best you can. If you are desperate buy the ones in the package, but if you can find a good butcher buy from them.  Or even better I have found this fabulous company, Butcher Box, that delivers to your house (this is not sponsored-I promise I just have been really impressed with the quality of the meat).

Another trick is to NOT use the really thick cut bacon. It takes too long to cook in the oven and your pork will be way overcooked before […]

Being from Texas we love our fajitas! They are kind of a Friday night staple along with a margarita. And grilling them at home is not hard, but sometimes the weather is bad (read 120 degrees with mosquitos) or you don’t have a grill or you only have a charcoal grill and don’t want to fuss with it.  These Baked Chicken Fajitas are perfect for those nights!  They are SO easy and your family will love them! Plus you can make them ahead of time and keep them in a warm oven until you can sit down. I serve the with a side of homemade Quick Refried Beans, chips and salsa and cold beers for the adults.

These fajitas are packed with flavor! Chicken, peppers, onions seasoned with fajita seasoning topped with cheese and baked. YUM! I wrap these in flour tortillas, but you can use corn or none at all.  They are delicious any way you serve them.

Hope you enjoy!

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Well the school year has started and that means crazy!  Although this summer was absolutely insane! I feel like we didn’t have one day of just “nothing to do” and it was gone so quickly. I still have one more week with my older two before they go back to school and I am savoring every minute!  One way I do that is by having family dinner and making really good food! This recipe for Baked Chicken Parmesan was a huge hit with all my boys. It is quick, easy and healthy-all requirements for a week night meal.

One way I make this healthy is by baking the chicken and not frying it like traditional chicken Parmesan. Don’t worry it is still crunchy and juicy, but with just less calories. Another way I make this healthy is to serve it over zucchini noodles or Banza pasta that is made from chickpeas and has a TON of protein in each serving. My boys shockingly like both options! But, if I don’t have either in my house […]

We all want summer to last just a little bit longer. The warm nights, the longer days, no guilt for sitting down and reading a book, having a glass of wine at 3 o’clock…  But, all good things must come to an end and the kiddos go back to school-that could be a good thing- and the days get shorter and the nights get colder, but we can keep the summer feeling alive with delicious summer recipes. This recipe for New England Style Shrimp Rolls is the perfect thing to make on a weeknight to bring back those summer feelings. I use shrimp instead of lobster only because it is easier to find, for most of us, and its cheaper! But, by all means use lobster if you have it!

There really aren’t many variations on the classic lobster roll so the ingredients are simple and easy to find. The way you make it your own is by adjusting the amounts. This is my favorite version, but play with it and find what your family likes.

Hope […]

This is what they call the dog days of summer here in Texas.  It is 150 degrees here in August and honestly the last thing I want to do is cook, but these little (I guess 6’3″ not so little anymore) people always want to eat.  So, I cook in August.  We have about 2 weeks left until school starts and that is when I will kick it into high gear. But, in the mean time I am trying to get a few family dinners in during the week just to get my kids off the damn x-box! It is so nice to just have a few minutes to see their beautiful faces without head phones on and to talk to them while they are looking me in the eye and not side-eye while they are looking at the screen.  Plus they need actual food in their growing bodies-Flaming Cheetos, gummy bears, yogurt, goldfish and Dr. Pepper aren’t exactly healthy:). But, we go back to the issue of its hot and I don’t want […]

Ah the Instant Pot-the new kitchen appliance that is taking the cooking world by storm.  Is it worth it?  Well, yes and no.  If you like to play with new kitchen tools and like “crock-pot” dinners then this is for you! It is very easy to use and does move the cooking process along, but it does not go without some hands on time so if you are looking for a dump and walk appliance then this is probably not for you. It’s not a set it and forget it type appliance.  You do have to “cook”.  You have to sear and reduce liquid….But, with that being said I do use mine fairly often-I would say a few times a month and everything that I have tried has come out great.  I plan on trying homemade yogurt and I will post my results.

For today we are talking about Crispy Pork Carnitas! YUM!  This recipe turned out so delicious that I have made it several times in the last few weeks and all my sons […]

It is grill season! Living in Texas we can pretty much grill all year, but something about summer just screams it’s time for easy, light, quick grilled dinners. There is usually very little or no clean up with grilled dinners and everything tends to be rather light and healthy with the exception of ribs. Last night we had two of our three boys home for dinner-during the summer I let night family dinners slide and only require Wednesdays and Sundays for full family sit down dinners.  I found some beautiful tuna steaks at Central Market and decided to use a bright flavorful summery Tuscan rub on them and throw them on the grill. I served them with Trader Joe’s mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Easy summer dinner!

If you don’t have a grill you need to get one, but if you aren’t able to have a grill you can absolutely place the tuna steaks in a cast iron skillet or baking sheet and bake in oven at 450 degrees for about 8-12 minutes depending on […]

Being a Texan means we eat A LOT of Tex-Mex food! Its just in our blood to crave a margarita, chips, hot sauce (that’s what we call salsa), fajitas on a Friday evening… And we like it spicy, but not Cajun spicy! It has to have a tang of lime along with the heat of the jalapeños.  To give you an example of what I mean when I say “in our blood”, my oldest son would sit in his high chair starting when he was about 9 months old and eat, with a spoon, a bowl of “hot sauce” at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Cocina. It was the damnedest thing! He still to this day LOVES spicy- I ship him jars and jars of his favorite salsa, chips and pickled jalapeños to school. Thank God for Amazon!

So what does this have to do with the following recipe?? Well, when we have a busy weeknight and don’t have time to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant I make Mexican Lime Chicken with warm tortillas (we […]

Happy Monday! The sun is finally shining here in Texas! And when the sun is shining in Texas in the Spring that means pollen, ugh!!!  I don’t know about you but I am dying!  My car is green and I cannot stop sneezing, but the sun is shining!!  So let’s get cooking!

I am back in the kitchen after a lot of travel and I have a fantastic healthy, quick weeknight dinner for you, Healthy Cajun Jambalaya!  YUM!  It is a little spicy and very flavorful and I serve it over Trader Joe’s cauliflower rice. Now, you can definitely serve this over traditional rice, but I thought I would give this a try and you know what the family LOVED it! My youngest son did ask, “What is this kind of rice is this?”, but I just said its rice that I toasted in the oven and he said “oh, ok I like it!”  Who said you are not supposed to lie to your kids? Had I told him it was cauliflower I can guarantee he would have […]

This recipe is what I call a cheat dinner! It is SUPER easy and very comforting and takes about 20 minutes to get on the table. And it can sit on the stove until everyone is ready or you can serve it in shifts for those busy sports nights.  I remember my mom making this when I was a child and I always loved Sloppy Joe nights (and chip beef on toast, but that is another topic).  It just meant it was a casual, easy, quick dinner night. It didn’t mean we didn’t have placemats and napkins, but it was just a casual night. Not many dishes to clean up and it was yummy and filling. And as a mom now yummy and filling are what I am needing for 3 teenage boys!

My mom always used the canned sloppy joe sauce and it was delicious, but I thought I would try to recreate it without using the can. It turned out pretty darn good!  And it really was just as easy. This is one of those […]

Can you tell I am on a spring kick?!  For some reason I am just wanting fresh and light dinners and lunches.  Don’t worry I will get back to the fattening, yummy dishes soon enough:) But, in the meantime here is another delicious, quick and easy recipe that you can have on the table in 30 minutes with about 10 minutes hands on time! Caprese Chicken is all the fabulous flavors of the traditional Italian salad of mozzarella, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but stuffed into a chicken breast then roasted in the oven until the chicken browns and the mozzarella becomes ooey and gooey. YUM!

This is a great recipe for using your tomatoes that aren’t quite ripe or your basil that is not quite in full bloom. Since they are going to be cooked their natural sweetness will come out in the roasting.  And this is also a great recipe for using the standard grocery store mozzarella.  You want low moisture mozzarella so that it melts gently when cooking. So dont waste your money […]

Ok this Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl is another copycat of the fabulous True Foods recipe. I used to get this dish every single time I went to True Foods until I branched out and started ordering other things off the menu.  It is so good and so filling and honestly most of the time I get it without chicken, but my family likes protein so I put it in it when I am making it at home.

This is not a complicated recipe, but it does take a few pots which kinda drives me nuts (I hate to clean pots), but it is worth it.  It doesn’t take much time so that is pretty much all I am looking for on a weeknight. And I always put my pots in the dishwasher anyway (not my cast iron or non-stick) because I am lazy and ready to watch whatever show I am in the middle of after dinner. I tell ya now that I have a teen driver my carpool days are over at night and we have […]

Meatballs are one of those very versatile recipes that everyone should have in their repertoire. Once you learn the basic recipe you can change up the ingredients to make Italian, Asian, spicy, turkey, chicken…. the combinations are endless. These are my Rosemary Meatballs that are super easy. They are baked in the oven and can be frozen raw or cooked.  They go great with mashed potatoes, in tomato sauce, in a hoagie roll, or on a platter with toothpicks… They make a great weeknight dinner or dinner party appetizer.

These meatballs are a combination of pork and beef which is pretty traditional for Italian meatballs, but the addition of rosemary takes it in a different direction. You can still serve these with pasta and tomato sauce and it will be AMAZING, but they are amazing on their own as well. Another benefit of making this recipe is it calls for a lot of garlic so your house will smell amazing while it is cooking. There are a few things that make people come running to the kitchen, […]

Ah the comfort food classic, Shepherd’s Pie! This is one of those casseroles that I used to love as a kid. It is meaty, savory and just delicious! And as a mom I now serve it because it is meaty, savory and EASY:) And my boys love it!

The traditional Shepherd’s Pie originates in the UK and Ireland and is made with lamb and vegetables and topped with mashed potatoes or a pie crust. However, since beef is eaten more than lamb in America we have altered the dish to be made with ground beef.  In Europe a Shepherd’s Pie made with beef is called a Cottage Pie so why do we in America call it a Shepherd’s Pie? Who the hell knows, but I believe it has to do with a mistaken cookbook translation in the late 1860s.

Anyway, it is a classic, hearty, easy, delicious recipe that your family will love, especially if you love casseroles. If you want to make […]

I probably cook flank steak about once a week. My kids LOVE it!  Its flavorful, beefy and chews like a STEAK-perfect food for boys. Many, many times I just season it with whatever I can find in my spice drawer because I forgot to marinate it before.  But, If I am on my game and can remember or if I do as I preach and make my weekly meal plan then I marinate it and it is SO good.

I am sure most of you have most, if not all, of the marinade ingredients in your pantry and fridge so that makes this especially easy. Now, finding flank steak can sometimes be hard-no idea why. And it used to be SO cheap but the price keeps creeping up on beef but still this cut is fairly cheap for how many people it feeds. As you all know I am a HUGE fan of Costco (angels singing) and they always have flank steak in packs of 2 so when I buy it I come home and freeze one piece […]

Butter poached scallops! How decadent does that sound? I was at the grocery store with my son and he was picking out the piece of salmon he and his dad wanted for dinner and since I don’t love salmon I picked out some jumbo scallops for my dinner. I used to “like” scallops, but I didn’t love them because I don’t really like the contrasting textures of seared scallops.  The outside is crispy and the inside is soft.  It just doesn’t work for me when we are talking about seafood. So when my friend made scallops one night for a dinner party I could not believe how AMAZING they were.  I mean TO DIE for! Of course I asked for the recipe and she gladly gave it to me.  I can’t say it’s much of a recipe, but more like instructions because it is that easy. It takes about 12 minutes from start to finish, I’m serious! You can make this on any weeknight or for a dinner party or special occasion. It is that special, but […]

Pork Medallions with Herb Cream Sauce sounds really fancy and difficult but I promise you its not hard or time consuming.  Have I ever steered you wrong?? I see all these recipes and read all the magazines that promise that this recipe won’t take long to make and then I read through the recipe and find that it needs an hour of marinating or 6 hours in the crock pot or takes 35 minutes to come to pressure and THEN it only takes 10 minutes to cook a roast…  Well, in my book quick means quick. I need a recipe that I can open my fridge, cook and have the food on the table in 30 minutes! This is one of those recipes and it is SO delicious!  Now I know it has cream in it, OH MY GAWD!  But…. I serve only 2 medallions for each person along with a huge salad and a steamed veggie.  I understand that it is not a grilled chicken breast, but I have boys and they need more than salmon […]

This is one of the most requested dinners in my house. My youngest son LOVES fish and inhales this every time I make it.  And I love that he loves it!  As a growing teenager salmon is such a great food for him to eat-pure protein! And when I make this he rarely eats a second dinner of cheerios because he is so full from the first dinner.

Roasted Salmon in Foil is one of the EASIEST dinners you can make.  I timed myself and it took 18 min from start to finish! I serve it with steamed green beans or asparagus or rice. […]

What are blood oranges?? They are a variety of citrus originated in the Southern Mediterranean with a slight raspberry flavor. They are a natural mutation of the orange where the flesh turns crimson only with the cool temperatures of the night during the fall and winter months. In America the blood orange season is December-March in Texas and November-May in California. I love cooking with blood oranges when they are in season, but this recipe for Blood Orange and Rosemary Chicken is just as delicious with regular oranges.

When developing this recipe I wanted more of a savory/herby dish than the typical Chinese Orange Chicken that is sticky, sweet and tart. I used a little honey but only to make the sauce a bit thicker.  I am not a fan of sweet with my main dishes.

Another note-I used boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I can’t find boneless thighs with skin on) instead of chicken breasts because the breasts dry out, but if you prefer white meat then by all means use breasts just watch the cooking time so they don’t dry […]

The holidays are a time of indulgence and celebration and I try to carve out a couple days a week during this busy season to have a family dinners.  I want the dinners to be special and delicious, but I am always so exhausted during December that the recipe must be easy!  This Pancetta Stuffed Pork Chop is very fancy, but is really easy.  There is no sauce needed and that cuts down on the kitchen time.  Start to finish including baking time (read sit down and have a glass of wine time) is about 55 minutes.

I bought my chops at Trader Joes and they were “frenched”, which means the bone was left on the chop and it was cleaned.  It just makes for a pretty presentation, but not necessary.  You can do it yourself with a paring knife if you can’t find it already done or you can just buy chops without the bone. You just want thick cut chops so that you can stuff them.  And speaking of stuffing it is very easy to cut […]