Recipes For New and Expecting Moms: Dinner

Everyone knows bringing home baby is a crazy time. Even the few months before, carrying the extra weight around, is exhausting and most of the time I, personally, opted for junk food or agonized over having to cook over the giant belly.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I have compiled a list of recipe ideas that were a life saver when we got home.

Freezer Bags:

Freezer casseroles are always the standard but I, for one, am not a fan. I really don't feel like eating leftovers every day so I found a neat twist on it.
Directions: Cut up a red and green bell pepper. Slice up a pound of chicken and get yourself two of those big plastic freezer bags. Split up all the ingredients between two bags keeping the chicken on one side and the veggies on the other. Lay flat in the freezer stacked.

When you're just not feeling all the cooking take one of these bad boys out of the freezer and toss it in hot water. Should be sufficiently thawed in about 15 to 20 minutes. Toss that in a hot skillet in some oil for like 25 or 30 minutes. Right before it's done toss in that Fajita Seasoning and get your tortillas out. Pop one or two in the microwave for a few seconds.

If you're feeling even lazier all these recipes can be used in the crock pot. Set it to low in the morning and it is ready to eat when you get home.

Load em up on your plate and add your toppings and enjoy.

This recipe is inter-changeable with other ingredients so you can  make a few weeks worth of meals in just an hour. Here is a few variations I have had success with. chicken, terriyaki sauce and pineapple, steak, peppers, onions and mushrooms, chicken, sezchuan sauce, broccoli, red peppers.

You can do the same thing with your breakfast and save yourself some time. That post to come later.

Buttery Roasted Garlic

One of my favorite appetizers is roasted garlic. Chowing down on big pieces of garlic might not seem super appetizing but I assure you these bad boys are a huge hit!

These are fairly easy to make and you probably have everything that you need,

Head or two of Garlic (you can use jumbo but those cloves a pretty big.)
Half a stick or so of butter cut into pads
1-2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400 F
Break apart you garlic heads and brush off all the papery wrappings but do NOT peel it. You can chop off the stem of the garlic but it's not always necessary. Pile the cloves onto a long sheet of foil and top with the butter and salt. (note: It really does look like a lot of salt but I assure you it will taste just awesome.)
Fold the foil around the pile and roll up the sides into a packet and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes turning after about 25 minutes.

I recommend you use heavy duty foil if you are going to place the packet on the rack directly as the foil can sometimes tear and leak butter into your oven. Otherwise you can just place a cookie sheet in your oven while it is preheating.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is you can make it anywhere, oven, grill, fire pit and it will be delicious every time. Make sure you stick near it toward the end because you can smell when it is done.

Once the garlic has cooled you can open the packet and pick up the cloves by the tail and use your teeth to squeeze the super soft garlic out of the skin. If cooked properly it will be almost mushy and the salt almost has a grainy quality on the skin.

So chow down on these little bad boys but make sure you have a napkin and a breath mint for when you are done and it will surely be a crowd pleaser. Let me know how it turns out in the comments below.

Simple Fried Egg Sandwich

This was really easy and really yummy!

You need: 

2 Eggs

Bread

2 Pepper Slices about 1/2 in rings.

Mozzarella Cheese

Salt and Pepper

I am a big butter fan but you can use Pam or what ever you want to use to grease the pan. 

Melt some butter in a pan until bubbly. Drop in your two rings and make sure the pan is hot or your eggs will leak out. 

Crack your eggs right into the rings and pop your bread in the toaster. Salt and pepper your eggs to taste. (I like my eggs less runny so I will flip them and turn off the heat while I ready my pan but sunny side up works just fine.) 

Most people will use a green pepper but I prefer the sweet peppers for breakfast and the green for dinner.

Sprinkle a little of that wonderful shredded Mozzarella cheese and slide onto your toast. (I butter the toast too but as you can imagine I am not the dieting type.)

All that's left is to chow down and I can assure you it is wonderful! For a more balanced breakfast you can add some fresh fruit and maybe some yogurt.

Easy Szechuan Shrimp & Broccoli

This stuff is amazing and didn't take long to make. This is a big plus for cold days and for people who like a little heat in their lunch.

Easy Szechuan Shrimp & Broccoli

2 Cups Frozen Med or Jumbo Shrimp
2 Cups Chopped Fresh or Frozen Broccoli
2 Tbsp Szechuan sauce

Seriously, that's it!

Defrost the shrimp in a bowl of cold water. While that is thawing out, (doesn't take long) chop up your broccoli into bite sized pieces. The smaller you cut them the faster they cook. Throw the broccoli (or really any veggie you want.) into a fry pan with a little oil or butter, depending on your preference, and stir fry for just a minute or so. Toss in the shrimp, it is alright if there is a little ice on them still, the water will help thin the sauce a bit. Fry just until hot and the veggies are cooked through but crisp tender.
Toss with the Szechuan sauce until coated and chow down!

One of my favorite MYOTO recipes ever and just so easy.