Turkey & Spinach Meatloaf

My good friend Callie has recently been placed on bed rest until her baby boy comes, and I had planned to go over last night to help her make some freezer meals for post baby but since she was relegated to the couch, I made a few at home and brought them over!

One of the meals was a meatloaf that sounded so good, I made it for Tyge and myself for dinner as well and served it with roasted squash and green beans. It's been awhile since I've cooked and blogged a good meal, so I wasn't in the habit of snapping photos and totally forgot, until my plate was licked clean. Oops. Anyway, here's the recipe - you can imagine how good it looked and how much better it tasted!

Turkey & Spinach Meatloaf
from A Life To Bragg About

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. turkey
• 2 cups spinach
• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 small onion, chopped
• EVOO
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (I used a mix of panko and whole wheat)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1 Tbps. pepper
• 1 Tbps. oregano
• 2 Tbps. Worcestershire
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (I used less)
• 2 Tbsps. hot sauce of choice

Directions:

1. Saute spinach, onion, and garlic together in EVOO and set aside.
2. Mix turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, spices, Worcestershire, and parm together. Add the spinach mixture. Form into meatloaf pan.
3. Mix tomato sauce, brown sugar, and hot sauce together and smother top of meatloaf with sauce.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until cooked throughout.

The best salad EVER

I was inspired by this salad that Holly at The Everythingtarian posted about the other day and wanted to make my own version for dinner. Boy, was it deeelicious. Seriously, the best salad I've ever had and Tyge agreed! She calls it Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette and here is my version of this bowl of awesomeness.

Serves 2
Salad Ingredients:

• Olive oil (to coat potatoes)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 large onion, in slices not chopped
• 6 slices turkey bacon
• Mixed salad greens
• Salt & pepper

Dressing Ingredients (I eyeballed everything and sampled until it tasted good):

• Agave nectar
• White balsamic vinegar
• Mustard - I used this Maine Maple Champagne Mustard from my parents, but any stone ground or Dijon would do

 Directions:

Preheat over to 450 degrees.

Start by putting the sweet potato cubes on a baking sheet and toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes until they are soft and slightly browned.

Meanwhile, fry your turkey bacon (or bacon bacon!) in a pan until desired crispiness. I like mine really crispy so probably 5 minutes per side. When done, set on a paper towel to cool and crisp up.

In the same pan with bacon drippings (how does turkey bacon make drippings if it's nearly fat free? I don't get it...) fry your onion slices while tossing occasionally until caramelized and golden brown, about 7 minutes.

Whisk together ingredients for dressing in a small bowl.

To assemble salad, start with mixed greens in your serving bowl. Top with sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, and crumbled turkey bacon. Pour dressing over the top.

Mix together and DEVOUR!

Sweet, salty, savory, salad-y goodness. We'll make this one again!

Quick Chicken & Veggie Stirfry w/Spicy Nut Sauce

Last night I came home from working out and had less than 30 minutes until Tyge would be home, so wanted to make something quick for dinner. We typically eat a protein, vegetable or two, and a starch for dinner so stirfy'ed something is always a quick and easy option. AND I got an awesome new wok for Christmas that makes stir frying even better! Even though I used the large pan that was already in the sink for this one...next time! Anyway, I had a bunch of fresh veggies to chop, thawed some chicken, made up a sauce and it came together rather nicely! I don't have an exact recipe, but here's the gist:

Chicken & Veggie Stirfry with Spicy Nut Sauce (I won't be winning any title creativity contests, okay?)
Serves 2 plus leftovers for lunch :)

Main Ingredients:
-Protein - 8 chicken tenders or 3 breasts
-Vegetable - variety of chopped veggies (I used red pepper, asparagus, celery, onion, and carrots)
-Starch - brown rice or quinoa works best

Ingredients for the sauce (I honestly didn't measure, just eyeballed and sampled until it tasted right):
-Ginger in a tube - generous squirt
-Chili Pepper in a tube - somewhat less generous squirt
-All natural almond or peanut butter - 2 large Tbsp.
-Low sodium soy sauce - 4-5ish Tbsp.
-Agave nectar - 2-3 Tbsp.

Stir together all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Chop up thawed chicken tenders/breasts and put in large pan or wok with some EVOO, minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Add chopped veggies

And saute until done - stirring somewhat consistently for 8-10 minutes

Add your starch (Target brand microwave brown rice is the BEST thing ever)

Then add your sauce and stir until heated throughout. Top with sesame seeds and serve! Quick, easy, and deeeelicious - got Tyge's stamp of approval anyway. :)

Bridget's Chicken Parm

Poor Tyge has been working crazy hours lately so I wanted to make something yummy for him to enjoy at dinner last night, but also easy to make as I also got home late - enter "Bridget's Chicken Parm"! I call it that because my friend Bridget brought over all the fixings and taught me how to make it a year or so ago, and I've made it several times since (thanks, B!). I usually have all the ingredients on hand, it takes around 30 minutes to make, it's healthy, filling, and YUMMY!

Bridget's Chicken Parm

Serves 2 plus leftovers :)

Ingredients:

• 7-8 thawed chicken tenders (or 3 breasts cut into chunks)
• 1 egg
• splash skim milk
• seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato paste
• red pepper flakes to taste
• oregano to taste
• minced garlic to taste
• handful raw spinach (not normally used, but I added a handful before baking for some extra veggies)
• reduced fat shredded Swiss or other cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, make the sauce mixture by combining diced tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, oregano, and minced garlic. Set aside.

                            

3. Whisk egg and milk together and spread bread crumbs on a pan. Dip chicken tenders into egg mixture then coat with crumbs on both sides.

4. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil a medium sized frying pan and layer the chicken pieces in the pan. Sear on high for 3-4 minutes per side, flipping only once. Before flipping over, mist a small amount of OO spray over the top of the chicken pieces.

5. If desired, throw a handful of fresh spinach on top of the chicken, then spoon the tomato mixture on top, making sure it is evenly spread throughout the pan.

6. Top tomato mixture with an even amount of shredded cheese and place in uncovered in the oven to bake. Let bake for 15-20 minutes so tomato mixture is heated throughout and cheese is brown and bubbly.

It certainly doesn't need an additional carb to the bread crumbs, but I served mine over whole wheat linguine with a small side salad. A quick and delicious dinner for two!

Easy Egg Bake & Weekend Recap

Wow this weekend, and last WEEK, flew by! I can't believe I haven't blogged since Tuesday - oops! I have some ideas of posts to write and kept meaning to do it all week so I hope to get them out this week. Anyway, work has been too busy lately for me to blog over lunch and our weeknight schedules have been to busy for me to do it then, but thankfully I have a little downtime now. Aaaahhhh, Sunday evenings are my favorite. I'm sitting here in my cozy Christmas PJ's with just the glow of the tree, watching my lab play with the ornaments with her nose, sipping hot cocoa, and blogging a bit before Dexter comes on. Love.

I may have encouraged her just a bit. And the shooting noise you may hear in the background is Tyge playing Call of Duty in the basement - don't worry! :)

Anyway, I had a good weekend! Friday night was shockingly a quiet night in - no plans! I managed to get all 80+ Christmas cards stuffed, addressed, sealed, and ready to mail - so glad to have that done! Check one thing off the goal list (cause I'm not doing super at the rest haha). I also cleaned the house a bit for my ladies brunch the next day before heading to bed a bit early, as Tyge is starting to get sick. :-/ 

On Saturday I had Betsy, Maggie, Michelle, and Lori over for a ladies Christmas brunch. I love this group of ladies and I love how we all came to be friends! Betsy is my best friend (Hardcore BFF to be exact) of 26 years and the other ladies were her college roommates and friends. She introduced me to them and they just "accepted" me into their little circle and I couldn't be more grateful! I just love the time I get to spend with them - it is always so uplifting and FUN, and at the same time they challenge me to be a better wife and person.

I love these women! Pic from summer 2010 - we forgot to take a pic this weekend!

We all contributed to the brunch and the spread was amaaazing - egg bake (I made my go-to easy and healthy version below), bacon, fruit, homemade blueberry scones, homemade granola bars, juice and coffee. We enjoyed eating together around the table and just laughing and having great conversation. We also did a small gift exchange and I got a yummy new pine candle and festive red sparkly nail polish.

The spread!

Easy Veggie Egg bake

Serves 10

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1 potato
• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 green onions, chopped (dark parts only)
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• goat cheese
• salt
• pepper
• oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and slice potato using a mandolin slicer. Layer slices in a 9x13 inch glass pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 15 minutes until edges start to brown. Decrease oven heat to 375 degrees.
3. While potatoes are baking, chop veggies and set aside. When potatoes come out of oven, layer raw veggies on top of potato layer and salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a medium mixing bowl mix eggs and milk with salt, pepper and oregano to taste. Pour egg mixture over veggies and shake pan a bit to spread the mixture around.
5. If desired, sprinkle goat cheese (I did) or other shredded cheese to taste.
6. Bake uncovered at 375 for 35 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle and a toothpick comes out clean.

Easy, healthy, and delicious!

After the ladies left early afternoon, I fed Tyge some leftovers (he vacated while the ladies were over), cleaned up a bit, then got busy wrapping presents! Keely tried to help, which was distracting, albeit cute.

I recommend this pink paper here, Mom. It smells nice.

I got everything done and under the tree and made myself a quick dinner (chicken taco leftovers from Tyge's birthday dinner evening with friends!) as Tyge had left for an evening with some guy friends. At the last minute, my mom got her and me tickets for the evening to the VocalEssence Welcome Christmas concert in Stillwater. She came over and we drove to the church where they were performing - downtown Stillwater is so cute this time of year! The show was amazing - I forgot just how much I enjoy good choral music. It was mostly Christmas carols sung in French, and the choir and orchestra were so good. We had front row seats which was something I'd never done - such a treat to be that close! The highlight of the show was a female and boy soprano duet as Mary and Jesus - very moving and the boy's voice was seriously like an angel. After the concert, my mom and I had a quick bite and glass of wine at Luna Rossa in Stillwater and got to catch up a bit, which was nice.

Today Tyge and I went to church then had a meeting for our "mystery March trip" (that I promise to blog about this week). It went a little later than expected so I dropped him off at home before making my Sunday Costco run - poor guy is starting to get sick and when he gets it, he gets it bad. We relaxed for a few hours this afternoon/evening and are about to watch Dexter and Homeland before bed. I have a busy week coming up with work and fun Christmas social activities, so I better rest up! Hope everyone else had a nice weekend, too!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I was given two huge and beautiful Acorn Squashes last week and wanted to come up with something yummy to make out of them! After seeing the following recipe on Clean Eating Magazine's blog, I wanted to try it out and it. was. amazing. The Acorn squash had a smooth, creamy texture which the onions and celery balanced out with crunch. The chicken was flavorful and moist with the addition of the Greek yogurt - it was so good! I had a pretty large squash so we each only ate half of our half and I scooped out the rest and mixed it all together for leftovers tonight. I already can't wait. :)


Stuffed Acorn Squash
Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 medium acorn squash
• 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and fine ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 fresh spicy chicken or turkey sausage, casings removed, crumbled (I used ground chicken as I didn't have any sausage on hand and seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper)
• 1 cup yellow onion, diced small
• 1 cup celery, diced small (reserve leaves for garnish - I didn't do this)
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, washed and stemmed
• 8 oz low-fat sour cream (I used Greek Yogurt)
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Begin by slicing squash lengthwise. With a spoon, remove seeds to create a clean cavity for stuffing.
3. Season cut side of squash with salt and pepper. Brush with oil and place cavity-side-down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake squash until fork tender, approximately 45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, brown sausage until cooked through (I added my spices here). Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate, if necessary.
5. Return saute pan to medium-low heat and add onion and celery. Sweat over low heat, scraping fond (sausage bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan) until onions become translucent.
6. Add garlic to onion mixture and saute until aromatic, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
7. In a large bowl, combine sausage, onion mixture, spinach and sour cream. Stir well to combine and season, if necessary.
8. When squash are tender, remove from oven and flip over so cavity is facing upwards. Divide stuffing evenly between the 4 halves. Sprinkle with cheese.

1. Bake squash for an additional 15 minutes at 350 F until stuffing is heated throughout and top begins to turn golden brown. Garnish with reserved celery leaves (I didn't) and serve.

Nutrients per half stuffed squash: Calories: 260, Total Fat: 10 g, Sat. Fat: 4.5 g, Carbs: 34 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sugars: 11 g, Protein: 12 g, Sodium: 310 mg, Cholesterol: 35 mg.

Smokin' Turkey Chili - Girl's Dinner

I hosted a small ladies dinner at my house last night with Bridget, Carol, Kim and Callie! We had a great time chatting, laughing, and planning Callie's upcoming baby shower to be held at my house in January. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so blessed with a handful of close girlfriends that I can't imagine life without! I have friends from different areas of my life and it's so amazing to me that they've all blended into one group for the most part - I guess I gravitate towards the same type of girlfriends who can all get along with each other!

I made chili the night before and used my go-to recipe. It's a hearty and relatively low fat recipe that, when made exactly as below, is extremely spicy! I adjusted the heat factor a bit so I didn't burn my friends mouths, but when I make it for myself and Tyge I use full spice.

Smokin' Turkey Chili
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (I used OO spray to lighten it up)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small green bell peppers, seeded and chopped (I used 1 red and 1 green)
• 1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped (I used half)
• 2 pounds lean ground turkey
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (I used a little less)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope instant hot chocolate mix
• 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained (I used 2 cans of salt-free organic tomatoes and 1 can of green chiles)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained (I also added a can of pinto beans to make it a bit heartier)
• 1/2 cup cheap beer (We had O'Dells IPA around which isn't cheap, but I think darker beer tastes better than light in this recipe)
• 1/2 cup canned whole kernel corn (I love corn so used a whole can)
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (I used 1/2 tbsp. of Frank's)

Directions:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, green peppers and habanero pepper; cook and stir until the onion is transparent. Push these to one side of the pot, and crumble in the ground turkey. Cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the meat is no longer pink. Stir everything together so the garlic doesn't burn.

• Season with chili powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin, oregano, pepper, hot cocoa mix and seasoned salt.

I mixed all the dry ingredients together first to make sure it was evenly seasoned

• Stir in Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, diced tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce and kidney beans. Crack open a beer, and pour in about 1/2. Drink or discard the rest. (It was O'Dells, so I fed it to Tyge.)

• Partially cover the pan, and simmer over medium heat for about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in the corn and hot pepper sauce, and simmer for about 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Very good served with Greek yogurt and reduced fat cheddar cheese mixed in and cornbread on the side

Great served with a glass of Apothic Red

Even better when followed by chocolate and marshmallow banana boats for dessert

And BEST served alongside great friends to enjoy it with!

Sesame Seared Tuna

This meal doesn't really make sense or "fit" together, but I made it work! I saw a really good looking tuna steak while grocery shopping last weekend and wanted to try my hand at sesame seared tuna, which would typically be paired with some sort of Asian slaw or cabbage salad. However, I also saw Brussels sprouts at the store and had a craving for roasted ones (who craves Brussels sprouts?), so made a dinner out of those two oddly paired foods and it ended up hitting the spot!

Sesame Seared Tuna
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 (6 ounce) tuna steaks
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• wasabi paste
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, agave nectar, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. Divide into two equal parts - one for marinade and one for dipping sauce (I added a little more of everything to the dipping sauce portion once the steaks were in the marinade portion).
2. Place tuna steaks in a small glass bowl and pour on marinade, pressing into steaks. Cover and put in fridge for 15-20 minutes, then take out and let sit at room temp for another 10 minutes. 
3. Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate. Flip the tuna steaks around in the marinade mixture to get them nice and covered, then press into the sesame seeds to coat on all sides.
4. Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Place steaks in the pan, and sear for about 30 seconds on each side. Serve with the dipping sauce and wasabi paste (if you have any - I didn't!).               

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or Morton's Light Salt for the sodium conscious)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
3. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown, almost black, when done. Adjust seasoning with kosher salt, if necessary. Serve immediately.     

**I like mine pretty salty and LOVE the burned leaves that fall off and get extra crispy. They taste like potato chips!          

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

To celebrate Halloween yesterday we had a potluck at work and everyone was supposed to dress up, but I was one of the only ones. I felt awesome walking into my building downtown Minneapolis, haha!

Pieces from an old not-so-work appropriate sailor costume made appropriate for work!

We came up with the idea on Friday for a mashed potato bar and delegated people to bring fixings (so we didn't end up with 4 tubs of sour cream) - chilli, BBQ chicken, sour lean, cheese, bacon bits, chives, and butter.

The spread!

My awesome boss had the idea to put them in martini glasses - they turned out great!

I wanted to contribute some sort of clean eating pumpkin muffin/bar for dessert (amidst the cupcakes and rice krispie bars), so found this recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs and made them Sunday afternoon. Of course I had to sample them JUST to make sure they were okay to bring to my coworkers, and they were yummy indeed! Not your typical sugary muffin which is a nice departure - these are sweetened just enough with the honey. The pumpkin pie spice adds the perfect fall flavor and the texture is nice and moist due to the pumpkin. I'd recommend eating one warm with a little light butter spread!

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins
Adapted from The Gracious Pantry

*Should make approximately 30 mini muffins, though I only had one mini muffin tin for 12, so made that pan and 12 in a regular size pan at the same time and they all turned out great!

*Serving Size: 1 mini muffin or 1/2 a regular muffin

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (no sugar added)
• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3/4 cup apple sauce (no sugar added)
• 2 tbsp. safflower oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 (15 oz. can) pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and pumpkin spice.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.
3. Combine the liquid into the flour and stir until smooth.
4. Spoon into mini/regular muffin tins (I used non-stick with a light spray of olive oil).
5. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40-50 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Calories: 56 Fat: 1 g Saturated fat: 0 g Trans fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 g Sodium: 54 mg Carbohydrate: 11 g Fiber: 2 g Sugar: 4 g Protein: 2 g

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

You know the crud I was saying Tyge had? I have it now. I stayed home from work yesterday because I felt horrible, and am still feeling bad today but am back at work. Good thing we have a fairly low key weekend so I can rest up!

So weeks ago we had planned to have my parents over last night for an anniversary dinner, as well as to tell them we were pregnant. It was a bittersweet night to say the least. Even though I felt like crap and was a bit sad because Tyge and I didn't get to use our cute idea of telling them, it was great to have them over and celebrate their 33 years of marriage. We enjoyed hearing about their recent travels as well as sharing our Colorado trip with them, and I am so glad they came over.

Happy Anniversary to the best parents a girl could ask for! I am so blessed to have your loving example of marriage in my life and am so grateful for all you do for Tyge and me. I know someday you'll make amazing grandparents when we do have kids!

For dinner, I made white fish with marinade, orange zested broccolini and cilantro lime rice - all recipes below! And sorry for the crappy cell phone picture, I'll have to start using a nice camera from now on...

Sweetly Succulent Mahi Mahi 
(adapted from SparkPeople.com) Serves 4
This deliciously healthy, broiled fish dish combines both sweet and sour taste sensations with a wonderful spice kick from the ginger. The 30 minute prep time includes 20 minutes to marinate. This recipe is a snap and so delicious, you will appreciate the fresh ginger when you taste it!

Ingredients:
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar (I used half brown sugar and half agave nectar)
• 4 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 24oz raw Mahi Mahi fillets, cut in 4 (since Costco was out of my favorite Mahi fillets I used Alaskan Cod, which is also a firm white fish so worked well)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a shallow glass dish, stir together the sugar, water, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil.
2. Season fish fillets lightly with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish.
3. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
4. Preheat broiler.
5. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade.
6. Place fish on a baking tray and broil 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
7. Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and reduce over high heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze.
**Note - Since there wasn't a lot leftover, I made a little more of the marinade to reduce as a glaze - it's really yummy and you'll want enough to cover all 4 fillets!
8. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

Sautéed Citrus Broccolini
Serves 4
Ingredients:
• 1 bunch broccolini
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 orange, zested
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Blanch the broccolini in a large pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain immediately and immerse in a bowl of ice water.
2. Heat the EVOO in a large sauté pan. Add the orange zest and garlic and stir. Drain the broccolini and add it to the garlic mixture and heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and toss well before serving.

Cilantro Lime Rice
Serves 4
Ingredients:
• 3 cups of hot cooked brown rice (again, I used Trader Joe's frozen – a time saver!)
• 2 small limes (or 1 large lime)
• 1 lime, zest of (all of one lime)
• 1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon Earth Balance natural butter spread
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Once your rice is cooked fluff with fork
2. Add lime juice, zest, cilantro, butter spread, and salt/pepper
3. Stir well and serve warm

Clean Eating Chicken And Rice Soup

One other aspect to this jumble of a blog is to highlight my cooking skills and favorite recipes! Tyge is always saying "This is so good - write this down and make it again!", and I never do...So this is a way to help me remember what I make and how to make it again! Because he was so sick yesterday, I figured some sort of soup would be good for him, and this was the one: Clean Eating Chicken And Rice Soup.


I totally cheated and used a rotisserie chicken and Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, and it was still fantastic.


Next time I make a "keeper" meal, I'll try to be all fancy and post my own pics, but this link will do for now! :)