Week 3: Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

As we embark on this third week of the year, I began to think of the true reason for this blog. Not only do I want to avoid fast food as much as I can, but I also want to begin to eat healthier. I didn't think that I could do that cooking food full of fat and cheese (though we all love fat and cheese).

This week I chose salmon as my meat of choice. Why did I chose salmon?? Because it is one of the healthiest meats you can eat. And considering I don't eat beef or pork, my choices for meat are very limiting. Salmon is packed with omega-3s which, in case you don't know, is great for reducing your cholesterol and keeps your heart healthy :). Salmon is also packed with protein and amino acid. In simple terms, its healthy for you.

Using salmon as my meat, I chose a recipe called brown sugar glazed salmon (Yall KNOW I love sweets).

Delicious looking right? Trust me, it was amazing. The boyfriend gave this meal a standing ovation. When I clicked this recipe it took me to two different website. http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Brown-Sugar-Glazed-Salmon-Recipe-Taste-of-Home-44813 and http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/brown-sugar-glazed-salmon. Actually, I had to search for this recipe on the taste of home website. The ingredients on both websites were slightly different so I used what I thought would taste good. 

Ingredients

2 Salmon fillets

1 tbsp of soy sauce

4 teaspoons of dijon mustard

2 tsp of butter

honey (I put honey in to taste)

Season salt and Lemon Pepper to taste (my fav seasonings)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425

2. Combine the soy sauce, dijon mustard, butter, and honey in a sauce pan. Stir and bring to a boil. 

3. In a foil-lined pan, season salmon with season salt and lemon pepper.

4. Pour glaze over salmon

5. Bake for 15-20 mins or until flaky

I served this dish with long grain and wild rice (the healthiest and tastiest rice that I could find) and Hawaiian sweet rolls (hey...I love sweet bread LOL). This is how mine turned out. Excuse the end of it...I was checking to make sure it was done. 

And it was AWESOME!! Next week I'll try a vegetarian dish :)

Week 2: Crispy Cheddar Chicken

After I completed my first blog, I immediately began looking at new recipes to try. This blogging thing is kinda fun :) Plus, its a good way to help me stick to my new year goal of cooking more and eating less. As I was going through the different pins in the food and drink section, I noticed...there are SOOOOOO many food blogs. I mean, how do you all keep up with those websites?? Anywho, I was going through the food and drink section trying to find something that looked appetizing. I came across several pasta recipes, but I didn't want to make another pasta. Well...not yet. (If you know me, you know I looove pasta). After about 3 days (and yes, I do mean days) of pinning recipes, I didn't come across anything that I felt was remotely interesting enough to make for my pinterest project. So I took a different direction. I decided to start with picking my meat for the week, which is limiting because I don't eat beef or pork (no steak or pork chops here). Chicken it is!! After searching chicken recipes I came across a recipe for Crispy Cheddar Chicken. 

Mmmm...that looks soooo good! When I clicked the pin, it took me to this website http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/chicken/crispy-cheddar-chicken-4.html I didn't really explore the website this time, so I can't say I know much about this website. I must say though, this recipe was awesome! I made a few minor changes because of personal preference, but all in all, I think it tasted really good. These ingredients were a little more expensive. I opted for name brand cheese and crackers which cost a tad bit more. All in all I spent about $30 in Kroger. My ingredients and directions are below. 

Ingredients:

Townhouse crackers (the recipe on the website calls for ritz, I would try ritz if you want it really crunchy. Townhouse was what I had laying around the house)

Milk

Butter

Mozzarella Cheese (the recipe on the website calls for cheddar, I personally like Mozzarella)

Seasoned salt

Lemon pepper (the recipe on the website calls for regular salt and pepper, I hardly ever season with plain salt and pepper) 

Spray oil

dried parsley

4 chicken breasts (I use simple truth chicken breasts from Kroger. I'm kinda weary about using anything that doesn't say "hormone free" or "natural")

Sauce

1 can of cream of chicken

2 tbsp of sour cream

2 tbsp of butter

Instructions.

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Crunch up crackers. Add in seasonings to the crunchy cracker mix

3. In a separate bowl, pour milk. 

4. Spray the pan with the spray oil. 

5. Dip the chicken in the milk then place them in the pan. Sprinkle the cheese over the chicken. Once all of the chicken is placed in the pan, cover the chicken in the cracker mix. Add a little dried parsley. 

**The recipe calls for you to dip the chicken in the cheese....It didn't work for me so I sprinkled it.**

6. Put foil over the chicken and bake it for 30-35 mins. Remove the foil, then bake for an extra 10-15 mins. 

**I could NOT find the foil in my house! I searched all of the cabinets and nothing. Finally, after 10 minutes of baking, I found my foil. so I actually did this step backwards. Baked for 10 mins without foil, then 30 mins with foil. I think it still turned out fine.**

7. Take it out and BOOM crispy cheddar mozzarella chicken 

Sauce:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and butter. Whisk Stir until it becomes creamy. Pour over chicken if you need want it. 

Here's what mine looked like: 

I paired it with some mac and cheese and steamed broccoli to make a meal. My sauce was still brewing when I took this pic :). 

52 Weeks of Pinterest Recipe Challenge Week 1: Spicy Sausage Pasta

Well you know what the first of the year means. No I am not talking about bills, though I must pay those as well. The beginning of a new year means new goals and new challenges. Yes, I am one to make several New Year's resolutions, but I am usually pretty good about keeping mine. With that being said, I am starting a New Years goal that I like to call 52 weeks of Pinterest. For those who don't know about Pinterest, it is a site where you can look at varies categories of interest and pin the ones you want to look at or try later. In other words, it is the most AMAZING site ever. Anyway, aside from pinning my dream wedding and outfits that I plan on duplicating later, one of my favorite things to pin are recipes. I mean come on, who doesn't love food. One of resolutions this year is to eat less fast food and the way that I plan on doing that is by cooking more. To make this resolution fun, I decided to create a 52 week Pinterest recipe challenge. Every Sunday I am going to pick a recipe from my pins for the week and attempt to duplicate it. By the end of the year, I hope to have cooked more, eaten out less, and have my very own recipe book to pass down to my children (whenever I decide to have some).

My first recipe that I decided to try is the Spicy Sausage Pasta.

Doesn't that look AWESOME! I clicked on the link and it took me to www.kevinandamanda.com. Great site for recipes by the way. Anyway, the recipe was easy to follow and the ingredients cost me less than $20 at Kroger! 

Ingredients

1 lb of smoked sausage (I used butterball Turkey Smoked Sausage because I don't eat beef or pork)

1 chopped onion

1 clove of minced garlic

Olive oil

1 box of bowtie pasta

1/2 cup of whipping cream

1 can of Swanson Chicken Broth

1 can of RoTel Mild

1 bag of Monterey Jack Cheese shredded

Instructions: 

1. Turn the stove on medium head and add olive oil in a skillet

1. Chop the sausage and onions and put them in the skillet. Cook until brown (took my sausage and onions about 10 minutes)

2. Add in minced garlic. Stir in and let simmer for about 30 seconds to a min

3. Add in dried pasta (you don't even have to boil the pasta before using!)

4. Add in RoTel, chicken broth and whipping cream. (stir in really good) 

5. Turn skillet up to boiling (I let mine boil for about 5 mins) then turn down and let simmer for about 10-15 mins. 

6. Once all of the liquid has boiled down to make a nice sauce, add in cheese. What I did was add in about half a bag of cheese and stir it in so that the cheese will be evenly distributed throughout the pasta and then I topped it with cheese. 

BAM! You have Spicy Sausage Pasta! Here's how mine turned out. This picture was taken before I topped it with cheese. 

And it tasted really good. My boyfriend and I KILLED it! Can't wait to see what I try next week :) Thanks kevinandamanda.com and Pinterest!