The Wallace Word: For your taste buds...

So I've promised to post a few of my recipes (that I blogged about during my suzy homemaker maternity leave days...), and it's time to get to that!
First, we have Sweet and Spicy Glazed Salmon with Toasted Orzo and Crispy Broccoli - yum, yum!
For the salmon, you'll need:
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons Chinese-style hot mustard
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- cooking spray
- salt and pepper

And of course you need the salmon fillets. The recipe calls for 4 (6 oz) fillets, but since it's the two of us I usually do 2 fillets that are a little larger instead, so it all evens out.

First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Combine the first four ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Place the fish on a foil-lined pan sprayed with cooking spray. (I like to pinch the edges of the foil up so it's less messy if you have a good amount of sauce.) Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper and bake at 425 for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Turn on the broiler. Brush sugar mixture evenly over salmon (or if you don't have a brush you can evenly spoon it over). Put on top shelf of oven and broil for 3 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Toasted Orzo:

- 2 tablespoons light butter

- 1 cup of uncooked orzo pasta

- 1 can or 14.5 oz of chicken broth

Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned (you can also use olive oil here). Stir in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. I garnished it with a little bit of basil (as in the kind in the ol' spice rack).

And the broccoli is so simple - just take your normal amount of broccoli that you would steam for you or your fam, and cut off the tops as you would normally do (you love my eloquent cooking terms, right?), but in smaller/thinner pieces. Preheat the oven to 350 and spread the broccoli out on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil (or EVOO, as Rachel Ray would say), and sprinkle some sea salt and fresh ground pepper on the broccoli florets. Bake for 25-30 minutes (you can even broil the last couple of minutes, for an extra crisp, but watch closely)! It is literally like the french-fry version of broccoli, but sooo much better (AND better for you)!

And ta-da! There you have it! You can always sub out the orzo for a sweet potato, too - so versatile! :)

And now for the Roasted Tomato, Honey, and Balsamic Chicken (which I serve with sauteed spinach and pearled garlic and olive oil couscous)!

You will need:

- 1 pint grape tomatoes

- 1 tablespoon honey

- 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

- 4 (6 oz) boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (although I only do 3, b/c that's how they're packaged around here! And we just save one for a leftover meal.)

- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- cooking spray

- balsamic vinaigrette salad spritzer (I used Ken's - awesome!)

Preheat oven to 450.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; place tomato mixture on a foil-lined pan. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until tomato skins burst and begin to wrinkle, stirring once. Transfer tomatoes to a bowl, scraping juices into bowl. Stir 1/4 teaspoon salt into tomato mixture. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Place chicken on individual plates; coat each breast half with 2 to 3 sprays of balsamic spritzer. Spoon tomatoes evenly over chicken.

My picture is crappy, but this dish is oh-so-delish!

I'm assuming you all know how to make sauteed spinach (just a little olive oil, S&P, and spinach), and as for the couscous - you've gotta try the Near East varieties - we love this pearled garlic and olive oil!

And both of these meals are inexpensive to make, too! BONUS!!! :) And speaking of cheap eats, I figured I'd share my thrifty accomplishment of cooking dinner for 4 for $12.34 last week! I checked out the deals at Publix and made the old favorite, Poppy Seed Chicken, along with salad, for next to nothing! I know that recipe is all over the place, and for good reason, but I was uber proud of myself. :)

And of course I couldn't have done it without my faithful sous chef, Harley, by my side...

...willing to loyally lick up any mishaps headed her way.

Tough job, right? :)

And last but not least, I got a few requests to share the key lime recipe from yesterday. I have to give the credit to my mother-in-law first of all, and secondly, you can't tell the sweet souls that enjoy your creation how SIMPLE it is.

Deal?

Deal.

You only need:

- 1 graham cracker crust (you can use this plain, or as the directions on the crust label say, you can also brush it with a beaten egg and bake it for 5 minutes - I have to admit that I prefer the golden brown crisp of this 5-minute-extra-effort)

- 1 frozen can of limeade (I use Minute Maid)

- 1 can of condensed milk (not to be confused with evaporated milk, which I used the first time I ever made it...FAIL.)

- 1 small tub of Cool Whip

Okay, are you ready for this?

Mix the limeade and condensed milk together in a large bowl. Pour into the crust. Refrigerate for an hour or two. Top with Cool Whip (you won't have to use the whole thing, just enough to cover and make it look pretty, about half the tub).

And.that.is.it.

You can always garnish with some lime slices, and I promise you, as someone married to a key lime pie connoisseur, you will not be disappointed!

And because I can't finish a post without a picture of this sweet baby boy...

...who started out playing on his activity mat...

And when I came into the living room, look where he was! Between rolling over every 5 seconds and mysteriously scooting around, this little guy is a busy body!