The munchkins who are stealing my time are lucky they’re so cute! (Obviously, this post was written a while ago, but still stands true for some quick meals.)
My time has been stolen by two incredibly cute little humans that have taken over my home and life! I desperately miss my kitchen but only have a limited amount of time in it each day. That being said, here are some of my favorite go-to’s as far as quick and easy dinners go. It’s about all I can get around to do these days!
BAKED PESTO CHICKEN
Ingredients:
About 4 organic chicken breasts, pounded
About 4 Tablespoons pesto
1 large organic, ripe tomato, sliced
Shredded mozzarella cheese or Parmesan cheese
Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound chicken breasts to tenderize then place into a glass baking dish. Salt/pepper chicken. Spoon 1 tablespoon of pesto onto each breast and cover as much as you can. Place 2-3 sliced tomatoes on top of each breast. Cover each breast with sprinkled cheese of your choice (mozzarella or Parmesan). Bake for 40 minutes. Serve with side of greens or salad.
1-PAN SHRIMP & BROCCOLI
Ingredients:
SHRIMP
1 lb raw shrimp, rinsed and deveined
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, divided
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 pinch sea salt and ground pepper
BROCCOLI
5 cups broccoli florets in bite sized pieces (a bag of already cut organic florets will do!)
1 Tablespoon ghee or extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt and garlic powder
Directions: BROCCOLI – Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss broccoli florets with ghee or EVOO and place on sheet pan lined with foil. Sprinkle with sea salt and garlic powder. Roast for 20 minutes. SHRIMP – In a medium bowl, combine (defrosted) shrimp, 1 tablespoon EVOO, the juice of half a lemon, red pepper flakes, sea salt and pepper. Slice remaining half of lemon into slices. Stir. Once broccoli has roasted, nestle shrimp onto pan and place lemon slices around the pan. Return to oven and roast for another 8 – 10 minutes, until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove from oven and serve with rice mixed with butter, fresh lemon and parsley.
MEXICAN BOWLS
Ingredients:
1lb ground meat (I prefer turkey)
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper or zucchini, diced, if you have
1 jar of salsa
1 BPA-free can black beans
1/2 cup frozen organic corn (optional)
1 teaspoon Trader Joe’s chili lime seasoning
1 Tablespoon Trader Joe’s taco mix
fresh cilantro, chopped
Ripe avocados (for serving)
1 cup white basmati rice
fresh limes
Directions: Cook rice on another burner on stove. Add 2 cups water or broth to pot and bring to boil. Add sea salt, turmeric powder and a tablespoon of ghee or butter to water, then add 1 cup rice, bring to boil then simmer for 15 minutes. Saute diced onion in a pan with cooking fat of your choice (I prefer ghee or avocado oil for this recipe), until translucent on medium heat. If you’re using red bell pepper you’ll want to start sautéing that now. Add ground meat and break apart with spatula as it cooks. Add spices/seasonings and 3/4 of the jar of salsa (save the rest for serving). If using a zucchini, add now. Continue to stir until meat is fully cooked (no longer pink). Add beans and frozen corn. Dish is done when corn is cooked through and kitchen is fragrant. Garnish with cilantro, more salsa and serve with avocado. Toss cilantro and squeeze fresh lime into cooked rice. Add all into a bowl, there’s dinner! I enjoy with organic tortilla chips right from the bowl, or I stuff mixture into hard taco shells for my husband.
LEMON DILL SALMON
Ingredients:
3 – 4 salmon filets (I love Costco’s or Trader Joe’s frozen portioned filets in large bags)
1 Tablespoon ghee or butter, melted
2 – 3 garlic cloves, minced (or garlic powder!)
1/2 teaspoon dill
1/2 lemon, juiced
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place aluminum foil over a baking sheet and crunch the sides up so that no juices will spill off onto sheet. Place filets skin side down on foil. Mix ghee (or butter) with garlic, dill and lemon and pour over filets. Season with fresh ground pepper and pinch of sea salt, then place in oven for 8 – 10 minutes, checking how they’re doing at 8. Serve with steamed asparagus (throw on stove in deep pan with an inch of broth or salted water, boil until soft), and a baked sweet potato. I love using this potato bag to quickly “bake” my potatoes in the microwave.
HONEY MUSTARD THIGHS
Ingredients:
3 – 4 lbs organic chicken thighs
HONEY MUSTARD
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
sea salt and pepper
or…just have a jar of Amy’s Honey Mustard on hand and squirt!
Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large baking dish, arrange chicken pieces in a single layer. Coat both sides of chicken with sea salt and pepper, then with some of the honey mustard mixture. Bake chicken for 20 minutes, uncovered. Carefully remove and brush/drizzle more of the honey mustard mixture and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes (until internal temperature reaches 165) until done and golden brown. Serve with baked potato and side of vegetable (I love sauteed mushrooms with this) or greens.
SHRIMP LINGUINE PUTTANESCA
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon capers, rinsed
4 cups broth of your choice
1 cup marinara sauce
1 package linguine (can be brown rice, gluten free)
1 lb. medium shrimp
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
fresh ground pepper
Directions: Heat the oil or butter, garlic and capers in large, deep skillet over medium heat until garlic is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in broth and marinara sauce.
Add linguine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes.
Nestle shrimp in mixture and cook until opaque throughout, 3 – 4 minutes. Garnish with basil and fresh pepper.
MACARONI & MEATBALLS
Ingredients:
1 lb organic ground turkey, chicken or meat of choice
2 eggs, whisked
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black ground pepper
1/2 tsp dried (or fresh) oregano
1/2 tsp dried (or fresh) basil
1/2 tsp dried (or fresh) parsley
optional to add handful of your choice finely chopped veggies and/or greens
Directions: Simmer tomato sauce on stove in a wide pot or pan. More often than not my sauce comes from a jar (I’m so sorry to my Italian ancestors), I only buy ones that have basic organic sauce ingredients (no citric acid or poor quality vegetable oils) and low sodium. Using clean hands, work the meatball mixture well and start making into meatballs (as large or small as you’d like), they will be sticky and kinda lose since they are GF, that’s OK. Gently place into sauce and continue to simmer, covered, flipping meatballs so that they’re cooked evenly through, about 20 minutes or so. Boil up some brown rice pasta as meatballs are simmering and toss it generously in grass fed butter before topping with sauce and meatballs.
EMERGENCY MEALS!
I’m just like everyone else and sometimes struggle to get fresh food on the table for meals. That’s FINE! But here are some of my favorite foods I keep in the freezer for nights where I literally don’t have a chance to do anything but pop something in the oven or boil something on the stove. As long as most of your food is coming from wholesome foods that were prepared with fresh foods (sometimes this includes grabbing foods from the fresh-food section of grocery stores!), you’re all good. Stick to the 80/20 or 90/10 rule of thought! Lot’s of Trader Joe’s suggestions in here, not because I’m a huge fan, but because you can find some decent things there to keep in the house. Always read their labels, they contain plenty of poor quality vegetable oils, GMOs, sugar and non-organic ingredients.
Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi – Amazing sautéed up and tossed in pesto, sauce or simply butter/parmesen and garlic. Surprisingly filling, but saute 2 bags for your family, one bag isn’t enough.
Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Pizza (not dairy free but a great GF option in a pinch!)
Trader Joe’s Spinach Lasagna (not gluten or dairy free, I heat these up for my husband)
Trader Joe’s Sliced Goat Cheese with Canyon Bakehouse Bread & Amy’s Organic Soup – For yummy grilled cheese with soup.
Dr. Praeger Veggie Burgers – Quickly heat up a veggie burger and put over bed of greens tossed with your favorite dressing, topped with hummus.
Applegate Farm Hot Dogs – Boil up some grass-fed hot dogs, slice and serve with ketchup/mustard/special sauce along with sauerkraut, a can of low sodium organic baked beans, and salad or cooked greens.
Bilinski Sausages – Slice and saute with an onion and bell pepper while pasta is cooking. Toss all together with a little tomato sauce and butter for a quick sausage peppers and onion.