Spiced up Spaghetti

Wake up those taste buds with this super easy dinner! R and I had this last week and I couldn't stop raving about it. Here goes:

Whole grain pasta
Olive Oil
Spices: Dried Basil, Crushed Red Pepper, Garlic Salt
(Optional: Oregano, Thyme, Cayenne, Black Pepper)
Parmesan Cheese

There's not much to do here: cook the pasta, drizzle on the olive oil, add spices, add parmesan, mix up, and enjoy!

Banana Bread

I can't believe I'm giving away my "secret" recipe for banana bread...but everyone needs to be able to make amazing banana bread! And it's really not much of a secret, I got it off of the Food Network, but added vanilla extract. If you have all these ingredients in your pantry/fridge, all you need to buy are the bananas! Banana Bread is great for breakfast, snack, gifts to ppl (it's what I gave R for V day), etc. Put those baking skills to use and check out my tips at the bottom for making it!

Ingredients:
1 Cup sugar
1 Stick butter (real butter, none of that fake stuff!)
2 eggs
3 brown bananas (medium-large)
1 Tablespoon milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (optional)
(Butter, Pam, or Crisco spray for pans)

1. Preheat oven to 325. Butter (or spray) 1 or 2 loaf pans.
2. Cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time.
3. Mash bananas with fork, mix in milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.
4. Add bananas to cream, stir, then add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
5. Stir/mix just until flour disappears.
6. If you want to add nuts, this is when I would do it...but I don't use nuts!

If you are baking in 1 pan, bake for 1 hour.
If you are baking in 2 pans, bake for 45 minutes.

Tips:

• Make sure your bananas are nice and brown. They mash more easily.
• I use an electric mixer to cream the butter, sugar, and eggs; and a spoon for mixing everything else.
• Make sure the mixture is nice and thick.
• A little extra cinnamon and vanilla never hurts. :)
• I use disposable aluminum pans and generously coat them with Crisco spray.
• Check the bread with a toothpick, 5-10 min before time is up. If the toothpick comes out clean, they are ready to take out of the oven! If not, stick them back in the oven and check every 5 minutes.
• Do not try to cook these fast, slow and steady at 325 will make them turn out perfect with a slight crispy edge!

Salad Basics

I personally think that salads are the best options for lunch. Not only are they super easy, but you can also put anything in them and they're super healthy! Why bog your stomach down with food that will leave your body begging for a nap? It takes 5 minutes or less for me to throw a salad together in the morning. And of course my tastes are different than yours, go ahead and add those onions if you'd like!

Here are my salad basics:

• Salad greens - anything with spinach and other green leaves is great. NOT ICEBERG LETTUCE.
• Cherry or Grape Tomatoes - so easy, wash 'em and throw 'em in!
• Craisins - I like sweet things, so clearly these are my staples!
• Feta cheese - I prefer goat cheese, but feta is cheaper. Gives it a nice flavor.

Other items I'll put in there:

• Chicken - of course, so easy and delicious.
• Other veggies: Sugar Snap Peas, Broccoli, carrots, cucumbers
• Fruit: Strawberries, Blueberries, raspberries
• Nuts: Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts

Dressings:
I like lighter dressings, but some of you might like ranch. Have at it and pour it on! These are some of my favorites. Again, I like sweet things so I enjoy the fruit vinaigrette varieties.

• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Pomegranate Vinaigrette
• Italian (if there's nothing else)
• Healthiest option: Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Pepper 

I haven't tried the olive oil with fruit yet, so that might be interesting, but if I have a basic salad, here is what I do:

• Put dry ingredients in plastic carry container.
• Add pepper to your liking
• Add just a few drops of balsamic vinegar - that stuff is strong and will go a long way
• Add olive oil until greens are wet. I add a little at a time, put the cover on, and shake the salad to mix everything up.

 It also helps to dispense the oil and vinegar from things like this:
or 

Happy Salad Eating!

Sweet & Tangy Chicken with Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

R loves this dinner whenever I make it! And so do I, for good reason! Taste and deliciousness explode from every bite you take! The chicken recipe I got from my brother and his incredible cooking skills and the roasted parmesan potatoes are from Pinterest.

All Ingredients Needed:
Raw Chicken breast or tenders
Favorite Seasoning (I use Slap Yo Mamma)
Naked Juice (Mango and a Red Berry are my preferences, blueberry would also be good)
Red Pepper (powder)
Dried Basil
Optional: Dried Oregano and Thyme
Golden or Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Garlic powder
Parmesan in the green shaker

Easiest Chicken Ever
Take your raw chicken breasts or tenders and trim them up to your liking. Place them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with your favorite seasoning - I use a cajun seasoning that isn't too spicy or salty, Slap Yo Mamma. Stick in a preheated oven at 350-375 oven for 12-15 min (depends on thickness). Done! You can eat this chicken with anything and use it all week in your lunches!

Sweet and Tangy Reduction Sauce
You might have to play around with this one and different juices to find out what you like best, but here is how I do it. I buy 2 of the small bottles of Naked Juice - Mango and Red Berry. I pour about 3/4 of the Mango juice and 1/2 of the Red Berry juice into a sauce pan. Sprinkle in the spices (red pepper, dried basil, oregano). You can always add more later. Bring to a boil on medium high. Place a wooden spoon on top of the saucepan to prevent it from boiling over. Boil the juice down until you reach a nice thick-sauce consistency. Drizzle (or drown) your chicken in this delicious sauce.

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
Wash and cube your potatoes, I use 3-4 medium sized ones (also depends on how many people you are feeding and if you want leftovers). Put in a medium bowl and add olive oil (enough to coat all potatoes plus a tiny extra, but don't drown them), 1 tsp garlic powder, and as much or as little parmesan cheese as you want! I love cheese, so I am very liberal in my cheese coating. Mix all together, making sure every potato is coated with the oil and cheese. Place on a baking sheet (I use a large square cake pan, and I also prefer non-stick*). Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, take out and flip potatoes, and cook for another 10 min. You will want to make these every night!

Tips for putting this dinner together:

• First start your sauce, for it takes awhile to boil down. 
• Second, trim your chicken and prep it with spice, have it ready to go on the baking sheet.
• Third, prepare the potatoes and cook them in the oven.
• Fourth, when you have 10-15 min. left on your potatoes, put your chicken in the oven. Potatoes should be on the center rack and chicken can be on one lower. When the potatoes are done, move the chicken up to the center rack to finish cooking for 5ish minutes. 
• Serve with your favorite wine. 

*I use non-stick pans at my apartment. R has regular pans. When I attempted roasted veggies at his place, they all stuck to the pan (that was a very depressing moment). If you are not using a non-stick pan, I'd probably use olive oil, Pam, or Crisco to lightly coat the pan. 

Simple Salmon

I used to think I didn't like salmon, but maybe that was due to my first experience of it in cafeteria at a university. Last year my dad visited and made salmon with a tarter-like sauce for it, and I thought it was alright. He made it again at Christmas time, and this past weekend he visited again and made it for R and I. Oh my, it was so delicious and so simple! So here it is:

1. Buy a fillet of salmon. This can be found at any grocery store in the potent "fresh fish" section.
2. Put tin foil on a baking sheet.
3. Lay the fillet of pink fish on it, scale side down.
4. Put a layer of olive oil on top, running it all over the fish so it is completely covered (you don't need to soak it in olive oil though).
5. Sprinkle on Lawry's salt, and don't be stingy.
6. Add a little bit of lemon or lime juice (make sure the Lawry's isn't washed off).
7. Put it in the oven on (high) broil for 10-12 minutes, or until desired crispiness is achieved.
8. When done, take a spatula to remove the fish from the scales, it should come up easily.

9. Enjoy with your favorite side dish!