Another "fake" fried chicken...WHAT?!?!

My husband LOVES fried chicken. But, neither one of us want to look as though we have consumed a lot of fried chicken. We work hard at the gym and we don't want all of those sweaty minutes to go to waste. So, I found a recipe that used buttermilk to coat the chicken and instead of using buttermilk I used greek yogurt. The results were mighty, mighty tasty...if I do say so myself.

Faux Fried Chicken
Marinade Ingredients
1 c. plain greek yogurt
1 T. mustard
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper

Whisk the above ingredients together and top chicken with it. Marinade for 2-3 hours.

Resealable Bag Ingredients ("It's Shake N Bake and I helped!" ~couldn't help but add this in!)
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t. paprika
1 t. baking powder
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Remove chicken from marinade. Shake off excess marinade. Put chicken into bag and shake.

Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place wire racks on baking sheet. Coat the wire racks with nonstick spray. Place chicken on wire racks.

Bake for 40 minutes. (half way through baking, flip chicken)

Easy Sunday Afternoon Steak Marinade

It has been awhile since we made this marinade, but it will be on our menu again soon! I will note the pictures for this blog post are not exactly "pretty." Let's face it...I was taking pictures of a slab of meat. And, that is exactly what it looks like.

I threw this together and forgot about it when I made it, so our meat actually marinaded for a few days. It still tasted delicious. So, I would figure marinade the meat for at least a few hours would do.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Steak Marinade
Ingredients
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 T. parsley
1 t. minced garlic
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. Worcestershire
1 1/2 T. garlic salt
3 T. basil
1 t. cayenne pepper
pepper
(beef cut of your choice)

Step by Step Directions
1. Mix all of your ingredients together. (easy clean up, mix them all in the resealable bag)
2. Pierce the meat a few times and put into bag.
3. Marinade for at least 3-4 hours.
*We grilled the meat to our liking of medium rare. Grill to your desired temperature.

Summer Pasta Salad

This is a very versatile meal or side dish. It can be served hot or cold. The ingredients can be changed based on your own taste buds. All in all....it is the go to dish.

Summer Pasta Salad
Ingredients
4 c. spinach
5 oz. whole wheat/veggie pasta
1/3 c. roasted red pepper (sliced)
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 extra virgin olive oil (divided)
2 c. sliced cherry tomatoes
2 T. mozzarella cheese
(optional: cooked chicken cubes)

Step by Step Directions
1. Drizzle half of the extra virgin olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the roasted red peppers. After a few minutes, add in the spinach. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

I love Trader Joe's!

2. Once the spinach wilts down, add in the chicken and the balsamic vinegar and the remaining extra virgin olive oil.

3. Drain the pasta. Pour the chicken and veggies over the pasta. Mix together.

4. Add in the sliced tomatoes. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Super Simple, Super Delicious Chicken

This recipe was one that surprised me. I didn't expect something to be so delicious after being so simple! Even the most kitchen challenged will be able to make this one. We cooked the chicken on the grill, but you can definitely make this on the stove top or even bake it. But, any way you make it, it is a MUST do! (now, originally, I found this recipe on Pinterest, but I cannot find it after quite the search, so a BIG shoutout to whoever deserves "props" for this one!)

What We Had for Dinner:

Simply Delicious Chicken
Ingredients
1 t. sea salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. sweet paprika
1 T. sugar
1 t. garlic salt
1 t. onion salt
1 t. parsley
2 T. unsalted butter
juice from a lemon
chicken breasts (thawed)

Step by Step Directions
1. In a resealable bag, combine the dry ingredients together.
2. If you are using the grill, melt the butter in the microwave and then pour into the resealable bag. Combine with the dry ingredients.
3. Flatten your chicken. I put the chicken between two paper towels on a cutting board and pound the chicken out with a meat mallet.
4. Put the chicken into the resealable bag. Add the lemon juice. Mix.

5. Once the grill is heated, grill for 6 minutes on one side and 4 on the other.

Stove Top Variation:
Melt the butter in a pan on medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of the pan and then add the chicken. Cover the chicken between flipping. Flip the meat once.

Roasted Squash and Zucchini

Roasted summer squash and zucchini...just another great side dish! However, I cannot wait to use my own homegrown veggies...but until then, store bought will have to do. Here is a picture of the complete dinner...chicken recipe can be found here

This recipe was originally found on Pinterest, but I made a few changes...

(Original Recipe)

Roasted Summer Squash and Zucchini

Ingredients

1 zucchini, sliced

1 yellow summer squash, sliced

garlic salt

sea salt

pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Step by Step Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2.Spray a cooking sheet with non stick spray.

3. Line up the slices of squash and zucchini. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Season with garlic salt, sea salt, and pepper.

4. Cook for 12-15 minutes. 

5. Move the veggies under the broiler and heat on High for an additional 3-4 minutes (until the little ones get crispy) Just remember to keep an eye on them!

This pictures is prior to being put under the broiler.

Grilled Asparagus...Best SUMMER side dish!

Asparagus...one of those icky green vegetables that a lot of people don't like...boy, are they missing out! Especially, if they don't try it on the grill!

Here is the super simple recipe for grilled asparagus.

Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients

asparagus

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 t. sea salt

1/2 t. pepper

garlic salt* (optional)

**All ingredients are to taste**

Step by Step Directions

1. Lay the asparagus on a piece of aluminum foil.

2. Drizzle the asparagus with extra virgin olive oil.

3. Season with salt, pepper, garlic salt.

4. Fold the foil around the asparagus making a packet. Stab the foil with a fork in a few places to help the steam to escape.

5. Once the grill is heated, place the packet on the shelf. Cook for 10-12 minutes. 

 Perfectly tender and nutritious asparagus!

Summertime means Grillin Time!

First off, I must apologize. I fell off the face of the Earth or at least maybe it seemed like it. My time in the kitchen was replaced by my time spent in the CLASSROOM! I went from a day to day sub to a long term substitute to being a full time 3rd grade teacher! I cannot express how happy or relieved I am to be back in the classroom. That being said, my creativity was mainly used in the classroom rather than the kitchen. Now that school is out for summer, the creativity is in full swing in the kitchen.....or the GRILL as this post will prove.

So, I did a couple of things last night for dinner. The meal was set to be brown sugar marinade grilled salmon recipe, grilled asparagus and rice...but then I found another recipe originally used for chicken, but I knew I had some frozen shrimp, so I decided to throw in some shrimp too. Here is a picture of our feast last night:

Spicy Honey Lime Grilled Shrimp Skewers
Ingredients
1/2 pound - 1 pound thawed shrimp
2 limes, juiced or store bought lime juice
1 1/2 T. honey
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. red pepper flakes (I was generous)
1/2 sea salt
pepper

*Soak wooden skewers in water prior to grilling for approximately 1 hour*

Step by Step
1. Pour all of the ingredients into a resealable plastic bag. Mix it together by "smushing" the bag. (technical term, I know)

2. Add your shrimp. Smush some more.

3. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

4. Slide the shrimp on the skewers. Top with more red pepper flakes and/or pepper.

5. Place the skewers on the grill (top shelf) and grill for about 3 minutes on each side. Grill until the shrimp is pink on both sides. Keep an eye on the wooden skewers, my skewer did catch on fire even after soaking.

Shrimp on the top shelf (with the asparagus packet)

6. Remove and serve! YUM!

Brown Sugar Grilled Salmon 
(Recipe tweaked from this recipe found on Pinterest)
Ingredients
salmon filets (skin on or off)
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1 T. vegetable oil/extra virgin olive oil

Step by Step Directions
1. Pour ingredients into resealable bag. Shake to mix.

2. Place salmon filets into bag.

Terrible picture, but salmon is in the bag!

3. Marinade for at least an hour.

4. When grill is heated, place salmon on grill. Grill 6-8 minutes per side.

*Our salmon had the skin on it, so we didn't flip it so we had extra crispy skin*

Make sure the meat is flaky before removing from the heat. Use a fork to lightly flake away the middle. If it flakes easily, it is done.