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...

Tomato and Zucchini Tart with Garlic

I originally planned for this tart to be a quick, plain tomato-style to use up some of my garden tomatoes. Instead, I just kept adding things and it turned into an awesome tart with zucchini and garlic. Those combinations are so amazing together!

Western Salad Dressing

Western Dressing is my son's favorite salad dressing. He just started really eating salads last year and he's been very adamant about not trying any other dressings. We'll get there some day, but for now, I'd rather him have this dressing while he's still getting used to eating salads in general. And since I only make my own salad dressings for myself (ranging from vinaigrettes to creamy to everything in between), I decided I'd try my hand at a homemade Western since I've never done that one before.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

This is another one of those spur of the moment recipes that happened by chance.

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...

Tuscan Cauliflower, Tomato, and Bean Sauté

I've been working on this little at-home challenge where I'm trying to eat more vegetables every day. Some days I achieve my goal, some days I don't. But the good days outweigh the bad and I think I'll eventually hit the amount that I'm happy with each and every day. In an effort to help me succeed, I'm trying to whip up these awesome side dishes that serve more as the main entrée than the actual side.

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!

Mediterranean Quinoa Stuffed Avocado

I'm on a quinoa kick. And I'm always looking for new things to do with avocados, so why not combine the two! This one was inspired by a recipe a friend shared on Facebook. You can find it here: http://theleancleaneatingmachine.com/2014/01/17/quinoa-stuffed-avocados/

The original was more of a Mexican-flavored meal so I decided to change it up and bring on some completely different flavors. The only way to go, of course, was Mediterranean style!

Naked Jalapeño Poppers

My husband and I are big fans of jalapeño poppers. It's been quite awhile since we had them though because the fried goodness just isn't good for you. Tasty? Oh yeah. But to eat a lot of them is just soooo not gonna happen around here.

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.

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Mango

Have you ever had one of those days where you're just craving something veggie packed and fruity at the same time? I have. On many occasions actually.

Zucchini Pineapple Muffins

These. Oh boy. These are some good muffins. It's almost like a little zucchini bread for one. But better. These muffins are good and good for you. You can be very happy while eating them.

We've really been focusing on the healthy lifestyle over here, but that doesn't mean we're not going to enjoy food. I mean, come on...food is delicious! Why would you deny yourself the good stuff? You just have to make sure the good stuff is good for you. And these muffins totally are. They're so moist and there's just enough sweetness to make you feel like you're getting a great little dessert. Or breakfast. Yeah...I think I may have one for breakfast...

**Update**
I have tweaked the recipe slightly by removing baking soda, lemon juice, and some of the sugar. I have also increased the baking powder by 1 tsp. The muffins have a better texture and taste just as good!

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.

Steamed and Buttered Red Potatoes

If there's one thing my mom always goes to in terms of potato dishes, it's this. She's made it for years and always just whipped it up every time. She never followed a recipe but knew exactly what she was doing so it was the same delicious flavor every time. Moms are funny like that...

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!

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.