Lemon Chicken with Oregano and Feta

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to make, and luckily Le Petit Pierogi had this recipe in her blog that matched exactly what I was thinking! This was super good and healthy for you! (Recipe originally adapted from here).

Ingredients

* 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

* Juice of 1/2 lemon

* 1 garlic clove, minced (I omitted)

* Oregano to taste (I used a BUNCH... mmm oregano)

* Salt

* Pepper

* Feta cheese, crumbled (I used sundried tomato and basil flavor)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray a small baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Place chicken breasts in dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and oregano. Squeeze lemon liberally over chicken.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on size of chicken breasts (mine only took about 22 minutes). Add feta cheese on top of the chicken for the last few minutes of baking.

Pizza on the Grill

I've heard so many great things about making pizza on the grill that I decided to finally make it! This was super easy to make and SO good! (Inspiration from this recipe).

Ingredients

* 1 tube pre-made pizza crust (we used Pillsbury)

* 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (we used a combo of italian cheese and parmesan cheese)

* 1 cup pizza sauce

* Meat and veggie toppings of your choice (Keith had turkey pepperoni and I had hot turkey sausage)

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for low heat and spray grate with cooking spray
2. Roll out prepared pizza dough to a size that will fit your grill (we used 1 tube of dough, cut in half, for 2 individual pizzas).

3. Place on grill for 5 minutes, or to desired doneness, and flip over. Now add the sauce, cheese, and other toppings.
4. Cover the grill and allow to cook over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Jalapeno Chicken

A huge thanks to Molly for introducing me to this recipe!! This is soo soo soo good, I've already made it twice in the past week and a half!! Yummmmmm.

(I opted to bake these instead of grilling and I also substituted a few things to make it simple. My changes are noted below.)

Ingredients (for 2)

* 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
* Appx 5 oz Italian dressing (I used balsamic vinaigrette)
* 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, halved lengthwise and seeded (I used sliced from the jar)
* Appx 3 oz cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
* 2 slices bacon (I used bacon crumbles)
* Toothpicks

Directions

1. Place chicken breasts in a dish with the dressing. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
3. Stuff each jalapeno half with cream cheese. Roll chicken breasts around jalapeno peppers. Wrap each chicken breast with a slice of bacon. Secure with toothpicks.

(If using sliced jalapenos and bacon crumbles like I did, just spread the cream cheese inside each chicken breast and add in jalapenos and bacon bits.)
4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Arrange wrapped chicken breasts on the prepared grill. Cook for 20 minutes, turning frequently, or until bacon is browned and the chicken juices run clear.

(I baked in the oven at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.)

Jalapeno Popper Dip

This dip was great and tasted JUST like jalapeno poppers! Be sure to make a lot because it will likely get devoured! Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients (serves 32)

* 16 oz cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
* 1 cup mayonnaise (I used light)
* 4 oz can chopped green chilies, drained
* 2 oz canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained
* 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used italian mix)

Directions

1. Stir together cream cheese and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth.

2. Stir in green chiles and jalapeno peppers.

3. Pour mixture into a microwave safe serving dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Microwave on high until hot, about 3 minutes.

5. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Note: If you would like to brown the cheese, bake at 375 degrees for ~30 minutes.

Balsamic Potatoes

I originally intended to make this recipe from Messily Ever After, but I decided to simplify a little bit and only use the ingredients I happened to have in the house. This was really easy to make and pretty good! Plus the light balsamic vinaigrette with the fat-free feta cheese made it pretty healthy!

Ingredients (for one serving)

* 2-3 medium size red potatoes, cut into wedges

* 1 tbsp water

* 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (my fresh basil had gone bad, so I used dried)

* 1/4 cup light balsamic vinaigrette dressing

* Fat-free feta cheese crumbles (I used basil tomato flavor)

Directions

1. Place potato wedges in a large microwave-safe bowl; add 1 tablespoon water.

2. Cover with plastic wrap, vent (do not allow plastic wrap to touch food). Microwave on high 5-6 minutes, or until tender; drain.

3. Stir in vinaigrette and basil. Top each serving with cheese.

Oven Fried Honey Chicken Nuggets

Keith LOVES honey so I knew he would enjoy these chicken nuggets. These were super easy to make and SOOOOO good!! You should go make these now :) I found this recipe up Macaroni and Cheesecake, who got it from Sweet Tea in Texas. Thanks girls!

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup honey
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I only had white vinegar and it turned out fine)
* 1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs (I used Panko)
* Appx 1 lb fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Spray foil-lined baking pan large enough to hold all chicken pieces in one layer.

2. In shallow bowl, whisk together honey and vinegar. Set aside.

3. Place bread crumbs in a small saute pan and toast lightly over low heat for about 3-4 minutes until lightly golden brown. (I skipped the step and just baked in oven a little longer.)

4. Pour bread crumbs a little at a time into separated bowl. Roll chicken pieces in honey mixture, then in bread crumbs; place in pan.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.

We tried dipping the nuggets in both ranch and sweet chili sauce. Both were good!

Garlic Pesto Pasta

We had some jarred pesto to use up - I think I am done buying the jarred kind for a while. It just isn't very flavorful and made this dish a little bland. BUT, if you used fresh pesto, I'm sure it would be delish!

Ingredients

* Pasta of your choice

* Chicken breast, cooked, cut into pieces (I marinated in garlic herb marinade first)

* Pesto sauce

* Minced garlic

* EVOO

* Shredded parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Boil pasta until al dente. A few minutes before pasta is done, add minced garlic and EVOO in a pan and saute.

2. Drain pasta. Add pesto sauce, garlic, chicken to pasta and combine all together. Add a little EVOO if needed. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese on top.

The Ultimate Double Decker Grilled Cheese

We wanted something light-ish for dinner tonight and this was the perfect solution. Yum!

Ingredients (for 2 sandwiches)

* 6 slices whole wheat bread

* Lunchmeat of your choice (we used buffalo chicken lunchmeat)

* 4 slices cooked turkey bacon

* 2 slices pepperjack cheese

* 2 wedges garlic & herb Laughing Cow cheese

* Butter for grilling in pan

Directions

1. Layer lunchmeat and sliced cheese on a sandwich and make a grilled cheese on the stove like you normally would (using 2 slices per sandwich).

2. While the second side is grilling, spread Laughing Cow cheese on top of outside piece of grilled bread. Then add 2 slices turkey bacon on top. Set the third slice of bread on top (buttered side up).

3. Flip a third time to grill the final slice of bread.

We dipped in a little bit of ranch dressing. Delicious and easy!

CousCous Stuffed Peppers

I had some leftover couscous to use up last night and decided to make these stuffed peppers. These were really good!

Ingredients

* 1 orange bell pepper, cut in half with core and seeds removed

* Appx 3/4 cup cooked couscous (I used parmesan flavor)

* Chopped onions

* Minced garlic

* Parsley (I used dried)

* EVOO

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Place the pepper halves cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast ~15 minutes in the oven, or until tender and skin starts to brown on edges.

3. While the peppers are roasting, heat EVOO in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook the onions, garlic, and parsley in oil for 2-3 minutes.

4. Spoon in the cooked couscous and stir until heated through. Remove from heat.

5. Remove peppers from oven and spoon in the couscous mixture into pepper halves.

6. Stick back in oven for ~5 minutes. Serve immediately (with side of sour cream if desired).

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

We bought a bunch of ground turkey while our families were in town for Easter and totally forgot to eat it. So, we decided to use some of it up this weekend and make turkey burgers on the grill. These were delicious! (Recipe makes 4 burgers.)

Ingredients

* 1 lb lean ground turkey

* Blue cheese crumbles (I used gorgonzola)

* Frank's Buffalo Sauce (I tried their new kind - Sweet Heat BBQ. mmm it's really good, you should try it)

* Breadcrumbs (I used seasoned)

* Cayenne pepper

* Hamburger buns

Directions

1. Mix ground turkey, blue cheese to taste, buffalo sauce to taste, a little bit of breadcrumbs, and some cayenne pepper in a medium size bowl.

2. Form mixture into four burgers.

3. Put on the grill and leave on until cooked through.

4. Add hamburger buns onto top rack of grill at the end to toast them just a little bit.

We dipped in ranch dressing. Yum!

Seasoned Feta Asapragus

After looking online at a bunch of different recipes using asparagus, I decided to just combine a bunch and make something up on my own. I had a bunch of leftover asparagus after making these roll-ups for Easter, so I needed a new way to try it. This was really good!

Ingredients

* Bunch or partial bunch asparagus

* Extra virgin olive oil

* Salt and pepper

* Kroger Grill-Time Seasoning (or whatever seasoning you'd like)

* 1 pinch red pepper flakes

* Crumbled feta cheese (I used reduced fat)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Trim asparagus and then lay flat in baking pan (I used an 8x8 pan). Drizzle olive oil and then shake pan to move oil around so that it covers most of the asparagus.

3. Sprinkle the last 4 ingredients over asparagus, as much as you'd like.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for appx 12-15 minutes.

I cut them up and mixed in with some brown rice. Yum!

Cheez-It Encrusted/Asiago Stuffed Chicken

Umm chicken and cheez-its??? Yum!! I knew Keith would LOVE this recipe b/c those are 2 of his favorite things. I thought it was really good as well. I found this on the What We're Eating website and then added the cheese stuffed inside. You should really make this! (Recipe serves 2.)

Ingredients

* Appx 2 cups cracker crumbs made from Cheez-Its

* 1 tbsp minced fresh dill (I used dry)

* 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley (I used dry)

* 1/2 tbsp minced fresh oregano (I used dry)

* 1/2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary (I used dry)

* 1 tbsp minced fresh thyme (I used dry)

* 1 clove minced garlic (I used 2 cloves.. mmm.. garlic)

* 2 tbsp hot sauce (I used a little more)

* 1 egg

* 1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese

* 1/2 cup flour, for dusting

* Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

* 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry, cut in half horizontally 3/4 of the way through (so you can stuff the inside)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On large plate add the first 7 ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly.

2. Place the flour in a second plate. Season w/ kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, stir to combine.

3. To a wide bowl add the egg and 2 tbsp hot sauce. Whisk until the egg is frothy.

4. Open each chicken breast up and sprinkle asiago cheese inside the middle. Fold chicken back over to original shape.

5. Season all sides of the chicken breast with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

6. Dredge the breasts in the flour, shaking off all excess. Dip the lightly floured breasts, on at a time, into the hot sauce and egg mixture, coating both sides.

7. Next, press each of the breasts into the Cheez-It herb mixture, making sure all sides are thoroughly coated.

8. Place the Cheez-It encrusted breasts onto a sheet pan. If there the crust isn’t sticking, press a little bit of the Cheez-It mixture onto the top of the breast once it has been placed on the sheet pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until just cooked through.

Simple Antipasto Salad

No real recipe here, but this salad was too good not to blog. It consisted of iceberg lettuce, pepperoni pieces, hard salami pieces, feta cheese, chopped onion, and house italian dressing. I should have added some hard boiled eggs but forgot... Yum!

Asiago Stuffed Chicken Breast

Another delicious chicken recipe :) I served it with the oven roasted potatoes in the above post.

Ingredients (for 2 people)

* 2 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast

* Marinade of your choice (I used garlic and herb)

* 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese (I originally planned to use feta cheese, which I think would be equally as good)

Directions

1. Marinate chicken breasts for a couple hours in your favorite sauce.

2. Create a slit "sandwich-wise" in the chicken breast about 3/4 of the way through so that you can open the chicken breast without it completely separating into 2 pieces.

3. Add asiago cheese inside each chicken breast; close and secure with toothpicks if needed.

4. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 min.

Simple Ranch Chicken Macaroni Salad

Now that the weather is warm here I've really been craving pasta/macaroni/potato salads. This was really good! (From allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

* 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
* 1 stalk celery, chopped
* 1 (2.25 oz) can chopped green olives (omitted)
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 2 tablespoons milk (omitted... didn't miss it)
* 1 (10 oz) can chicken chunks, drained (I used a baked chicken breast... canned chicken is gross) * 1 (1 oz) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
* 2 teaspoons paprika (omitted)

* Added: crumbled bacon

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, and pat dry.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the celery, olives, mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, chicken and Ranch dressing mix. Stir in macaroni until well blended.

3. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Stir, and sprinkle paprika over the top before serving.

Italian Pasta Salad

I decided to make pasta salad today so that I could take it to work for lunch this week. This is really tasty and is perfect for warm weather!

Ingredients

* Any kind of small pasta, cooked (I used a mix of small shells and rotini)

* Salami, sliced into small pieces

* Pepperoni, sliced into small pieces (I used turkey pepperoni)

* Orange pepper, sliced into small pieces

* Green onion, sliced into small pieces

* Pepperjack cheese, cubed

* Italian dressing (any kind you like)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!

Redskin Potato Salad

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com - super easy, super yummy, and perfect for our first 75 degree sunny day in TN this year :)

(I halved the recipe since Keith won't eat this, but the full recipe is posted below.)

Ingredients

* 2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
* 6 eggs
* 1 pound bacon (I used up some crumbled bacon we had)
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1 stalk celery, finely chopped (omitted)
* 2 cups mayonnaise
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool.
2. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. (or just use crumbled bacon like I did!)
4. Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, onion and celery. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.

Garlic, Blue Cheese, & Red Pepper Pasta

I wanted a not-so-bad-for-you/quick and easy pasta dish tonight since Keith had decided on just eating a sandwich for dinner and I was on my own. This was pretty good! It would probably be better if you roasted the red peppers, but I was too lazy and hungry and impatient to do so! (Recipe serves one.)

Ingredients

* Appx 2 handfuls whole wheat pasta (I used fusilli)

* Olive oil to taste

* Blue cheese crumbles to taste

* Appx 1 tsp minced garlic

* Diced red peppers to taste

* Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.

2. Add all other ingredients into hot pasta and mix together until cheese is melted.

3. Eat! mmm.

Cheesy Salami Crescent Pockets

Very similar to my Buffalo Chicken Crescent Pockets, these pockets were a perfect invention for our lunch today. Yum!

Ingredients

* 1 package Pillsbury crescents (I used the new blank sheet where you cut your own shape out)

* 6 slices of hard salami

* Appx 2 oz fat free cream cheese (or any version cream cheese you'd like)

* 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or to taste)

Directions

1. Roll out crescents flat on baking sheet. Spread a little cream cheese in the middle of each triangle/square. Then sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese and add small pieces of salami to each triangle/square.

2. Fold each corner into the middle to make into a "pocket" shape.

3. Bake according to directions on crescent package. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Calzone

Chicken + cheese + hot sauce = our favorite. I found this on the WC board on Ellen's Edibles Blog. It was super easy to make and especially DELICIOUS!!

Ingredients

* 1 lb ground chicken (we used ground turkey b/c the store was out of ground chicken)

* Chicken seasoning to taste (we used Weber's Kickin' Chicken)

* Ground pepper to taste

* 6 oz. reduced fat cream cheese (we used fat free)

* 3/4 cup hot wing sauce (we used Frank's)

* Frozen onion/celery mix to taste (we omitted)

* 1 handful shredded mozzarella cheese or to taste

* 1 handful shredded cheddar cheese or to taste (we omitted)

* 1 refrigerated pizza dough

* Ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing for dipping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put jelly roll pan or pizza stone in oven to warm.
2. Brown chicken and frozen onions/celery. Drain fat and add poultry seasoning, ground pepper and cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese melts. Add wing sauce. Simmer until sauce is slightly reduced. Remove from heat.
3. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out pizza dough.
4. Sprinkle cheese over dough, then spread slightly cooled chicken mixture over half (long ways) of the dough. Roll the dough long ways and seal the dough at the seam. Helpful hint: rather than trying to pull the dough from the parchment as you roll it, lift the parchment long ways so that the entire piece of dough rolls at once without breaking.
5. Cut slices on top of the dough with a knife so steam can escape. Spray lightly with olive oil, or brush dough with an egg wash.
6. Put calzone with parchment on the hot jelly roll pan and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until brown.
7. Once out of the oven, let calzone rest for a few minutes and slice into generous diagonal pieces. Serve with dipping sauce.