No, I'm not talking about McDonald's. I'm talking about the essence of a truly happy meal. In our home, it means sitting around the dinner table with my husband and two girls, having a good discussion over YUMMY food. And that leads me to my first post individually. For those of you know who me, you probably know I don't just LOVE to cook. I do it, but it is far from a passion. I need recipes. I am a "by the cookbook" kind of gal. But I feel that preparing a healthy and hot meal for my family each night is such a practical way to show love and care for them (particularly my always hungry husband).
When Anna and I were growing up, we RARELY ate fast food or junk food. Don't get me wrong, we LOVED it. But my mom was very diligent about not having it in the house. She cooked nightly. At the time, I probably would have preferred pizza. But as an adult, I really appreciate the effort that went into each meal. And as many people know, it can be quite an effort with two kids! I would like to throw in a little disclaimer here. We do indulge ourselves with Chic-fil-A (or as Lily says: Chic Away) maybe once a week. But for the most part, we eat at home. So I am always on the hunt for an easy to prepare, healthy (enough) meal.
As an example, I thought I'd share an "in a pinch" dinner with you. This is for the nights when I need to make something but don't have the time for major cooking.
An easy way to make quick, pretty yummy chicken:
Lightly coat chicken with honey dijon mustard and then cover (again, lightly) with bread crumbs. Bake in oven at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Before the chicken, I cut up russet potatoes into cubes. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and drizzle with E.V.O.O and then a little Lawry's season salt. Bake at 350 for about an hour. So yummy!!
Then for an easy veggie:
Take asparagus, line up on cookie sheet. Spray with no fat, butter flavored cooking spray and sprinkle salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for about 8 minutes. Really good served with just a few blue cheese crumbles.
See...an easy meal in a really short time!
So...I realize we have all of five followers, but I would LOVE to hear your "in a pinch" dinners. Like I said earlier, I'm always on the hunt. If you are just lurking around on this blog, please feel free to leave a recipe. I would appreciate it so much!
Aaahhhhh.....I almost forgot! Taylor Swift! What does she have to do with a happy meal you say? Well...absolutely nothing. I just happened to download her version of "Silent Night" the other day. Just FYI, it is really different and really pretty. Only 99 cents on iTunes. Thought I'd just pass along....
Oh! One more thing! I made homemade bread for the first time last night! It was so yummy! And I am a little too proud about it all. But I just had to share. Thanks Anna for the starter and Thanks Candace Yak for giving it to Anna. Patrick will be forever grateful.
Bye for now~Corrie
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so what is e.v.o.o.? i guess i cook as well as you do! haha! sounds good though!
ReplyDeleteEVOO= extra virgin olive oil. I guess I have watched Rachael Ray too much:)
ReplyDelete1) Pour approximately 2 cups of Fruity Pebbles into a bowl.
ReplyDelete2) Over the Fruity Pebbles and in a circular motion liberally add approximately 1&1/2 - 2 cups of refrigerator temperature milk.
3) Serve with the spoon of your choice.
You'll thank me later
Lol..Lol..hahaha! Love it!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we rarely ever had junk food at home... unless, of course, dad went to the store. He would--without fail--bring back Lays potato chips and Danish wedding cookies. lol.
ReplyDeleteI am always looking for a quick, easy meal to fix when I don't have a lot of time to spend cooking, so please respond with your recipes!!
My easy QUICK meal is smoked sausage, rice, and green beans (or okra).
Buy the smoked sausage (that comes in a U shape). Set oven on 350 and bake for 10 minutes. Take it out, flip it, put bbq sauce on it, and put it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
Cook 2 cups of 5 minute rice for a side dish.
In a skillet, cook frozen, cut green beans with a tsp of evoo. Pepper the green beans and spice them up with your favorite seasoning (I use Creole seasoning and greek seasoning).. spicy green beans are SO good!
This meal usually lasts us about 2 nights and maybe even lunch too.
I am all about quick meals, so I'm sure I have others. I will repost when I can think of another one.
The Taylor Swift version of Silent Night is SO GOOD!!! It is hard to improve on an already beautiful song-- but this song is just so different and just as beautiful!
Good post! I enjoy all of our meals together whether there made at home or not. But, the ones at home are so yummy. Bean and Pea agree!
ReplyDeleteDont forget the cheese cubes anna!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first visit to your site and when I saw your comment "When Anna and I were growing up, we RARELY ate fast food or junk food." I just had to respond... I have seen both of you go through the candy, fufu coffee, muffins, chips & salsa, ice cream... So should I keep naming all the stuff you ate during your youth???? A little junk food never hurt anyone!
ReplyDeleteLOL...haha! You are so right! I said we LOVED it! But I meant at HOME, it was just not around. That is why you probably saw us eating it up at church. haha! As kiddos, we really didn't do the whole fast food thing much, but that was thanks to mom. You don't have to tell me a little junk food never hurt anyone. I am the "chocolate-loving queen":)~ I do like healthy meals for the fam though!
ReplyDeleteThis one is courtesy of my bff Angie:
ReplyDeleteTake frozen chicken breasts (however many you need to feed) and put them FROZEN into the crockpot. Pour a can of Rotel, a half can-whole can of water, and an entire package of Low Sodium Taco Seasoning and cook on low all day. The chicken will break apart with your fingers and you can serve on whole wheat tortillas with some low fat shredded cheese and fat-free sour cream. I like black olives so I put those on there too (of course using veggie chicken for myself, but what else is a mini crock pot for??)
My fam loves this spicy easy dish!
All I have to say is yay for homemade bread!
ReplyDeleteI like to make chicken breasts with cream cheese in the middle. Then you roll the breasts up and wrap bacon around it. 350 for about 45 minutes. Not the healthiest, but sooo good!
ReplyDelete