Grilled Rosemary Chicken

Yesterday I grilled up almost 4 pounds of juicy and delicious rosemary chicken, Steven and I ate it for dinner and then had tons of leftovers for lunches for the week! This chicken is lean & healthy plus the leftovers keep really well in the fridge for days. Steven is on a bit of a health kick and wanted an easy way to eat healthy at lunchtime but still be full after (he hates salad because he said he gets hungry an hour or two after he eats one). This chicken gives you the protein you need to stay full and the energy you need to stay fit without a ton of carbs or fat. If you find that when you reheat the chicken it dries out a bit try heating it up with a little bit of chicken stock and it become just as juicy as it did when you pulled it off the grill. For the marinade for the chicken I just used whatever I had around the house and improvised and lucky for Steven, it turned out great! Today for lunch I used the chicken to make a yummy chicken melt. I caramelized some mushrooms and onions and threw those on a sandwich with some cheddar cheese and bacon and popped the whole thing in the oven for a few minutes to toast it...heavenly!

What you will need:

- Skinless boneless chicken
- Olive oil
- Limes or lemons
- Orange juice
- Garlic
- Rosemary
- Salt & pepper

First I cut the chicken into thin filets but if you prefer the whole breast go for it!

I put the chicken into a large tupperware container.

First pour a couple cups of OJ into the container, then squeeze your lemons or limes in there as well. If you have lemon juice but no fresh lemons that works too.

Add in a 1/2 a cup or so of olive oil.

Chop up a few cloves of garlic, I used about 4 or so because I love garlic but use your taste preference to determine how much you use.

Next add some S&P and a tablespoon or so of rosemary.

Pop the chicken in the fridge and let it marinade for an hour or so but no more than 2 hours.

Heat up the grill or use a cast iron skillet if you have one.

Sprinkle each filet with a little salt, pepper, and rosemary and throw them on the grill.

Grill a few minutes on each side until they are cooked through and have some grill marks on them.

All done! Enjoy and get creative with the leftovers.

Spicy Teriyaki Chicken

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately! Life has been crazy :) But I am catching up today on my day off. A few nights ago I made this extremely easy and quick teriyaki chicken. I used a store bought teriyaki sauce but made it my own by adding a few extra ingredients. Store bought sauces and marinades are a great easy way to put dinner on the table quickly and adding your own spin to it can make it taste gourmet. This whole recipe only took me about 20-25 minutes to make. No prep time = an easy weeknight meal. 

What you will need:

- A pound or so of skinless boneless chicken

- Teriyaki Sauce (Check the international food section for an authentic teriyaki sauce)

- Sriracha Sauce 

- Fresh Ginger

- Jasmine Rice

First you need to dice up the chicken in to bite size pieces 

Then heat up the chicken in a skillet with some salt and pepper

Add in the teriyaki sauce and stir until all the chicken is coated

I put my own spin on the sauce by adding in some sriracha and some fresh grated ginger

Let simmer for about 10 minutes so that the chicken cooks fully, the sauce thickens up, and the flavors all blend together

Serve in a bed of rice and enjoy :)

Carne Asada Street Tacos

These carne asada street tacos were way better than run of the mill ground beef tacos and not that much harder to make! It takes more prep but it turns out way more flavorful. I found that you should marinate the meat for about 6 hours to make sure all the flavors sink into the meat.

Things you'll need:

- 2 lbs Flank steak

- 1 Orange

- 2 Limes

- 3 or 4 Cloves of garlic

- Cilantro

- 1 Jalapeño 

- 1/2 cup Olive oil

- 2 tbsp White vinegar

- Sea salt & course ground black pepper 

- 1 White onion

- Shredded jack cheese

- Avocado (if wanted, I love avocado)

- 7" Corn tortillas 

For the marinade:

Get a tupperware container large enough to fit the meat well. 

Finely chop the garlic & dice the jalapeño. If you have a mortar you can actually crush the garlic, jalapeño, and cilantro into a paste but I just chopped mine. Put the paste or chopped mixture into the tupperware container.

Squeeze in the orange and 2 limes. Make sure you get as much juice as possible out of them. I cut mine into quarters and was able to squeeze them easier that way. 

Next add in the 2 tbsp of white vinegar and about a 1/2 a cup of olive oil. Sprinkle in some salt and  pepper as well. 

Mix all the ingredients together well and then lay the steak into the mixture. Toss the steaks around with your hands until each piece is nicely coated in the marinade. 

Let steaks marinade in the fridge for anywhere from 1-7 hours. I let mine sit for between 5-6 hours and it was perfect. 

Time to grill! 

Heat up the grill till it's nice & hot, medium high to high heat. Make sure you brush the grill with olive oil so you steaks don't stick to it. 

Before you place the steaks on the grill sprinkle each one with sea salt and course ground black pepper.

Grill each steak for about 7 minutes on each side, you want them to get nice grill marks on them. 

Once you take them off the grill let them rest for a few minutes while you prepare the condiments.

Chop one white onion and put in a bowl. Slice the avocados if you want those and arrange on a plate. Put jack cheese into a bowl as well. Some people like to add cilantro on top so you can chop some of that up as well. 

Chop up the meat into either thin short strips or dice into cubes. 

Warm the tortillas on each side. 

Serve in a taco line/ buffet style so everyone can pick their toppings and enjoy :) 

Gluten-Free Fried Pork Chops with Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms, Yams and Sautéed Asparagus

Tonights dinner is gluten-free fried pork chops with caramelized onions & mushrooms, yams and sautéed asparagus! Definitely a little harder than last night's chili, but it turned out well! I will say that cooking all of these things at once was a big challenge. My one tip for a meal like this would be to prepare as much as you can before you start cooking. Chop the onions and slice the mushrooms before, set out all of your bowls with the flour, egg wash, and bread crumbs for the pork chops etc... I made these fried pork chops gluten-free because my Mom and Sister have to eat a gluten-free diet due to Celiac Disease but these can be made with normal flour and bread crumbs as well!


Fried Pork Chops

Things you will need:

- 4-8 thin sliced pork chops (I have found that the thinly sliced cook very easily when frying and get       nice and crispy)

- Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour

- Gluten-Free Bread Crumbs

- 2 Eggs

- Vegetable Oil

- Salt & Pepper

First heat up the vegetable oil in a frying pan until hot

Get 3 bowls, in the first bowl put the gluten-free flour with some salt & pepper, in the next put the 2 eggs add a little water and whisk together for an egg wash, in the last bowl put the gluten-free bread crumbs with some salt & pepper.

Take the pork chops one at a time, first coat in the gluten-free flour, next dip in the egg wash, lastly coat in the gluten-free bread crumbs and lay gently into the hot oil.

Let the pork chops fry for about 3-5 minutes on each side until nice and crispy golden brown (my Mom likes hers extra crispy so I leave on a little longer for hers)

Thats it! Simple and easy.


Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms

Things you will need:

- 1.5 white onions

- 5 white mushrooms

- Olive Oil

First you want to chop the onions up, I just give them a rough chop.

Next slice the mushrooms up fairly thin.

Heat up a pan with oil and throw the onions and mushrooms in, watch them carefully and stir until they are nice and caramelized.

This is super easy and it goes great with the pork chops.


Yams

Things you'll need:

- 3-4 Yams

- 2 Tbsp. butter

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1 Tsp. nutmeg

- 1 Tsp. cinnamon

First peel and boil the yams for about 8-12 minutes until they are nice and soft.

Mash the yams just as you would mashed potatoes

Add in butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon, mash until smooth.


Sautéed Asparagus 

Things you will need:

- Asparagus

- Olive Oil

- Salt & Pepper

Heat up a pan with oil.

Throw in the asparagus on medium heat and add a dash of sea salt and black pepper.

Move the asparagus around in the pan until tender and serve.

Quick & Easy Chili

Tonight's dinner: Homemade chili on the fly! I had picked up some ground beef at the store and decided to make a quick and easy chili. It's a hearty meal for a cold night and the leftovers are great for lunch. I am visiting my Mom in South Carolina and it was the perfect thing to eat while curled up on the couch watching a movie. I didn't use a recipe I just winged and it turned out surprisingly yummy!

Ingredients you will need:

1  28 ounce can of tomato puree

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomato

1 6 ounce can of tomato paste

1 white onion 

1 green pepper

1-1.5 pounds lean ground beef 

2-ish tablespoons of Frank's Red Hot Sauce ( I just kept adding it until it had enough of a kick, use         however much or little you want)

Add as much or little of the following until you get the taste how you want it:

Cayenne Pepper - a few dashes

Chili Powder - a few teaspoons

Onion Powder - a few dashes

Sea Salt - to taste

- First things first, brown the beef and drain the excess fat

- Next in a large pot add the tomato puree, crushed tomato. and tomato paste and stir them together well. Place the pot over medium-low heat

- Add the browned ground beef to the tomato mixture and stir in well

- Finely chop the onion, add to the pot & stir

- Finely chop the green pepper, add to the pot & stir

-Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes on medium heat

-Add the hot sauce, spices, and sea salt

- Let simmer for 20-30 minutes on medium heat

-Taste and add more of the spices and salt until the chili is seasoned to your preference, I like mine hot so the more hot sauce and chili powder the better

- When it tastes just right let simmer another 15-20 minutes or so, the longer you let it simmer the better it will be but you can have this meal ready in an hour if needed. 

-Serve is bowls with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and chopped scallions. Enjoy!

Here we go!

A little about me, I am a gun-toting, adventure seeking, dog loving girl with a serious food obsession. My favorite things include my handsome boyfriend Steven, my sweet black Labrador Retriever Luke and FOOD. As the new year begins and everyone starts their New Year's Resolutions, which most people will inevitably forget about and abandon by mid February, I have decided to start a blog. My New Year's Resolution is to cook for me and Steven at least 3 nights a week. As I embark on this journey which will have many fails and hopefully a few successes I decided to share it! Cooking is something I have always enjoyed but never actually practiced too much. Many nights when I got home from work I was exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was cook a meal. But I came to realize that fixing a meal doesn't have to be the big ordeal you build it up to be. Keep it simple, keep it fresh, and try not to burn it. That quickly became my personal motto in the kitchen. Well here we go!