Roasted Garlic Chicken & Vegetables

Hey Everyone, sorry for no posts this past few days. I have been sick with the stomach flu. Today I did go into work and managed to eat breakfast and a decent lunch. Go me!!! Now to the good stuff!!! I love easy scrumptious meals. One's that make the whole house smell amazing and leave my mouth salivating for dinner! Well this is one of them. You probably have seen a million versions and this can be created into many more, but this is the most common in our house. And its a household favourite.

Roasted Garlic Chicken & Vegetables

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 Large Carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 Large Onion, cut into wedges
• 1lb small yellow potatoes, cut into halves
• 10 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 9 medium boneless chicken thighs *you can also use chicken thighs with bones, just make sure the skin is removed*
• 2tbsp EVOO
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/2tsp ground black pepper
• 1 medium red pepper, cut into wedges
• 1 medium yellow pepper, cut into wedges
• 1tbsp dried tarragon leaves

1. Preheat oven to 425F. In a roasting pan toss all vegetables with EVOO and half of all the spices. Cover and roast for 20 min.

2. Remove pan and add chicken. Add the rest of the spices and roast uncovered for 25min.

3. Add 1/2 cup of hot water and stir in. Roast another 25min longer or until vegetables are golden and juices are clear.  

Enjoy!!

I had mine with a glass of organic Cuma Cabernet Sauvignon wine. I'm a red wine gal, though I am sure a nice white wine would be more appropriate. 

Look how yummy and juicy it all is!!

I seriously want this right now....but I have a million things on my list to make right now, so this will just have to wait!

Tomorrow I will be attending the Winnipeg Green Lifestyle & Organic Living Show. I can't wait :) And tomorrow evening I will be having my brother and dad over for a "sports dinner". My brother is moving to Vancouver in one week. SO this is one of our goodbye parties...one of many :(

Night All :)

It's Wrinkled

Happy Good Friday Everyone!!

I hope for those of you that are off today that you are having a wonderful day!!

Earlier this week I got a phone call from my Bridal Dress Salon...and guess what?

MY DRESS IS HERE!!

I couldn't believe it's here already! When I ordered it at the end of January they told me it would be 6-8mths, which btw totally freaked me out as my wedding was in 8 mths!! So the fact it is here now is fantastic.

Last night, with my soon to be mother-in-law, baba(my fiance's grandma), Georgette(soon to be sister-in-law) and her crew(Georgette's two adorable daughters and amazingly cute little boy) we all went to try on my new dress. My first reaction after it was on was.........

It's wrinkled

My dress has pleating across the top, so when the pleating is going into every direction then it's supposed to...yeah.

Plus since I have been working out lot's, I have lost the chest that I have allllllways had. Even when I was 110lbs. But I suppose now that I am working out and burning fat....they have left me. I will need to have these bra cups with padding sewn into my dress, as well as the straps will be shortened and taken in.

The bottom of my dress has pick ups, but because of the wrinkles.....it was just bunches of fabric.
I know I love my dress and I know how it look's on me. But the excitement quickly left when I saw it. I also know that when the alterations are done and it's steamed. It will be just as it looks in my head.

Now let's talk about this

   Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

        This recipe is from allrecipes.com

I stacked the pancakes with cut strawberries, kiwis and blackberries.

Poured pure maple syrup on top

 Yummmy. These photos make me want to make it again tomorrow.

Yep, making it again tomorrow!

Have a great long weekend!

Centrepiece Project..........Mock-up #1

This past weekend I started one of my many projects before my Wedding Day!! This is the stuff that I really enjoy about wedding planning. But I feel I need some assistance and who better to ask then my fellow bloggers/followers.

Here is the project, Create centerpieces for round tables that hold 6-8 people. I will have a white table cloth with a damask runner seen here, black napkins and black chair linen. People always ask me what color's I am using in my wedding and the answer is difficult as I am not really using a color so much as a pattern, which is the damask pattern seen on the runner. My flowers however for my wedding will be red, the ties and pocket square's on the groomsmen are also deep red.

I can't decide if I want a short or tall centerpiece. All I know is I want it to have flowers. I think they will be silk as they will look exactly how I want them to.

Here is my centerpiece mock-up #1

• Short square vase, black ribbon wrapped around it with red silk flowers.

 I had a lazy weekend, and didn't workout. But I will be getting my fitness on tomorrow.

This past Friday I made some Thai Curried Butternut Squash soup that I seen on Jeanette's Healthy Living Blog. 

I also fudged and didn't toss them and they burnt a little bit......whoops

It was a little thick but that could be due to how large my squash was and sweet potato. To resolve this I added some more broth.

It was delish.

Has anyone tried these? I love Larabar's and was picking some up when I saw these Vega Whole Food Vibrancy Bars. I got the two kinds they had at the store Chocolate Decadence and Green Synergy. Both were sooo good. I loved the Chocolate Decadence more, but I have a sweet tooth. Will be picking up some more of these tonight.

Yummy Frittata

Breakfast has to be my favorite meal of the day. I love it! It is also a very important meal of the day. Eating a proper breakfast will help with snacking and being hungry later in the day. During the week I usually don't have much time to make breakfast, so I have granola and a little bit of Greek yogurt. But on the weekend, well the weekend I jam pack it with awesomeness. Yeah I get really excited about breakfast.

Currently my fiance and I are obsessed with frittata's! They are so versatile and easy to make. You honestly can just put whatever you have on hand in them.

I always have spinach and tomato's in my fridge, its a staple. But you can put whatever you think is going to be great.

Ingredients:

1 whole egg
2 egg whites
½ plum tomato, cubed
½ cup spinach, chopped
1tbsp red onion, chopped
1 avocado, cubed
1tbsp of a low fat cheese
1tsp of basil
Process:

Preheat oven to 350c

Whisk both whole eggs and egg whites together in bowl. Add pepper for taste

Saute vegetables minus the avocado in a small nonstick pan over medium heat (make sure pan has ovenproof handle)

Add egg mixture, stir mixture around till it's a little scrambled.

Bake frittata in pan for 8-10min or till almost firm to the touch, sprinkle cheese, avocado & basil. Bake for another 1-2min.

Enjoy!

I will usually have 1-2 pieces of turkey bacon on the side.

Pizza is a gift from the Heavens!

In my household, pizza is a best friend. It is our friend that is there for us when we are sad, when we are happy and it brings us together with other friends. Yes I know I am talking about food. But that’s just what pizza is for us!

Our love for pizza can also be a problem. The problem is it’s too easy to get caught up in the greasy fatty goodness.  And also the convenience of dialing up and having it delivered to our door. As you all know, I am trying to live a healthy lifestyle. So without ditching our best friend I have had to start making it all from scratch at home. And lucky for us, I love to cook!

This past Friday I did it up! 


Whole Wheat Dough

Ingredients:

 ½ teaspoon sugar
1 package dry yeast
½ cup warm water
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons EVOO
½ teaspoon salt
Cooking Spray

Process:

1.    Dissolve the sugar and yeast in warm water in a bowl, let stand for 5min
2.    Add flour, salt and oil to the yeast mixture. Stir until it forms into a dough. You may need to add a little bit more flour if mixture sticks to your fingers.
3.    Knead for 5 min

4.    Spray large bowl with cooking spray, place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
5.    Place the bowl in a warm place for 60min. (I usually put it in the oven that I had preheated at 200c for 1 min and turned it off.)
6.    Punch dough and form into a ball, let sit for another 30min.
7.    Place some flour on counter top to prevent the dough from sticking and roll it out into whatever shape you have for a pan.

We love garlic, so I take some EVVO and garlic powder, mix it up and spread it all over the crust before I put the sauce and toppings on it…soo good!

Sauce:

I used a recipe from Allrecipes.com. The only thing I did is add ½ tablespoon of basil and used fresh minced garlic. We love LOVE garlic.

Toppings:

Now for the part my fiancé loves helping out with, the toppings! Today we had roasted red pepper and asparagus. (I cut them up, tossed some EVOO on them and baked at 400F for 15min, tossed them a few times so they didn’t stick). We also had red onion, black olives, tomatoes and prosciutto. I then sprinkled some low fat mozzarella cheese with basil sprinkled on top.

Bake your pizza on a pizza stone or a pan at 350F for 35-40min. Or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!!

Nom Nom Nom!!

Quick Chickpea Salad

The other day I needed to make a quick easy lunch. I had a can of chickpeas, so I thought I would work with that. My fiancé isn’t a huge fan of chickpeas but I was determined to make them Mr. S approved!

This can be a cold salad or used in a wrap. I am on a low carb diet, so I decided not to have mine in a wrap as the chickpeas will have some carbs already in them. Mr. S however enjoyed his in a whole wheat wrap.

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas
1 plum tomato
½ cup of chopped spinach
¼ cup chopped zucchini
1tbsp of chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp of EVOO

Process:

1. Heat EVOO in pan, add spinach and stir.
2. Add all ingredients but spices. Heat for several minutes.
3. Add spices, mix and cover for 3-5min.
4.Take off heat, put in bowl and place in fridge for 1 hour.

Chickpeas are so full of healthy benefits that I recommend them to anyone!

How do you eat your chickpeas?

Parchment Salmon Delish

One thing about me is I LOVE to cook, and what I love even more is cooking for someone else. Before I met my fiancé I never cooked. But after we moved in together I found it quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. When I started my healthy lifestyle my cooking had to change, and it became more challenging. Not a bad challenge, a great one! I now strive to find delicious healthy meals.

This is one of our favorites!  We have this at least once a week. The vegetables for the sides change depending on what I have on hand.

Salmon is amazing! From a health stand point it is just jammed packed full of Omega-3 fatty acids. And every 4-oz serving will provide you with nearly 30gm of protein!! Oh and don’t forget it tastes awesome!

This recipe is pretty quick and very easy.

Ingredients:

2 Salmon fillets
1 Lemon
Fresh dill on stem
2 tsp of EVVO
Pinch of kosher salt
Pepper for taste

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Fold a large sheet of parchment paper and cut out a heart shape about 3 inches larger then the fillet. Unfold paper and place the fillet near the fold.

 Take a very small pinch of kosher salt and rub it on the fillet. I try not to use salt in food, but just a tad rubbed on the salmon adds a nice bit of flavor. You can use Sea Salt, but I like to use kosher salt as I feel I can grab a pinch of it easier. This step is optional if you are on a low salt diet.

Cut a lemon into 4 halves, take one half and squeeze it over a fillet. A trick I learned is to squeeze lemon over your hand to catch any seeds. Don’t throw away the lemon half, as we will use this later. Drizzle a bit of EVOO over the fillet

Place a stem of dill on top of the fillet. Take left over lemon half, cut it into two and place both on fillet. Sprinkle pepper over for taste (optional).

 Fold paper to enclose the fillet, and make small overlapping folds to seal the edges. Start at the curve of the heart.  I usually will brush EVOO on the edges before I roll them up.

Place in oven for 15min or till salmon flakes with a fork.

For my side dish today, I had asparagus and brussels sprouts on hand. I just threw them in my vegetable steamer. For taste, ill squeeze some fresh lemon over top of them.


 Enjoy!!!

 Nom Nom Nommmmm........