Grilled Chicken and Veggies

One of our favorite things to during the summer, and well, year round really, is GRILL outside.

Couple the grill with chicken and veggies and kids playing and getting dirty and having fun, and well, that's our summer!

This meal is one of our all time favorites!  It's quick, easy, tasty, and good for you!  Starting to notice a trend? ;)

Ingredients:

Chicken strips
Veggies! - Your choice!  I often use squash, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, peppers, etc.

[The veggies and chicken are seasoned with my go to seasoning: Simply Organic all purpose seasoning, which is an organic dried herb mix of: onion, black pepper, garlic, parsley, celery seed, tomato powder, basil, thyme, oregano, sage and coriander.]

Simply adding some fresh basil is great with it too!

Serve with a simple spinach, grape tomato, and feta salad with a little balsamic vinegar.

I throw the chicken on a hot grill for about 3 minutes, flip, cook for about another 2 minutes, then wrap in foil and set higher on the grill away from the direct flame til your veggies are done.  We like our veggies seared, but still a little crisp - on a 400 degree grill or so, it usually takes 10-12 minutes.

Eat outside and enjoy more time with your family, not over the stove!!

Seared Shrimp and Scallops!

Try saying that 3 times fast!

This meal is everything good packed into one meal, and one pan, too!

It's super FAST.  It's super EASY.  It's super QUICK.  It's super NUTRITIOUS.  and it's super YUMMY!

Here's a fun fact about scallops; scallops are more than 80 percent protein.  One 3-ounce serving provides 20 grams of protein and just 95 calories!  They're also a good source of both magnesium and potassium.

Shrimp too, are packed full of protein!  Eating 6 oz. of shrimp will add more than 34 g of protein to your daily intake.  This article gives 10 benefits to eating shrimp, among them include a boost in energy, cancer fighting nutrients, even blood sugar stabilization.  I think I'm in love!

Prep time for this meal, chopping and all, 15-20 minutes!  Maybe less if you're not explaining each step to your curious 4 year old or stopping to take pictures of it all as you cook!

Start by chopping your fresh ingredients.  You can be really flexible here and throw in whatever you love.

I used some green and orange bell pepper (1/2 each that were left over from last nights dinner), 2 leeks (high fiber), lots of garlic, and asparagus.  I would have thrown some mushrooms in, but we're fresh out.

Add all your yummy veggies in a pan and saute on high heat for 5 minutes or so.  You can use a little evoo, coconut oil, ghee, or butter in the pan if you'd like.

Transfer to a serving dish.

Then, in the same pan, add a little oil of your choice from above.  Toss in some fresh marjoram if you have it, I didn't but have some dried that I used, and some sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Also some red pepper flakes if you like spicy!  I DO!

Add your shrimp and scallops.  Cook on high, quickly, turn after about 2 minutes, cook an additional 2 minutes and remove from heat.  Shrimp and scallops both cook very quickly and will continue to cook while in the hot pan.  Overcooked, they are rubbery and not as good...  You just want the shrimp to turn pink and the scallops to turn solid white.

ENJOY!