Greek salad, Greek pizza, Greek pasta… I will take it in any form! Kalamata olives, capers, artichoke hearts, and feta make this dish one of my favorites. The best part? It’s sooooo easy! I adapted this recipe from the original recipe from The Salty Marshmallow. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 lb Fettuccine Pasta
¼ cup olive oil
3 Tbsp Butter
¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1-14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
½ cup kalamata olives, cut in half
1-14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
2 Tbsp capers
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
½ tsp dried dill weed
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup feta cheese
Directions
Cook the fettuccine according to package directions, drain and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the minced onion and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft.
Add the garlic to the pan, cook stirring constantly for one minute.
Add the artichoke hearts, olives, tomatoes, capers, and seasonings to the pan. Stir for 2-3 minutes until warm, then add the sauce mixture to the cooked fettuccine noodles.
Top with feta cheese as desired. Serve immediately.
Tacos al pastor are delicious, BUT… they’re hard work, y’all! I gathered all of the ingredients for what sounded like an awesome recipe (minus the spit it would take to slow roast the pork…) then realized the pork I had in the freezer was in fact a pork tenderloin, not a pork shoulder butt. Fail. So, I did what any person determined to use the ingredients they have would do in the middle of an all time high inflation… I asked the Google. I found what seemed to be a fairly easy recipe that might get a bit of the flavor of original tacos al pastor using ground turkey. I needed fast and easy, and to make use of the ingredients I currently had on hand. Unfortunately, my cilantro had wilted beyond repair, so I had to use dried cilantro, but I made it work. If you have fresh on hand, definitely use the fresh ingredients! This recipe uses 2 lbs of ground turkey because we love leftovers in this house, but it can easily be halved to use 1 lb of ground turkey. While this definitely isn’t true tacos al pastor, it’s a quick and easy alternative in a pinch. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 lb ground turkey
3/4 cup diced pineapple
2 chipotle peppers (I didn’t have any on hand, so I used 1 Tbsp of paprika, which is a similar flavor to chipotle peppers)
In a small bowl, mix cajun seasoning, chili powder, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano to create a seasoning blend. Set aside.
In a blender or food processor, add pineapple, chipotle peppers, and garlic. Blend until pureed and set aside.
Add extra virgin olive oil to a pan heated to medium high heat. Add onion and saute about 5 minutes. Add 1 tsp of seasoning and blend and mix well.
Add ground turkey to pan and mix well. Season with 2 tablespoons of season blend, reduce heat to medium, and cook for approximately 10 minutes, breaking up turkey with a spoon or spatula. Season with the remaining seasoning blend and mix well.
Add chipotle, pineapple, and garlic puree. Mix well, reduce heat to low, and cook for approximately 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cilantro and mix well.
Serve in soft or crispy taco shells with desired toppings.
Target’s marketing department must love me… seriously, guys. So, I keep putting the Dash Mini Waffle Makers in my cart. At first I was like, “Why? Why am I doing this?”, but I have to tell you… I’m glad I did. I’ve realized how easy waffles are to make and how much the kids love them on holidays. I have officially cut myself off from buying more mini waffle makers, BUT… I’m continuing to look for new recipes. By recipes I mean thinking about what I can add to boxed waffle mix. Hey… the kids like them, they’re easy, and they’re fun!
Ingredients
Boxed waffle mix
Fruity Pebbles
Whipped cream
Chocolate coins
Directions
While preheating the waffle iron, mix the waffle mix per box instructions. Add desired amount of Fruity Pebbles to the mix. Reserve some Fruity Pebbles in a small bowl for topping waffles.
Pour waffle mix onto waffle iron. Sprinkle some Fruity Pebbles on top of the mix before closing the waffle iron.
Add whipped cream to your waffles, sprinkle with Fruity Pebbles, and add chocolate coins on the side.
Pasta should be considered the 6th love language… at least for me. It would definitely come in a close second for my top love language. Well, maybe coffee would, but anyways… back to pasta. This recipe is from Food Dolls and has quickly become one of our favorites. It’s a great meal on its own or paired with a protein or salad. Once of our favorites is Italian sausage links, but chicken would also be a great addition to this meal.
Ingredients
16 oz spaghetti, uncooked (I recommend pot-sized spaghetti-Target’s Good & Gather is excellent in this recipe!)
16 oz jar pasta sauce
3 cups water
1 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt, more or less to taste
1 tsp black pepper, more or less to taste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced thin or diced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Add all the ingredients except for the mozzarella cheese. Stir well.
Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir. Replace lid and bake covered an additional 25 minutes.
Top with mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 8-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
I always seem to prepare asparagus the same way: steamed. I have made sheet pan meals with asparagus that have turned out well, so I figured, why not try baked in foil? This method had zero cleanup, a lot of flavor, and perfectly cooked asparagus with practically no effort so I call this one a win!
Ingredients
asparagus
butter, to taste
salt, to taste
grated parmesan, to taste (optional)
herbs or seasonings, to taste (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 360 degrees F.
Cut the ends off of the asparagus to remove the tougher portions. Place the asparagus on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to create a foil packet for the asparagus and place the foil and asparagus on a baking sheet for easy cleanup in case the foil packet leaks during baking.
Place pads of butter, salt, grated parmesan, or other desired seasonings on the asparagus. Cold the foil over the asparagus and add an extra piece around the delicate tender ends of the asparagus to keep it from over cooking.
Place the asparagus in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Keep the asparagus in the foil packet until serving.
I’m trying to think spring thoughts, people. Recipes like this help me keep the positivity going! This one has all of my favorites-crispy baked chicken (crowd pleaser for kids), tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, garlic, and lemon. This is a light, but satisfying sheet pan meal. Or, if you’re like me and like leftovers, maybe grab an extra sheet pan! This recipe is adapted from a recipe given to me by a friend that comes from EatingWell.
Ingredients
Lemon Vinaigrette
1 lemon
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese (or more if you love feta like we do!)
½ tsp honey
Greek Chicken with Roasted Spring Vegetables
2 (8 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut in half lengthwise (I usually use more to make this recipe stretch a little further)
¼ cup light mayonnaise
6 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup panko bread crumbs (additional if you use more than 2 chicken breasts)
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
Nonstick olive oil cooking spray
2 cups 1-inch pieces asparagus (or additional if you prefer)
1 ½ cups sliced fresh baby bella (cremini) mushrooms (or additional if you prefer)
1 ½ cups halved grape tomatoes (or additional if you prefer)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Snipped fresh dill
Directions
Prepare vinaigrette: Remove 1/2 tsp zest and squeeze 1 tablespoon juice from lemon. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon zest and juice and the remaining ingredients. Set aside.
Prepare chicken and vegetables: Place a 15×10-inch baking pan in oven (or two large sheets if you’re preparing more than one chicken breast and extra vegetables). Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
Meanwhile, using the flat side of a meat mallet, flatten chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap until 1/2 inch thick.
Place chicken in a medium bowl. Add mayonnaise and 2 of the garlic cloves; stir to coat. In a shallow dish, whisk together bread crumbs, cheese, 1/4 tsp of the salt, and 1/4 tsp of the pepper. Dip chicken into crumb mixture, turning to coat. Lightly coat tops of chicken with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, oil and the remaining 4 cloves garlic and 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
Carefully place chicken in one end of hot pan and place asparagus mixture in other end of pan (or on separate large pans if opting for larger quantities of chicken and vegetables). Roast 18 to 20 minutes or until chicken is done (165 degrees F) and vegetables are tender.
Drizzle chicken and vegetables with vinaigrette and sprinkle with dill and extra feta.
I love coffee. Hot, cold, large, small, flavored, unflavored, in an IV… you get the point. This recipe is the easiest I’ve found for cold foam for cold brew. I love it because it’s ingredients I keep on hand and requires minimal effort. If you’ve never made cold brew, you can find my favorite cold brew maker here!
Ingredients
Cold brew, any amount according to caffeine need 😉
3 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp half and half (heavy cream will work, too!)
1 Tbsp vanilla syrup (or other flavored syrup of choice)
Directions
Pour cold brew over ice in a glass.
Combine milk, half and half, and flavored syrup in a cup and mix with milk frother. I typically use my Keurig K-Cafe to froth the mixture using the iced latte setting and it works great!
Pour frothed milk mixture over cold brew and enjoy!
Pear. Custard. Pie. All things I love. I’ll admit, all of them combined? Sounds a little strange, but it’s absolutely DELICIOUS! This recipe comes from Dinner at the Zoo. Check out all of their recipes-some of my favorites come from them-you won’t be disappointed!
Ingredients
4 firm pears of any variety; cored, peeled, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup unsalted butter; melted
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
powdered sugar, for garnish
cooking spray
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a 9 inch round pan with cooking spray.
Arrange the pear slices in the pan.
Put the butter, eggs, milk, salt, granulated sugar, flour and vanilla into a blender; process until smooth.
Pour the batter over the pears. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the custard is golden and firm to the touch. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
My adventurous college self traveled to Taiwan and a tiny hole in the wall restaurant had what we called “peanut butter noodles”. I have no idea what they were actually called, but it has taken me all this time to find anything that comes close to our “peanut butter noodles”. This recipe is adapted from a recipe from from the Bettered Blondie that she is calling Pad Thai, so if you’re a fan of Pad Thai, this recipe is somewhat similar!
Ingredients
3 chicken breasts, cubed
¼ cup green onion, chopped
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce (you can use less for lower sodium)
1 cup low sodium chicken broth (you can also use water)
8 oz rice noodles (I prefer Annie Chuns-the Bettered Blondie specifically mentions this brand and comments I’ve ready mention their noodles didn’t cook thoroughly enough, but this brand worked great in my recipe!)
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
½ cup peanuts, chopped
2 limes, one for juice and one cut into wedges for serving
Directions
Place the cubed chicken, green onions, and carrots into the Instant Pot.
In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, rice vinegar, peanut butter, pepper flakes, juice of one lime, ginger, and garlic until well combined and pour over the ingredients in the Instant Pot. Add the chicken broth and stir well.
Put the lid on and set the instant pot to manual low pressure to 7 minutes. When time goes off, do a quick release and remove the lid after pressure has fully released.
Stir in the rice noodles and set the lid back on and leave it for 10 minutes. Stir together and check the doneness of the noodles. Replace the lid if they need a little more time to soften.
Once done, serve with fresh lime wedges and top with cilantro, green onions, and chopped peanuts.
I bake chicken thighs frequently because they can be juice, crispy, and flavorful all at the same time, but I often forget that drumsticks can have all of those things as well. They were recently on sale and I found this recipe from Healthy Recipes and now I’m hooked. They’re quick and simple, full of flavor, and they can be paired with any sides you have on hand.
Ingredients
8 skin-on chicken drumsticks (about 2 lb. total weight)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum for for easy cleanup and arrange the drumsticks in a single layer in the pan.
Mix the seasoning/rub: In a medium bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, and spices.
Coat the chicken pieces with the seasoning paste.
Bake the drumsticks uncovered for 40 minutes or until their internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Baste the drumsticks with the pan juices. Serve immediately.
The Engineered Mama 