A Pursuit of Healthy

First up the cheesy broccoli rice!

One-Pot Broccoli Cheese and Rice

Prep Time: 10 min. | Total Time: 45 min. | Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. butter (or you can use olive oil)
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup brown rice (here is the healthy swap!!!)
1 tsp. salt
2 cups water
1 medium head broccoli, florets only, finely chopped (or however you want them!)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions:
Melt the butter, or heat the oil, in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until they're translucent. Add in the garlic with the onion and saute for an additional 30 seconds or so.

Add the brown rice and stir around to coat in the butter and onions. I like to let it cook for a minute or 2 because I feel like it gets better flavor. Typically, I'll let it cook until I smell that awesome buttery nutty flavor. Try it, you'll know what I mean. If you're afraid of burning it, just let it cook about 1 minute. Add the salt and water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and let the brown rice cook for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, add in the chopped broccoli right on top of the rice, don't even bother stirring it. Cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. This time may be a bit longer if you chopped your broccoli into larger pieces. Turn off the heat and let it sit, covered, for an additional 5-10 minutes to steam that broccoli.

Remove the lid and stir the broccoli into the rice. Add the cheddar cheese and stir to get everything mixed together really well and melt the cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you think it needs it. I thought it needed it! Serve with a little extra cheddar cheese sprinkled on top! Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from here.



Next up the salmon! Even if you think you're not a fish person, try this. The sauce and breading really add a nice flavor and crunch to the fish, and I think takes away a lot of the fishy flavor. We both loved it! And a friend with a 2 year old came to eat with us and both of them liked it! Kid tested and approved, boom!

Panko Crusted Honey Mustard Salmon

Prep Time: 5 min. | Cook Time: 10 min. | Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 (6 oz) salmon fillets
1 1/2 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. honey
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, or about 1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra lemon for serving

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, or aluminum foil, and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, honey, and garlic. In a shallow dish mix together the bread crumbs, parsley and lemon zest. Drizzle olive oil over this mixture and toss around to evenly coat everything with the oil.

Working with one piece of the salmon at a time, brush the mustard mixture on one side of the salmon and then put that side face down into the breadcrumb mixture. While it's in the breadcrumbs, brush the other side with the mustard mixture and then turn over to coat with the breadcrumbs. Transfer to a baking dish and repeat with the other 3 salmon fillets.

Bake 13-15 minutes until salmon is cooked through. Serve warn with lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Recipes adapted from here.

I'm still getting used to the lighting in my new kitchen...sorry if my pictures suck for a bit.

I didn't have to do a ton of prep for this week since our menu is really pretty simple, but I did do a few things. First I hard-boiled a bowl full of eggs. I like to have some eggs ready for snacks or quick breakfasts when my husband has to run out the door. Cooking my eggs is super quick and simple because I have a nifty gadget! We received an Egg Genie as a wedding gift 6 years ago and we still use it. It perfectly cooks 7 hard-boiled eggs in minutes. I don't have to do a thing!

The next thing I did was to whip up some homemade ranch dressing to use as a veggie dip and salad dressing all week. If you've never made your own ranch, you really need to! The difference is amazing! And it's really not difficult at all. I follow Pioneer Woman's recipe, link here.


The flavor is so much better than store bought, but also I know exactly what went into it. There are no preservatives or fillers, and no extra sodium. It's just better all the way around. When it's made, I just pop it in a mason jar and into the fridge. I also cut up some carrots and celery. And yes, I'm one of those crazy people who cuts their own carrot sticks.


Having these veggies and dressing ready to go in the fridge ensures we'll have healthy snacks when we need them. It never fails that I'll study all day, starve and raid the fridge. I'm not alone in that though, a lot of times my husband gets so busy at work that he doesn't have the chance to eat all day, then comes home and eats whatever he sees. If I have better options readily available, chances are we'll both make better decisions!

Meal Planning Tip of the Week: Make a weekly theme night like Taco Tuesday or Pizza Friday. We're having both this week because we haven't had either in a while. Taco Tuesday is really simple and delicious, and a perfect weeknight meal. Pizza Friday just seems like an American thing to do. We make our own whole-wheat crust (I'm pretty sure I've shared that recipe on here before) which is enough for 2 pizzas. My husband really likes to help out when we make the pizza and makes a really delicious BBQ chicken pizza with red onion and cilantro. Then we make a big loaded supreme pizza with the second crust. I think theme nights can really help with the planning process because when you sit down to start your menu, you're not overwhelmed with a blank page and nowhere to begin. Give it a try and let me know what you decide to have each week with your family!