What We Had For Dinner

I really loved this dinner, guys. And it's been one of my few balanced meals this week. The chicken was pretty simple, and the broccoli cheese bake was delicious! Definitely a win in my book, so of course I'm here to share:

Broccoli Cheese Bake

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups fresh broccoli florets

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

2/3 cup fat-free milk

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Place 1 in. of water and the broccoli in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. 

2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in the onion and cheddar cheese until cheese is melted. Drain broccoli; stir into cheese sauce. 

3. Transfer to a 1-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. *I used the baby ramekins and they cooked for less time*

Chicken in White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Combine the flour, salt, paprika and pepper into a shallow bowl. Add chicken, one piece at a time, coating both sides. 

2. In a large ovenproof skillet coated with cooking spray, brown chicken in oil for 1-2 minutes on each side. Add broth and wine, bring to a boil. Remove from heat. 

3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. 

Bam. That easy! Seriously, all of my recipes are quick and easy. It's one of the things I screen them for. Oh, and healthiness, since I'm trying to be good and all. 

It's rough guys, rough! Why is food so good?

But, I can assure you that this recipe is good and healthy. Score. 

Happy Humpday!

What We Had For Dinner

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

4 ounces sausage

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 large egg

4 large egg whites

1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage; saute 4 minutes or until browned. Stir in corn and, if desired, red pepper; reduce heat to medium-low.

2. Combine egg and egg whites in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Drizzle evenly over sausage mixture. Cover and cook 8 minutes or until almost set. Remove pan from heat; sprinkle evenly with cheese and 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro. Cover and let stand 2 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro. Cut into 4 wedges. 

Per Serving (makes 4):

174 Calories

6g Fat

13.8g Protein

14.5g Carbohydrate

1.6g Fiber

76mg Cholesterol

0.6mg Iron

472 mg Sodium

121 mg Calcium

I served mine with potatoes, for a breakfast for dinner feel taste. I've made a few frittatas in my day (literally a few, as in two others) and this was definitely a favorite. The sausage adds a lot of flavor. 

Big fan!

What We Had For...

Dinner Breakfast.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

8 slices Texas toast

Blueberry Sauce:

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

2 tbsp. thawed orange juice concentrate

Directions:

1. Pour melted butter on a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; lift and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly. In a large shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla and nutmeg. 

2. Dip both sides of Texas toast into egg mixture; place on prepared pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. 

3. For sauce, in a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Stir in blueberries and orange juice concentrate. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. 

4. Serve with French toast. 

Oh, and in case you didn't notice from the pics, I added some strawberries to make it a bit more festive for the 4th. 

You know what else was festive? Our pinterest-ified outfits. 

I can't even take credit for this one guys. My non-blogging roomie got the idea for these fantastic shorts. 

We got some other cute pics from the day, thanks to self timer. 

And some more self timer pics:

And for your viewing pleasure, the "Just Keep Jumping" series:

Now is the time where I should show the final, amazing jumping picture that we captured. 

And I would. 

If we finally got one. 

Which we did not. 

Regardless, we had ourselves a wonderful holiday, gloomy weather and all. 

Happy Friday!!

What We Had For Dinner

Haven't had one of these posts in a while. And I love me a good recipe, so it's definitely over due:

Seared Salmon with Jalapeno Ponzu

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons saki (rice wine)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets

1 large jalapeno pepper, cut crosswise into think slices

Directions:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon, skin side down. 

3. Cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

4. Arrange 1 fillet on each of 4 plates. Top fillets evenly with jalapeno slices. Spoon about 2 tablespoons soy sauce mixture over each serving; let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

Per Serving (1 fish fillet):

333 Calories

16.6g Fat

37.2g Protein

5g Carbohydrate

0.3g Fiber

87mg Cholesterol

0.9mg Iron

621mg Sodium

24mg Calcium

I will say that the jalapenos were spiiiicy. Maybe cut out the seeds, or sautee them a bit before putting them on the fish (unless extra spicy's your style). But, we loooved the sauce that was on the fish. It was delicious!

This made for a perfect roomie dinner night. 

{Not to mention we have pretty much an entire bottle of saki left over. Saki bombs, anyone?}

Happy Almost Friday!

What We Had For Dinner (+ Dessert!!)

Hi guys! I hope you all had wonderful Easters. I'm a little late on this morning's post, because I took today off work and am still on weekend time!

Yupp! Not gonna lie, that extra day sure makes the weekend feel a whoole lot longer. I'll take it, even with the stress dream this morning of sleeping through my alarm on a work day and showing up past noon. 

Note to reader: Turn off your alarm on a Monday that you took off work. Your stress dreams will thank you. 

So I've been really excited to post both of these recipes, but with all of the Easter excitement they got pushed back a bit. No more delays, I give you one of my favorite soups and the incredibly easy recipe for chocolate bark: 

Turkey Sausage-Gnocchi Soup

Ingredients:

1 (4.5 ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage

I used a veggie-sausage last week to make this vegetarian, just as delicious!

2 cups water

1 (16 ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi

I suggest whole wheat, extra health kick.

1 (14 ounce) can fat free low sodium beef broth

Subbed for veggie broth, either will work!

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes

I used fire-roasted last week, it gave it a spicy flavor that was soooo good!

1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1. Cut up sausage. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat, until sausage is browned. 

2. Add 2 cups water and next 3 ingredients to a pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, or until gnocchi float to the top of the pan. 

3. Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. 

And voila! You've got yourself 7 servings of delicious soup, only 182 calories each. Thank you, CookingLight cookbook!

And now for dessert, 

Chocolate Bark

I followed this recipe to make Easter Candy Bark, but you could really add any color and any toppings to make this fit for all occasions!

Ingredients: 

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

I just made it easy and used all 12 ounces in a bag

8 ounces milk chocolate chips

See note above

7 ounces pink candy melts

In all honesty, I just poured some into a bowl and didn't really measure. Seeing a trend?

Any toppings you want!

Oreos, Whopper eggs and Hershey's eggs did it for me!

Directions: 

1. In a microwavable bowl, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Pour the melted chocolate onto a large piece or parchment or wax paper. Spread chocolate out into a rectangle shape (doesn't have to be perfect!).

2. Put pink candy melts into a microwavable bowl, and melt. Plop drops on top of the chocolate, and use a knife to swirl. (The recipe linked above gave great picture instructions of this part!). 

3. Place your toppings on top of your chocolate, and let cool for 3+ hours. As for breaking the eggs, I highly recommend putting them in a plastic bag and using a pot or pan to break them (Thanks, Kristi!). And as for cooling, you can place the chocolate in the freezer to speed up the process (Thanks, Kristi!). 

Can you tell that I'm the amateur chef of the house? 

Turns out, even amateurs can make great chocolate bark :)

And finally, before I say goodbye and go enjoy this lovely San Diego day, I want to say a huge thank you to Daisy from Lovely Memories for awarding me the Liebster Blog award. 

She is the best, and I can't wait to spread the Liebster love. In the meantime, go check out her blog (& enjoy her awesome fashion posts) and leave her some love for me. 

Happy Monday!

What We Had For Dinner

This recipe was a big time favorite in our house. All five of us loved it. And, as usual, it was quick and easy. 

Enjoy:

Salmon, Asparagus, and Orzo Salad with Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

6 cups water

1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces

1 cup uncooked orzo

1 (1 1/4 lb) skinless salmon fillet

We used a 1 lb. fillet, and made 1.5X what the recipe called for. Still turned out great!

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

Directions: 

1. Preheat broiler. 

2. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add asparagus; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove asparagus from water with tongs or a slotted spoon, reserve water in pan. Drain and set aside. 

3. Return reserved water to a boil. Add orzo, and cook according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. 

4. While orzo cooks, sprinkle fillet evenly with salt and pepper. Place fish on a foil-lined broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Using 2 forks, break fish into large chunks. 

5. Combine fish, orzo, asparagus, and Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. 

Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. 

Per Serving (recipe yields 6 servings): 

353 Calories

15g Fat

27.4g Protein

25.8g Carbohydrates

2.3g Fiber

64mg Cholesterol

1.5mg Iron

547mg Sodium

115mg Calcium

This has been a week full of great dinners. On Tuesday, I went to an appetizer party. Everyone brought different appetizers, and we ended up with so many yummy things. Needless to say, it was a delicious dinner. 

Oh, and it gave me an excuse to rock my new pants. 

And here's that awkward moment when you turn the camera on self timer, and don't know where to position yourself:

Or maybe it's just me that seems to find a way to make the picture all about me. 

Whoops, mah bad.

Hope you have a Happy Thursday!