Three Easy Meals For When You're Too Tired To Cook: Part 1

As promised: more documenting, and a not-so-heavy post.

I love to cook. I find it really relaxing and I feel much happier after a meal if it's come from fresh food instead of a box or a fast food place. The problem though, is that cooking can be really time consuming.

Only about once or twice during the week do I spend any real time on dinner (as in over half an hour getting things ready). Other than that I try to get food on the table within about twenty minutes. This can be difficult if you're trying to stay away from instant meals like Mac & Cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches- basically anything with dairy in it- why must cheese be so delicious? Scott and I both don't do well with dairy. I become a bloated pig for the next day and Scotty breaks out like a pubescent teen.

So here are my favourite sugar-free, dairy-free, and worry-free meals that we make.

I actually don't know the name of this dish, but my sister made it for me once and it was DELICIOUS- so let's call it peppers and chicken haha. I tried to recreate it the next day (that's how good it was) but I only used what I could remember. I have realized this dish is basically foolproof. I've thrown whatever I feel like in with it and it has always turned out great. The other great part? It requires little to no cooking-in-front-of-a-hot-stove-sweating-to-death kind of preparation and everything is fresh.

One way I cut out a lot of cooking time is I cook my chicken breasts at the beginning of the week. Then I can quickly grab one out of the fridge and put it on a frying pan for a few minutes if needs be. It saves SO much time. Also, this is a great recipe for if you're like me and you buy bell peppers constantly and then forget to use them.

Well, let's get to it!


Peppers and Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 2-4 chicken breasts cooked and sliced (Scott and I easily go through two)
• 5-6 bell peppers sliced (We usually use 3 for just the two of us)
• Half a red onion chopped
• 1 jalapeño, seeded

Combine those in a bowl and let them sit. I have added banana peppers instead of jalapeño and my sister adds olives instead of jalapeño. Some other time maybe I'll post on when you should use certain kinds of onions. Once you know what kind to use, it will change your meals for the better!

Sauce:

• Quarter cup of red wine vinegar (I usually use less than this)
• Quarter cup of olive oil (I use less oil too)
• 1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar (I double it because I have a weird addiction to balsamic vinegar)
• 1-2 teaspoons of chili flakes
• 2 cloves of garlic (I press mine- I love my garlic press!!)

Mix those together and pour over the the first half. Let it sit for a few minutes to soak up the juices. 

Right before serving dice up two tomatoes and mix them in. Salt and pepper to taste.

I have served it with baguettes or buns to dip in the juice and it's delicious, but if you're trying to stay away from bread it's delicious all on its own! The chicken really soaks up the flavour and the peppers are a yummy crunch. 

Enjoy!

Can we just laugh at this picture for a second? I actually made this recipe the other day, and I was so hungry I didn't think to take a picture. For some reason I feel like a recipe needs a picture... Pixlr skills to the rescue!