Sloppy Joes

I have been looking for SUPER simple and fast recipes these days since we now have an almost 6 week old. I made these the other night and we really enjoyed them and the meat sauce came together in probably 10 minutes! The sauce is very good and much better than the canned sloppy joe sauce.

Here are my changes:

Used ground turkey instead of beef

Used wheat rolls instead of potato rolls

These would be great served with some cole slaw! I will definitely do that next time! :-)

Here's the recipe

Spinach and Noodle Casserole

I made this last night and froze half of it so that Chris and I could eat it after we return from the hospital later this week from having baby Ben. :) We ate half of it last night though and really enjoyed it. I made several changes based on what I had on hand and also to make it a little healthier.

Here are the changes:

Used whole wheat penne pasta instead of egg noodles

Used 1.25 pounds ground turkey

Used fresh spinach instead of frozen

Used shredded and fresh mozzarella instead of Monterey Jack

Didn't use as much sour cream or parmesan as what they called for. (Around 1 cup light sour cream and 1/2 cup parmesan.)

Here's the recipe

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

This was tonight's dinner along with some tortellini salad and we really enjoyed it! This is super simple but its small number of ingredients are very flavorful!

Here are my changes:

Used fresh basil (from my garden!) instead of sage leaves

If you really enjoy the flavor of lemon, I suggest putting a little more than 1/4 cup lemon juice in this. It goes great with the salty prosciutto.

The lemony sauce went really well with the basil :)

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemony-chicken-saltimbocca-50400000109573/

Garlic and Ranch Turkey Burgers

I just made these for dinner on the indoor grill and they turned out so yummy! I'm always on the lookout for new turkey burger recipes and I will be saving this one for sure. :)

I made a few tweaks:

Used 1.25 pounds ground turkey (Jenny-O)

Used only about 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Added about 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs to bind the mixture together- this is a must because even with the bread crumbs, they were very moist.

No need to add salt to this, in my opinion, due to the ranch dressing mix.

Added a slice of aged provolone cheese to the top :)

Here's the recipe

Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

I made this a couple nights ago and we enjoyed it! Such an easy way to pull together a meal and the crockpot gives it a slow-cooked taste.

Here are a couple tips:

Use an old-fashioned potato masher to break up the meat and whole tomatoes after they have cooked for a little while.

Don't add spaghetti noodles to the crockpot like I did. The mixture seemed a bit watery to me. But doing this made the noodles very mushy after only 15 minutes or so. Cook them separately.

Strain the diced tomatoes so that the mixture isn't too watery. I like thicker tomato sauce though. :)

Here's the recipe

Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry

This was a very simple and quick dinner to pull together. Chris and I really enjoyed it!

Here are a few small changes I made:

Used Thai sweet chili sauce (can be found at regular grocery stores in the Asian section)

Used broccoli instead of bell peppers

Omitted the cilantro (didn't have it)

Omitted red chili pepper- the Thai sauce was spicy enough for us and already has some kind of peppers in it

Served this with brown rice and a little low-sodium soy sauce.

Not really sure what the fish sauce really adds to this recipe. I couldn't taste it at all in the finished dish, so if you don't have that, feel free to omit it. When you open the bottle, it smells horrible anyway haha!

Here's the recipe

Maple Glazed Salmon

This was what we had tonight and it came together in a snap! Love how fast salmon cooks! The rice actually took longer. I served this with a simple arugula salad with yellow tomatoes. If you've never had them, they are so much sweeter than red tomatoes. Try them!

For the salmon:

Season with salt, pepper and Old Bay

Put in a pan or cast iron grill with 1 tablespoon olive oil, skin side down. Turn the the heat to medium high.

In a small saucepan, heat 4 tablespoons lite maple syrup, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Let this come to a bubble. Then brush mixture over the salmon on both sides. Cook 5-7 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

Snicker Pie

This is a First Place 4 Health recipe and if you tasted it, you would never think it was low-calorie! Great dessert for summer- no baking involved and it's nice and cool! This really does remind me of a snickers bar with the chocolate and peanut butter combo. :) :) YUM!

Give it a try!

Here's the recipe

Grilled Portobello Sandwiches

These were really good!! I halved this as it was just for Chris and myself and made several changes below. This is a great meatless meal and pretty filling! The only thing that we didn't like about them was the veggies tended to come out when you took a bite. So I actually ate mine with a knife and fork. But no big deal!

One of the best things about this was the roasted garlic that I added to the mayo-- GREAT flavor! See link below about how to roast garlic in the oven....

My changes:

Omitted bell pepper and onions

Used about 1/4 cup olive oil

Used Kraft mayo made with olive oil instead of regular mayo

Used regular fresh mozzarella

Next time, I will add some fresh arugula to the tops of these. I actually had some here but just forgot it.

Roasted Garlic Recipe

Here's a link to the original recipe

Rosemary Chicken with Wild Rice

I sort of thought up this recipe today and it turned out pretty well, I thought. :)

Marinade for chicken:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Marinade chicken for at least 4 hours. I grilled mine on my indoor grill. I used breast tenderloins so they would cook quicker. Next time, I think I might add the juice of one lemon to the marinade. But it was still good!

I served this with Uncle Ben's wild rice and a spinach salad. We both really enjoyed this.

Quick and easy dinner!! :)