Almond/Cashew Crusted Dijon Mahi Mahi

So I’ve been eating a lot healthier….but I needed to add some crunch to my life lol so I put a twist on my favorite fish, Mahi Mahi.

Grind some of your favorite nuts (pecans, almonds, or cashews) in a blender or food processor. Don’t over do it though…you aren’t trying to make peanut butter.

Get some pretty planks of mahi mahi

Season them to taste. I prefer garlic herb or lemon pepper seasoning.

Slather the fish in dijon mustard. Or for a healthier choice (which I chose) use Bolthouse Farms Honey Mustard yogurt dressing.

Coat the fish in the nuts.

Put a little olive oil in a pan (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.) Cook fish until a crust forms. It should be brown but not burnt.

Bon appetit!! Yummy!!

Cheese Stuffed Shells

Boil jumbo shells according to the directions on the box.

Mix 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and 1 egg. Then add a little parsley, basil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cover the bottom of your pan with spaghetti sauce of choice. Top with shells (opening side up). And fill shells with your cheese mixture.

Afterwards, cover top with remaining sauce and sprinkle top with parmesean cheese

Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with more yummy foods!

For the bread recipe, click here.

Dinner under 500 Calories: Pork Loin Over Feta and Spinach & Baked Apples

Hey ya’ll!

So I decided to get a little creative tonight with dinner….which is so hard for me with healthy only restrictions lol smh

Pork Loin
I left out the loin until it was room temperature. I’m an “as you go” kind of cooker so I’ll try to explain things. I covered then in olive oil and seasoned to my liking with garlic salt, onion powder, seasoning salt and italian seasoning (from Kroger). I browned one side with the oven on 6. Then flipped them over on the other side and turned the oven down to 4 and let them cook for about 3 Beyonce songs (LOL) so about 15 minutes. As they cooked I poured in chicken broth (just enough for the bottom of the pan) and then I poured a little Italian dressing over them. They were so tender and juicy.

Feta Spinach
This was super easy. Cut and put in a skillet on medium until the spinach wilt. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Remember to cut up double the amount you think you will need because they do shrivel down ALOT! Put on your plate and top with Sundried tomato and basil feta (from Kroger)

Baked Apples
Cut apple in slices and but in a small pan. Add a little apple juice just to cover the bottom of the pan.

Top apples with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake @ 400° for 1 hour, covered. *Note: The peel is the most nutritious part of an apple…but I didn’t like the peel baked…I suggest taking the peel off before cooking

Pork Loin 211 calories
Spinach 7 calories
Feta 80 calories
Baked apples 160 calories

Total: 458 calories!!!
Awesome for dinner and I’m stuffed!
Compare that to a Whopper with cheese (no sides) at 760 calories!!!

Bon appetit!!

First Try at Making Lasagna

Hey ya’ll!

So today I tried making lasgna from scratch from the first time. I kinda winged it LOL. I read the ingredients on the boxed lasagna and figured out my own plan of action. This is a fool proof, easy recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground beef
1 lb Ground sausage
30 oz Ricotta cheese
Italian seasoning (oregano, basil)
Ragu sauce (romano/ parmesan)
Pizza blend cheese (sounds crazy but it’s perfect because it’s just a mozzarella and parmesan cheese blend)
Lasagna noodles
Olive oil
Eggs
Salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°.
Brown your sausage and ground beef

2. Boil about 15 lasagna noodles. Make sure you stir often so that the noodles don’t stick to your pot.

3. When the noodles are done, drain and place on a towel until you are ready to use them. Don’t use cheap paper towels for this (like I did) because the noodles will stick to them.

4. Make cheesy mixture. Mix the pizza cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs. And italian seasoning.

5. Layer : Meat, noodles, cheese mix, sauce, repeat again

6. Cover with foil and put in oven for 40 minutes

7. Pair with a glass of wine and enjoy!

Of course I didn’t wait for it to cool so it’s messy on my plate lol. Wait about 10 minutes before you dig in. Oh and I forgot to mention….it was delicious!!

Cajun Pot Pie

Hey ya’ll,

I haven’t come up with a recipe in a while so I decided I’d give one of my own ideas a try. I wanted pot pie and I wanted to give my boyfriend a taste of home (Louisiana). So I made Cajun pot pie!!

Ingredients:
Spicy Andouille Sausage
Chicken Breasts
Okra
Corn
Onions
Louisiana Cajun Gumbo Mix
Bisquik biscuit mix
Boil In Bag Rice
Butter

Season chicken and cook. Boil sausage. Boil the rice in the same pot as your sausage.

While the meat and rice is cooking, prepare your bisquik mix as the bag instructs.

Combine gumbo mix and 2 qts water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Make sure there are no lumps!

Cut up the meat.

Once mixture comes to a boil add meat and veggies. Boil until veggies are done.

Put rice in the bottom of a pan, then spoon mixture on top of it(do not over fill) and cover with bisquik mix. Put in the oven on 450° for 10-15 minutes. Leave a little on the side to add on your plate later.

Yummy!!!

How To Cook Ribs in the Oven

Hey ya’ll!

Ok so everyone knows I’m a country girl! And us country folks love a barbeque. I wanted to grill because it’s so beautiful and pleasant outside today in Atlanta. Well the mosquitos must of thought so too because they bit me up just from walking into and out of the grocery store. Anyway, I have never cooked ribs before and decided to give it a try today…but uhhh indoors. So I cooked them in the oven.

I got spare ribs (from Kroger for $11!!!!), Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, and used seasoning that I already had.

Preheat the oven to 350°. So there’s this white stuff one the back of ribs that you need to remove because apparently when it’s cooked the texture is horrible. So I took that off, and that was the hardest part off the process because it don’t wanna work with me.

After that clean your meat. Then season it with whatever you like. I used salt, pepper, seasoning salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Rub the seasoning on both sides.

Put your meat in a pan bone side up. I had to cut my slab in half and use two pans because it needs to fit. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook im the oven for 1 hour. Then take the ribs out, pour off the juices, cover them in whatever BBQ sauce you like and put them back in the oven uncovered for 1 hour. Take them out when done and let them sit for about 5 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!!

I paired my ribs with red potatoes (mashed) and cabbage. The ribs were SO tender and juicy and flavorful!

For those of you trying to lose weight like me…remember, this is all about portion control. The picture above was not my actual plate. That was before I cut the ribs. Eat 3-4 ribs max, and load up on veggies! Who says getting in shape had to be bland!? : )

CrockPot Smoked Neck Bones

I have to shout out my Aunt Bunny for this recipe. She made it for us when we visited her last week so I had to try it myself!

The recipe is so easy and cheap!! Go to your local grocery store or meat market and buy smoked neck bones. You should be able to smell the smoke through the plastic. Put them in the crockpot and add a little water (only enough to cover the bottom). Cook on high for 3 hours. Then pour a little water off, pour bbq sauce onto the meat, and cook on low for another hour or two. #DELICIOUS

Spicy Shrimp and Chorizo Kebabs

 

Ingredients

2 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons pure chile powder
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined
8 small chorizo (about 1/2 pound total), sliced 1/2 inch thick

 

Wash the shrimp

 

On a cutting board, using the flat side of a chef’s knife, mash the garlic and salt to a coarse paste. Add the caraway seeds and finely chop them.

Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the chile powder and olive oil. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.

Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chorizo and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Let cool slightly.

Tuck a chorizo slice in the crook of a shrimp and thread onto a skewer; the shrimp should be attached at both ends.

Push it to the end of the skewer and repeat with two more shrimp and chorizo slices.Using more skewers, repeat with the remaining shrimp and chorizo.

Grill the kebabs over a hot fire, turning once or twice, until charred and the shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Bacon, Onion, Mushroom Burger

Ingredients:
Ground beef
Onion
Bacon
Onion soup
Lettuce
Mushroom
Chicken broth
Cheese
Buns

Cook the bacon on the stove. Make it good and crispy!

When your bacon is finished it needs to be crumbled. The way I do this is I put the bacon in aluminum foil. Then I ball up the foil. When you open the foil back up, the bacon is in perfect little bits.

Next boil your onion soup. Make sure you stir so the mix doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Put your ground beef, bacon, mushroom (strained), and onion soup in a bowl

Mix the ingredients…but be careful it’s hot

Put the mix in the freezer for about an hour.

I used a griddle to cook the burgers

I put my boyfriend’s burger on a bun…but I wrapped mine in lettuce and added a little dijon mustard and ketchup.

Yuuuum!!!
Happy cooking…and eating

Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

So I tried my hand at gumbo for my homesick, Louisiana native boyfriend. It was delicious but according to him it was more like a stew because “gumbo is supposed to be more soupy” blah blah lol either way he ate it up!

I used chicken breasts, sausage, veggies (corn, okra, peppers). Its easy! Cut up everything! Cook the chicken and sausage. In another pot, heat up some butter, and a little flour, then add chicken broth. After it has browned a little add the meat and veggies…let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Yum!! I put it over rice.