Hot Dogs!

Two Reduced Fat Hebrew National hot dogs (with mustard, kraut, and Wickles' pickle relish), tater tots, and cucumber slices.

Yum!!

Au Gratin Potatoes

Variations on a theme...

Au gratin potatoes with smoked sausage and edamame. I'm sure the protein was boosted with the edamame. It was actually pretty good. Snappier than the peas I used previously!

I also noticed that when I cook this in a 2 quart casserole dish it comes out very watery and yucky. I had to transfer it into a 9x13 pan in order to get the sauce to the correct consistency. Good to know for the future.

Lemon and Oregano Chicken

This chicken was amazing...! Here's what I did. I made a marinade first (put everything right into a Ziploc bag).

Lemon rind from one whole lemon
Two pinches of kosher salt
Two tablespoons olive oil
About one tablespoon of oregano
Juice from one lemon
A good amount of freshly ground white pepper
About 1/4 cup of white wine (I used viognier)

Mash it all up in the Ziploc bag. Add the chicken. I added two breasts (with rib section) and three bone-in thighs. Let it marinate for about an hour. Due to the lemon juice, you really don't want to let it go over night or for the whole day, I don't think. Heat up your BBQ nice and hot and grill the chicken as you normally would.

This chicken was easily the best chicken I have made for a very long time. I paired it with two easy things: Herb & Butter Rice-a-Roni and some mixed vegetables. Lovely!

Scramble!

Breakfast for Dinner!

Ingredients:

Eggs
Breakfast Sausages
Bell Pepper
Onion
Zucchini
Cheese



I had a lot of vegetables in my refrigerator that needed to be consumed. Cut the veggies up into a medium dice or bite sized pieces. I cut the chicken breakfast sausages into quarters. Because I used lean chicken sausages I had to add a bit of olive oil to the pan prior to adding the onions, bell pepper, and breakfast sausages.







While those are sautéing until they're soft (and cooked, in the case of the sausage), break your eggs into a bowl for whisking.



After the bell peppers and onions are soft and the sausages are mostly cooked, go ahead and add the zucchini.



I got inspired and added some Italian seasoning.



Once everything is nice and soft and a lot of the water has evaporated, add the beaten eggs.



Stir everything around and scramble the eggs.



Add a couple handfuls of shredded cheese (about a cup).



And you're done! You have an Atkins-approved meal! It might be South Beach approved if you use lowfat cheese. It was very yummy. As you can see above, I put some pico de gallo on top of mine.

Chicken Casserole with Stuffing

An American Classic!

Ingredients:
Chicken tenders (about a pound)
Cream of mushroom soup
Mixed vegetables
Half-dead mushrooms ;) (optional)
Stove Top Stuffing
Sour cream



Pour the stuffing into a bowl.



Next, poor 1 1/2 cups water into the bowl and mix the stuffing. Set aside while you do the rest of the work.



I had some mushrooms in the fridge that needed to get eaten pronto so I sliced them up.



I also happened to have about 1/3 cup of sour cream. I bet you can make this even without the sour cream.



Pour the cream of mushroom soup into the sour cream and mix together.



Cut the chicken tenders into bite-sized pieces and put in a 2 quart casserole dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.



Add the soup mixture.



Mushrooms want to go into the party!



Then I added about 2 cups of mixed vegetables.



Mix all of that up.



Finally, top it with the stuffing. I cooked mine in a 375-degree oven for about 50 minutes. Make sure your chicken is done.



When it comes out it's kind of crispy and beautiful!



Dig in!