sit down and eat: tinfoil chicken dinner

This is a recipe I make frequently because it is so darn fast and easy to prepare. And don't forget that it is a.) healthy and b.) delicious.

Tinfoil Chicken Dinners

Recipe:

tinfoil

chicken breasts

carrots

potatoes

(any kind of veggies, really)

italian dressing

dried basil

parmesan cheese

*No real measurements on this. Just use what you want to use. That's the glory of the tinfoil dinner.*

Step one - Lay out some tinfoil. Make sure you do enough to fit over the food you'll be piling in the middle.

Step two - Lay down your chicken breasts. You better believe I almost always use frozen ones, because it's about a bazillion times easier that way. Sprinkle it with some seasonings like garlic salt or onion powder if you want.

Step Three - Throw on your veggies. I usually use cut up red potatoes with the skin still on and baby carrots. But you could use any kind of veggies and it'd still be scrumtious. Zucchini and broccoli I know are a win.

Step Four - Pour on the dressing. I use fat free dressing to keep it low fat, but you can use any italian dressing you want. I use about 1/2 cup for each dinner, but almost always add more to it since I like it juicy.

Step Five - Sprinkle the dried basil and your parmesan cheese. And again, you can add other seasonings if you want.

Step Six - Fold it up. Try to make a little pocket of air when you do so that it gets all steamy as it cooks.

Step Seven - Bake at 450 for about an hour. Sometimes it's more if you have loads of root veggies in there. Just go until your chicken juice is clear.

Step Eight - Pop em' open and eat em' up.

sit down and eat: roasted veggies

I'm not much of a vegetable fan. Give me a good juicy piece of fruit and I'm a happy woman. Give me a stick of celery and I'll just glare you down. But if it's prepared right? Well that's a different story.

My favorite way to eat vegetables is by roasting them. Such an easy and delicious way to eat your veggies.

1 bag of mixed veggies

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

garlic salt

onion powder

Toss your (thawed) veggies in the olive oil. Spread on a foil lined pan (for less cleanup). Sprinkle with seasonings to taste. Place in 450 oven. Bake for 15 minutes, stir them around, and bake another 15 minutes, or until the edges start to get golden. They get so yummy and flavorful, everyone will love them. Serve with a meal or just eat them up!

(If using frozen veggies, you will need to up your time. I always thaw mine.)

sit down and eat: cottage cheese pancakes

Now I realize that my title, "sit down and..." doesn't really apply to cooking, but it applies to eating, right? So that's what this is. Sit down and eat!

I seem to be following a trend with breakfast foods. But that's what it seems like we all love the best around here. I have a skirt tutorial coming up but that takes longer than just snapping pictures of my hand making breakfast.

This is one of my kids (and mine too) breakfasts to eat. They are packed with nice protein, have a texture that I love, and are absolutely delicious.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes:

Blend up your cottage cheese in a blender or food processor. My dog ate my food processor, so I use my blender, which is on it's last leg.

Add your eggs. Blend it really well.

Add flour (you can even use wheat flour or I've used white and oat flour mixed together), then milk and vanilla.

Add in salt and baking powder. Then add your sugar to taste. I add about this much.

Spray your hot skillet with cooking spray or use butter, which makes it so much better but less healthy.

Pour your pancakes on the hot skillet immediately.

Cook until bubbles begin to form in the middle of the pancakes.

Flip them over.

Enjoy with good maple syrup, applesauce, fresh fruit, or, my favorite, homemade buttermilk syrup (which I will post in the future.)!

Recipe:

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup flour

just over 2 TB milk

dash of vanilla

dash of salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

sugar or sweetener to taste

sit down and eat: oatmeal

I asked John, "What should be my first official post on my new blog?" And he was like, "For something like this, you don't have to pick anything big. Just do it."

So what better way than to start out my new blog than with how we start out our day here in our house. Homemade Oatmeal.

So simple. So delicious. So nutritious.

Recipe:

3 cups hot water

2 cups old fashioned oats

a pinch of salt

brown sugar

butter

milk

optional: peaches or apples & cinnamon

Boil water and salt. Add oats and lower temperature to medium heat. Simmer oats, stirring regularly. Add brown sugar and butter to taste. Cook oats for three to five minutes, or until oats have become mostly soft and absorbed most of the water. Do not overcook.

Stir in frozen peaches, apples and cinnamon, or honey. Then of course add some milk to it all. (I used whole milk in my peaches oatmeal. And it was oh so delicious!)

Then sit and enjoy your breakfast in the wonderful silence that comes when your kids love the food they're eating.