So, we’re on vacation – but that doesn’t mean there’s no cooking going on. I’m just a bit more distracted with the beach and stuff, which means this post is going to be short and sweet. To start off, the hubs was concerned everyone was going to raid our house after I publicly let the world know we were heading out. But, then I reminded him that our crazy ass mean neighbor was going to be watching the cats.

And, really. He’s crazy – and mean (but loves cats). So, whatever.

When you’re going away, the last thing you want is a bunch of stuff smelling up your fridge, so it was all about leftovers at our house this week. Some looked like a bunch of brown mush – but tasted amazing, while others were awesome the first and second time…. (hello, slow roasted barbecue turkey things!)

I hope you all had a great week – what was your favorite recipe? Link up!

Top row from left to right – Slow roasted barbecue turkey things over quinoa and zucchini casserole, breaded and baked eggplant with fresh garlic tomato sauce over polenta and spinach, garlic and spinach pasta with leftover barbecue turkey thighs. Bottom row from left to right - half a rib eye over polenta spinach cakes topped with caramelized onions, Trader Joe’s Beef and Broccoli and TJ’s Fried Rice, slow roasted barbecue turkey things over quinoa and zucchini casserole, grilled balsamic orange chicken breasts with roasted sweet potato and steamed cauliflower and broccoli salad.

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, all I can think about are snacks, snacks, snacks. Honestly, I don’t really care about the football game – I’m not a big fan of either team (because they aren’t the Packers or Niners), so I’m in it to win it on the snack front. We usually gather around the TV to yell at the players for missing the ball and laugh at the really-not-so-funny commercials.

It’s kind of a tradition.

This year I pre-made a couple of goodies to make sure they would be a hit on game day. I am already planning on making a big overflowing bowl of peanut butter popcorn. Alongside that crispy, tasty goodness will be homemade pizza with ricotta and prosciutto, yogurt covered pretzels, and also, horribly addictive sweet and spicy pecans.

For the holidays, my aunt sent us one of the biggest bags of fresh-from-the-tree pecans I’d ever seen. While looking at tons of pecan recipes, I decided to ditch all those steps for something super simple.

Sweet and spicy nuts.

This is a really easy recipe and you can tweak it to your taste and use any kind of nut you like – or a big mix of all different kinds – and change up the spices as you like.

Ingredients

4 cups raw nuts (I used pecans)

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon chili seasoning

1/2 teaspoon flour

Dash of pepper

What you do

Place your nuts in a big bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the seasonings along with the sugar and flour. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 250 F so it will be nice and warm when you’re ready.

In another small bowl, froth up your egg white. It doesn’t need to be whipped, just a bit bubbly. Now pour the egg over the nuts and give things a good stir, making sure all those nuts are coated.

Sprinkle the sugar and spice mix over the nuts and toss or stir until they are all nicely coated. Evenly distribute the nuts on a lightly greased sheet pan and then pop in the oven for 40 minutes. You can check on the nuts after about 20 minutes and give them a stir.

Give the hot nuts a dash of sugar and salt and then let cool before munching.

Enjoy!

I like to make something homemade every night for dinner, but I do like to get some help from time to time. This week we even braved going out to dinner, which is something we never ever do.

Really. Ever.

But, things went really well, and I also had fun putting together something with the help of Chef Boyardee. This week was all about taking it easy. Our tot came down with a cold (which the husband now has), we were all super busy, and the weather was just wonderful. We enjoyed a weekend of soaking up some some sun – and hopefully getting rid of all that sick.

What’s your favorite go-to pre-made dinner item? Share your favorite recipe or awesome tip!

Top row from left to right: Trader Joe’s fish nugget tacos with big veggie black bean salsa, garlic, oregano, and olive oil marinated and roasted chicken legs with green onion rice and a cucumber yogurt sauce. Bottom row from left to right: Mushroom cap meatballs with spinach garlic pasta and a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan, cheesy chicken Florentine with Chef Boyardee, breadcrumb coated and fried yogurt honey mustard marinated chicken breasts with steamed green beans and rosemary garlic rice-a-roni with fresh Parmesan.

After a long day I want things super simplified when it comes to dinner. I try to cook a homemade meal every night, but sometimes I need a bit of help.

There’s nothing wrong with using a boxed or canned item to make dinner easier.

I’ve also got a budding chef that’s really into helping right now, so while cruising up and down the aisles at the grocery store, something caught my eye.

Chef Boyardee Mac & Cheese. Already made in a can.

Sure, I’ve loved Chef Boyardee products forever with their saucy good pastas. But this? Mac & Cheese in a can had to come home with us.

Cooking with your kids encourages them to try new things and also introduces essential kitchen skills. Even young tots like mine can do lots of things to assist with making dinner.

I had a tasty idea for using that Chef Boyardee Mac & Cheese, and she could totally help.

After getting out a cutting board, butter knife, and a handful of mushrooms, she got busy cutting away while I had time to prepare the rest of the meal without her attached to my leg.

The thing is, Chef Boyardee is running a contest right now (December 29 through March 11, 2012) with a final winner getting a year’s worth of groceries and ten weekly $500 cash prizes.

If that’s not encouragement to get in the kitchen and get creative with the Chef, I don’t know what is!

While prepping our dinner I kept finding myself distracted while watching my daughter cut her way through those mushrooms. I was so proud of her and her budding knife skills.

She helped me mix things together and then was more than excited to sit down to dinner and enjoy what she had helped to make.

Cheesy Chicken Florentine!

This recipe is so good, super easy-and healthy (for real-under 300 calories per generous 1 cup serving and full of vitamin-packed spinach)!

This dish, that easily serves six, can be on the table in less than 30 minutes and uses one pan, which makes clean up a snap.

Serve alongside garlic toast and a few sliced tomatoes for a complete meal.

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 lb chicken breast tenders, cubed

1 c chopped mushrooms

1/2 t pepper

1/2 t dried rosemary

10 oz box of frozen chopped spinach at room temperature and drained of water

2 15 oz cans of Chef Boyardee Mac & Cheese

1/2 c reduced fat sour cream

1/2 c shredded mozzarella

Directions

Place a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat and add the oil, chopped onion and garlic and stir.

Add the cubed chicken tenders along with the pepper and rosemary and let things brown for about five minutes stirring as needed so the chicken doesn’t stick to the pan.

While you’re stirring the kids can chop the mushrooms and squeeze the water from the spinach by pressing it in a colander.

Once the chicken has started to get toasty around the edges, add the spinach and mushrooms to the mix and stir.

Go ahead and turn off the heat under the frying pan and crank the oven to 400 F.

While it’s preheating, mix in the Chef Boyardee Mac & Cheese along with the sour cream to the chicken.

Sprinkle with the shredded mozzarella and pop into the oven for about 20-minutes or until the top is all bubbly brown. Dinner!

What’s your favorite Chef Boyardee product? Use it to create your own unique recipe and then share on the Chef Boyardee Facebook page for a chance to win!

Enter Chef Boyardeeís Make It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest from December 29, 2011 through March 11, 2012 for your chance to win free groceries for a year as well as one of ten $500 weekly cash prizes. Then visit Chef Boyardeeís Facebook page from March 26, 2012 through April 8, 2012 to vote for your favorite recipes from the ìMake It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest.î Each day, one voter will be selected to win a $100 cash prize.

Be sure to visit the Chef Boyardee Roundup page on BlogHer.com to check out other bloggersí recipes!

This week was totally overwhelming. We are in the process of refinancing our house and were waiting on pins and needles at the beginning of the week on the appraisal, I headed into the city to meet with someone up close and personal about an exciting work adventure, there was preschool with the tot, and then two conference calls on Friday.

We had high hopes of getting a sitter for a friend’s party on Saturday night, but things just didn’t work out and the husband went solo. As much as I would have enjoyed hanging out and enjoying much needed adult time, I was exhausted, so spent a few hours with a book and some silence.

This week’s dinners started out with a bang and then kind of lost momentum. Our stuffed chicken breasts didn’t look nearly as appealing as they tasted, and frozen pizza dough saved me on Saturday evening.

But we did have two vegetarian dinners this week and I tried to keep going with our plans to ditch the carbs. By adding additional veggies to our meals we still had full plates – and full tummies.

What was your favorite meal this week at your house? Link up a recipe to share, or leave a comment telling me which recipe from our meals this week you would like me to share tomorrow!

*Top row from left to right: Mushroom stuffing stuffed chicken breasts with roasted celery and white beans, healthy beef stroganoff made with plain yogurt over spinach and egg noodles, noodle free eggplant lasagna. Bottom row from left to right: Pounded boneless chicken things over veggie filled rice with a green onion pan sauce, lean cheeseburgers with baked zucchini fries, mushroom and garlic cheese pizza with fresh ricotta.

I just love quinoa – and I’m a big fan of butternut squash. Quinoa is easy to cook (really) and so healthy for you. Not only is it packed with protein, it’s also low in cholesterol, carbohydrates, and has hardly any calories. With a nutty, crisp flavor, it’s great as a side or main dish. And, butternut squash isn’t anything to complain about either. Full of antioxidants and also low in calories, butternut squash can be enjoyed savory or sweet.

This was our winner from last week’s dinners, and I enjoyed the leftovers cold the next day for lunch. Even if you’ve never cooked quinoa before, you’ll have success with this dish – really, it’s that easy.

And, hey. Not a fan of blue cheese? Leave it out – or crumble some feta or shred on some Parmesan.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, skin and seeds removed then diced

1 small onion chopped

1 big clove garlic chopped

1 t olive oil

1/4 c water

Dash of salt and pepper

4 c fresh spinach leaves

1/4 c crumbled blue cheese

Cooked quinoa (don’t worry, I’ll tell you how to make it later)

How to make it

Start by cutting off the skin from the butternut squash and then cutting in half. Scoop out the seeds and then chunk the squash into 1-inch pieces.

Go ahead and crank your oven to 400 F and dig out your biggest non-stick-but-safe-for-the-oven sauté pan. 12-inches is a good size, and if you don’t have a non-stick, you can use a regular one – things might just stick a bit.

Slice and dice the onion and garlic and add to the butternut squash along with a couple of good dashes of salt and pepper and the water and olive oil. Give things a stir and then toss into the hot oven.

Now get 2-cups of water boiling with a dash of salt. Once things are simmering away, add 1-cup quinoa, turn down the heat, and cover things up for about 10-minutes or so. Check back every once in a while to make sure your quinoa isn’t burning at the bottom or to add more water if things look dry. Give things a stir and then taste for doneness. You should end up with lots of itty-bitty swirls that are nice and tender and fluff with a fork.

Turn the heat off under the quinoa and leave covered. Give your butternut squash a stir and keep on roasting for another 20-minutes or so.

While the squash is finishing up, wash and dry your fresh spinach and add to a nice sized mixing bowl.

Give your butternut squash a doneness test after about 30-minutes of roasting by poking a chunk with a fork. If it goes in easy, you’re ready to go. Pull the squash out of the oven and dump in your quinoa. Give things a gently toss and return to the oven for another 5-minutes to toast up the quinoa.

Mix the hot butternut squash and quinoa with the spinach and then top with the blue cheese. You can also add another drizzle of olive oil and add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Tasty AND healthy!

This week was all about cutting back on pasta, pasta, pasta, pasta, and potatoes. I’ve gotten into a bit of a rut lately and giving myself the challenge of finding other fun sides was really exciting this week. I experimented with quinoa, mashed cauliflower, and did make one night of light pasta with olive oil, fresh pepper, and lots and lots of garlic. Sure, I didn’t eliminate carbohydrates altogether, but it’s a start, right?

We also worked on watching our portions and not heading back for seconds. I often make extra so the tot and I have something for lunch the next day (or for double-duty another night as dinner), so before serving I popped leftovers in the fridge making them  unappealing for more munching.

There were a few winners – and a couple of losers. The yogurt marinated rice crispy coated chicken tenders were really tasty – as well as the hot roasted butternut squash quinoa salad. I really wanted the mashed cauliflower to be phenomenal, but the hubs and I both agreed the texture was spot on, but the flavor a bit cabbage-y.

What did you make for dinner this week? Leave a comment with a recipe or link!

I’ll be sharing our favorite recipe of the week tomorrow….

*top left – basa fish tacos, top right – hot roasted butternut squash salad with half a rib-eye, middle left – yogurt marinated rice crispy coated chicken tenders with garlic spinach pasta, middle left – pulled turkey thighs over carrot couscous, bottom left – chuck roast with peas over mashed cauliflower, middle bottom – chicken/turkey sausage with caramelized onions over polenta, right bottom – the wine of the week: Bannus

The other day I posted a pic of our dinner before we ate on Facebook and got so many remarks I joked around later with the husband that I should post a picture of our dinner every night along with a very brief recipe. Then, if I really like the creation, I’ll share with a full blown recipe and photo shoot on my blog. Along with having this spot for sharing, I also put up randomness on Tumblr and figured that would be the perfect spot for this experiment. I’ll also share on Facebook and Twitter every once in awhile too.

I can’t guarantee the pictures are always going to be amazing or the creations totally delish – but they will all be homemade. Yes, I might use a bit of a boxed or canned here and there, but, for the most part, these dishes will be cooked up in my kitchen with fresh and healthy ingredients that you can re-create.

Think of it as inspiration for making your own homemade dinners every night.

And if I eat out or or order in, I’ll share the goods too.

So head on over to Tumblr to check out what we had last night!

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind over here. We delayed Christmas until my parents arrived late last week, the husband and I went out on a pre-New Year’s date, and now it’s the tot’s birthday.

I’m about ready to crawl into a quiet corner and hibernate.

When deciding what to do for our big tot on her b-day, I wanted to keep things pretty tame, you know, because we’ve been opening presents for what seems like days and days and days.

I figured we’d make a special meal – and a special treat. She’s in love with chocolate and bananas, so I combined the two into something really tasty.

Choco-nana cupcakes.

These are really simple and actually not so bad for you – especially if you eat them just as is without the additional frosting. There’s less sugar in them and no butter, but you’d never know. Using a really big and not-yet-brown banana creates big happy chunks of nanners in every bite.

What you need

3/4 c unsweetened Dutch process cocoa

1/2 c sugar

1 1/4 c flour

2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

Dash of cinnamon

Dash of salt

1 t vanilla

1 tbsp honey

1/4 c vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 c milk

1 c big chunks of chopped banana

How to make them

Start by cranking your oven to 350 F and then get out a muffin tin. You can line with little liners or lightly grease with a wiping of oil. Now you can begin dumping all the dry ingredients in a big mixing bowl (cocoa, flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, sugar, salt) and give things a good stir.

Measure and add the milk, honey, vanilla, and oil and lightly mix. Go ahead and toss in those two eggs too.

Chop up a big banana and add it to the mix. If you’ve got smaller bananas, you might need two. Seriously – it’s that simple.

Gently stir things up and then spoon into muffin tins. You should have enough batter to make 12 good-sized muffins.

Toss those choco-nana muffins in the oven for 17-20 minutes or until the tops are cracked and firm to the touch.

Once things are cool, top with yogurt cream cheese frosting or a dusting of powdered sugar – or eat plain!

YUM

*Yogurt cream cheese frosting

4 ounces room temperature cream cheese

1/3 c plain (or vanilla) yogurt (strained for an hour)

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

After you toss your cupcakes into the oven, line a strainer with a sheet of paper towel and then plop on your yogurt. Let it strain for an hour or so – or longer if you feel like it. Then gently press the yogurt to release as much liquid as possible.

Whip the yogurt with the room temperature cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar using a hand mixer and spoon into a heavy duty zip top plastic bag and smoosh to one corner.

Snip the corner of the plastic bag with a scissors and then squeeze the frosting out in swirls onto those nicely cooled choco-nana cupcakes.

The first day of winter is right around the corner which means cooler weather along with the holidays and all those cookies and treats and parties and stuff.

I already have a nice amount of jiggle-in-the-middle. I don’t need any more.

But a girl’s gotta eat, right?

My days get pretty hectic balancing the tot and work stuff. Sometimes I don’t eat lunch until 1:30 or so when she has her “nap,” and then the adults eat dinner around 8ish. The tot eats lunch around 11:30 and dinner at 5, and sometimes I’ll have a some fresh fruit or yogurt with her during her meal times. By the time the husband gets home around 6:30, I’m famished.

Yeah, I know we are eating pretty late, but I’m not about to have dinner on the table when the husband crashes through the door. The tot is a mess and, as it is, only gets about an hour with her daddy before she conks out.

So, for now, that’s our eating schedule.

Having a really healthy and filling lunch helps me get through the day – and to stay sane and not fall apart and forget things.

(I still forget things.)

Kale is in season and I’ve always got quinoa in the house – you know how much I love it (here, here, here…). I dug around and discovered a couple of cans of white beans and a few containers of vegetable stock and realized I had the mixings for a super healthy, high protein and fiber soup.

What you need

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

1 c quinoa

6 c vegetable stock

2 15 ounce cans of white beans (you can use any kind – cannelloni, great northern, navy…)

1 c rinsed and chopped kale

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 t salt

Additional salt and pepper to taste

How you make it

Start by getting a large stock pot heating over medium-high heat. Add your chopped onions, garlic, butter and oil and let simmer for a bit. You want the onions and garlic to pick up some color – but we’re not talking blackened, so make sure to stir every once in awhile.

Now you can sprinkle everything with the salt and then add the quinoa. Feel free to rinse it first (I don’t but others swear by it) and stir the quinoa together with the onions and let toast up for a minute.

Turn down the heat to medium, add the vegetable stock, stir, then cover with a lid.

That’s it.

Simmer for about 10-minutes or until the quinoa have evolved into small swirls. Now open, rinse and drain one of the cans of white beans and add to the soup. You can also add the rinsed and chopped kale along with the balsamic vinegar. Pop the lid back on and keep simmering.

Open up that other can of beans, rinse and drain, and then mash with a fork until those beans resemble a paste. Add them to the pot and then stir the soup until everything is looking tasty.

You can simmer the soup until the kale is tender, which takes an additional 5-to 10 minutes, and then serve with a sprinkling of salt and pepper – or a couple of shavings of parmesan cheese.

Yum.