Mini Taco Cups

PINTEREST IDEA!

Burritos and tacos are a favorite at our house so I am always on the hunt for new ideas to change it up. 

While your taco meat is cooking, prepare your toppings and shells.  These taco cups are made using Wonton wraps as the shells and they are baked in cupcake tins-

fun fun AND reduces the amount that you eat since they are smaller than a huge stuffed burrito! 

Another plus is that they can be easily made topping specific based on each person's likes!  AND they are VERY kid friendly!

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare taco meat and line cupcake tin with wonton wraps.

Spoon meat into wonton wraps.

Add toppings...

Bake taco cups in oven for 9-10 mins. or until corners slightly brown.

Top with shredded cheese and bake and additional 2 mins. until cheese is melted.

My favorite green sauce!

<3LOVEANDTACOSLML

Veggie stuffed flank steaks with oven roasted corn on the cob

No back story for this one, just a red meat lover/craver looking for a different take on preparing steak!  The idea came from a Pinterest post- there was a picture, but it was not linked to a recipe so I had to completely wing it on this one!

I served my steak rolls over an Arugula/Spinach mix and served oven roasted corn on the cob on the side!  My favorite veg side to prepare in the summer, is corn cooked in foil on the grill.  When I was forced to cook our foil wrapped corn on the cob for our 4th of July picnic in the oven because the grill was full, I was pleasantly surprised that it worked out just as good as cooking on the grill, but with less work so it is easy to prepare on a weeknight.  

If you really want to save time, you can literally prepare everything the night before (meat rolls and corn wrapped in foil) so when you get home from work the next night, it will only take 30 mins. in the oven to cook!

Veggie Stuffed Flank Steaks

*30 min. prep, 30 min. cook

Flank steaks or thinly sliced steaks

Salt and pepper

Italian Dressing 

Worcestershire Sauce

Parsley

Garlic Garlic

Seasoned Salt

Onion Onion

(I do not lie when I say I use these seasonings on EVERYTHING!)

Green onions

Zucchini

Matchstick carrots

Red pepper

Green pepper

White onion

Corn on the cob

Butter

Arugula/spinach mix

Preheat oven to 450.

Season steaks generously with salt and pepper, Garlic Garlic, Seasoned Salt, Onion Onion, and parsley.

Cover steaks with Italian dressing and add about half that amount of Worcestershire sauce.  Cover with lid or plastic wrap and shake container making sure all meat is completely coated.  Refrigerate covered meat while you prep the corn and veggies, about 20-30 mins.

Chop all veggies in thin slices.

Rub cobs of corn with butter and sprinkle each with seasoned salt.  Wrap each cob in foil and put in oven when it is heated.  Corn should cook in 20-30 mins. but check periodically to see when it's done.

Remove meat from refrigerator and put some of each kind of veggie in the middle of the steak.  Roll the steak around the veggies and put rolled steaks in a glass casserole dish. 

Top steaks with a drizzle of olive oil and the left over marinade.  

Put steaks in oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked the way you like it. 

On this night, I actually cooked the corn cobs and meat in the oven at the same time and it worked out rather well!

The corn took about 30 mins. to cook from the time I put it in and I ended up taking it out about 7 mins. before I took the meet out.

When serving the steak rolls, top them with fresh cut green onions.  (I recently started regrowing my green onions after I use them.  Just place in a glass of water near light and watch them regrow quickly!  You do have to change the water and rinse the bulbs frequently.)

Served over Arugula/Spinach mix

<3CARNIVORE.LML.

Weekly meal planning Part 2: tips and recipes.

As promised to all the people who ask me about what my week looks like with school and dinner plans, I am sharing a week's worth of meals so ya'll can see it aaaall laid out!  These are the meals from the menu that I posted two weeks ago that I actually planned out, shopped for, and executed (for the most part!) successfully...including the short cuts and time savers that made it all happen! 

*Some things to remember-

*It is a little bit of extra work on the weekend, but it is definitely worth it in order to be super prepared during the work week!

*Even though you have made a plan, it might not always work out that way.  Obviously life happens and things will change, but don't get stressed out!

*You will actually see that you are less stressed when things change because you were prepared ahead of time.  It is best to be prepared in order to save time and even gain a little extra time on some days when your meal plan does change.

*Look for parts of meals that can be prepared the night before in order to save time the day of cooking the meal, although all of the meals on this menu can be prepared in under 40 mins.

*Some days you will have a little extra to use for meals on other days and to use for lunches saving you even more time!

*Multi-task! Do more than one thing at a time- while chicken is cooking, chop veggies.

*Clean up after yourself as you are cooking.  When you are finished with something try to immediately put it back in the fridge or pantry.  Rinse and put utensils/dishes in the dishwasher as you use them or when you have a free minute while food is cooking.  This way, it will take you less time to clean up the kitchen after dinner.

Sunday- 

Asian Lettuce Wraps 

30 mins.

When people ask me about my blog, they ask me how I make meals night after night without getting bored.  PINTEREST!-and then I go from there.  But sometimes, I do get stuck for ideas and need to go out on a limb, which I know most people aren't comfortable with, especially when it comes to cooking.  I have never done anything like this before, I usually stick to stir fry.  I was very satisfied with the simplicity of preparing this meal, and was impressed with the complexity of the taste at the same time. These are healthier I believe, than many other things I could have chosen to make!

I found the recipe on Pinterest, of course, and followed it for the most part.  I did edit/add some things based on our likes and what I already had at home.

Original Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Lettuce Wraps

Sticky rice/white rice

Canola oil

1lb. ground pork

Green onions, chopped

Minced garlic

Shredded or matchstick carrots

3 T hoisin sauce

2 T soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Chili sauce

Chopped peanuts

Iceberg lettuce leaves

~Start cooking rice.  

~Heat oil in wok and add ground pork, green onions, and garlic and cook for 5-7 mins or until mostly cooked.

~Add carrots, Hoisin sauce, and soy sauce and stir frequently until cooked thoroughly.

~Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil and chili sauce (to taste.)

~Drizzle with additional soy sauce and add chopped peanuts.

~Top each lettuce leaf with rice and then pork/veggie mixture.

~Roll like a burrito and enjoy!

*There was enough of the meat mixture and rice (I made 2 cups) left to have rice with Tuesday's dinner AND for leftovers later in the week, which took the place of one of the meals that I had originally planned for!

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Monday-

Carla's Fried Baked Chicken and glazed carrots

30-40 mins

One meal idea came from a weeknight meal my own mom used to make us when we were growing up.  I will always remember the way her fried chicken smelled through the house...I could even smell it from the outside when I was coming home from swim team practice!

  

When I first headed out on my "learning how to cook venture," I called my mom and asked her how to make her delicious chicken.  I knew how much I loved it as a child and thought our kids would love it also.  I was happy with how easy it turned out to be to make!  I think the fry/bake process is what makes it sooo tasty!

Carla's Fried Baked Chicken

1 egg

milk

Italian bread crumbs

Canola oil

Chicken breasts (or tenderloins- I use these during the week to save time)

Glazed Carrots

Bag of cut and peeled baby carrots

Butter

Brown sugar

Leftover rice

~Heat oven to 370 degrees.

~Chop baby carrots into smaller pieces and put in small sauce pan with steamer to steam while you make the chicken.

~Beat one egg and an equal amount of milk in a shallow dish. 

~Fill the other shallow dish with a thick layer of bread crumbs.

~Add oil to pan to cover it, about an inch thick and heat.

~Cut off any fat from chicken.

~Coat both sides of each piece of chicken first in the egg mixture, then press into the bread crumbs.

~Add chicken strips to pan when oil is heated and fry both sides until browned and chicken is cooked through.

~After chicken has been fried, lay it in a single layer in glass casserole dish.

~Bake chicken at 370 for 10-15 mins.

~While chicken is baking, finish off your carrots.

~When carrots are as soft as you like, add a few spoons of butter and some brown sugar.

~Cover and steam about 5 mins. longer.

~Heat leftover rice from last night to add to meal!

Make sure you dip this chicken in ketchup!- best ever!

___________________________

Tuesday-

Pressed Paninis

10 mins.

I know this is no "big revelation" but I decided to share paninis because I don't think most people think about making paninis for dinner.  I am a total sandwhich person and buying a panini press was one of the best decisions I have made- I love this thing (and it was cheap!)  It adds some variety to lunches and especially dinners, while keeping it simple- pretty much the quickest meal you will ever make.

I also love including paninis in our dinner/lunch rotation because everyone has different likes and dislikes and they do enjoy getting to choose what they want when designing their panini- I, in particular!  This way, I can easily cater to what each person wants rather than making a "blanket meal" and everyone having to eat exactly the same thing.

I also plan the paninis strategically, on the night of the week that we have the least amount of time for dinner- we stopped at home for LITERALLY 15 mins. to grab the kids dinner and so that our son could change for skating practice.  Then off we went- they ate in the car on the way to practice and I didn't even get to eat until after practice!  

So the quickness and simplicity is two fold:  I definitely don't want something difficult to prepare for myself later in the night after working all day and running the kids around in the evening!

Ham and two kinds of cheese for the kiddos...

Laughing Cow Garden Vegetable cheese spread, cracked pepper turkey, provolone cheese, avacado, and spinach for me!

Anything you desire can be put into a panini and it will most likely result in the best sandwhich you have ever tasted, EVERY time!

This combo was especially good!

(*Note:  I usually use Ciabatta sandwhich rolls- but I bought some on Sunday and they were already bad by Wednesday, so I had to go with regular bread.)

___________________________ 

Wednesday- 

Leftovers!

5mins. 

Bonus day- Here is an example of changing plans due to being too busy/tired and needing to skip a night of cooking!  I had originally planned for Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Rice, but we made a mutual decision to eat leftovers from Monday night.  We ate the meat filling from the lettuce wraps over rice, without the lettuce, so it ended up being not exactly the same thing from Monday night's meal.  And it was sooo good, that no one even minded eating it again.  

By being OVERprepared, I gained some bonus time to rest, AND since the original meal idea that was replaced rolls over to the next week, I will save myself a little bit of time planning for the following week...Hey, it all adds up!

___________________________

Thursday- 

Custom Chicken Quesadillas

*Did not time, but no more than 40 mins.

Quesadillas are another one of my favorite meals to put in the weekly menu because they are along the same lines as paninis:  I can custom cook each person's quesadilla and it doesn't take me any more time!- Everyone is happy! And again, you can put ANYTHING you want, or have on hand into a quesadilla.  Once you do all the prep work for the quesadillas, it takes 5-6 mins. to cook each one.  Another plus: We never get bored of them!

Custom Chicken Quesadillas

Burrito size tortillas

Chicken breast

Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning (with pepper)

1 Lime

Chopped Green Onions

Butter

Garlic Garlic

Shredded Cheese

Various toppings- tomatoes, onions, Spanish olives, taco sauce, jalapeños, sour cream, etc. etc.

~Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and season with Adobo seasoning and squeeze lime juice over chicken.

~Once chicken is cooked, add chopped green onion and cook for a few more mins.

*The small size tortillas are the perfect size for kids! Just fold over and slice quesadilla in half!

~Butter both sides of the tortilla and on the side that is not the side down on the pan, sprinkle Garlic Garlic seasoning (or garlic salt.)

~The garlic butter side should be facing up.  Cover half of the tortilla with chicken and toppings.

Jalapeños!

My favorite green hot sauce!

~Using a pizza cutter for quesadillas results in the perfect cuts!

___________________________

Friday-

OUT!- Just like I had planned!- We headed to Chili's before our soccer game for dinner and drinks, which I later regretted...

___________________________

Saturday-

Another change of plans!- But it's ok! I had Cheeseburger Burritos on the menu, but with it being the end of summer and the start of the kids' soccer season, we had an impromptu day out at the pool with the soccer team, which meant dogs on the grill for lunch and everyone chipping in to order pizza for dinner!  Yay- I didn't have to cook on a Saturday, but was able to relax in the pool! I can then put Cheeseburger Burritos on the menu in the next few weeks!

<3HappyMealPlanningLML. 

Baked Mediterranean Summer Chops

This meal came from a last ditch effort by someone in our household to shed a few pounds quickly at the end of summer, heading into the new school year!  (Hint:  It wasn't me!)  

Soooo... I LOVE healthy and headed to Pinterest for some "healthier" meal ideas...when I saw a recipe called "Mediterranean Pork Chops" I got super excited!  Our family loves pork chops- incredibly tasty and easy to eat, (especially for our little guy who has a difficult time chewing and swallowing meat : )...) and we eat pork nearly every other week.  I glanced over the ingredients and didn't really read the recipe, but decided to take the "idea" and create my own version.

Of course I used three of my most favorite seasonings that I use on EVERYTHING, from Tastefully Simple, and I swear my family eats everything that I put these seasonings on!  (You can also substitute with minced garlic, onion powder, and any brand seasoned salt-it just won't be as good!) 

 Seriously though- Ricardo doesn't even eat veggies, but I expanded the variety of veggies that I usually include in our meals and I was incredibly surprised by the end result!- so was the fam!  No joke, probably the best pork chops I have eaten... and the best part?  EVERYONE ate all the veggies!

Mediterranean Pork Chops

Boneless pork chops

Olive oil

Garlic salt

Chopped basil

Black pepper

Onion Onion

Garlic Garlic

Seasoned Salt

Shredded carrots (or I use matchstick carrots! EASIER!)

Zucchini

Yellow/summer squash

Tomatoes

Asparagus

1 Lemon

Provolone cheese slices

White rice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and drizzle olive oil in glass casserole dish.  Lay chops in single layer in dish and season generously with garlic salt, black pepper, and basil.  Top with a drizzle of olive oil.

(*I think my obsession with olive oil comes from the time I spent in Chile... they add oil to EVERYTHING!) 

While chops are baking, heat pan and drizzle with oil as well.  Chop all veggies- zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and asparagus and add to pan.  Also add carrots.  Squeeze the juice of half of the lemon over the mixture.

Sprinkle veggie mix with black pepper, onion onion, garlic garlic, and seasoned salt to taste, and add extra oil as needed.  Sauté until veggies are soft.  

(*You should be cooking the white rice while chops are in oven and veggies are sautéing...)

*Again, I apologize for my "lackadaisical style" when trying recipes- measuring seasonings, times for cooking, etc.- but let the chops cook as long as it takes for the juices to run clear, they can be slightly pink in the middle.  Probably about 20-30 mins...

Then take them out of the oven and top with the veggie sauté mixture.  Squeeze the juice from the other half of the lemon over veggies.

Set oven to broil on low.  Top each chop with half a slice of provolone cheese.

Broil on low until cheese is melted and serve over rice!

Topped with extra shredded cheese and black pepper!

<3PORKtheotherwhitemeatLML.