Our Dinner > Your Dinner

Last night I tried two new sides with dinner - cheddar bay biscuits & roasted zucchini and squash. (These are also the recipes below) We also had homemade garlic mashed potatoes and pork chops. It was a night full of delish comfort food. I don't usually make dinners this big, but my husband wasn't feeling the best at work so I figured what is better than to come home to a nice big 'comfort' meal.

Now onto our dinner.....

Pork Chops
Nothing special here. I actually over did them and almost made a new food called pork chop jerky. I am not a big meat eater at all. So learning to cook meats correctly is a constant challenge for me. At times its perfect and then times like last night - I totally over cooked them. Ya live and learn right?

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
These turned out awesome. We always make homemade mashed potatoes and never used the boxed. They are so much better than the fake flakes. My husband actually makes the best garlic mashed potatoes I have ever had and no matter how I try to recreate them they are just never as good as his.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits
(aka Red Lobster Biscuits)
This is the second time I have tried to make these. The first time was a complete fail. They were so dry and icky tasting. It was completely my fault though. The main ingredient is Bisquick mix. I cannot stress to you how important it is to have exactly that brand. When I tried making it the first time I didnt have any. So I googled what was in bisquick mix and we tried remaking it. Complete fail. The only way to go is to have the correct ingredient in this case. Now that I used the right stuff I cannot believe how amazing these biscuits are considering how ridiculously easy they are to make. These are a new favorite in our house for sure. 

Ingredients
Makes 9 biscuits

2 cups Bisquick mix (must be Bisquick)
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees 
- Mix Bisquick, milk, and cheese in a medium bowl for about 30 seconds until it becomes a soft dough. 
- Drop dough by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. (I used our ice cream scoop)
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. 
- A couple of minutes before the biscuits are done put your butter and garlic in a microwave safe bowl and melt.
- When biscuits are done brush the garlic butter over the warm biscuits.
- Serve warm (trust me and try not to burn them as soon as they are brushed - they will burn your mouth :))

These.Are.Amazing.

Roasted Veggies

I found this great recipe for roasted veggies on The Gracious Pantry website. These were pretty good tasting, but I did make one big mistake. I cut the veggies to thin, which meant they got a little too soggy after sitting out for about 15 minutes. If I would have made them the correct thickness they would have been amazing(er). 

The recipe below calls for 4 zucchini and 2 squash. I only used one of each as only my husband and I eat these. Our daughter hasn't learned to like these yet. I think next time I will still use one squash but 2 zucchini. This is because you get more 'cuts' out of the squash and less on the zucchini. Since I didn't use the same amount of veggies, I also just sprinkled the seasoning by using my judgement.

Clean Eating Roasted Summer Squash

(Makes approximately 6 servings)

Ingredients:
4 large zucchini 2 large yellow squash 2 teaspoons Garlic powder1/2 teaspoon PepperOlive oil – In an oil sprayer1/8 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Chop your squash into large, chunky slices about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness.
3. Spray a cookie sheet with a light coat of olive oil.
4. Line up your squash slices like little soldiers. Don’t worry about leaving any space between them. They’ll cook just fine scrunched together.
5. Spray a very light coat of olive oil over the top of the squash.
6. Sprinkle your spices, including the parmesan over the squash.
7. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes, or until they have a very light golden hue to them, and you can easily push a fork through them.
8. Allow to cool slightly and serve.