All-Grilled Dinner

Everything on this plate came off the grill - except the chips, obviously. The corn was soaked in water briefly then grilled in it's husk. The veggies were local Ohio grown squash and zucchini from Trader Joe's. Also tomatoes, red onion, and red pepper tossed with a bit of olive oil and served with cracked pepper and sea salt. The braut is a braut... nothing special there, and the chips are TJ's reduced guilt salt & vinegar.

A quick meal with a slight learning curve while grilling the veggies trying not to toss too many off the grill. Oh, and don't put the corn on too soon or at too high a temp cause I did kinda scorch them on one side.

Turkey Lasagna

My wife made this delicious turkey lasagna. So prefers the no-boil noodles where I like the traditional ones. Ground turkey has no noticeable taste or texture difference in this dish so it saves on the fat content a bit. She also added some frozen spinach which gave it a nice taste and color. Thanks sweetie!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I was going to make this with Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough, but when I took it out of the fridge it didn't "look right" even though it was within the "use by" date. So I opted to get a fresh white pizza dough instead - it helps that TJ's is like 3 min from my house. I think I'll make my own wheat pizza dough next time.

Anywho. Normally made with red onions mostly for color I imagine, I already had a sweet Vidalia cut so I used it instead. Bacon is optional but super tasty and I rarely have any around (maybe I'll keep some cooked in the freezer). Chicken gets grilled then cut into strips. I use KC Masterpiece hickory brown sugar BBQ sauce as the... um... sauce as it has a deep rich smokey flavor, but any favorite BBQ sauce will work. Then add some shredded mozzarella and cheddar, top with chicken and onions, the rest of the cheese, then drizzle some more BBQ sauce on top. Brush the edges with a little olive oil for a deliciously crispy crust. Mmm! A gourmet pizza for under 4 bucks!

Yogurt Chocolate Chip Cookies

I used to make chocolate chip cookies ALL THE TIME!! Now I'm getting older and need to watch fats and cholesterol, etc. These reduced-fat cookies will substitute nicely when a cookie craving hits ya!

They use no eggs and only half the fat (a butter/Crisco mix) whereas the cookies I loved to make had 2 sticks of fattening, artery-hardening butter (1 Cup). Low-fat/fat-free plain yogurt substitutes for the missing egg and cuts the fat by half.

They aren't quite the gooey, crispy but chewy cookie of their less healthy cousin, but they are delicious, crunchy and moist. They even passed the "kid test" as my daughter loved them.

The last few cookies were scraped from the sides of the bowl, so I added some M&Ms to the tops prior to baking to account for their lack of chips. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know.

Chicken Ravioli (and then some)

So it's kind of overkill all the things I added to simple chicken ravioli from Sams. I usually just make it with marinara from a jar but today I went all out. Ha ha

Chicken sausage, onion, garlic, roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, portabello mushroom, olive oil, and parmesan. Served with some Tuscan bread from TJ's which I forgot and made a special trip. It needed a drizzle of olive oil and some cracked pepper when served. The wife approved which is always a good thing.

Also, my wife just told me she kinda likes this blog because she gets to eat all the featured dishes without having to cook them! :-D

Pineapple Salmon with Brown Rice Medley

I have only a few meals that use salmon but this is probably my favorite. It is partially inspired by Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley. I needed something to spruce up the salmon and I'd had sweet and sour salmon a long time ago at Teak in Mt Lookout that included pineapple.

I mix up a sweet and sour sauce with pineapple juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and thicken with corn starch. The salmon in broiled over canned or preferably fresh pineapple sprinkled with brown sugar. The rice and salmon is drizzles with the sauce just before serving.

You could almost eat JUST the rice and sauce by itself it's that good! Oh... and Gordon Ramsey would tell me the salmon was cooked perfectly - cause it was! Flaky and moist!

Until next time.

Grilled Cheese Please ;-)

Sometimes the simplest meals are what you crave. Today a 3-cheese grilled sandwich was what I wanted. Add a cup of Campbell's Chicken Gumbo soup and some canned pears and voila! Instant and easy gratification.

No, there's no smoked Gouda or parmesan - my brother would scoff - just aged provolone, Amish baby Swiss, and cheddar. Grilled to perfection on whole wheat bread. And off to work I go.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Behold the great 5 ingredient meal!! (6 if you count ground pepper.) Another meal we make on a regular basis cause it's easy and a good way to use up some romaine hearts. We didn't have the wife's favorite Cardini Dressing which is a bit more creamy than the Trader Joe's variety. Ah... never you mind.

Still better than any restaurant. I like to season the chicken with Lawry's Perfect Blend chicken rub before grilling. I also don't toss the lettuce in the dressing... cause I'm lazy I guess and I do actually prefer it that way.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

Another favorite of the family. These are cream scones but I usually use half & half which I have on hand ... think coffee. :)

Anyway, they're better than Starbucks IMHO and at a fraction of the cost. Let me know if anyone would like the recipe. Cya!

Salmon Salad with Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing

This is from dinner on Tuesday. I made one of my wife's favorites. Works best with salmon fillets in the broiler then flaked and place over romaine and diced celery. Topped with toasted sliced almonds and croutons it's a low fat healthy and easy made meal!

Meatball Hogie on Multigrain Ciabatta Roll

We were going to have plain old spaghetti and meatballs until I thought of using the Ciabatta rolls I'd just bought at Sam's Club.  Used some of the Prego sauce and melted aged provolone cheese on top in the toaster oven.  Topped mine with onions and pickles and more sauce.  Yum!!

Our daughter still had the spaghetti ;-)