Category Archives: 30 minute meals or less

BLTA Hot Dogs

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 8 April, 2014 None comments

As you’ve learned by all my hot dog recipes, I love to try new things with them. Basically I took all the ingredients I LOVE and compiled them together to make this incredible meal.

Who doesn’t love BACON, LETTUCE, TOMATO, AVOCADO, AND HOT DOGS!?!?!?!?!?!

This meal was so incredible my husband was actually shocked by the look of it. He couldn’t believe he was about to eat hot dogs and bacon together in this delicious tortilla wrap!

For the Sauce:

¾ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup relish
2 tbsp ketchup
1 ½ tbsp hot & sweet mustard

Mix sauce together in a small bowl.

Add Relish

Add Ketchup

Add Mustard

Mix together and set aside.

BLTA Dogs:

4-6 polish dogs
4-6 tortillas
1 onion, chopped
a avocado, sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped
4-6 slices of bacon
Shredded cheese for topping (optional)

Meanwhile, slice hot dogs lengthwise and broil 2 minutes and flip. Broil another 2 minutes.

After the hot dogs are broiled, broil bacon until fully cooked to your desired crispness.

Place a tortilla on a broiling pan with cheese (add bacon if it was previously made and now cold; this helps it heat up)

I broiled it for 2 minutes until nice and crispy.

Add toppings: tomato, spinach (lettuce), avocado, and sauce mixture.

Fold up and eat! Can be messy but you wont complain once you bite into it!

For less crispy, you can roll up like a burrito, but I like the added crunch. If making for lunch for your wonderful husbands the following day to take to work with them, the less crispy way is easier to send them with.

MMMM enjoy!

Homemade Combination Pizza

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 4 April, 2014 None comments

I made one of the best pizzas the other night. Michael and I loved it. It was not a deep dish pizza but kind of. The crust was thick and moist with great flavor.

I must convince you all to make your own crust especially this recipe as you can freeze it and have it on hand for those nights you don’t have time for dinner or simply want a movie night with pizza and popcorn.

Baking your own crust is extremely healthy compared to all the pizza crusts out there and restaurants that add multiple ingredients and chemicals to get a desired taste. My recipe is easy, healthy and flavorful. It even has a sweetness in it from the honey. Get my crust recipe here: Pizza-Crust

Ingredients:

Already made pizza-crust, uncooked
½ lb sausage
9 oz pepperoni
Red sauce (I used Trader Joes Basil Parmesan pasta sauce)
Chopped olives
Sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups cheese

Place risen pizza crust in a greased 9×13 pan. The dough should be firm enough that you can pick it up and mold it to the shape of your pan.

Top with red sauce.

Sprinkle sauce with 1 cup cheese and pepperoni.

Meanwhile cook sausage until fully cooked.

Spread on top of pepperoni.

Add olives, mushrooms and *onions.

*If you have a couple extra minutes sauté onions with 1 tsp sugar to caramelize and give added flavor. This simple step changes the taste entirely. :)

Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes or until crust is fully cooked in the middle of the pan.

Enjoy with a good fresh salad to get your vegetable serving in for the day and to make yourself feel good about your dinner choice with your healthy crust.

Seafood Alfredo

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 27 March, 2014 None comments

After our lovely Costco Trip I made a yummy seafood pasta dish for dinner the following night. Boy was it AMAZING! My husband absolutely couldn’t stop talking about it. He loved the white sauce and acted as if I have never made this dish before. I was grateful for his happiness but was beyond concerned why he thought it tasted so much better than previously. (I am choosing to believe it’s because our family has been deprived of good food since I refused to shop until our Costco trip)

So here is the delicious recipe my husband can’t stop talking about:

Ingredients:

1 lb mushrooms, sliced
½ lb asparagus, chopped
½ lb tofu (omit if you do not prefer)
1 lb large shrimp
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 lb linguine pasta
Cream sauce ingredients click on recipe below

For cream Sauce:

Click here for recipe

De-tail the shrimp and cut tofu. Set shrimp aside.

In a large saucepan add mushrooms, asparagus and tofu. Begin cooking on medium heat.

Once they begin to cook, add seasoning and shrimp. Cook until no longer pink.

Remove from heat and add creamy sauce.

Meanwhile cook pasta according to package instructions and toss all together.

Serve with garlic bread and Caesar salad.

Simple White Sauce

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 March, 2014 None comments

Simple White Sauce is an easy recipe for any pasta dish you make that deserves a good white creaminess.
I made this tonight and Michael acted as if I’ve never made it before. :) Even after our sweets for the night he couldn’t stop talking about the sauce.
Tonight I made Seafood Alfredo with ceaser salad. It was quite tasty and even Cooper who hasn’t been eating partook in this meal as well. Made my soul happy.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups milk
2 tsp garlic salt
1-2 tsp Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan add cream cheese and butter and begin to melt on low heat.

Once half melted, add minced garlic.

When fully melted add milk and simmer on low heat, whisking to get any remaining lumps.

Add garlic salt, paprika, salt and pepper.

Mix with any pasta dish and enjoy!

Hot Dog Hash

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 7 March, 2014 None comments

Hot Dog Hash is delightful to any age and any mouth that is a picky eater. This is great for breakfast/brunch or dinner. It also makes for a great camping meal, simply wrap in foil and cook over the fire.

Ingredients:

8 hot dogs
4 large potatoes
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, diced
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Dijon mustard

Cook hot dogs to your preference. Once cooked, slice hot dogs open and place in a glass dish. Broil for 3 minutes or until crispy.

Meanwhile, add diced potatoes to a skillet and sauté for 4 minutes and add mushrooms, apple and onions along with seasoning and continue cooking until done, reaching desired crispness for the potatoes.

Once cooked, top with mozzarella cheese.

Spoon into a serving bowl and top with open faced hot dog and Dijon mustard.

As you have seen by previous hot dog dishes, I attempt to do something extraordinary for my hot dogs rather then always eating them with a bun. So delicious and puts the right spin on a hot dog meal.

Check out my other recipes here:

Bacon-Wrapped-Hot-Dogs

Tasty-Dogs

Chicken Quesadilla

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 25 February, 2014 None comments

Okay so this is NOT your ordinary quesadilla. It’s down right delicious and we couldn’t stop eating them. They are SO delightful and filled our hungry tummies last night when we got home from “shopping.” I use that word lightly as when shopping with a toddler and a husband who hates malls is never an enjoyable experience. Shopping to me is beyond enjoyable and I could shop most everyday. But lets be honest, I rarely shop these days as Cooper becomes quite the terror running all around, pulling hangers from the rack, and hiding below so I get that panicked feeling that those 2 seconds I blinked, he disappeared. He is quite the runner now-a-days that I can’t even blink while out and about with him.

Last night we were at Nordstrom shopping for some new clothing for my husband and definitely new shoes as his are letting water in and getting his little tootsies soaked to the bone. I couldn’t figure out if this statement was actually true as we waded through puddles to get indoors or if it was an excuse for new kicks. :) (If you live in Portland, you know we are far from a drought!)

We scored fabulous deals and he got lots of goodies for a reasonable price. He hates shopping and decided to get anything and everything at once so he could be done. He didn’t try on anything as for the most part, we are good at guess-timating his size. We returned home around 7:30 and had to feed Coop real quick and get the sick boy off to bed.

I premade the vegetable mix knowing we were going to be out later. This helped the dinner progress a lot faster. I pulled out our griddle and was able to make 5-6 halves at a time in the midst of all the chaos.

We ate quickly as by 8pm our tummies were grumbling beyond belief.

Ingredients:

6 tortillas
1 ½ cup cooked chicken, diced
½ can diced chilies
1 can black beans
1 cup shredded cheese
½ cup chicken broth
1 tbsp flour, cornstarch (for thickening)
1 red pepper, chopped (I use the mini peppers and do a combination of red, yellow and orange)
1 small onion, chopped

Cook chicken until no longer pink. Season as desired. Set aside.

Chop peppers and onions and begin to sauté over medium-low heat. Once tender, add in cooked chicken and chilies.

Add 1 tbsp flour and mix well to coat all the vegetables and chicken.

Add in chicken broth and let simmer until it thickens. Roughly 3 minutes.

Add in black beans and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.

On a griddle fill each tortilla with mixture and hold over. Let cook until light brown and crispy. Rotate sides and crisp up both sides.

Serve with salsa, sour cream and avocados.

Enjoy! Probably the best quesadillas I’ve ever made!

Beef Yakisoba

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 18 February, 2014 None comments

This is my first attempt to make yakisoba. I attempted rice noodles awhile ago and absolutely hated them. I’ve avoided making yakisoba for that exact reason. Tonight I decided to be brave and make this meal but using Top Roman noodles. No seasoning packet as they are entirely unhealthy and have nothing to do with this dish so to speak, but I figured I would try this route and ease my anxiety about cooking with rice noodles again.

As the night progressed we decided this recipe would be great without noodles and as a simple stir fry. We had a yakisoba noodle free night and the following day for leftovers I added the noodles. Both were delicious. Although I am obsessed with carbs that I preferred the noodles. My husband on the other hand is a carb hater for the most part and preferred his leftovers as is.

My husband cooked the beef as I think he believes this makes him more “manly.” :) Ha, he’d die if he knew I just said that to ya’ll.

Instructions are below. If you have time to let the meat marinade do so overnight. Otherwise allow for a couple hours to sit in the juices before cooking.

Stir Fry:

1 tbsp sesame oil
½ head of Red Cabbage
Brussels Sprouts
1 yellow onion
1 Red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 lb fresh green beans
2 Carrots

Chop all vegetables except green beans and place in the Wok with sesame oil, set aside. Meanwhile prepare your sauce.

Sauce:

¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp sriacha sauce
1 tbsp sugar
Garlic salt
Salt and pepper

In a small bowl combine all ingredients and set aside.

Beef Marinade:

2 Garlic clove, minced
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sriacha (optional, if you want a little spice)
¼ tsp Red Pepper flakes

In a ziplock bag add beef (tenderloin, sirloin, rib-eye cut into stir fry strips), garlic, soy and Worcestershire sauce, sriacha, and red pepper flakes. Close tightly and let sit over night or if you are making for tonight’s dinner let marinade for 2-3 hours; overnight is best.

Cooking the Delicious Meal:

Heat Wok on medium heat and begin to cook to desired tenderness; I prefer a bit of a crunch to sautéed vegetables.

While the vegetables are cooking, place meat and partial marinade into a fry pan and cook to desired color or lack thereof if you prefer well-done.

2-3 minutes before your vegetables are finished cooking, add sauce and the cooked meat. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes to soak up the flavors.

*If serving over rice noodles follow directions on package. If using Roman noodles, bring water to a boil and boil roman noodles for 2-3 minutes making sure not to overcook. Toss in the Wok and mix well.

My husband took the liberty to chop some mixed nuts to top our yakisoba with. It actually was very delightful.

Sausage Bean Burritos

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 9 February, 2014 None comments

What’s for dinner tonight? This 30 minute meal is pretty healthy and brings Mexican food to a whole new level. Okay maybe not, but this meal is simple, easy and very tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients:

1 lb spicy sausage
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
1 ½ cup chopped tomatoes
½ cup green pepper, chopped
1 can olives, chopped
1 cup salsa
1 ¾ cup cooked rice (I use Spanish rice)
6 whole wheat tortillas

Toppings:

Cheese
Salsa
Sour cream

Cook sausage and onion together. Once the meat is almost cooked add green peppers. Add black beans, tomatoes, and olives. Heat through. Stir in rice and 1 cup salsa. Spread on tortillas and sprinkle with cheese and sour cream.

Freezes well if you have too many leftovers to try and tackle.

Goes good with nachos for an alternative leftover meal.

Meatball Subs

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 6 February, 2014 None comments

For some reason I have been CRAVING meatball subs and not just your typical meatball sub but the unhealthy version. For some reason I have really wanted Subways meatball sub and I honestly can’t tell you why. But…..since I try to avoid eating out as homemade meals are healthier for you and all around simply taste better, I chose to make my own for tonight.

Now what I mean by unhealthy meatball subs is that I want everything on them as subway provides; mayo, cheese, pickles, lettuce and onions. Mmmmm makes me salivate just thinking about it. I have the bread baking as we speak and the crockpot simmering while I simply wait for dinner time to approach. The snow is falling in the back ground as it is an extremely cold day and our snow storm has finally hit. :)

There are two ways you can make meatball subs and honestly both are great. The first exciting way is the way I prepared them tonight, already prepared meatballs and homemade sauce (you can use prepared sauce but frankly I don’t like the taste). Sounds easy right? Well it is! :) The second way they can be served up is with homemade meatballs and homemade sauce. I’ve done both but for a quick dinner in the crockpot I make my own spaghetti sauce and added the meatballs. Let them simmer all day on low and served over my homemade English muffin bread (click here for recipe). Kind of like an open face sandwich.

This versatile meal helps in a pinch when you are not sure what to make but know everyone will enjoy.

If making your own meatballs and sauce follow the directions below beginning with the meatballs as they take longer.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 16oz can olives, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes
8oz fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 cups water
1 tbsp. Parsley
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp Oregano
3 tsp garlic salt
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of Paprika
3/4 tsp sugar (to taste, but add a little at a time as you can’t undo the sweetness)

In a fry pan add a little EVOO and cherry tomatoes and begin to cook on medium heat. Meanwhile chop onions and add them to the tomatoes.

When the tomatoes begin to burst add the mushrooms.

Add a small palm full of sugar to help caramelize the onions a bit.

Once tomatoes fully burst add olives and transfer to crockpot.

Add tomato paste and water. Mix well and add parsley, Italian seasoning, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic salt and a 1/2 tsp sugar. Mix well, taste and decide if the remaining 1/4 tsp of sugar needs to be added.

Let simmer for 4-6 hours in crockpot on low heat.

Meatballs (if making your own):

1 lb ground turkey or beef
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup soda crackers, finely crumbled
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Begin chopping the onions and crumbled the crackers. Set aside.

In a large bowl or kitchen aid mixture combine raw meat, with remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile use a cookie scoop to form your meatballs and place on a rimmed, foil-lined baking sheet OR if you don’t have a cookie scoop you can lay foil on your cookie sheet and spread out the meat until fully flattened; about 1 inch thick. Take a butter knife and lightly cut 1 inch squares and form into balls. My mom taught me this trick as it’s easier to do rather than dig into the bowl and get extremely messy trying to make all your balls uniform.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink. Place in the crockpot and cover with the sauce from above and let simmer on low for a couple hours to help soak up all the flavors.

When serving, butter your bread and/or rolls and broil until lightly crispy. Place meatballs and sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese and broil for another 1-2 minutes until cheese is fully melted and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Everyday Chicken

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 3 February, 2014 None comments

The other night I was unsure what to make for dinner as this thought often comes across my head. I am trying to cater our eating to more basics and hoping to be a titch more healthy.

While making dinner I allowed Cooper to play on the counter top in our glass cupboard as he loves to organize his cups and put straws in each and every glass. He could play here for hours and often does when I allow it. :)

Lately, as you all know I have been addicted to salads with all the yummy toppings my mama had got me hooked on at Christmas. This has been beneficial for us to get our veggies for the day as well as our green smoothies. Trying to get back to the basics as we don’t eat unhealthfully but not enough veggies and fruit. Tonights dinner was back to the basics, salad, quinoa rice blend and chicken.

I made two types of chicken dishes, here’s the first method:

Ingredients:

2-4 chicken thighs (breasts work great too)
¾ cup mustard (I used hot and sweet mustard and Dijon mixed)
1 tbsp red vinegar
Dash of salt and pepper
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Lay chicken in a 8×8 greased pan. Season with 1 tsp of each: parsely, garlic salt and Italian seasining. In a small bowl mix everything together except parmesan cheese and spread atop chicken. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Mustard mixture

Ready to bake!

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink.

Second Method:

Ingredients:

2-4 chicken thighs or breasts
¾ cup mayo
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic salt
4 tsp parsley
1 tsp Itallian seasoning
Fresh Parmesan cheese

In another 8×8 greased pan lay the chicken. Season chicken with 1 tsp of each: parsley, garlic salt and Italian seasoning. In a small bowl mix together mayo along with remaining seasonigns except parmesan cheese. Spread on top of the chicken and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.