Cod Fillets with Blood Orange Citrus Sauce

I think I have a bias towards cod. It's just so mild and there is so much you can do with it! If you look at my fish recipes on here, about 99% are cod. Maybe I should broaden my seafood selections a bit...

Sweet and Salty Garlic Pork Chops

Pork is quickly becoming a staple around here. That's what happens when you buy most of your meat at Costco and they have some awesome deals on pork loins and chops. I'm not even kidding on those deals. Buy in bulk and save, people...

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I love coming up with new meals for my family. And it's always exciting when the pickiest one - my husband - loves what I come up with. I was worried that he wouldn't like this one because it isn't the typical meat, veggie, starch combo, but he was still good with it. Of course, I did have to serve some rice on the side because he's a big guy and would be hungry in half an hour without it...

Poached Cod with Shallot Butter Sauce

I love trying out new recipes for fish. And most of the time, that fish just happens to be cod. It's our favorite. And when I say our, I mean my son and I. My husband just won't touch it! Well, I guess I should say that he won't touch the kind I make. He only likes it fried. Why? Because then you don't taste fish, of course!

Pureed Cauliflower Soup

We're totally on a cauliflower kick over here. My son absolutely loves it so I've been trying out some different things. I did the (suddenly so popular) cauliflower pizza crust but I need work on it some more. I think it could be much better so more on that later.

I've also done it steamed with carrots and then seasoned with butter, salt, and pepper. It's really good, but kind of boring. But, hey, if my kid will eat it then I love it.

Mediterranean Baked Cod

This one. This one is probably one of my favorites. And my son's favorites. You just have to love when your six year old's new favorite dinner is fish, right?

(Did I mention he's six now? When did this happen? He was just a tiny baby, wasn't he? Well, my little man just had a birthday and at least I can say that I'm handling this one better than I handled it when he turned five. Not sure why since six means he's officially a kid and not my baby anymore. How can he not be my baby anymore? How will I get through this?! Well, after I commented that he was getting so big, he proceeded to reassure me that no matter how old we both get, he'll be my baby forever. He knows just what to say to get to this momma's heart...)

Okay, mini meltdown over. Now I can get back to the recipe...

Chicken Breasts with Quick Wine Cherry Pan Sauce

We eat a lot of chicken over here. And because of that, I'm always looking for new ways to jazz it up.

Crock Pot Italian Sausage with Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers

I love my Crock Pot. But really, who doesn't? I'm a big fan of it for a lot of different reasons but the stand-out is giving me good food with little effort. And on a busy work day when there is soccer practice after school, nothing sounds better.

Crock Pot Chicken Breasts with Potatoes, Onions and a Rosemary Herb Sauce

Man, I just love my crock pot. I don't love when I go to make something only to discover I have everything but one key ingredient. (We'll just call that a tiny bit of poor planning on my part.) That poor planning did lead to this impromptu chicken though. And since it was really tasty, I'm not too distraught over my initial meal not happening.

Beef with Peapods

My last post was a great chicken and peapods recipe so I thought I'd share a beef version this time. This one actually came before the chicken version and it sort of paved the way for that and a couple others. The inspiration to make this came from a craving for some beef chop suey from our local Chinese restaurant. So instead of calling to place an order, I decided to create something with what I had on hand. I'm big on that, you know...

So I checked out what I had and a bag of peapods from Costco was staring back at me. I knew I had some steak - also from Costco - so I thought about combining them into a simple stir fry with some chop suey sauce similarities. It wasn't exactly like chop suey, but it's exactly what I was going for. I wanted a deep flavor that really highlighted the beef as the main ingredient. The sauce was mellow and not too overpowering so it really let me meat flavor take center stage.

Chicken with Peapods and Carrots

According to my 5-year old, this is the best dinner he's ever had. Now, he does seem to say that a lot, but this time he said that it was not only better than pepperoni pizza or chicken noodle soup, but it was also better Panda Express Orange Chicken. It's a special treat type of thing, but he loves that damn orange chicken....

This diner gets an A+ from all of us. I'm so happy when I'm able to create something that everyone likes and that can actually make people smile. My husband - who is even pickier than the boy - loved it! Now that is a big deal because he just honestly couldn't care less about food. I just don't understand that but to each their own I guess.

Tortellini Primavera

Every once in awhile I buy fresh tortellini. And when I do it's only from Costco because #1 the price is amazing and #2 it's really good. There is a lot though so I end up freezing about two-thirds of it. I love to create new recipes using this tortellini because it's so easy to work with and it's cheese-filled so it goes with everything.

I also look for new ways to incorporate vegetables into our meals that aren't just sitting as a side dish. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just fun to have them involved with the main course sometimes. This pasta dish is great because you can use any vegetable you have in the fridge or the freezer. You can get really creative with this one so I encourage you to use your favorites to make this dish your own. We love broccoli and always have some in the freezer so this was the main vegetable in this version. I combined it with carrots and red pepper but you can easily use zucchini, peapods, other peppers, onions, tomatoes, or anything else you can think of! Serve it up with a salad or some crusty bread and you're good to go!

Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce

I recently bought a big bag of frozen cherries at Costco because I was going through this massive smoothie phase. I wasn't that crazy about these cherries in smoothie form though so I've been trying to find other ways to use them up. It was warm outside and I was thinking about grilling and the idea of a cherry BBQ sauce popped in my head. I like using fruit in interesting ways and I've done a mango BBQ sauce before so cherry was a good next step. (I plan on doing even more though - especially peach. Yum!) I took an inventory of what I had in the pantry and after writing up a recipe and getting everything cooking, I had a really good sauce that went perfect on our chicken. It had a great balance of tangy and sweet along with a tiny bit of heat and smokiness. I used about a third of what I made on three chicken breasts so there is plenty with this recipe. The rest can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about a month.

I think I'll give this sauce a try on some chops or ribs next time!

Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Chops

Since warmer weather is finally here, I've been working on some new grilling recipes. I've been getting bored with chicken lately so I've turned my focus to pork. We bought a large tenderloin at Costco a few weeks ago and after cutting it up and portioning for a ton of meals, I left a little bit out and cut it into chops. I new I wanted to grill them but it took me a couple days to decide how and with what.

I had written a crock pot recipe for a honey mustard chicken a few days earlier so I decided to adapt it a bit for the pork and the grill. It seemed like the perfect combination. After a few tweaks to my original mustard sauce, I had a glaze that worked great with the fire.

1-Pot Pasta: Creamy Tomato and Spinach

I have found my new go-to dinner. I've seen a few of these one pot meals around and I decided it was high time that I whipped up my own. I wasn't quite sure how my recipe would turn out since I've never made anything like this before and all the ones I've seen have linguine or fettucini noodles, but I honestly couldn't have asked for a better result.

Including all the prep work, the entire meal took me a little over a half hour. It was one of the easiest things I've ever made and it was delicious! The boys loved it and since it was all cooked in one pot, the clean up was a breeze.

Pan-Seared Pork Medallions with Mustard Wine Sauce

There are so many things you can do with a  pork tenderloin! I've cooked it in the oven, the crock pot, in chili, in a stir-fry, and a bunch of other ways that would just be too many to list.

This time, I went a little different. I decided to cut this one into little rounds to make some pan-seared medallions. This pork recipe was easier than I thought it would be and it ended up tasting just as good as I hoped it would. It was also very quick to prepare so it's good to make during the week for a nice change of pace.

Baked Greek Lemon Chicken Thighs

Chicken and Greek flavors are meant for eachother. I don't usually dive too far into those flavors because my husband isn't really a fan, but I'll try to incorporate subtle flavors into our meals sometimes. This chicken doesn't have a strong Greek influence, but the basic flavors are there. The lemon and oregano infuse the chicken nicely and the garlic adds a nice bite without being overwhelming.

Two-Beef Chili

Quick...before it starts to get too warm outside, you need to make this chili.

I've never been a big chili fan, but I decided to make a batch for some reason a couple weeks ago. I still have no idea what prompted that, but I'm glad it did because I'm putting this up there as one of the best things I've ever eaten. The spices are right on and the texture was awesome. The contrast of the two kinds of meats was unlike anything I've had and they worked so well together! It wasn't very spicy either so it had just the right amount of heat.

Oh, and this one is even better the next day.

Chicken Picatta

Have you ever been to a wedding or shower and been served chicken picatta? Do you ever sigh when you see it in front of you? I have on occasion. I usually dread it because it just isn't that great most of the time. There doesn't ever seem to be any flavor to it. I love chicken. I love lemon. What could be the problem, right? Well, they usually don't have that lemony flavor that makes it taste so good. It's usually pretty bland. When I get something called chicken picatta, I want it to taste like what's it's supposed to taste like! My version does. It doesn't taste like anything you get at those restaurants because each flavor is pronounced and has it's own job.

And you can feel all fancy on a regular weeknight because it's really easy and super quick to make!

Roast Chicken Halves with Lemon Garlic Butter

Chicken. (Insert long sigh.) I just love chicken. There are so many things you can do with it that it's virtually impossible to get bored with it. I have so many ideas running through my head that I just can't keep up!

This roast chicken is my latest chicken recipe creation. And let me tell you...it is delicious. I tried something new with this one and the result was the best ever. What did I do differently? Well, this chicken was halved. I've never tried to tackle it before but I'm seriously doing it this way from now on. Not only does it cook faster than when it's whole, but it cooks more evenly leaving you with super moist and perfectly cooked meat.