Simple & Easy Chicken Fettucini

Chicken Fettucini with Penne Pasta

Make a great restaurant meal in the time it takes you to cook up the pasta. Slice up chicken breasts and add them to your pan (or wok) with some chicken broth, minced garlic, and some pepper. Add some seasonings of your choice (pizza seasoning works great). Boil up your pasta of choice and in a smaller pot make your sauce. To make things easy just use a package Alfredo mix (it will also cut down all the fat too of a regular Alfredo sauce). When your chicken is done remove it from the pan (or wok) and add your mushrooms (or other veggies if you prefer) with the remaining juices left over (add some chicken broth if it dried up). Add a side salad and you can say, "Badda Boo Badda Bing!"

Hamburger Pot Pie

Hamburger Pot Pie

Pot pies are one of those great recipes that you can just throw together when you have all the ingredients. I had a lot of ideas running around in my head as to what to create with my lean ground beef. But the best was a nice pot pie that would be all ready to go right at supper time and I wouldn't have to slave in the kitchen since it can be all made ahead. This recipe is easy and great if you have veggies in your fridge to use up. Here's what I did:

Took out frozen dough to let unthaw.
Browned up the beef then added 2 packets of brown gravy (and 2 cups of water) to the mix. Let simmer.
Defrosted 2 cups of frozen mixed veggies by putting them in some hot water to soften up then added to mix.
Peeled and cubed up 2 potatoes then boiled them, drain water, then add to mix.
Let the mixture simmer.
Add the mixture to a glass pie plate then top with the pie crust (don't forget to poke holes through it to let the steam out).
Turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 40-50 mins (or as directed on the pie crust box).

Nothing is more pleasing then to watch my little guy eat this right up! I don't even think he noticed all the peas he was eating because the flavor was so good!

Mixture simmering

Enjoy! 

"Top 5 Healthy Foods to put on your plate"

These are the top 5 healthy foods to put on your plate as per Healthy Choice Canada.
http://www.healthychoice.com

1.    Whole grains

Why: They’re a bundle of goodness because they offer the nutrition of all three parts of the grain:

-       the bran (for fibre);

-       the endosperm (for carbohydrates and some protein); and

-       the germ (for vitamins, minerals and healthy fats).[1]

How: Swap brown rice for white rice in your favourite recipes. Look for foods made with barley. Experiment with different whole grains like quinoa and buckwheat.  

2.    Broccoli

Why: This brilliant green gem contains disease-fighting antioxidants. Just half a cup of cooked broccoli contains almost 75% of your daily quota for vitamin C too.[2]

How: For maximum nutrition, eat broccoli lightly steamed or stir-fried.

3.    Sweet potatoes

Why: A beta-carotene all-star and an important source of potassium.[3]

How: Try them baked or boiled. Add just a drizzle of non hydrogenated margarine to enhance the absorption of beta-carotene.

4.    Beans

Why: A healthy, low fat meat alternative that’s filled with fibre.

How: Add a handful of chickpeas to a salad. Make a lentil soup, bean burgers, or a big pot of chilli for supper.  

5.    Salmon

Why: My top pick for omega-3 fats and one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D.[4]

How: Bake it, broil it, or buy it in a can.

Making a meal out of a salad

Bbq'd steak spinach salad

 Salads don't need to stay as a side when you can design them in such a way that they turn out to be your whole meal on a plate. Start by picking your greens and then your toppings. Add a hearty protein and you've got a great meal. Not to mention super healthy! I created a spinach salad with bbq'd medium/well done slices of steak with drizzled balsamic dressing. Looks like it came from an expensive restaurant and it only took 15 mins. Have fun creating and experimenting with all kinds of variations of salads.

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Classic-Peanut-Butter-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Baked Rosti Potatoes

Baked Rosti Potatoes & Garlic Pork Steak

I get pretty excited when my Kraft Canada Magazine arrives in the mail. Actually I get pretty excited when anything arrives in the mail in my name and a lot of other free goodies have lately. Usually I'll try one or two recipes in the magazines just to try out something different. Came across a recipe for baked rosti potatoes and thought I'd pair that up with our garlic pork steaks (already pre-marinated from the Supertore in the package). The pork was bbq'd and tasted amazing but the potatoes I was not a fan of too much but hubby seemed to like them. He is a total meat and potatoes guy so it doesn't take much to please him. They just tasted really bland to me and could have used some more seasonings. I didn't use the small onion it called for since we don't like onions or the texture of them so I added onion powder as a substitute. So in my opinion they were a bit of a letdown. Even the ratings that other people gave this recipe on the KraftCanada website said it was bland and gave it a low score. See recipe: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/baked-rosti-potatoes-120591.aspx

Tapioca Pudding

For dessert, my hubby mentioned if I'd make him some tapioca pudding this week and I finally got around to it. It's just the ClubHouse box brand that was used. I don't know what he likes so much about it but I sprinkled some nutmeg and added some walnuts to mine. Psst... it's also gluten free!

Get warm and cozy!

The evenings are hitting the minus zero mark which means time for hot drinks, getting cozy by the fire, and watching your favorite tv shows or movies. So grab your favorite mug, hot drink, and get cozy!

Raspberry Hot Chocolate