Outback chicken:
Take boneless, skinless chicken breasts and coat with BBQ sauce. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top each breast with cooked bacon crumbles, then cheddar cheese. Put back in the oven until the cheese melts. Remove from oven and sprinkle on each breast chopped tomotoes and chopped scallions (green onions).
Eggplant, Pepper and Goat Cheese sandwhiches. (I usually serve with a cup of soup)
-loaf of crusty bread from your local grocery (my local Wegmans makes a good olive oil and rosemary bread). To save time, have them slice it for you.
-1 medium eggplant
-1-2 red peppers, or you can get 1 or 2 jars of roasted red peppers from your pickle aisle.
-1 8oz package of goat cheese (looks like a log)
-Dijon mustard.
First things first - take out the goat cheese and let it sit on the counter to soften up.
Slice eggplants thinly and either grill on your outdoor grill, on a grill pan, or regular pan until both soft and slightly brown.
If you are using regualr peppers, you'll be roasting them. Place under a broiler until the skin becomes very black and blistery. Once a side is done, turn the pepper, so all sides are charred. Remove and place pepper in a paper lunch bag (or other closed dish or bag). This steams the pepper and makes the skin removal easy. After 5-10 minutes, remove pepper and peel off skin and take out the seeds. Slice into fair sized chunks, maybe the size of your palm.
Now assemble your sandwhich. Toast the bread lightly, then spread one slice of bread with the mustard and the other slice with goat cheese. Add the eggplant and peppers.
Favorite Shake and Bake Broccolli
-Broccoli florets
-Olive oil
-parmesean cheese
-breadcrumbs.
Take your broccolli florets and put them into a gallon plastic bag. Pour over some olive oil (not too much, maybe 2 Tbl. at most) and shake until florets are coated. Toss in some parm cheese and breadcrumbs - at a 2 to 1 ratio (more parm cheese than breadcrumbs) and shake bag until the broccolli is coated. I think I usually put in some salt + pepper, too. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the brocolli is fork tender or to your liking (I like them more crunchy, my husband prefers more mushy).
I would also recommend Rachel Ray's cookbooks. Also, I really like the Semi Homemade lady ( I think it's Sandra Lee or maybe Sandra Dee). And of course, you have to love the old standbys - Betty Crocker and the Joy of Cooking.
Some people love cooking, some people hate it. I think what makes weekday cooking easier for me is that I will frequently make large batches of food such as soups, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and casseroles and then freeze them into portions using throwaway soup and salad containers found near the saran wrap and plastic baggies. Then during the week, all I need to do is grill up some meats and I'll have accompiments that I can just toss in the microwave that aren't full of extra calories and cost way less then if I'd bought at the grocery store. I don't think I do a lot of extra cooking persay, but let's say I'm making tomato soup on a Saturday...I'll triple the recipe and freeze the leftovers. I also use a lot of frozen veggies as they don't go bad like fresh do and they are a lot cheaper.
