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Honey Garlic Shrimp with Quinoa
I grew up on seafood, every summer we would trek to Oregon to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. More often than not, we would spend some time on the coast, usually bouncing between Newport, Florence, and the sand dunes. Grandpa Harold taught me how to fish, we would spend the whole week playing on the beach, fishing, catching crabs and clams. I loved every minute of it. Mr. Man, on the other hand, his version of seafood is…well, it’s steak. He tolerates some seafood, but mostly if it isn’t battered in coconut and deep-fried, he doesn’t like it. Still, we are trying to be mostly heart-healthy, and frankly,…
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Roasted Heirloom Tomato and Garlic Marinara
I found gorgeous baby heirloom cherry tomatoes at my local Costco last week and just had to snag them. I have to say I am not a tomato lover…I seriously desire to like raw tomatoes, I will eat them on a salad, but overall I avoid them like the plague. I think my dislike stems from when my parents would stew and can tomatoes almost every year as I was growing up and that smell…that smell rivals baby poo. It…well it scarred me for life. BUT I love to figure out how to add them to recipes and spice them up so they don’t dredge up memories that I probably…
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Chicken Fried Quinoa
I’ve been wanting to incorporate quinoa into my diet, but I was afraid because the last time I tried to make something with it the taste was awful. I even soaked the quinoa before I cooked it and it still tasted like bug spray. That was several years ago, and now there are a lot more options when it comes to quinoa. Quite a few of them don’t require presoaking before cooking which is a huge win for me. Tonight I decided to do chicken fried rice, but with quinoa instead, and guess what…it was SO SO yummy. I will say, although I love me some cauliflower rice, I think I…
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Air Fried Cauliflower Bites
I bought Mr. Man an air frier for Father’s Day, it arrived midweek last week and we’ve already used it 5 times. A majority of the time we make sweet potato fries, because…well…sweet potato fries! Need I say more? The other night I decided to use up the last of the cauliflower florets that I had left over from making cauliflower rice earlier in the week. And now air fried cauliflower bites are in our normal rotation. We invested in the air frier because the dietitian suggested that it would be a good cooking substitute for dad now that he needs to be on a heart-healthy diet. With the air frier,…
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Instapot Heart-Healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken
Dad is beginning his 3rd week in the hospital. He’s now in the cardiac rehab unit and learning all sorts of ways to function without putting pressure on his arms. I had no inkling all that entailed recovering from a heart attack and bypass surgery. TV and movies definitely gloss over the intense parts. Not only his he recovering from double bypass surgery, he also has his sternum and ribs healing, as well as several incisions on his lower leg. The ribs and sternum were sawed through so the surgeon could get to dad’s heart, and the leg incisions are from the surgeon searching for a viable vessel for the bypass. …
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Heart Healthy Fried Cauliflower Rice
My family has made a very conscious decision to begin a more heart-healthy lifestyle. Mr. Man and the 4 amigos as well as my parents, siblings and their families; we’ve all decided it is time to make a permanent change together. As I have been researching heart-healthy foods and recipes, I’ve noticed it isn’t as hard as I assumed it would be. The recommendations from the American Heart Association as well as the CDC and Mayo Clinic all suggest low sodium, low-fat diet with complex carbs and plenty of fruits and vegetables. For an individual who has hypertension, high cholesterol, and/or heart disease (especially if they’ve had a cardiac event) the…
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Instapot Mongolian Beef
Meal planning this week has pretty much been non-existent. We have so much going on with this being the last week of school, that I don’t know when or where we will be every night around dinnertime. I have my staples like marinara, pasta, meatballs, hashbrowns, eggs etc. So we do have food I can throw together in a pinch. Tonight is the only night we have where I planned instead of whipping something up. This Mongolian Beef was a huge hit tonight. It only took me 10 minutes to assemble, and then another 20 minutes in the instapot to cook. In fact, it took the rice longer to cook…
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Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
Enchiladas are a family favorite…and I never make it exactly the same. This time around I didn’t realize I was out of canned green chilis, but I did have mini sweet bell peppers so I roasted those in the oven as a substitute. Turns out that was the best idea ever and I feel the need to share this version of the enchiladas. Just like most of my recipes, they’ve evolved and become better over the years. I learn tips and tricks and I experiment with the outcome. Sometimes the end result is amazing, and sometimes it’s poo; but isn’t that what take-out pizza is for? The recipe starts with chicken,…
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Meal Planning Monday
Mac’n’cheese is a favorite for most people; definitely a favorite of my boys. Except they are super picky about the flavors, they usually prefer the fake Kraft mac’n’cheese with the powder. I have tried and failed to create a made from scratch mac’n’cheese that the amigos are willing to eat…until tonight. This instapot broccoli mac’n’cheese recipe totally hit the spot for all of them, even with the broccoli. AND…the best part is it was completely cooked in my instapot all at once, including steaming the broccoli. Instapot Broccoli Mac’n’Cheese 1-16oz box of small pasta (elbow, shell, bowtie…your choice) 3Tbsp butter 4 1/2 cups water 1/3 cup dehydrated onion 1lb fresh…
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Meal Planning Monday
When I meal plan each week, I like to have some quick dinner options, especially for days full of chaos and activities. A few family favorites are cheese tortellini with marinara sauce and Teriyaki Pineapple Chicken Meatballs that are found at Costco. Both are no-thinking foods that I don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen for. Another thing I love to do is roast veggies for a side dish. Roasted carrots are the ultimate favorite, but roasted asparagus comes in a close second. When you roast vegetables in only some olive oil it brings out their natural flavors. So when carrots are roasted, they get super sweet and when asparagus…
