New Year Resolutions

I don't exactly have any dead set New Year resolutions that I'm trying to achieve. Let's be real. If I actually said that something was my new year resolution and that I was 100% committing to it, I'd never actually make any attempt at it. So this year I am attempting to eat better,  find an exercise I enjoy and do it more than once, as well as blog more. I know life will get in the way and that is why I have no strong commitments to them and hope they just kind of happen and become part of life.

Part of my eating better plan is to eat less carbs/ refined carbs. I am a carboholic. Give me bread, give me pasta, give me white rice!!!! I want it, I need it. At least I think I need it. This recipe I'm about to share with you is a great pasta free dish if you want it to be. Personally I just couldn't picture pasta with it.  So my friends, I give to you my take on Caprese Chicken from the Novice Chef. I served mine with sautéed zucchini and simple salads.

Ingredients:

2 to 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt & black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
5 to 6 large basil leaves chopped or torn
mozzarella, to taste, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices or shredded
balsamic vinegar, to taste
splash of white wine

Preheat oven to 375.
Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts and set aside.
In a large oven safe pan or cast iron skillet, over medium-high heat, heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken and cook for a few minutes on each side to brown. Add in garlic and cook until fragrant, add tomatoes and deglaze with a splash of white wine. Continue to sauté the tomatoes and garlic for a few minutes. Add in basil and balsamic and stir. Place pan in oven and cook chicken till about 140 degrees and top with mozzarella. Allow the mozzarella to melt and the chicken to reach 165 degrees internal temp. Serve with chicken with tomatoes, basil, and balsamic sauce on top.

While my chicken was cooking in the oven, I sautéed up some sliced zucchini with a bit of salt and pepper. The end result of the dish was a light, refreshing, flavorful meal that I see popping up in my meal rotation more often.

Yum Yum! Get in my tum tum!

 

This little piggy went to the market...

And came out in the form of a pork tenderloin smothered in peanut orange sauce... So during one of those moments when I had this brilliant idea and motivation to eat healthier and get in shape, I was browsing and scouring the Shape magazine website for workout ideas and found they had a few recipes.... This one caught my eye and turned out to be rather delish! I did do a little Lima Limitation change to theirs (you can find theirs here.)

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1/4 cup orange juice

2 Tbs reduced-fat peanut butter

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp vegetable oil

a dash or two of salt

a few dashes of cayenne pepper

a couple dashes chili powder

a pinch of red pepper flakes

1lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat

I gathered all ingredients and they say to process everything but the pork in a blender or a food processor, but I found some good ol' fashion man power (or in my case woman power) with a whisk works just fine... and seriously it's not like you have to whisk hard to blend it all....

Now at first it's going to look totally like a baby shit in your bowl which seems totally unappetizing.... but trust me it's safe to add your little piggy into that shit looking mess.... The piggy will be happy, it's like being back in its natural environment when it was alive....

The little piggy can go ahead and bathe in what will be later some delicious filth for about an hour....

When that hour is about up, preheat the oven to 400°F and place the tenderloin on a foil lined baking sheet... Don't toss that marinade!!! Instead put it in a little sauce pan... Bake the little piggy for about 20 to 30 minutes and in the mean time boil that marinade for a few minutes and turn it down to low while the pork cooks....

Ding! The pork is done, let it rest of a minute or two and then slice it up!!! Pour some of that goodness in the sauce pan on top and enjoy! I served it up with some wild rice...

See it really did go from looking like shit in a bowl to deliciousness on a plate ;)

Feliz Año Nuevo!!!!

Ok three things... Thing 1 is spinach and artichoke dip that was really damn good... Thing 2 is some awesome pasta I just made and ate.... Thing 3 is that both I can't take any credit for the goodness of the recipe {but I can take credit for making it and it turning out totally awesome as per what the recipe and their bloggers said would occur}

For New Years Eve I made up this spinach and artichoke dip from Annie's Eats.... I'm really sure it would have been totally devoured if there had been less food around and we weren't all so busy drinking... The plus to it not being totally devoured means leftovers for me! and well Scott too...

Tonight we decided to do a beer can chicken and I remembered this lovely pasta from The Pioneer Woman that we could do as a side to go with the chicken! And that was one smart decision made by me! Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelish!!!!

In short, Happy New Year and Happy Cooking everyone!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Fish is what was for dinner a week before Christmas. For once, it was a sunny warm day here in Lima instead of a cloudy warm day. I thought hmmmm some sort of grilled fish sounds good. So I went again to Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour and started digging through her recipes. She had yet to steer me wrong so I figured when I found one of her little Tilapia gems. I basically followed what she did with a minor adjustment or two. It was one of those few dishes where I can actually get everything it calls for without any of those Lima limitations popping up. I served it with some brown rice and a variety of grilled veggies.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

2-4 Tilapia fillets

1 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

2 tsp. crushed red pepper

mixed veggies {enough for a side for 2-4 people}

brown rice {enough for a side for 2-4 people}

2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese {more for garnish if you choose}

First I got the freaking brown rice going. Whatever Peruvian brand I bought seems to take like 45 freaking minutes. I recommend using anything that is faster than that shit. As for the veggies, I picked up whatever sounded good at the store which ended up being a little bit of white onion, broccoli, red bell pepper and carrots. I just diced and seasoned those up with some salt and pepper and put it in a foil package that had been sprayed with a little bit of Pam {or whatever nonstick spray you have on hand} I think it took about 20 or 25 minutes on the grill. I put those on right as I threw the fish into the fridge to marinate for a bit.

All this fish needs is that cup of Italian dressing, red pepper flakes, and the parmesan cheese {I used the powdered Kraft stuff for marinating purposes and then freshly grated for garnish purposes}. I just grabbed a gallon ziplock bag and poured in the dressing, pepper flakes and the cheese. I placed those tilapia fillets in there and sealed it up! I proceeded to give it a gentle shake for a couple minutes to coat everything. I also may or may not have danced around singing "shake shake shake! shake your booty!"........ Okay let's focus back now to cooking and not that silly image of me dancing and singing around. I placed it in the fridge for about 15 minutes. At some point before I started preparing this, I had the husband get the good ol' Webber Grill going. If you don't have a Webber you could use a George Foreman type grill if you so choose or even a propane grill. I plopped that fish on there and poured a little marinate over the top and after a few minutes, flipped the fish over and poured a little more marinate on the top. After a few more minutes it was done. As A result we ended up with this freaking goodness on our plates.

And since we love some Parmesan cheese up in this house, we sprinkled some on top and then dug in to enjoy!!!!! This is a definite must do again when the sun shows it's beautiful face again!

My wife is crazy

My wife is crazy is pretty much what Scott thought when I first suggested this idea of Chicken Enchilada Pasta that I had found on Pinterest which led me to Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour who made up this delicious crazy sounding idea.  Now because of my Lima limitations, I had to come up with my own modified version. I had to take some items out and replace them with what was available... This seriously was going to go one of two ways, "This is really good Anne, I really like it" or "What the fuck Annie? This is the worst thing I've ever had.". I had high hopes since the original blog was titled "Five Stars and Then Some!" and that husband had raved about it. So let's get started!

 YOU WILL NEED

2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded

 a smidge of olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

2 green chilis, minced or diced {your choice}

Green Tabasco sauce to taste

1 packet enchilada sauce {prepared according to package directions}

1 cup sour cream

Penne pasta

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
Shredded Cheese {cheddar, monteray jack, or a blend}

Avocado

Green Onions

Black Olives

Tomatoes

Sour Cream

I started off by boiling those chicken breasts and chopping up everything that needs to be chopped up. I also made up the enchilada sauce according to the packet directions during this time too. When the chicken was done cooking, I reserved it's water to cook up the penne pasta. 

Let's really get cooking now! Like usual I just do a little splishity splash of the olive oil and get it heating up. Then I tossed in the garlic, onion, red pepper and chili and stirred that up. This part only takes about 3 to 5 minutes.

Mmmmmmm... Looking tasty already! Now I threw in the shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, and started throwing in some dashes of the green tabasco. The first time I made it I used like 3/4 of a small bottle. Might have been slightly on the excessive side because it was spicy but good. This time I used significantly less and it was still amazaballs good.  I let this stuff simmer for about 10 minutes to get a nice good happy marriage of flavors.

Now right before serving I stirred in the sour cream then dished some on up.  The first time my optional topping choices were cheese, green onion, tomato and sour cream. This time I swapped out the tomato for some avocado and both ways were good.

So in the end, it turns out that I am not crazy. Well at least when it came to this dinner idea I wasn't. Other times could be debatable. This dish is a must if you want to do a little something offbeat but amazing!