grrlTravels

I am so bad, mine is always Bisquik Oven Fried Chicken (only I use boneless breasts)...and I always make this yummy rice/zucchini cheese casserole dish (from Cooking Light) that everyone loves!!

Sorry to hijack your comments section for my own personal agenda, it's just, I want people to know they don't HAVE to eat meat, even on Atkins!

I'm a strict vegetarian, and successfully followed Atkins for 6 months, and I can attest there's no need to let the low-carb life increase your participation in animal cruelty, or decrease your consumption of folic acid, fiber, beta carotene, etc.

You can do a delicious tofu (or tempeh) stir-fry with cashews, broccoli, red bell peppers, garlic. Quick, easy, pretty, fragrant, impossible to ruin, impossible not to love.

You can do a nice spinach salad with almonds instead of croutons, slivers of red onion, feta cheese, kalamata olives, etc.

You can do all kinds of nice things with "Gimme Lean" (textured vegetable protein that acts like ground beef & tastes delicious), tomato sauce, eggplant, and cheese (e.g., there's nothing to stop you making a "lasagna" with eggplant or cabbage instead of pasta and Gimme Lean instead of bits of dead animals).

There's this really good "turkey loaf" made with textured vegetable protein that I personally love. Also tofurkey is delicious (but you have to forgo the stuffing).

You CAN do cruelty-free low carb, you really can! I haven't even started in on the egg- and cheese-based dishes (cruelty-free,organic eggs and dairy are widely available).

Teryaki Chicken with grilled/baked Pineapple Slices
Wild Rice
Zuchini and Squash (cubed and skewered if I'm trying to impress!)

Bottled marinade and fast cook rice rule!

Sorry -- this might be too greasy for you -- but my all-time personal favorite recipe: cubed feta cheese, tossed with chopped fresh dill, & heated in the microwave (or, if you're feeling fancy, rolled in phyllo dough and baked). You serve it as a hot dip. Low carb dieters can eat the hot feta-dill mix on crisp spears of endive or on those Scandinavian-style, uber-dry, fibrous "rycrisp" things.

The feta-dill mix is also fabulous in a quiche or low-carb omelette, baked in mushroom caps, or tossed with steamed broocoli. You can add some cream cheese if the feta-dill mix is too dry.

I've linked to my go-to recipe. Depending on who is coming over I have either the ravioli or the spinach salad, only both on one occasion.

Rosemary Chicken Breasts, Ravioli, spinach salad

I know you said "no pasta" but, this dish feeds anyone, even vegans. Which is saying a lot:

Take some cherry tomatoes (a couple of the small baskets) or other small tomatoes (like the grape kind that were all the rage a few years ago).

Roast them in a 350 degree (or higher if you're in a hurry) oven for about 20 minutes or until they get a little mushy and shriveled. Cut up, saving juices, and set aside. You can do this hours ahead, just don't refridgerate.

Meanwhile, saute some garlic in about a 1/4 cup olive oil for a couple of minutes. Don't burn, but if you do a little, it's okay. I usually use two to three cloves.

Once the garlic has softend, add the tomatoes and cook for a little while. You can't hurt this pasta, so if you get distracted, it's fine. Add crushed red pepper to taste. Add a bag of cut up spinach. It looks like a lot but it isn't. Cut it anyway you want. Saute a couple minutes. Add some fresh basil (again, to taste) and then throw in a pound of spagetti.

How much oil you use really depends on your taste. I would say you can get by with less or even use more. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup olive oil and the same amount of butter. You can use butter if you want to add more flavor. Also, add some parm or other hard Italian cheese if you like.

The toppings in this dish can be as plentiful or as sparse as you like. You can leave it out on the counter for a half hour while you grill some chicken, serve it right away, whatever. People just seem to love this dish.

Oh, I guess I don't really need to add that the spagetti you add is cooked.

Well, J does most of the cooking... but I'd have to say a shrimp sauce piquant or crawfish etoufee (we can even get them way out west at Albertsons now!).

A cool recipe we got from Cooking Light: Salmon with Shallotts and Potato Fans, and lightly cooked spring asparagus. Slice 5 Yukon Gold potatoes into 1/4 or 1/8 inch slices. Mince a shallot. Get some salmon fillet(s). Melt some butter in a oven-proof saute pan, remove from the heat, arrange potato slices in a spiral on the pan. Sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper, and shallots. Lay salmon fillet(s) across the top. Cook on medium heat on stove top for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are nicely browned and crispy on the bottom. Then cover the pan and transfer to a 350F oven and bake for, oh, 20 minutes. Yum. Easy peasy.

My go-to dish is a pasta with tomatoes and mozzerella cubes and anything else that seems tasty that's around at the time.

Or enchiladas filled with butternutsquash mashed with cream chees.

Hummus, taboulhi, yogurt sauce with lots of garlic and lemon and chicken sausages. I grill the chicken sausages, but that can sometimes be something I do in the oven. I think I make really good hummus and taboulhi, and guests seem to like it. I think the secret is in the mustard I put in the hummus.

When I have friends who need dinner prepared for them--new baby, kidney transplant, etc.--I always make them chicken tostadas with tomatillo sauce. Not sure why, but that is my standard meal for delivery.

I thaw chicken breasts (in the fridge with advance notice, under water if I'm in a hurry), sprinkle two complementary spices on a plate, and dip each side of each chicken breast in the spice mixture. I grill them on the George Foreman grill; while they cook, I add a few veggies to a pre-mixed bag of salad greens and steam broccoli (or some other veggie). Voila, a tasty yet lazy meal.

Chicken Curry with a cashew sauce. (easy) Yoghurt with salad, Dahl (lentils - for any vegetarians).

A ~ My mother is visiting from NC and so I am having a little brunch tomorrow to which the only non-family invited guest is the (highly unexpected) new man in my life, whom she has not met. I think I picked brunch because it is easy and there are lots of recipe options, plus stuff that you just buy. I am the only vegetarian in the crowd. Planning a spinach-mushroom frittata, some kind of coffee cake, bagels & lox, fruit salad (yummy yummy). Othewise, to heck with Atkins, I still do pasta dishes for my go-to . . . Have a good trip!

I'm 38 and I don't know what brisket is.

We would normally make a whole roasted chicken with rice pilaf (or some similar rice dish) and a veg, like asparagus. Maybe a salad, too.

D makes a mean lasagne, but that's pasta.

Or salmon is another one we make when people come over.

(Ha...I say "we" like I have ANYTHING to do with the cooking. My job is to open the wine and clean up the mess.)

Ginger pear chicken - bonus for the carsick, the recipe includes ginger & ginger ale! It's easy and it makes people think I can cook. Wild rice & broccoli casserole for those who don't eat meat (although I've noticed many vegetarian recipes are quite tasty with some chicken thrown in). Char with rice pilaf and whatever vegetable is handy. I can't cook so I have very few go-to recipes. If we have company for more than a weekend, we have to eat out.

Javanese salmon- this dish has been a HUGE hit with every single person I've served it to. This recipe calls for 4 servings of salmon (I use the individual filets, but you could just do a big filet) so increase as needed.

Preheat oven to 400. Season salmon with s,p, and dill. Set aside. In a saucepan over meduim heat, melt 1/4c butter with 1 clove garlic. Wisk in 1/2 c brown sugar and heat until bubbly. Wisk in 1/2 c lime juice and 1/2 c soy sauce. Heat through. Place salmon in an oven safe dish and pour sauce over, bake for 20 min or until salmon is flaky. I generally cover, b/c the sauce gets popping.

Serve with rice and a veggie (broccoli and asparagus are my favs).

How about a roast chicken? I just shove summer butter up under the skin, add salt, pepper, and around 20-40 cloves (not bulbs) of garlic. Bake until finished.... it's very impressive and not too garlicky at all... found it in Williams of Sonoma cataloge.

Kikilia

Hey girl. I just got done "catching up" on your life. Sounds like your cruise was just like ours...the best of times, the worst of times. How can a vaca with anyone under the age of 5 be anything else? Anyway, I know everyone is commenting about their go-to dish, and I will weigh in on that at some point. But I really want to comment on E's potty training. Does it help to know that potty training sucks? It just does!

For some lucky parents, their kids catch on quickly, but for most in our area, mom's have help. There's a Grandma or a nanny doing atleast some of the dirty work. Or the kid's getting p-trained at daycare/preschool.

My oldest was potty trained by 3 and it only took a week! Hooray. Her twin sister, another story. I was still diapering her at 3.5 and threatening her daily. Then Jack came along and the whole thing was just beyond him. I was still diapering his gigantic hiney at 3.5 and desperate to finish before preschool started. At one point I was convinced he would go off to college in Pampers. And then, one day, you realize you can't remember the last accident. You don't remember when you arrived at Successful Potty Training Land, but you did! Brady, my current 3 yr old is potty trained. But every single time I forget to throw a clean, dry pair of panties in the car, she wets herself. Oh, and it's always at the most incredibly inappropriate times. But with 3 behind me and only one to go, it makes it easier to get through. And those ladies at the park...my guess is they were just glad it wasn't their job to clean up. We've all been there. Price of parenthood.

My three go tos ....
Salmon with jalapeno butter (grilled salmon with a pat of butter that has jalapenos & garlic minced in it)
Garlic Chili Shrimp & Grits (Southern Living recipe from years ago)
Black Bean Nachos - v. easy, not to pretty but everyone loves it and is great for a veggie/non-veggie mix.

I do a variation on the same roast chicken that Kikilia mentioned above. So delicious. I serve it with brown rice and a green vegetable and salad. The garlicky pan drippings make a great gravy for the rice.

I love brisket. Brisket is at the heart of Texas barbecue. My dad smokes it for 8-10 hours then finishes it off in the oven--delish!!

Hey, is there an email address I can contact you by?

This is my go to recipe

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231599

Thai Curried Game Hens, but I make it with chicken pieces (with or without bones/skin). It's easy, delicious, and seems really fancy without being a lot of work. The Atk ins folk can just skip the rice.

40 garlic chicken, sauted mushrooms, baked potatoes, tossed salad. Mostly it is prep and then toss in the oven to bake. Easy to do and then take a shower before company comes.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
Mexican Rice
Refried Beans
Margaritas
Key Lime Pie
....always a huge hit!