Family meals

3 DIY tortilla tricks: How to make your own taco shells, taco bowls and tortilla chips

Nifer — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:56:51 +0000

I love Mexican food—tacos with crispy shells, crunchy taco bowls and salty tortilla chips. But I could do without the extra calories, fat and sodium in the salty, often deep-fried tortillas served at many restaurants or the less-than-healthy packaged versions of these foods sold in the supermarket.

30-minute chicken Caesar salad wrap on the grill

Nifer — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:07:23 +0000

Does it ever occur to you to make Caesar salad at home? I never think of it until I’m at a restaurant and it suddenly looks like the best thing on the menu—especially with some grilled chicken on top (even if I have to pay extra for that).

With this recipe dreamed up by the EatingWell Test Kitchen, it’s not just the chicken that’s grilled—the romaine lettuce is too! (Another thing I’d never think of.) That lightly charred lettuce adds more delicious smokiness to the Caesar salad filling for this easy meal rolled up in a warmed spinach wrap.

Super-easy oven-barbecued chicken

Nifer — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:34:12 +0000

Unpredictability may spice up a marriage, sure—but predictability can be comforting without being boring. For instance, when my husband and I go out to eat, we can predict with a pretty high degree of accuracy what each other will order. If we’re out for Asian food he’ll go for spicy and garlicky—and I’m going to want sticky chicken with sesame seeds.

Don’t Miss: Sweet & Sour Chicken and More Better-Than-Chinese-Takeout Recipes

Easy DIY healthy chicken taco bowls

Nifer — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:53:50 +0000

How many meals can you make with a corn tortilla? The outside-the-box cooks in the EatingWell Test Kitchen gave themselves the challenge of creating a few new dinners based on corn tortillas for the May/June 2013 issue of EatingWell Magazine. But they really outdid themselves with this new Chicken Taco Bowls recipe and guess where they found their inspiration? At the bottom of a muffin tin.

How to make simple Taiwanese three-cup chicken on the stovetop

Nifer — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:57:58 +0000

I just have two questions about this chicken recipe: Why is it called “Three-Cup Chicken”? And can I please have it for dinner tonight? It has the Asian flavors I love: Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, fresh ginger and fresh basil. And lots of garlic: 12 cloves plus 1 tablespoon minced garlic. That’s why Kathy Gunst included it in her story “A Fresh Look at Garlic” in the March/April issue of EatingWell.

Crazy-healthy casserole: zucchini quinoa lasagna

Nifer — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:11:13 +0000

Quinoa is all the rage these days—and once you’ve made a few quinoa recipes, it’s not hard to see why. It cooks in 15 to 20 minutes, which means it is a truly convenient whole grain, and makes itself at home in lots of different kinds of recipes—soups, salads, casseroles, even desserts (Hello, quinoa blondies.)

Quick microwaved stuffed baked potatoes for a cheap dinner

Nifer — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:02:31 +0000

The scene: My kitchen. The time: Tonight, about 30 minutes before everyone melts down from starvation. The options: Join in the meltdown; scrounge around for enough money to order pizza; or do something special with those innocent-looking potatoes in the pantry. I bought them recently, thinking it would be a good idea to have potatoes in the house, just in case. And in this case, I can turn them into Asparagus & Ham Stuffed Potatoes in 30 minutes and turn dinner drama into a satisfying family meal. (At less than $3 per serving, it’s cheaper than pizza too.)

Quick, budget-friendly stovetop ziti (no chopping required!)

Nifer — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:02:45 +0000

I used to do my own taxes, but in the last few years, with the complications of kids in and out of college and so on, I (gratefully) handed everything over to a professional. I’ve just dropped off everything with her for last year’s taxes—and immediately resolved to get our spending under control. Starting with grocery shopping. My idea of shopping within a budget is typically to ask the budget to look the other way.

Set it & forget it: no-prep slow-cooker chicken pho soup

Nifer — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:01:40 +0000

Slow cookers seem to have a season. They’re used all fall and winter like a favorite down jacket, then tucked away once the crocuses start pushing up through the ground. But the best part about the slow cooker is that it’s convenient. And, surely, convenience has no season. Why pack it away just because it’s T-shirt weather?

Don't Miss: Spring Slow Cooker Recipes for Your Crock Pot

Whole-wheat Irish soda bread for a real Irish breakfast

Nifer — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:55:31 +0000

A few years ago we asked some of our favorite EatingWell contributors to share healthy breakfast recipes from their part of the world. Darina Allen—chef, cookbook author and director of the legendary Irish cooking school Ballymaloe in County Cork—sent us her recipe for Irish Soda Bread, with this letter:

How to make a healthy fried fish sandwich, without deep-frying

Nifer — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:01:18 +0000

Maybe you are like me: the very rare times you settle for fast food for dinner, you think you can at least make a healthier choice by ordering the fish sandwich. But it turns out that may not necessarily be better for you after all. Sure, fish on its own is healthy: low in fat and often high in omega-3 fats, which are good for your heart and your brain. The problem is, once fish gets deep-fried, slathered with tartar sauce, covered in cheese and piled onto a white bun, it becomes a calorie bomb.

6-ingredient fast & skinny one-pot jambalaya

Nifer — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:32:38 +0000

If you do a search for jambalaya recipes, you’re going to find more to choose from than you know what to do with. There are lots of great Cajun cooks out there—and lots of jambalaya recipes full of personal expression and ingredient lists as long as your arm. (What Makes Cajun Food So Great? Top Chefs Share Their Secrets.)

4-ingredient maple mustard salmon in 15 minutes

Nifer — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:42:39 +0000

With just 5 minutes of prep time and 4 ingredients, you can produce baked Maple-Mustard Salmon for dinner that’s ready to eat in 15 minutes. This super-easy, healthy dinner recipe features the earthiness of mustard, the smoky sweetness of pure maple syrup and smoky spiciness of a little smoked paprika, plus heart-healthy salmon, all baked fuss-free in the oven.

Must-Try: 20-Minute 5-Ingredient Dinner Recipes

Set it & forget it: slow-cooker stout & chicken stew

Nifer — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:49:57 +0000

Whether you want a healthy comforting weeknight dinner or a delicious stew to enjoy on the weekend (say while you’re watching the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens in the upcoming Super Bowl!), a warming bowl of slow-cooked chicken stew with stout fits the bill with two of America’s favorites: chicken and beer.

Budget-friendly and healthy quick pasta bolognese

Nifer — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:08:01 +0000

So here we are in January—it’s cold outside and yet we’re trying not to crank the thermostat too high inside because the holiday bills are coming due and suddenly we’re not feeling all that flush. (Guess we’ll have to keep wearing those Christmas sweaters to stay warm.)