baked

Greek Chicken and Veggies Sheet Pan Dinner

My goal for the summer is to spend the least amount of time possible in the kitchen and the perfect way to accomplish that is to cook meals that require me not standing around the stove! Sheet pan dinners are perfect for this!

Now this meal did require some prep but you can cut down by not marinating the chicken ahead of time or preparing during a weekly meal prep. Let’s cook!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken tenders and thighs to cut down on cooking time. If you use larger pieces or skin cook for an extra 20-25 minutes or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees)
1 cup Greek Vinaigrette (I used Ken’s)
2-3 tablespoons of oregano
2-3 tablespoons of garlic salt
2-3 tablespoons of all purpose seasoning (I used Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute but Italian seasoning can work here as well)
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
8-10 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 lemon
1-2 cups zucchini sliced into coins
1-2 cups yellow squash sliced into coins
1-2 cups of yellow potatoes quartered

Directions:

Place chicken in bowl and add 1/3 of olive oil, 1/3 cup of Greek vinaigrette, 1/3 of minced garlic, 1/3 garlic salt, 1/3 oregano, 1/3 all purpose seasoning & 1/3 red onion. Add juice of 1/2 lemon. Add all of red wine vinegar. Mix until chicken is coated and set aside to marinate for at least one hour. When ready to cook, pre heat oven to 400. As a shortcut I pre-cooked my potatoes only in the microwave for 3 minutes so they would be fork tender. In another bowl add potatoes and 1/3 of Greek vinaigrette, oil, seasonings, garlic and red onion. Mix to coat and add to sheet pan sprayed with oil. Repeat with zucchini and squash in same bowl and then add to sheet pan. Add juice of the other half of the lemon over veggies. Cook in oven for 45-50 minutes or chicken reaches internal temp of 165 then (you may want to check and turn the chicken and veggies about 20 minutes into baking). Set oven on broil and broil for 5-8 minutes. I garnished with crumbled feta cheese, kalamata olives, and banana pepper rings. Then dinner is done!!!

The flavors of this meal were amazing and we all enjoyed it. It was even better the next day as leftovers. We will definitely add this to the rotation. Make sure you check out my reels on Instagram to see how I made this!

Love Ricki

Stuffed Mushrooms

Browsing thru the aisles of Aldi Saturday I found some beautiful looking Portabella mushrooms and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them…stuffed mushrooms! This was a recipe I use to make early in my keto/low carb journey and I figured I would share it with y’all because it’s easy & delicious! I used shrimp for my protein but you can use anything. I’ve even used breakfast sausage before (just prepare it separately and add to stuffing mixture). Let’s cook!

Ingredients:

4 Portabella mushroom caps, medium to large in size. Remove stems but don’t throw away, they will be used in our filling!
Half a block of cream cheese
Half a bag of fresh spinach
Shrimp or protein of choice
2-3 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup each of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese plus additional for sprinkling over our mushrooms
1-2 tbsp of butter
1-2 cloves of garlic minced
Seasonings- I used garlic salt, Italian seasoning, ranch and garlic and onion powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add softened cream cheese to bowl and set aside. Heat saucepan on medium and add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Add spinach and sauté. Chop stems from mushrooms and add to pan sautéing til cooked. Push spinach and mushrooms to cooler side of pan and add 1 tbsp of butter. Add shrimp. If using any other protein I would suggest you cook ahead and add to pan to warm, shrimp takes minutes to cook so that’s why I did it this way. Once shrimp is cooked add garlic and seasoning and mix all together. Added that mixture to the cream cheese. Add cheeses and mix thoroughly. Taste mixture and see if more seasoning is needed. Place Portabella caps in a baking dish. You don’t want to use a sheet pan because the mushrooms will release liquid while cooking and you will have a mess! Place mushrooms in dish gill side up and sprinkle with olive oil and garlic salt. Add filling and top with more shredded cheese. Place in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. You will have liquid in your baking dish after baking, you can take an extra step to transfer the mushrooms onto a sheet pan and place under a broiler for 3 minutes but it’s optional. We don’t mind, they still turn out yummy!

You know it’s good if the kids ask you to make this! And don’t limit yourself, this is a recipe where you can get creative and add more veggies such as peppers or different cheeses or proteins! I plan on making this more often on my keto/low carb journey!

As always if you make this tag me on Instagram @severalpeoplesmama I enjoy looking at what y’all cook!

Love Ricki

Stuffed Chicken

Hey y’all this recipe is delicious but it is also special. A friend/co-worker shared this with me almost 10 years ago. She made it for our team at work and when I asked her how to make it she wrote out the recipe for me. Now you already know people don’t like to share their stuff sometimes but she did it with no problem and also gave me a cake recipe which I will be sharing with y’all in the future. But the real reason this recipe is so special is sadly my former coworker passed away in 2017. But she will live on in my heart and I think about her generosity every time I make it! I truly hope you make this and share with your friends and family because I know she would have wanted that.

Ingredients:

Chicken- Note: I normally use Chicken breast but they weren’t on sale (I feed six ppl who all eat like adults) so this was my very first time trying it with chicken thighs and I’ll never go back to breasts! I prefer boneless skinless but the bone is fine just pull off the skin.
Chopped onions, bell peppers and mushrooms
Olive oil
Seasonings of your choice
Dry ranch dressing seasoning
Worcestershire Sauce
Shredded Italian cheese mix
Frozen spinach, cook it in the microwave and squeeze out excess water
8 oz block of cream cheese

Directions:

Sauté your onions, bell peppers and mushrooms in olive oil or butter

While your veggies soften mix up your cream cheese and spinach. If you forgot to take out your cream cheese earlier like me then pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so with the spinach and that will make it soft and easy to mix.

Now add the softened veggies and cheese to the spinach and cream cheese and mix together. Add the dry ranch seasoning. Season to taste with your spices of choice. I used garlic powder, Tony’s, black pepper and onion powder.

Set your oven to 350 degrees and in a large frying pan on about medium high heat place in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil or oil of your choice.
Set your mixture aside and wash your chicken. Now I know washing chicken can be controversial but it’s what I do. Do what you do and we won’t have any issues.
Cut a small slit in your chicken. It doesn’t have to be real deep and PLEASE don’t cut yourself. You just want to make a pocket to put the stuffing in. Season your chicken.

Stuff your chicken with the mixture and then set aside until you’ve stuffed each one. Don’t try to overstuff because you will have stuffing left over. Don’t worry, my family doesn’t let me waste food so we will use it!

Now I place each piece in the pan to sear and brown. This sears in the juices and also I don’t like light chicken. It is just not appetizing. Put some brown on that chicken so I know it’s real!!!
Also don’t worry about the stuffing coming out. Just use your tongs and stick it back in. Or leave it out. I wouldn’t but you are an adult so you make that decision.

After you have browned the chicken place it in the baking pan. Pour the leftover stuffing over the chicken. Told you we would use it! Bake for about an hour. You may need more time if you used breasts as those are bigger pieces. I encourage you to try the thighs though because they were so juicy and tender! Chicken is done at 165 degrees but if your seasoned like me you know to just cut it open in the biggest part to check lol.

And you’re done!!! I served this with roasted potatoes and a salad but I just had the salad because I am not eating carbs (sad face). This dish is Keto and Low Carb friendy for all my people trying to lose weight in the new year like me! No judgment! I hope you try this and make sure you share this post so my friend’s generosity can live on thru her recipe.

Love Ricki

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Enjoy this easy and quick meal any day of the week!

So when I first shared this recipe on my Instagram stories (@rickiloves) a few weeks back it was going down in my DMs! Finally I was able to make it again so I can share it with you all! Please let me know if you make it and I hope you enjoy!

You’ll need:

Ground meat (I used about 2lbs)

Taco seasoning

Ranch dressing seasoning (not pictured)

Salsa or Picante Sauce (It’s a TX thing!)

Enchilada Sauce

1 block of cream cheese

Jumbo Shells

Colby Jack or Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese

Fixins (toppings like sour cream, guacamole, etc)

Directions:

Cook ground meat in a skillet and season with taco and ranch dressing seasonings while you boil the jumbo shells
Add block of cream cheese and mix thoroughly
After Shells have finished cooking drain, rinse with cold water and let cool.
Pour salsa or picante sauce in the bottom of a pan (I used the pan I make lasagna in) until the bottom is complete covered
Take cooled shells and stuff with ground beef mixture and add to pan over the salsa.
After the pan is filled pour can of enchilada sauce over the shells. Top with cheese.
Bake covered with foil in oven set on 350 degrees for 15-20 mins then remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted thru.

I topped mine with fresh cilantro and served it with fixins and charro beans!

This is an easy and quick recipe that is a different twist on Stuffed shells and my family loves it. I have included the link for the video I used for this recipe below because she gives great tips on how to freeze it. Give this meal a try and make two so you can freeze one for later because you WILL want to eat it again!

Love Ricki

Easy Garlic Lemon Trout

So I did an Instagram live a few weeks back where I showed how I made my trout for an easy light dinner and I got so many messages asking for a recipe! So I decided to make it again (and my family definitely didn’t mind) and write a blog post. I initially started eating trout by mistake, I thought I had bought salmon (#seasonedwomanproblems) but it turns out we prefer trout because it is lighter in taste and less fishy. You can definitely use this recipe with salmon tho!

Ingredients:

Trout

Olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer)

Butter (I use salted)

Lemon juice or fresh lemons

2-3 garlic cloves or minced garlic from the jar

Seasonings of your choice: I used Tony Cacheres, montreal chicken seasoning, garlic powder, New Orleans style seafood (from Dollar Tree, if you see it, get it!), and garlic salt

Directions:

Pour about 2-3 tablespoons of oil all over the fish and rub in.

Season fish with seasonings (1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of each seasoning) of choice and rub into the fish along with minced garlic.

Cut lemon and pour juice over the fish. Make sure you get all you can out that lemon. Tip: you can either roll a lemon with your hand a few times to warm it up or place it in the microwave for about 10-15 secs and you will be able to squeeze more juice out.

Cut up butter I used about 3/4 a stick and place pats of butter all over the fish. Also take a lemon and cut up in slices and place on the fish.

Put in oven on 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes then turn on the broiler and broil fish for about 2-3 minutes (Don’t leave watch closely so you don’t burn it!) When it comes out the oven you may notice some black specs don’t worry that’s just the butter it’s perfectly normal.

Your fish should look like this!

Serve with a starch (we like roasted red potatoes or rice) and a salad or green beans! When I’m on my Keto diet I will just eat it with a salad.

Hope you enjoy and if you try it please let me know!!!

Love Ricki