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.

Weekly menu planning

It's that time of year again!-  The time when us full time moms turn into full time super moms/teachers!  With that in mind, today was my first day of planning out an entire week of meals and shopping for all of the ingredients.  I have been asked many times in the past about how I find such a variety of ideas and how I manage my time with weekday meals, getting the kids to their activities, AND being "on top of" my teaching career so I wanted to do a post with some tips on making things a little easier...

Planning up front is a little bit more work, but I end up feeling less stressed during the week if I know what's coming up. AND I get to avoid answering the dreaded "What's for dinner?" daily question!

~I start planning meals for the week on Saturday night.  My main source of ideas is Pinterest.  Sometimes I will just see a picture and go at it on my own, other times I will follow the recipe exactly.

~As I am making the menu for the week, I am making my shopping list at the same time.  If I do not finish the planning on Saturday, I finish up Sunday morning before I head out shopping, or literally while I am at the store!

~I do my shopping for the week early Sunday morning.

~I write the meals for the week on our chalkboard menu in the kitchen.

~I make dinner for Sunday night and I prep or cook Monday night's dinner also.  I usually try to make a crock pot meal for Monday so I can just come home, heat it up for the kids, and get our daughter to taekwando.  If it is not a crockpot meal, it is something quick.  If I have leftovers from Monday's meal, we usually eat them on Wednesday or Thursday.

~One of the weekend nights we normally go out to dinner.  Since we just started playing on a co-ed soccer team on Friday nights, we have been eating out after our game on Fridays.

Here is an example of a week's worth of meals, our "back to school" menu this week!

Steamed kale with garlic and feta

One thing I finally got around to doing this summer while I had some time off, was figuring out what to do with this super trendy, amazingly delicious, leafy green vegetable!  Again, my motto; simple and tasty!  Hopefully, if you have not yet ventured into the kale world, and have been wondering how to prepare it, this recipe will help you out!  I plan to continue preparing this for my lunches and side dishes for dinner during the school year!

Steamed kale with garlic and feta

Kale

Salt

Black pepper

Feta cheese

Garlic cloves (marinated in oil with fine herbs)

Wash and chop kale- cut down each side of the large stem in the middle of the leaf and then cut each side of leaf into smaller pieces.

Put kale in steamer and cover with lid.  Check kale every so often and sprinkle to taste with salt.  When kale looks dark green and is soft and tender, it is ready!  Kale needs to be cooked thoroughly... I have read some recipes that say 5 mins. but I definitely steam it longer than that.

Move kale to bowl and add more salt if you need to as well as cracked black pepper.

Chop marinated garlic and add garlic and feta to kale.  Toss and enjoy!

Eat alone or as a side/salad to your entree...

<3LML.leafygreens.

Seriously 10 minute tortellini

Just sharing a super quick, with minimal ingredients, but delicious recipe I came up with during our inservice week in preparation for "back to school!"  It's good that I do have a "not as serious" week to get readjusted to our back to school schedule, and during that week while looking for some "healthier" recipes to prepare, I came up with this idea:  It was seriously quick and different from what we usually have, since I did not top the pasta with sauce, but tried fresh cherry tomatoes instead!  

*I will be sharing the quick, weekday recipes that I turn to this school year with my fellow teacher/moms in an attempt to make our lives, if at all, slightly easier!

Seriously 10 minute Tortellini

Frozen tortellini 

(Used two bags of Great Value tortellini and had leftovers during the week)

Olive Oil

Ground black pepper

Cherry tomatoes

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Start boiling water in pot.

While water is boiling, slice cherry tomatoes.

Drizzle pan with olive oil and once pan and oil are hot, add cherry tomatoes and saute until cooked.

Once water is boiling, add tortellini.  

(It's literally done in 5-7 mins!)

Strain pasta, drizzle with olive oil, and add cracked black pepper...mix.

Serve tortellini in bowl and top with tomatoes.  Shredded parm will finish off this delish dish!

Smothered Mexican Chicken

This chicken recipe is delicious and loved by a picky-eater, so I know it's good!  I just kind of invented it one day- It is simple to make with minimal ingredients and the taste is probably different than anything you've made before.  It's along the lines of Mexican, so I usually prepare it with Zataran's Yellow Rice and a veggie.

Smothered Mexican Chicken

Chicken breasts

Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Garlic salt
Goya Adobo Seasoning
Ortega Original Taco Sauce
Jalapeño slices
Shredded Taco Blend Cheese

 Drizzle skillet with olive oil and begin to cook chicken breasts in skillet.  Season both sides generously with salt and pepper, garlic salt, and Adobo seasoning.

 After chicken is cooked, coat both sides with the taco sauce.  Continue to cook for about 5-7 more mins. in the sauce turning chicken on both sides.

 Cover each piece of chicken with a few jalapeño slices.

I usually leave a few pieces without jalapeños for the kids!

After jalapeños are added, completely cover chicken with the shredded cheese.  Lower the stove temperature just a bit and cover the skillet.  Cook covered chicken until cheese is melted.

Serve with yellow rice and a veggie!

<3LML

Watermelon and Feta Summer Salad

Recently while pinning I have been coming across many recipes that include watermelon and feta cheese in a salad- it seems to be pretty trendy... Now, I am not a huge watermelon person, but I do LOVE feta and something about the watermelon/feta cheese combination just grabbed my attention, so I have been searching for a good recipe to try ever since!

The one that I finally settled on, actually came from Sprout (the channel my son watches)!  Every now and then they will share healthy recipes with their viewers.  I saw this and thought it just looked delicious and, again, EASY so I knew I had to attempt it!  The kalamata olives and red wine was another part of the combination that reeled me in, so I went ahead and made it for lunch today! 

Nothing fancy about it, just throw all the ingredients together and be prepared to be WOW-ed!  The taste is unbelievable- super tasty and refreshing and just screams "SUMMER"...

Watermelon and Feta Summer Salad

 Arugula (I used an arugula/spinach mix)

Watermelon 

Red Onion

Kalamata Olives

Feta Cheese

Red Wine Vinegar (and oil if you like)

Black Pepper

Cut watermelon into bite size pieces, or what I did, was use a melon baller, and throw in a bowl on top of greens.

Chop onion and add to bowl.

Add olives and as much feta as you wish.

Sprinkle with some red wine vinegar and toss! (I didn't add oil to mine, but I know most people enjoy red wine vinegar AND oil, so feel free to add that.)

I always top everything with pepper so go ahead and add some black pepper to the top too!

  <3LML.

Marinated Beef Tips and Veggie Sauté Over Sticky Rice

Summer time= trying to save money by cutting down on my usual once a week grocery shopping trips! 

 This causes me to have to scrounge the cabinets and try to make a meal out of ingredients that we already have.  Last night I made no plans for dinner... it's funny that during the school year I seem to be more on top of meal planning and organization even though I am busier than in the summer!  So, last night I went to the freezer and found some beef tips that I had bought at one point but didn't use and ended up freezing them.  I also had some frozen mixed veggies and of course, sticky rice!  (I literally have a 10 lb. bag that my girlfriend gave me, so rice is always on hand!)

I have made many-a stir fry, but I always end up making it too dry or not very flavorful, or something just doesn't seem right.  Yesterday however, I think I ended up making some pretty moist and flavorful beef to throw on top of the sticky rice!

Marinated Beef Tips and Veggie Sauté Over Sticky Rice

Package of Beef Tips (the kind cut for stew)

Marinade:

Italian Dressing

Worcestershire Sauce

Onion Onion Seasoning 

Seasoned Salt

Garlic Salt

Salt

Pepper 

Olive Oil

Soy Sauce

Frozen Mixed Vegetables

White Rice or Sticky Rice

Butter

Put beef tips in a Tupperware container, plastic bag or any other container.  Pour Italian dressing over beef until tips are covered.  Add about half of that amount of Worcestershire sauce to the beef.  Season beef with Onion Onion until all tips have seasoning on them.  Do the same with Seasoned Salt.  Sprinkle garlic salt, salt, and black pepper over tips to your liking.  Mix beef tips in marinade so that all tips are coated.  Close container or bag, put it in the refrigerator, and let it marinate for an hour to an hour and a half, or longer if you desire.  

In the meantime, go ahead and cook the rice according to the package.  I cooked two cups of rice and after it is cooked but still hot, I like to add a big spoonful of butter and salt to it. : )

After beef tips have marinated, heat up a skillet and drizzle with olive oil.  Add beef tips AND all marinade from the container to the skillet.

Sauté beef in the marinade in the pan until the beef is mostly cooked through and most of the marinade has been reduced.  I then took the beef tips out of the skillet and cut them down to smaller pieces since the tips for stew tend to be cut a bit larger.  After you have cut down the tips into smaller pieces, add the desired amount of frozen veggies and continue to sauté.  There should be a little bit of marinade left in the skillet.

After veggies are cooked, taste and add any more seasoning if you think it needs it.

Finally drizzle beef/veggie mixture with soy sauce.

Serve over rice.

Happysauteing<3LML.