Curry in a Hurry

I love cooking half homemade meals. One of my favorite weeknight go-to is curry! I simply buy a premix, vegetarian bag and add fresh ingredients then serve over rice. Here's the brand I prefer:

 

 

 

You should start by sautéing vegetables on low heat, like eggplant, onions, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, etc. in olive oil and spices like garlic salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, essence, parsley, etc. While that is cooking, boil water for your rice. Once they are all complete, mix it all together and enjoy!

 

 

 

Seriously, in less than ten minutes you can have all of this cooked! t was delicious and nutritious. 

Cheat Meals are the BEST Meals

I like to eat healthy as much as the next person, but I love a good cheat meal. If you're hung over, it is just that much more enjoyable. My go-to-favorite bad meal is alfredo. Here's how I make it:

1. Boil a bag of cheese stuffed tortellini  (typically 6-8 minutes). I add garlic salt and olive oil to my water.
2. While tortellini is cooking, I chop very finely (in this order), half an onion, two bell peppers and 1 tomato.
3. I sauté my onions and bell pepper in one heaping spoonful of butter for 3 minutes on low.
4. Then I add my tomato and one tablespoon of minced garlic and continue to cook on low for one more minute.
5. Lastly, I add 1/2 a small container of cream cheese and 1/2 a small container of sour cream. I cook on low/medium low till everything is melted and liquidated; roughly 2 minutes.
6. I strain my noodles and add them to the sauce and top with 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, crushed black pepper and blackening seasoning.

All in all, this meal probably takes 30 minutes and $20. It is DELICIOUS. It pairs great with chicken, shrimp, bread and wine. It is also very yummy reheated. I've made this with multiple types of noodles and have even frozen/reheated it before.

Be bad and be good at it:)  

Breakfast for Lunch

I LOVE to have breakfast for lunch. Actually, I love to have breakfast any time. My latest obsession is fried eggs, over easy. Plus, I've been on a low calorie diet and I find breakfast to be a filling, yet a cheap and low-calorie meal. Yesterday, I made this yummy 400 calorie number:

 

It is basically sautéed spinach, tomato and onion, topped with cheese, salsa, avocado and a fried egg. YUMMY!

 

Here's what materials you will need:

• Chopping Knife
• Cutting Board
• Small Skillet
• Non-stick Spray
• Spatula 

Here's the ingredients:

• 1 cup of Spinach
• 1/2 Small Yellow Onion
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Slice of Colby Jack Cheese
• 2 Tlbsp of Salsa (I prefer Mrs. Renfros)
• 1/2 an Avocado
• 1 Egg

All in all this meal takes less than 7 minutes. So let's get started: 

• Chop your yellow onion into small squares
• Once the onion is chopped, spray the small skillet with non-stick spray, heat to medium-low and add onions
• While they are cooking, wash your cup of spinach and then add it to the onions
• While they are both cooking, dice your tomato into small squares and then add it to the skillet
• Once everything is cooked, plate and set aside
• Wipe the pan clean, then spray it again with non-stick spray and turn the heat to high
• Crack your egg in the skillet, but be careful not to bust the yolk. Use your spatula to poke around the yolk (not the actual yolk), so that the other liquids evenly distribute and thoroughly cook.
• After the egg is white and "solid" looking, flip it and reduce the heat to low. Cook like this for roughly 90 more second and then serve.
• While your back side of the egg is cooking, add the slice of cheese to your plated spinach, onion and tomatoes. Microwave for 15-30 seconds to reheat the meal and melt the cheese.
• Top this mixture with your 2 tablespoons of salsa and 1/2 avocado. I spoon both straight on to the plate.
• By now, your fried egg should be perfectly cooked. Add it to the top of your masterpiece and enjoy!

To make this meal even more low calorie just cut out the cheese and avocado. If one egg will not fill you up, try removing the cheese and adding an additional egg and more spinach.

What's your favorite way to eat fried eggs, over easy? I love to put them on breakfast tacos or crab cakes!

Simple Shrimp Recipe

One of my favorite go-to healthy recipes is sautéed shrimp, onion, zucchini and squash in a lemon pepper seasoning. This entire recipe takes less than 15 minutes to cooks, hardly contains any calories and is roughly $20 for 4+ servings.

Here's the ingredients:

• Lemon Pepper Seasoning (or 1 Lemon and Black Pepper)
• 1lb Shrimp ( I prefer gulf shrimp already pealed and deveined)
• 2 Zucchinis
• 2 Yellow Squash
• 1 Onion
• Olive Oil (or Butter)

Utensils:

• 1 Cutting Board
• 1 Knife
• 1 Frying Pan
• 1 Spatula (or Large Spoon)

Here's the prep work:

• Chop all three vegetables (Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Onions)
• I dice my onion into small squares, but you could easily cut into large, long strips.
• I cut the Zucchini and Squash like you cut Cucumbers (small circles). Sometimes, I even cut those circles into smaller semi-circles. I leave the skin on.
• (Optional) I sometimes cut my shrimp into three pieces, since I buy large, gulf shrimp. See photo below for reference of shrimp and vegetable cuts.

Cook:

• In a Medium Skillet, drizzle with olive oil to lubricate the pan and add your chopped onion. Cook this covered on low and stir periodically.
• After 2 minutes, add your Squash and Zucchini and cook for another 3 minutes, but this time turn it up to Medium heat. Cook this uncovered and stir periodically.
• Next, add your shrimp and coat the entire dish with your lemon pepper seasoning. Continue cooking uncovered until the shrimp are pink/done.

Here's a photo of the finished product:

Great meal that reheats nicely the next day.

If you prefer to bake, you can easily toss all vegetable ingredients and olive oil into a pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. After 10 minutes, add your shrimp and seasoning and bake into cooked, roughly 8 more minutes.

Sunday Lovin'

Sundays are my absolute favorite. I love spending time with my church family, my real family, relaxing and cooking.

Andy and I love to cook together, especially on Sunday's when we're not rushed. This past Sunday, I made brunch and he made dinner. Both were wonderful so I thought I'd share.

For brunch, I made stuffed bell peppers topped with fried eggs over easy. Here's what the finished product looks like:

 

Can you say yum? This is a fairly cheap and easy meal. The ingredients that you need to make a serving for two are:

• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of rotel
• 2 large, red bell pepper
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 avocado
• 4-6 oz of cheese (I used habanero cheddar--so spicy and good!) 
• OPTIONAL:
• Black Pepper
• 1/5 a White Onion
• Salsa
• Sour Cream

Other items needed:

• Pam/Cooking Spray
• Cutting Board
• 1 Small Pot
• 1 Baking Dish (11x7 or larger)
• 1 Frying Pan (Medium to Large)
• 1 Knife
• 1 Spoon
• 1 Spatula

 

Cooking this meal takes less than 30 minutes too! Here is what you do:

1. Preheat your oven to bake/350 degrees
2. Wash your 2 red bell peppers, cut the tops/stems off of them (don't discard) and pull out the seeds. Cut the bell peppers in half long ways (remember you're going to be stuffing these!). Place all four halves in your pan (after you've sprayed the pan with Pam). Let bake/cook while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
3. Cut the red bell peppers from tops/stems into small chunks and cook them in your small pot (which you've already coated with Pam) on medium heat.
4. OPTIONAL: cut 1/5 of a white onion and add it to the small pot.
5. Add 1 can of black beans and 1 can of rotel to your pot and turn on low.
6. Take your bell peppers from the oven. Stuff them with the bean/rotel mixture from the pot and top them with cheese. Place them back in the oven until the cheese melts. Keep an eye on them so that the cheese does not burn.
7. While you're waiting for the cheese to melt, spray your pan with Pam and turn the heat on high. Once the heat is on high, add all four eggs. OPTIONAL: Season eggs with black pepper. Turn the heat to low and cook the eggs over easy. I suggest turning the heat off once you've flipped them.
8. While you're waiting for your eggs to cook, cut 1/2 of avocado into long strips for easy serving.
9. Begin plating your bell peppers. Top them with the fried egg and avocado. Serve extra beans on the side of the plate. OPTIONAL: Top with salsa and/or sour cream. Enjoy!

For Andy's dinner, he made roasted garlic bulbs, bread, corn on the cob and crab legs. It was SO good. Here's what it looked like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This meal is kind of expensive because of the crab, but it is still much cheaper (and better!) than eating out at a lot of restaurants. Here's how he did it:

1. He preheated the oven to 350
2. He cut the tops of the garlic bulb off of three garlic bulbs
3. He let them soak in olive oil, pepper and salt while the oven preheated
4. Once the oven preheated, he wrapped each bulb individually in aluminum foil and stuck them in the oven.
5. In the left over oil, pepper and salt mixture, he rolled the corn on the cob in it. He added extra pepper and tony's to the corn and wrapped it in foil and placed it in the oven. All four items (3 garlic bulbs and 1 corn on the cob) need to bake 30 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes of baking, he brought a large pot to water on top of the stove. On top of the water, he steamed the thawed crab legs. They needed to cook for 12-15 minutes.
7. While they were steaming, Andy cut more garlic and placed it in a small pot. He added 1/2 stick of butter and allowed it to melt on low for our crab dipping sauce.
8. Before everything wrapped up, he cut the French bread in small pieces and added it to the oven for 2 minutes to toast.
9. Everything finished at the same time, so he plated it all together. We dipped the bread in more olive oil/pepper mixture. Ate the garlic bulbs by themselves or on the bread and we dipped the crab legs in the butter/garlic mixture.

This was a delicious meal for under $50 and it took less than 45 minutes to cook everything. GREAT at home date night meal!

 



Under 500 Calorie Meal

Here's what I'm enjoying for dinner tonight at work (going out so having an early dinner):

 

 

This delicious meal is incredibly healthy and super easy to make! Follow these step-by-step directions for a 20 minute meal that is diet approved:

 

1. Thaw Shrimp if Frozen or Peel/Devein if Fresh (Roughly 30 Shrimp)
2. Chop 1x Onion
3. Saute Onion in Olive Oil on Med-High
4. Chop 1x Squash and 1x Zucchini
5. Once the Onions Start to Get Translucent, Reduce Heat to Low 
6. Add Zucchini and Squash--Cook for Roughly 10 Minutes on Low
7. Add Shrimp, Stir Continuously for 5 More Minutes or till Shrimp Turn Orange (as pictured)
8. Top with Pepper and the Juice of 1x Lemon

 

This entire meal cost less than $10 and serves 4-6 depending on portion control. You can easily make this meal go further for cheap by doubling the veggies. It is great as a main dish or easily paired with other healthy sides. Enjoy!