Thursday, January 30, 2014

Chili, Honey, and Lime Marinated Grilled Chicken Club with Avocado, Swiss, and Bacon. Marinated Chicken and Salsa Quinoa, and Roasted Corn Salad with Lemon Lime Vinaigrette. Citrus Marinated Garlic Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mushroom and Pea Orzo.

Zara has been in such a mood the last few days. Yesterday she slept all day and today she was cranky all day. Nothing makes her happy. I just got her to take a nap so I can get a few minutes to write this post.
Yesterday she tried out her Deluxe Seat to watch her favorite BabyFirst show. 
She loves it finally! 
Getting some play time in.
Explains why she was so grouchy ;)


Last night for dinner I decided to go simple and have a sandwich night. It was super yummy! I marinated some chicken breast cutlets. These are my favorite things to buy from the grocery store right now, I get to use them for lunches and easy dinners. They are already cut thin so no need to get out the plastic wrap and pound them. Which makes my life easier. For the marinade I first put in 1/4 a cup of olive oil in a bowl.
The juice of half a lime.
1 tablespoon of honey. I'm running out haha!
1/2 a tsp of chili powder.
1/4 a tsp of oregano.
Salt and pepper then put it in a bag with 3 chicken cutlets. This was a quick marinade so it only marinaded for like half an hour. When I was ready I put a grill pan on medium high heat and threw on the chicken.
I sliced 1 tomato thin and sprinkled with salt and pepper. And sliced an avocado.
Put 5 strips of bacon in the oven for 20 mins. And extra slice for James :)
Turned the chicken after like 4 minutes.
When the chicken was done, 5 minutes on the other side, I put everything out to assemble. Put the chicken on a plate to rest.
I toasted some good quality white bread. Spread a small bit of butter on each slice and then some mayo on one half.
The chicken on the bottom half.
Shredded some Swiss on top of the chicken.
A slice of tomato.
I added some bacon, slices of avocado, and butter lettuce on the top layer.
Delicious!


For lunch today I again used those chicken cutlets that I had saved in a plastic baggy. Put in a marinade. I'm all about marinating today. 
I put in 1/4 a cup of olive oil, juice of half a lime, a squeeze of honey, pinch of cumin, and a pinch of chili powder. Then let marinade until ready for lunch. First a cut the corn off of one cob and put it in a pan with olive oil at high heat to caramelize.
I pan seared the chicken. For the dressing I put in 1/4 cup of olive oil. The juice of half a lime.
The juice if half a lemon, honey, and 3 tbls of white wine vinegar. (Don't have a picture) then added a pinch of salt and pepper, stirred together. I made some quinoa by rinsing 3/4 cup of quinoa and putting it in a small sauce pan with 1 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Brought to a boil then refused to simmer and cooked covered for 10 minutes. Put a spoon full of quinoa in a lettuce cup and topped with a spoon full of salsa. Cut up some lettuce, topped with the roasted corn, and poured over the dressing. Added the chicken, 1/4 an avocado, a bunch of cilantro and a lemon to squeeze over. It was awesome!


For dinner tonight I made a Citrus Marinated Garlic Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mushroom and Pea Orzo. 

For the marinade I put in 6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs in a large freezer bag. Put in a measuring cup the juice if 1 lemon.
1 orange.
5 cloves of garlic minced.
About 1/4 a cup of olive oil.
1 tbls of sugar.
A pinch of red pepper flake.
1/2 a tsp of sweet paprika.
1 tsp of Italian seasoning.
1 tsp of onion salt.
Mixed that together and poured into the bag with the chicken thighs. Closed and shook till completely covered. Then put it in the fridge to marinate all day.
Let it marinate in the fridge for all day. Then pour it into a baking dish and bring to room temperature. Slice 1 orange and 1 lemon and half an onion.
Tuck the slices in and around the thighs.
Put in the oven at 400° for 1 hour. 
It's so delicious!

For the Orzo I started with a package of white mushrooms and diced them up.
Then half an onion chopped and sautéed in some olive oil till softened.
Put in the mushrooms and sautéed till golden.
Added 2 garlic cloves minced.
Sauteed for about 30 seconds and then added a cup of whole wheat orzo to toast for a min.
Stirred to toast.
Then I added a can of chicken broth which is 2 cups.
Brought to a boil and then to a simmer for 15 minutes. Once the liquid was almost cooked out I added 1 cup of frozen peas. Mixed till they warmed through and then added 1/4 a cup of grated Parmesan.
Yum!!

 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Greek Tortellini Chicken Salad and Veal Scallopini with Mushroom Cream Sauce, Sautéed Squash and Zucchini, and Roasted Sweet Potato with Cinnamon and Honey.

Ugh I'm so mad! I wrote out a huge blog earlier today and just came back to finish it and the whole thing was erased! Grrrrrrr! Well sorry for not posting for a few days, I've been super busy. Here are some cute pictures of Zara! 
She has been addicted to tv lately!
Its so amazing to see her watch it, not even knowing what is going on.
Showing off her cute onsie made from bamboo! It's so soft and comfy!!
Here we are trying out the front facing position in the bjorn. She loves being able to look around instead of just shoved in my chest haha!
My Valentines Front Table :)
I love these themed trees from Pier 1!
Going out to dinner with my grandparents, cheesing it up the whole time!
Sleepy face from just waking up but then she had a huuuuge blow out so we had to change out of this cute outfit.
Into this adorable one :)
My best friend who had her baby girl the same day as I had Zara just introduced Sophie to her daughter, Lana. So we did too! They are going to be such great friends someday! 

She loves Sophie!

For Lunch today I found this recipe on Pinterest and it's amazing! It's a Greek Tortellini Chicken Salad.

First I shredded a rotisserie chicken and put it in a large bowl.
Brought a large pot of water and salt to boil. Put in a package of 3 cheese tortellini and boiled for 8 mins.
Sliced half a red onion into thin half rings and threw that in with the chicken.
When the tortellini was finished cooking I scooped them out into the bowl.
I sliced about 8 sun dried tomato halves into thin strips and put those in.
Then I put in a few black, green olives, and feta cubes from one of those self serve stations at the grocery store.
Half a cup of grated Parmesan.
Half a cup of tomato basil feta crumbles.
Half a bottle of lite Greek salad dressing.
Some of my homegrown basil torn in.
Pinch of salt and pepper. Then mixed together.
It was so delicious!

For dinner I made Veal Scallopini with a Mushroom Cream Sauce, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon and Honey, and Sautéed Squash and Zucchini. It was really good.

First I peeled and cubed 4 sweet potatoes.
Then spread them on an oiled, foil lined baking sheet. Sprayed with olive oil and drizzled with honey.
Sprinkled with cinnamon.
Salt and pepper then put in the oven at 375° for 25 mins.

I sliced 8 large mushrooms thin.
Sautéed with olive oil till browned and the water evaporated. Put in a bowl.
Salt and peppered the veal cutlets. Then put 2 tbls of butter in the pan where I cooked the mushrooms.
Turned on high and seared the veal for 2 mins each side.
Turned the oven down to 200° and put the veal cutlets on a plate and into the oven to wait. Then put in 2 chopped Shallots and 1 clove of garlic minced.
After 30 second I poured in 1/2 a cup white wine.
When it cooked down I put in 1/2 a cup of chicken broth.
When it was reduced enough I added a spoon of Dijon mustard.
Added the mushrooms back in.
Turned off the heat and added a spoonful of sour cream.

I sliced a zucchini and squash into thin half moons.
And chopped half a red onion.
Heated some olive oil in a hot pan.
Threw in the onions.
Sautéed for a minute then added the squash and zucchini slices.
Sauteed then sprinkled with salt and pepper and plated.