Need Some Food Ideas?

Who doesn’t love food? Anybody? I thought as much; I am just as big a fan as the rest of you, but I want easy. Easy to me does not mean frozen meals, fast food, or out of a box, it just means it takes less than an hour from preparation to the table. With as busy as I am, and I know that each of you are feeling the same way, the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time making dinner. Because after dinner comes the cleanup and well that’s a discussion better left for another time. Ok, where was I, oh right, easy meals that can be made in under an hour. Well, salad is a quick one but that does get old after about the third day. However, I have two salads here that are pretty simple to make.

This first one is an Antipasto Chef’s Salad that comes from the kitchens of Food Network, and link is: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/antipasto-chefs-salad-recipe/index.html and is 400 calories a serving. If you are counting the calories (like I am now) there are ways to adjust the ingredients to bring that number down some. Essentially the cooking part of this salad is boiling the eggs and the potatoes. The rest is gathering ingredients, making the dressing and assembling the salad. SEE EASY! I know the picture looks pretty, but if it didn’t, you wouldn’t be thinking about making that salad right now, would you?

The next one is another salad which is a Greek Salad with Grilled Shrimp, and it is from the Cooking Light Food Community; the link is: http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?44600-Rev-Greek-Grilled-Shrimp-Salad and this salad is less than 300 calories. Once again, the cooking time is for the shrimp, and the rest is gathering ingredients, making the dressing, and assembling the salad. Both salads, I have made and taken the pictures for this post. This is just simple food that tastes good. 

OK, now we are bored with the salad run, and it’s time to move on to other dishes like an easy Poblano Turkey Chili. I just made this meal last night, and I can honestly say that it’s going to be a favorite in our house. This chili has the potential to be really spicy (if you are heavy-handed with the chili powder), but I found that it was packed with so much flavor, and it all melded together perfectly. This recipe also comes from Cooking Light, and the link is: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/poblano-turkey-sausage-chili-50400000123569/ and is only about 218 calories per serving. I’m a huge fan of one-pot meals, if there is a way to put it in a soup, stew, or crock pot, I will try it at least once. I have concocted (yes, I used that word on purpose) some really strange food trying to get it in one pot. I think the next time I’m going to substitute white beans for the pintos (I know that’s not very chili like, but that’s how we roll here) and then beef up the spicy side with more chili powder (I’m going to use more chipotle next time). This is definitely a winner for a cold winter day, holiday gathering where it’s made and then kept warm in a crock pot or even Super bowl Sunday. I can honestly say that I didn’t miss having cornbread but then again, we’re counting the calories and carbohydrates are not part of my food plan (unless they are in fruit or vegetables).

Well, that’s all for now, I’m off to pack for a road trip; tune in next time when there will be another round of “Living the Life.”