I feel like October is completely getting away from me!  Anyone else?  And by “getting away from me” I mean “oh crap it’s the 13th and I haven’t ordered Joey’s Minion costume yet”.  Whoops!  We have been having a lot of Halloween themed fun around the house though. 

I went down to the basement to bring up all the Halloween bins and the kids had a blast decorating their spaces in the house.  I had a blast finding all of the 90% off Halloween stuff that I scored early November last year at Target and Walmart.  Isn’t that the best??  I forgot all about it until I starting rooting through the bins.  I had gotten so many cupcake liners, cupcake picks and other kitchen related items that I completely forgot about.  So as I was going through it all I decided I would use all the stuff to make some fun lunches for Mini and Joey.  Because I really don’t need to be making (and eating) 12 dozen cupcakes.  

And since you know making lunches is my favorite of all the motherly duties…I present to you…::drumroll please::..

A WEEK OF HALLOWEEN THEMED LUNCHES

Before we get to the pictures let’s chat about lunches.  I don’t send my kids to school with anything crazy, special or different.  I was not making those hotdog/noodle spiders I saw on pinterest.  Although they did look really cool.  My kids take the basics for lunch every single day.  PB+J, turkey and cheese sandwiches, sandwich pinwheels, homemade lunchables, or if I’m feeling exceptionally lazy I will throw a piece of frozen pizza leftover from Friday night into their lunch box and it’s thawed by lunch.  I swear it works and I also swear it’s my kids favorite lunch.  Frozen pizza = mom of the year.  Who knew?

So in all reality these are super basic lunches that are just dolled up a bit for Halloween.  A themed napkin, special skewers, trick or treat cupcake liners etc.

But wait.  Ok, so I did make a few elaborate treats to stick in there.  The kids watched one of those food video clips over my shoulder and begged me to re-create a few of the treats.  Let’s be honest, it didn’t take much begging.  They showed some interest and I was grabbing my keys and running off to get the supplies.  Chocolate dipped treats are my love language.  I’ll post more about those later, they are seriously adorable!!

There are tons of other Halloween treats you can stick in there also.  Joey was a HUGE fan of the ghost Peep!  And I did make a quick Halloween party mix out of honey kix, candy corn, mini chocolate chips and mini reese’s pieces.  So just get creative.  Your kids are going to love whatever you put in there!

Do you have a favorite??  I really love them all.  I mean that banana?  Come onnnn!  Adorable!  

Here’s also what the Halloween Party Mix looked like!  (You can see it also in some of the lunches above)

And here’s a quick glimpse of some of the clearance goodies I grabbed last year!  I keep it all in a big gallon ziplock for the month and it makes creating a themed meal so easy!  Just grab the bag and decorate the pb+j.  You know you want to.  

So there you have it.  I have been very busy making lunches and not so busy working on costumes.  Luckily I have a few weeks to get that all under control.  

I hope I’ve inspired you to surprise someone with a fun lunch this month!  

XO Danielle

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 I want to share a really easy breakfast tip with you.   I have zero desire to start scrambling eggs in the morning before pre-school drop off.  It’s hard enough trying to get everyone dressed and out the door there’s just no way I want to start making a mess on the stove.   One weekend morning recently I made these simple egg + cheese burritos for the kids to eat for breakfast and they were a total hit.  What made them even better was that they are easy for little hands to hold.  And unlike breakfast sandwiches, if they are rolled nice and tight, the fillings don’t come spilling out all over the place.

The next weekend Mini requested the burritos again and I decided to make a big batch so that I could freeze them for an easy weekday breakfast.

What you need

8 eggs

6 tortillas

Shredded cheese (I used a half cup)

Saran wrap

Aluminum Foil

Instructions

Scramble the eggs.  At the very end of the cooking process, toss in the shredded cheese and let it get all melty onto the eggs.  In the meantime, lay out the tortillas on your counter top.  Once the eggs have cooled for a second, scoop an even amount onto the center of each tortilla.  (See photo).  In order to roll the tortillas tight you need to tuck in the sides and roll from the bottom to the top.  If you can’t figure out how I am sure there is an instructional youtube video to help.  If not, let me know and I’ll make one, haha.  Once they are rolled, place them seam side down while you of course eat one.

Wrap each burrito first in saran wrap and then in a piece of aluminum foil.  Toss them all in the freezer until you are ready to eat them.  When you want one, take it out of the aluminum foil.  Place the burrito in the saran wrap into the microwave.  Microwave the burrito on 50% for 1 minute.  Flip it over and do it again, 50% for 1 more minute.  Then unwrap it and enjoy!

My favorite part of this is not having to wash a pan just because we wanted breakfast burritos.   I also add different things in mine so feel free to get crazy.  We have tried diced ham, pepper + onions, sauteed spinach, chopped sausage and different cheeses.  Let me know what your favorite combo is!

Here’s to hoping this makes the mornings just a smidge easier!

XO Danielle

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Hey there!  So if you are following me on instagram you may have seen my post about our November grocery challenge.  I had this wild idea to challenge myself to only spend $100 in the grocery store for the entire month of November.  Now I do realize that this sounds like an impossible feat.  So let me back up by explaining where the idea stemmed from.  I’m doing this as a way to force myself to utilize all of my frozen goods/meat and pantry items.  You know, like the time I got black beans on sale and so I bought 12 cans.  Yeah, we are going to eat them this month.   It’s time.  So by using my freezer and pantry as the bulk of our meals I should hopefully be able to stay within budget.

Here are some basic grocery budget concepts you should know before we get into the week one results.

• Shop your circulars.  I thought this was common sense.  Until I showed not 1 but 2 people (who shall not be named) my grocery list and they asked how I knew what the price of the apples were going to be.  Literally, they asked “how are you so sure you’ll find apples for $.88/lb??”   Um, because the grocery store sends their flyer every week and that is what they are advertising.  Duh.  So if you had no idea about that, start there.  If they don’t come in the mail you can look up the weekly ads on their websites.
• Stock up when things are on sale.  Going back to my 12 cans of black beans.  Let’s say for example black beans are $1.09 a can.  But once every few months my grocery store makes them BOGO (buy one get one).  Well now they are only $.55 each and that’s a great price.  I will buy enough cans of black beans to last my family until the next BOGO sale.  Therefore I am never going to pay full price for the can of beans.  Are you following?  It helps to know what your family consumes when shopping like this.  I know that my family eats a can of black beans every week.  So I would buy enough cans to last a few months.  Another example is cereal.  We go through a box of multigrain cheerios weekly, so when they are BOGO (and even better when I have a coupon as well), I will stock up on that.  Because I know they won’t go to waste.
• Shop what’s in season.  I cannot stress this enough.  I sent my husband to the grocery once and he decided he wanted blueberries.  Ok, great.  Except blueberries weren’t in season and he didn’t bother looking at the price of them.  He paid $8.99 for a pint of blueberries.  I about died when I saw the receipt.  If you shop the produce in season it will be the cheapest and also the best tasting.  You can research what times of year are best to buy pantry items as well.  I’m no pro, but I do stock up on baking goods (flour, sugar, chocolate chips, etc) around the holidays.  Those items typically go on sale during those times.
• Meal plan.  I do struggle with this but I find when I do it and I stick to it we really decrease the amount of wasted food in our fridge.  Plan the weeks meals and shop only what you need to make them.  Here’s an example.  When you don’t meal plan, you wander the produce section, realize you need onions so you grab 4.  If you planned your meals you might know that you need onions for 2 recipes meaning you only really need to buy 2.  So you didn’t grab any extra just in case.
• Re-purpose your leftovers.  I am the queen of this in my house.  Once a week I make shredded chicken in the crock pot or grill up a bunch of chicken cutlets.  We usually have one simple chicken and veggie meal from it.  Then it becomes chicken burrito bowls, chicken quesadillas, bbq chicken sandwiches, chicken salad, chicken ceasar salads, and the list goes on and on.

Ok, I think we have gone over all basic budgeting concepts.  If you have others, please leave them in the comments.  I always love to read about other ways people have learned to save in the grocery store.

WEEK 1 — What I bought

I did go a little overboard in week one and spent more than I had anticipated and I’ll tell you why.  I took a ride to Costco with a friend and their price per gallon of milk was over $1 cheaper then Publix, so I stocked up.  Eggs too!  18 egglands best eggs were over a $1 cheaper than 18 Publix brand eggs.  So while I did spend more in the first week, I am confident that we have enough eggs for the month and enough milk for the first few weeks.  (If you are going to do this just double check the expiration dates so you don’t get stuck looking at a fridge full of expired milk)

Eggland’s Best Eggs: 18 count: $2.99

Eggland’s Best Eggs: 18 count: $2.99

Eggland’s Best Eggs: 18 count: $2.99

Eggland’s Best Eggs: 18 count: $2.99

Gallon of milk: $2.32

Gallon of milk: $2.32

Gallon of milk: $2.32

Flour tortillas: 36 count: $3.99

Apple sauce: 3 LARGE containers: $6.99

Peanut butter crackers: 40 count: $5.89

Pancake syrup: $.99 ($3.99 on sale BOGO with a $1 off coupon! Can’t beat that)

Diced Ham: $1.65

Diced Ham: $1.64 (These were BOGO as well!)

Nature’s own wheat bread: $1.69

Pretzel sticks: $1.99

Apples: $.88/lb:  $1.94

Campari Tomato: $.88 package

Cucumber: $.48 each

Grapes: $1.88/lb:  $2.59

Romaine: $.99 each

Bananas: $.59/lb:  $1.53

Yogurt: 2/$5:  2 Containers: $5.00

TOTAL: $57.16

Oops!!  I was only supposed to spend $25 the first week.  So obviously this is going to be way more difficult than I thought.  But that’s why it’s a challenge, right??

I spent a lot more than I wanted because I did stock up on the milk and eggs at that great price.  Also, I can’t pass up syrup for $1!  That doesn’t happen all that often so I had to make room in the budget for that.  Also the ham is something we eat a lot of, so I really wanted to grab some at that price.  Then I had to also grab some snacks for the kids.

Week 1 — What we ate

I needed to take a good inventory of what was going on in the freezer and pantry before starting this, so I knew things that I did not need to buy.  First off, we had leftover produce from the week before so I roasted up all the asparagus, zucchini and carrots before they had a chance to go bad.  So immediately I had vegetables to carry us through week 1.  I found plenty of canned corn and frozen broccoli so that will help lower the cost of produce.  Digging through the freezer I found homemade soups that I had frozen and lots and lots of chicken and steaks.

One night I made an entire steak dinner from pulling a few things together.  I defrosted 2 steaks, heated a bag of frozen broccoli, sauteed an onion, and roasted some tomatoes (that were too soft for salads) with some garlic cloves.  It was delish and didn’t cost me anything out of my November budget!  How good does that dinner look!?

Juliana has been requesting breakfast for dinner ALOT.  Happens to be one of my favorites as well.  However, at the beginning of this challenge I noticed that we were out of frozen mini pancakes.  That is her go-to breakfast food.  For dinner I usually serve them with eggs, yogurt and fruit.  But I was out, and I panicked!  Those boxes are $2.99 EACH!   To save myself from completely blowing my $100 on frozen breakfast items, I grabbed the box of bisquick and got busy.  By using this squeeze bottle (I can’t find the exact one I have, so I linked a similar set!) I was able to create what felt like a billion mini pancakes.  Then I did the math.  I know that I paid about $2.00 for the box of pancake mix.  I used about 1/3 of the box to make this batch of mini pancakes, so we are talking about $.67 for the batch.  I made 100 pancakes!!  100!!!  So $.67/100 pancakes VS $2.99/box of 40.  It’s a no brainer!  That’s what I love about doing this challenge.  I’m learning even more ways that I can save.

Another thing that I have been doing is saving all leftovers.  Take this morning for example.  Juliana requested a BIG breakfast.  I cringed, haha.  Doesn’t she know I only have $100?!  I made the kids some mini pancakes, jelly wheat toast, and a fried egg.  Below you can see that even though they wanted eggs, they didn’t eat them.  So I stuck them in a snapware container.  Later when Joey was chasing me around the house with a box of granola bars, I popped the container in the microwave for a few seconds and he got to finish the breakfast that he left earlier.  Otherwise I would have thrown out an entire egg, and I don’t have the time or the money this month for that  Waste not, want not, right?

We also made omelettes and some quick chicken/quinoa/veggie lunches, using the roasted asparagus and squash, and of course we made some black bean fajitas

So week one is up.  I really shopped towards the end of this week since I had lots of things I was able to use up the first few days of the month.  Which means I am starting week 2 with plenty of dairy and produce.  So, I’m feeling confident going into the second week.  I should probably stay out of the stores altogether.  I have enough milk and eggs to carry me through to week 3 that’s for sure!  But we shall see what happens.  Do you think you could try this challenge?  Obviously the only way I can maybe manage it is because we have a full freezer and pantry.  I can’t imagine having to eat all of our meals from just $100.  There are 4 of us and my kids eat like adults.  Holy appetites.  But I’m excited to do it this month, and maybe it will be something that I can do every few months, or even 2x a year.  Just to really clean out all the food that I have been stocking up on and freezing.  Do you have any tips you can offer???  Please leave them in the comments, I’d love to read them

Wish me luck, Danielle

Just when I thought eating healthy was getting boring my friend Sara introduced me to my newest salad obsession.  She created a strawberry salad after eating one at Panera Bread.  She took the idea and made it her own.  Then she told me about it.  And I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  I didn’t have all the ingredients in the fridge that she put in her salad, but I had enough ingredients to whip one up with my own spin on it.  An obsession was born.  Since I made this salad 2 weeks ago I have eaten it 9 times.  Lunch.  Dinner.  With chicken.  Without.  Doesn’t matter.   I seriously think it is the greatest salad ever and it just feels so..Summer.

Please make one.  But make sure to grab a lot of strawberries at the store first.  Because I promise you will not just eat this salad once.

You can thank me (or Sara) later.  Enjoy!  XO

Ingredients

Romaine

Spinach

Strawberries (sliced)

Slivered almonds

Goat Cheese (optional)

Grilled Chicken

Poppy Seed Dressing (get the Panera one from the grocery store.  Amazing)

Throw all the ingredients together in the bowl and toss with the poppy seed dressing.  Seriously.  That’s it.  Can’t get any easier.  You have no excuse not to make this salad.

Well if the heading doesn’t say enough…this soup is amazing.  Not only does it have hardly any calories, it’s made in the crock pot!  Ding, ding!  We have a winner.  This soup came about kind of on a whim.  It is freezing cold and rainy here in Alabama + I am trying to not eat like a pig.  So this veggie soup was born.  It is seriously yummy and flavorful and I don’t have any guilt about having seconds.

Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients:

2 zucchini

1 large yellow onion

10 carrots

2 cups spinach

3 stalks celery

2 boxes low-sodium vegetable broth

Chop the zucchini, carrots, celery and onion.  I kept the pieces fairly large because they are going to cook down in size in the crock all day.  If you chop them too small they will get too mushy and basically fall apart in the broth.

Place all veggies in the crock pot and fill the crock pot with 2 boxes of low-sodium vegetable broth.  Now add some spices.  I used S+P, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and a bay leaf.  (Not everyone has a bag of bay leaves in their kitchen.  Don’t stress it if you don’t.  Your soup will still be delish.)

You can add the spinach in the beginning (this is what I did), or add it an hour before you want to eat the soup.

Before serving remove the bay leaf.  If you don’t it’s alright.  I’m pretty sure I ate mine.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

My favorite part about the soup is it’s versatility.  Switch up the vegetables if you want.  Add some kale if that’s your thing.  Don’t like zucchini?  Leave it out.

Feel like having a creamier soup?  Once the soup is almost done, pour half into a blender.  Add the blended contents back to the crock pot and cook for another 30 minutes.

Do whatever you want to it, just make it.  Make it and eat it, in all it’s deliciousness.

Thank me later,

XO Danielle

Oh and as a side note…if you have babies or toddlers, I scooped out a bunch of veggies to serve up along side their lunch.  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than that whole 2 birds + 1 stone thing.  Mini and Joey gobbled it up!

Well, last week I had a package of chicken that was steadily approaching the cook it or throw it mark, so I decided to make my own.  Naturally Chef Mini pulled up a chair and demanded I tie her apron.  This kid loves nothing more than helping in the kitchen.  This time I really put her to work.  Whisking the eggs for the egg wash and even breading the little nuggets.

What I loved most about this recipe is that I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  So I knew I was going to have a pure, white meat chicken nugget.

This recipe was super simple.

INGREDIENTS

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 eggs

Milk

Panko bread crumbs

1) Prepare your ingredients:  Whisk the 2 eggs with a splash of milk in one bowl.  Pour panko break crumbs into a shallow baking dish.  Slice chicken width-wise about an inch wide.  (About 7-8 slices per breast).

2.) Dunk chicken nuggets into egg wash.  Lay in panko and toss around to coat chicken completely.  Repeat until all chicken is breaded.  (Mini’s job was to coat the nuggets in the panko.  She used mini tongs and of course her clean hands.  I removed the pieces once they were coated.)

3.) Arrange chicken nuggets on a lightly greased baking sheet.  I spray everything with pam because I get nuts when stuff sticks to the dish.  If you don’t want to spray, don’t, but don’t get pissed when the nuggets stick either.

4.) Bake 18-20 minutes at 350.

5.) Serve with dip dip.  That’s ketchup to Miss Mini.  Or if your a piggy pants like me, ranch dressing.

ENJOY!  I found Mini really wanted to eat these because she had put so much work into making them.  I loved that they were real, white meat chicken.

Yep, that’s right.  It’s a sneaky toddler smoothie.  As Miss Mini says..”ANANA SMOOTHIE PEEAASS MAMA”.  Translation into Enlish: Banana smoothie please mama.   She’s working on it

I have such a tough time getting Mini to eat.  She eats when she wants, and while she isn’t really too picky, she has to be in the mood to eat..or nothing gets in there.  I try to sneak fruits and veggies in any way I can. as do many moms.

Quite honestly, I can definitely up my intake of fruits and veggies as well.  Sometimes an entire day will go by and I didn’t eat one vegetable.  Not good.   Especially now that I’m pregnant.  I don’t care so much about me, ha ha, but Baby J needs his vitamins.

Which brings me to my banana smoothie creation.  You may notice that it is green.  That is because it is full of spinach.  Mini has not yet questioned the color.  In fact, the kid watches me throw a cup of spinach in the blender and dances around the kitchen like I dropped in gummy bears.

The ingredients can easily be interchanged depending on what fruits and veggies are in season.  I always use spinach for my green, but feel free to get crazy.  Drinking spinach is as crazy as I’ll get.

Here’s how I do it:

1 Banana (Mine always have a banana.  It makes a nice creamy base)

1 cup of spinach

5oz greek yogurt (this can be changed for whatever yogurt you like, but again, it adds creaminess)

Frozen mango chunks (That is the fruit Mini picked for this particular smoothie.  We also favor fresh berries and apples)

1/4 cup OJ (If I do not have juice, I use water..It just needs liquid to get the blender going..)

There are a billion different combinations you can create to make delicious smoothies.  You can get crazy and add flax seed, chia pets(?)…whatever those health freaks are eating  Me?  I’m just grateful that I got myself and my toddler to eat spinach before 10 am.

But remember, no matter how you make it..the name doesn’t change.   Say it with me…ANANA.  Say it like a minion.  A mini minion.

I’ve had a craving for chicken lettuce wraps for about a week now.   I also have not been in the mood to cook for about a week now.  So I made this super easy dinner.  This dish literally took 15 minutes from start to bite.  It was perfect.

Here’s whatcha need:

1lb ground chicken

Small container mushrooms

1/2 a white onion

Garlic

1 can water chestnuts (do yourself a favor and get sliced or diced, save time on chopping those bad boys)

Iceberg lettuce

Yoshida’s marinade (Amazing.  See photo below.  I get this big one at Costco for under $7.  It will last forever)

First dice up your onions, mushrooms and water chestnuts.   Chop your garlic really small, or use a garlic press like I do.  While you are chopping and dicing, brown the chicken in a pan.  Break it apart with a wooden spoon and make sure all of the meat cooks through.  In a separate pan, drizzle some olive oil and saute the onions, mushrooms and garlic.  After a few minutes of sauteing add the water chestnuts.  Then, add the ground chicken to the mixture.  Stir it all up to get your ingredients combined.  Add 1/2 cup Yoshida’s marinade.  (I always add more after I mix it all in.  Just start with 1/2 cup and add more to your liking, you can also use it as a dipping sauce)

Once everything is all mixed together you are ready to start wrapping and eating!   Enjoy!  Best part about this dish?  Besides the fact that it is delicious…it is NO-CARB!  Guilt-free dinner.   You’re welcome.

{ Please note: There are many variations to this dish.  Feel free to use ground turkey instead of chicken.  Top them with scallions.  Add ginger.  Add zucchini.  Make them your own.  Use what you have.  You will not be disappointed. }

I’m on the road to eating clean and I’m already bored.  I started the Advocare 10 cleanse and honestly, the clean eating got boring after day 2.  I knew I needed a way to spice things up but still remain in “clean eating” guidelines.  It ended up being easier than I thought.  Delicious actually.  Even better, I changed the recipe at the end to make a toddler friendly meal as well.  2 for the price of 1.  You know I love that!

Dinner for Mama:  Stuffed Peppers

This was so simple!  You’ll need:

1 lb lean ground chicken, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 chopped onion, 2 egg whites, 1/3 cup skim milk, parsley, garlic powder, pepper, italian seasoning

Mix all of those ingredients in a big bowl.  Really mix.  Wash your hands, remove your rings and get in there.

Now I was only making 2 peppers, so after I filled the cavity of the pepper with the chicken mixture I had a lot leftover (hence, the toddler inspired meal).  This mixture will fill 4 peppers if you choose to only do the stuffed peppers.

I placed the peppers standing upright in a baking loaf pan.  I then spooned homemade marinara all over the tops of them.

Bake @ 350 for 50 minutes.  Enjoy.

{ I did pour some extra marinara over the entire dish once it was baked and I sliced it open }

This recipe will spice up clean eating any day!  Best part?  No carbs, No cheese.  Not too shabby.

Dinner for Mini: Baby chicken meatballs

After looking at the leftover chicken mixture I decided to whip up some meatballs for the minster.  I added to the mixture 1/3 cup breadcrumbs and a healthy scoop of parmesan cheese.  Then I rolled them into little balls and placed them on a greased cookie sheet.  It was kind of difficult to roll into balls, because I didn’t use a whole lot of bread crumb to hold the mixture together.  Do your best.   Imperfection is beauty.  Even when your a meatball.

Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes.

Then pose them for your foodie photo shoot because they seriously look so delicious!   They make a great meal for toddlers as well as an adorable appetizer for any party.

However, it is hard to get into the mood to prepare and cook and entire meal for just one person.  It seems like a lot of work when you can just throw something in the microwave or eat chips and salsa for dinner.

I decided it was time to get more prepared for cooking for one.  If I streamline it and make it easy…maybe it won’t be such a chore.

I went to Costco and bought the big slab of salmon.  You know the one I’m talking about.  The 2.5 pounder.  We ate it for dinner one night and then I cut the rest into 6-8oz pieces to be frozen individually.  I wrapped each piece in saran wrap and then placed all the wrapped salmon fillets into a large freezer bag.   Then when I was thinking about what to make for dinner, I took out 1 piece of salmon to defrost.  Easy peasy.

Once the salmon was defrosted I seasoned it a little bit.  I like it pretty plain, so salt, pepper and garlic powder did it for me.  I seasoned both sides and put it on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam.

In the meantime, I got started on the zucchini.  I sliced 2 zucchini’s about a 1/4 inch thick.  Placed them in a bowl with salt, pepper and garlic powder (now you know my favorite seasonings..) and sprayed them with olive oil.  Yes, sprayed.  Because to pour the olive oil will make them so damn greasy and it really isn’t necessary.  I keep a spray bottle full of olive oil with my spices.

With a trick I learned from a severely smart vegetable chef, I tossed all the zucchini’s with the olive oil and spices.  Then they all got spread out on the baking sheet.

I did this all while pretending I was cooking in front of a live audience.

Oh wait.  I was.

Now everything was prepared to go into the oven.  The prep took a total of 6 minutes.  Just the amount of time it took my audience to eat her popsicle.

It was time for Miss Mini to take a bath, so I tossed the zucchini in the oven set to 250 degrees.  The zucchini takes about 45 minutes to roast, so I had plenty time to go upstairs and do the bath, books, bed routine.

My audience member decided to go over to the over door, scream HOT, and blow on the door to cool off my roasting zucchini.  Apparently I go near the oven and yell HOT all the time, so she doesn’t go near it.

Once she was all bathed and tucked away I took the zucchini out and flipped them and put the salmon in.

I upped the temp to 325 degrees.  After the salmon cooked for 15-18 minutes I took it out of the oven.  Then I did something truly fantastic.  I sprinkled panko and parmesan cheese on top of the zucchini and broiled them until crispy.  Oh my god.  Delicious.

My dinner for one was served.  And I ate it on the couch.

{ I also do this by freezing chicken breasts individually and by stocking up on steam fresh vegetables.  It only takes 15 minutes to bake a piece of chicken and nuke some veggies.   I should have no excuses }

But the pizza is so good.