Simple, Quick, and Healthy

Those are the three words I would use to describe my dinner tonight.

I bought the fresh ingredients this morning, and then when I came home from class, dinner was on the table in 20 minutes.

 

Tonight’s Menu:
Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted wild caught flounder

Sautéed Spinach with garlic and lemon

Bulgur cooked in chicken broth (leftover)

 

The fish came together super fast. I simply placed it on a baking sheet with pam, lightly salted and peppered it, and put some Progresso Lemon Pepper Panko on top.

I got these crumbs free from My Blog Spark a month or so ago, and really liked them.

While the fish was cooking on 350 for 15 minutes, I sauteed 2 cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Added a huge bag of baby spinach, salt and pepper and it wilted down just in time to take the fish out of the oven. At the very end, I stirred in some grated lemon zest and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

I heated up the bulgur in the microwave while the fish cooled down, and also made a bag of Trader Joe’s brown rice for Joe since he isn’t really into bulgur.

Dinner is served!

 

Off to watch Boardwalk Empire which we missed on Sunday. Night!

 
What three words describe your dinner tonight?

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A Speedy Dinner

Tacos are my #1 weeknight quick dinner. They just come together SO fast!

 

I walked in the door at 8:30 and was eating by 9. You can’t beat that! (except if I was eating at a normal dinner time)

 

Tonight’s taco dinner featured a new component:

This is a great blend. It’s spicy, and it doesn’t contain any funky ingredients. Just spices.

I also tried out some TJ’s refried beans. Cute can, isn’t it?

Layer it up

Tortilla, taco meat, lettuce, tomato, salsa, cheese.

Beans on the side with cheese and hot sauce.

 

Ole!

 

Going to relax and hit the sack early tonight.

 

What is your fastest weeknight dinner?

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Guest Chef

Tonight there was a guest chef in my kitchen. His name? Trader Joe.

 

I wasn’t getting home until 8pm so I picked up all of the staples I needed for a nice meal and dinner was on the table within 30 minutes (ya hear that Rachael Ray?)

Here are the goods (then I’ll review)

 

I started out by sautéing the chicken in 2 tsp. of olive oil (I put the egg rolls in the oven too)

When it got browned up

I added the veggies

I then added about 2/3 of the bottle of sauce and covered to steam the veggies

Meanwhile, I popped the rice in the microwave (it takes 3 min)

After about 15 min, I turned off the heat, and added some sesame seeds.

Serve on top of rice

Ok..

Stirfry Vegetables:  A- Good mixture, too many peppers, not enough broccoli, and I don’t like baby carrots in my stirfry.

Organic Brown Rice: A+ Love this stuff, been using it forever. Comes out perfect every time!

General Tso’s Stirfry Sauce: B- Way too sweet, but good spice and flavor

Chicken Egg Rolls: F  EW! I bought these for Joe and ended up trying it because he had to convince me that they were that bad. Yes. SO bad. They didn’t have any asian flavor, it was more like chicken pot pie in a mushy wrapper.

So overall, this report card was about average. But hey, it could have been much worse. At least it was filling!!

 

I’ve been completely, overwhelmingly hungry ALL DAY!!

 

Have you ever tried any of these TJ’s products?
Do you make stirfry? If so, tell me how you make it!

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Purple Power!

Between my day with the 6th graders and my evening in school, there wasn’t really much time to plan dinner.

Fortunately I came up with this quick meal idea which I can see becoming a staple in my dinner rotation.

Earlier this afternoon I popped some eggplant in the oven to roast while I did some work.

 

Salt, pepper, garlic, pam- 400 degrees, 30-40 min, one flip.

 

After it was done I ate a bunch of it, and then  put the rest in the fridge. (I think I came pretty close to eating 2 eggplants myself. woops)

After class, I pulled out the purple power veggie and topped it with some pasta sauce and cheese

For the record, I didn’t really like this sauce.

Too many vegetables (peppers, mushrooms). I like a more simple, tomato sauce.

After 1:30 in the microwave, I’ve got a warm, comforting, healthy bowl of eggplant parm.

I always thought eggplant had no nutritional value, but guess what, it does!

Here are a few fun eggplant facts (courtesy of whfoods.com)

• Eggplant is a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium, manganese, copper and thiamin (vitamin B1). It is also a good source of vitamin B6, folate, magnesium and niacin. Eggplant also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid.

 

• Ingredients in eggplant have been found to help lower cholesterol and target free radicals

If you want to read more, I found the information HERE

 

Do you like eggplant? Skin on or skin off?

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