What to make for dinner is a question that seems to never go away. As soon as you figure out dinner for one night, you are faced with the same dilemma again and again. When you are busy all day, either at work or at a conference like BlissDom, having dinner planned and prepared in advance is very comforting. Here are two recipes that will nourish your families during busy days and help you stay calm knowing you do not have to start worrying about what to make the minute you step in the front door. I find the key to organized family dinners is planning them the Sunday night before for the entire week, and partially prepping the ingredients in the morning. Follow my "in the morning/when you get home" directions and things will go very smoothly for you…it will be pure Bliss!
Chicken Stir Fry
Chicken stir fry is my go-to recipe when I feel like have indulged too much or can’t think of anything else to make. My whole family likes it and it is so easy to prepare in the morning and finish off right before serving.
Ingredients:
In the morning:
Mix ingredients for sauce together in a medium size bowl. Place in fridge.
Cut chicken into strips, sprinkle cornstarch all over. Keep refrigerated.
Chop pepper and celery. Keep refrigerated.
When you get home:
Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat.
Add 2 tsp vegetable oil. Add chicken coated with cornstarch and stir fry until lightly browned on outside. Add chopped peppers and celery. Stir in sauce. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.
Boil noodles according to package directions, around 40 seconds. Drain. Toss with 2 tsp sesame oil and put into a medium size casserole dish. Place under broiler for 5 minutes, or until top of noodles begin to brown.
Place stir fry on top of noodles.
Makes 4-6 servings.
Fish Tacos
Here is a very simple recipe that looks fancy and tastes delicious!
In the morning:
Place fish in fridge if frozen.
Mix salsa ingredients together. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
Mix mayonnaise ingredients together. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
When you get home:
Preheat oven to 350. Place tilapia on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle taco seasoning over fish filets and bake for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.
Break fish into ½ inch pieces. Place 3-4 pieces in each tortilla. Top with salsa and mayonnaise mixture.
Option:
Fold tortillas in half and place in 350 oven for 3-5 minutes until tortillas become lightly crispy. Fill with fish, salsa and mayo.
Cut tortillas out with a circle cookie cutter or the edge of a glass, place each circle folded and wedged between the underside circles of mini muffin tins to make mini taco shells. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes or until tortillas become lightly crispy. Fill with smaller amounts of fish, salsa and mayo.
Makes 6-8 regular size tacos, 12 mini tacos
Looking for more weeknight meal recipes? Try Steak, Avocado and Rice Noodle Recipe, Soy Baked Tofu with Broccoli, Edamame and Lo Mein Recipe, Easy As Spaghetti Pie Recipe, or Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese Recipe.
For more articles, tips, and tricks to help you get organized and make the most of your blog and business visit our BlissDom Canada 2014: How Do You Find Your Bliss? page.
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I love trying new salads, and when I find one I like I usually make it many times until I am completely sick of it. This past summer I made different variations of this salad each week. Now that summer is over I am still making it but adding things like corn to make the ingredients more seasonal. Feel free to add whatever additions you like or vegetables you want to use up.
Ingredients:
Rinse barley and place in medium size pot. Add enough water so there is at least 2 inches of water on top. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until barley is chewy. Drain, rinse with cold water.
Mix cooked barley, corn kernels, halved grape tomatoes and arugula together in a medium size bowl.
Whisk olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard together in a small dish. Stir in salt.
Drizzle dressing over salad. Mix gently. Taste and add more dressing to your liking.
Makes 4-6 servings
Looking for other salad recipes? Try Keep It Simple Salad and Keep It Simple Pasta Salad Recipes.
Nothing says summer to me more than baking with blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb, or peaches…any summer fruit! Now that fall is on its way these bars will bring back memories of the delicious fruit you ate all summer. I came across a recipe for blueberry bars but had a lot of peaches on hand, so I decided to make peach strawberry crumb bars. These bars are the perfect dessert to have on hand if you feel like pie but want something simpler to make. The crust and the topping are the same dough, it couldn’t get any easier. Feel free to use any fruit you have on hand, you could even use apples. I made the dough in the stand mixer but you could also do it by hand. These freeze really well. To defrost take them out 2 hours before serving.
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray.
In a medium size bowl, or a stand mixer, combine 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Add in butter and egg. If doing this by hand use a pastry cutter or fork so the butter and egg blend in with the dry ingredients well. Pat half of dough down into pan, reserve the remaining dough.
In another bowl combine the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir in the cut up fruit. Sprinkle fruit over the crust, sprinkle remaining dough over fruit.
Bake for 45 minutes or until lightly brown on top.
Cool before cutting into squares/bars.
Makes 12 large bars or 24 smaller squares.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Looking for other desserts to make with fruit? Try these Mini Blueberry Pies, Little Strawberry Cakes, or this Lemon Lime Cream Pie Recipe.
* it is ok if you do not have enough fruit, the bars will still turn out well.
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