Four New Recipes AND You Get To Boss Me Around.

I told you we were having veggies last night.  Remember?  Yesterday.  After our very Fall-like dinner of Chili Dogs in a Mug the night before, I went for a (mostly) meat-free dinner last night.  In all honesty, we had some stuff that I needed to use up in the fridge.  But I decided to make it a "Green Food Fest" to get the bonus kids to buy in.  Anything with "fest" in it has to be good.  Things were moving so fast last night, since The Hubbs was running kids around and I was on my own making dinner, that I didn't get photos of everything.  As a compromise, I've offered up some other people's photos in some cases. As usual, feel free to sue me. 
So, what did we have, you're asking?  Well, I'll tell you.  

Getting ready to make the fried green tomatoes.

1. Fried Green Tomatoes We had a bunch of tomatoes on the vine that clearly weren't going to ripen up before next June, so I decided to fry up one of my favorite Southern dishes, but make it Wendy Friendly (i.e. gluten free, corn free, cows milk dairy free, tapioca free and whey free). I found this recipe via Pinterest, but then modified it a bit. If you've never used Ian's Gluten Free Italian Style Panko Breadcrumbs, you should.  Even if you don't need a GF option. They're super yummy.  I found a recipe using coconut flour, egg wash and the breadcrumbs here and they were awesome.  Even the bonus daughter that says she hates tomatoes (she stabs me right in the heart each time she says that. Remember the video I showed you guys a few weeks ago?  Clearly, tomatoes are near and dear to me) loved them.  Especially with a little homemade Garlic Sriracha Aioli drizzled on top (corn syrup free mayo with some lemon juice, Sriracha and crushed garlic).

The tomatoes frying up nicely.  Yum.

2. Balsamic Vinegar, Maple Syrup and Bacon Brussels Sprouts This was a creation that I came up with on the fly.  We roast BSs all the time and love them, but I wanted to do something a little different this time.  And we all know that bacon makes everything awesome.  I cut the bottoms off of the sprouts, sliced each in half, dumped them in a bowl with "some" (I'm not so great at measuring stuff out while cooking on the fly) maple syrup, balsamic vinegar (use the good stuff.  It's totally worth it and you can fast the difference) and a little olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and pepper and tossed them really well.  Dump the BSs on a cookie sheet and roast them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. They'll be darker than normal because of the vinegar, so don't worry if they look like they're burning up.  

Image courtesy of Garnish With Lemon

3. Oven Roasted Garbanzo Beans/Chick Peas and Quinoa.  Another great Pinterest find.  The Pin took me here to this recipe and instead of rice or orzo, I just subbed in quinoa.  I keep a box of Trader Joe's Fully Cooked Organic Quinoa in the freezer at all times, so after roasting the Chick Peas, I heated up the quinoa, added the lemon juice, olive oil, goat cheese and salt and pepper and we were on our way.  This dish wasn't really "green" except for some little chopped up bits of fresh oregano I added.  I decided because of those, it qualified.

Image courtesy of Prevention.com

4. Oven Roasted (see a pattern yet?) Zucchini.  Since our zucchini plant petered out with nary a zucchini on it, I've been craving zucchini.  I had gotten a couple at the store last week and then forgotten about them in all the hubbub, so I pulled them out last night, sliced them almost like fries (leaving the skin on) and tossed them in olive oil, crushed garlic (another theme here), salt and pepper and roasted them while the BSs were roasting.  Since they were on the bottom rack, I Ieft them in a few minutes longer than the sprouts so they could crisp up on the edges just a bit.  

We didn't have any bananas to sit next to the muffins, so I thought an apple would be pretty.  I really just want to see if you're paying attention.

And then - dessert.  I've found a new love.  Don't tell The Hubbs, but he may have been replaced by Simple Mills.  They make a line of muffin/bread mixes that are GF and they don't have tapioca flour in them (like every other GF bread mix out there).  So I can have them.  Last night I whipped up a batch of their Almond Flour Mix Banana Muffins and dang if they aren't delicious.  You don't even know you're eating a GF product.  And with only six total ingredients, all of which I can pronounce, no GMO'd grains and no added sugar, I'm thrilled.  You should get some!  I found the mixes at our local Whole Foods but you can also get a three pack of the three flavors. I don't know who the woman is pictured on the back, but I think I love her. Totally not a green food, but the package was green, so I say it counts. 
Tonight was supposed to be "make homemade dog food" night, but the lamb hearts haven't come in at the meat counter yet, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  So, now what do I do with a free night?  You guys tell me.  In the comments below.  It's like you get to boss me around for a night.  You're welcome.

Going To Pot And Bringing The Family With Me

We're a busy family at this house.  Granted, the bonus daughters are only here half of the time, but when they are, things are moving fast and in several different directions at one time.  The Hubbs is often heading one way taking kids to various activities, while I'm heading another running errands or keeping up with a house that holds five humans and two big dogs (no easy feat).  

That makes dinner time an interesting proposition.  And it also makes my crock pot my best friend.  I love the idea of dumping a bunch of ingredients into a pot, turning it on and a few hours later, out pops dinner.  Back when I was single and tons of time on my hands, I used to make amazing multi-course meals.  These days, I'm just happy to get something on the table that most everyone will eat.  So, crockpotting (I don't know if that's a real term or not, but if not, it is now) is my kind of cooking.   This past weekend we were all heading all over the place AND the weather here in North Carolina was chilly (for us) and grey.  That's perfect crockpotting weather if you ask me.  Yesterday I promised I'd share a new recipe today that I tried on Sunday.  It was a BIG hit (all five humans gave it a thumbs up) and that's share worthy, in my opinion.  
I found the recipe here via Pinterest, but I'll lay it out for you step by step:
Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken
Ingredients: 2 Lbs of boneless chicken breasts (breasts can very by size (stop laughing) so just go by total weight) 1 24 oz jar of salsa (I went with medium heat, since we all like hot stuff here at our house) 1 pkg of taco seasoning (or you can make your own - there are tons of recipes out there for that, like this one) 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice and the zest of one lime 1/4 c cilantro finely chopped
Optional Ad-ins: 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (I opted for this because of the added nutritional value and to make it more "authentic") 1 jalapeño finely chopped (opted in again for this)
Toppings: Any kind of shredded cheese.  For the kids, I used regular shredded cheddar but for me (since I have a cow dairy allergy), I used this product.  It melts like regular mozzarella and can be found at my local Whole Foods.   Additional chopped cilantro
For serving:  Quinoa, rice or tortillas (we used brown rice) and lime wedges

1.  In a slow cooker/crock pot lay your chicken breasts into the cooker and turn it on high.  

2. Mix together the salsa, lime juice and zest, taco seasoning and optional black beans and jalapeño in a bowl and stir well. Add it to the chicken and make sure the chicken is coated on all sides.    

3.  Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours (longer if your chicken breasts were frozen going in) or on low for 6+ hours, until the chicken is falling apart tender.  You can then remove the chicken onto a plate and take two forks to "shred" it before putting it back into the mixture, if you'd like (I did that, since my breasts were still on the bone (STOP laughing)).  

4.  About 15 minutes before serving, I got my Trader Joe's precooked rice out of the freezer and followed the heating directions on it to have it ready to serve.  

5.  When you're ready to serve everything up, stir in the cilantro and then top each plate with the shredded cheese and a lime wedge for squeezing.  You can also add a little cilantro to the top if you'd like, for color.

Serves 8
The kids loved it.  The Hubbs loved it.  I loved twice as much, because it was good, healthy and mostly because no one complained about it.  Plus, I had leftovers to nosh on all week while everyone else was gone (yes, The Hubbs is out of town again).  As a matter of fact, you can probably guess what I'll be having for dinner tomorrow.  And you can too.  
Stop back tomorrow for the dessert recipe that was also a hit Sunday night.  Even after I told the bonus daughters what was really in it.  <insert evil laugh here>  
You're welcome.