Zucchini and Manchego Flatbread (Our Favorite Flatbread)

Ingredients:

• Naan (I like the Stonefire brand)
• Extra virgin olive oil (to brush on the naan)
• 2 cloves garlic, miced
• Sautéed or leftover grilled zucchini
• ½ cup cooked corn
• 3 scallions, thinly chopped
• Shaved Manchego cheese (or as an alternative, try mozzarella)
• Peccorino romano (optional)

Memorial Day BBQ “Leftover Makeover” Pizza

I love the challenge of giving my leftovers a makeover. Not only does it make me feel great to not waste my leftovers but it’s also a time saver since most of food is already prepared.

For Memorial Day, I like to make a traditional barbecue of burgers/hot dogs and all the possible fixins (including sautéed mushroom, raw onion, tomatoes, cheese etc).  But since I never learn my  lesson on how much of the fixins to put out, I’m often left with a lot of raw onions, chopped tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms.

At first I thought I would make barbecue chicken pizza with caramelized onions but didn’t think the kids would go for that.  However, since the hubby and I loved that idea, I boiled 2 chicken breasts for 20 minutes. Once cooked, I shredded them and set them aside. I separated them and put half the shredded pieces with BBQ sauce and left the other half plain. 

Seasoned Chicken Cutlets*

You can serve seasoned chicken cutlets with just about anything. In this case, I topped the cutlets with bruschetta and added a side of string beans.

*Appropriate for Paleo and gluten-free diets as well as Whole30 diets when substitutions are included

Whether you are an avid cook or one who cooks out of necessity, chances are you have a favorite combination of seasonings that you commonly add to meals you prepare. 

Time saving tip alert…Instead of spending extra money buying a premade seasoning that may be loaded with sugar or items you can’t pronounce, make your own seasoning and store it in a washed-out jar from a seasoning you finished. (Fairway sells many of their dried herbs in glass containers).

A family favorite in my house is chicken. One of my favorite ways to season chicken is to mix sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and sweet Hungarian paprika (although when I’m feeling frisky, you may find me adding a little Pecorino Romano as well).

Seasoned Chicken Cutlets

Total time:  ~20 min or less

Ingredients:

• 8 thin chicken cutlets (note: you will pay less per pound if you cut a chicken breast if half yourself but you will save time if you buy them as already thin cutlets)
• 1 cup of all purpose or self rising flour (use almond meal or other GF flour in place of flour for Paleo/GF/Whole30)
• 2 tablespoons of garlic powder (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoons of Sweet Hungarian Paprika
• 2 tablespoons of Pecorino Romano (optional, but omit for Paleo/Whole30)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Extra Virgin olive oil or butter to cook

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

This is my kids’ most requested item and it’s great for weeknights. Most kids love Mac & Cheese and would eat it every day if they could.  Would that be the healthiest idea? Probably not. To make myself feel less guilty about giving in to their wish, I decided to add a head of cauliflower into every batch of Mac & Cheese I make. When they were little and didn’t eat all of their veggies that great, I used to puree the cauliflower before adding it to the mix but thankfully that is no longer necessary and it saves me time to just boil the cut up cauliflower at the same time as the pasta.

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese

Total time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Head cauliflower, chopped  into small/medium size florettes (plan to chop this the night before if short on time) – You can boil/puree this in advance as well
• 1 lb  favorite pasta (elbows, shells etc)
• 3 T butter
• 3 T flour
• 2 c milk (skim is what I use but does take longer to thicken)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of nutmeg
• 2 C extra sharp cheddar (freshly shredded/cubed preferred / pre shredded to save on time)