Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives (quick meal)

Quick, quick, quick.... and soooo good!!!

Ingredients:
1 box of fettuccine
2 TBSP olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thirds (I use about two breasts)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced (I only use about 1/2 the onion)
4 oz mushrooms
1 cup large pimiento-stuffed olives, quartered
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft, 5 minutes. Add the olives, and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more. Return the chicken to the skillet, add the wine, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce has slightly thickened, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the parsley and tomatoes. Divide the chicken among individual plates and spoon the sauce over the top. Serve with the pasta.

**can be served over pasta or rice**

Five-Spice Pork Chops with Grilled Vegetables (semi-quick meal)

Taste really good, but it does take a while to prep/cook (about 40 minutes all together). This is one of my husband's favorite meals as the vegetables just soak up the sauce.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 TBSP honey
1/4 tsp five-spice powder (I use Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic)
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 in-bone pork chops, about 1 inch thick
1 TBSP olive oil
4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green bellpepper, sliced into long pieces
1 onion, sliced into wedges (I use an apple corer to cut it fast and easy, then peel apart the layers)
1 cup of rice

Cook rice as instructed on package. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, five-spice powder. Season the porkchops to taste with salt and pepper. Grill for 10 minutes, turning once. Using a brush, baste the chops with sauce and grill until cooked through, about 2 minutes more. Divide porkchops onto plates over rice. Toss vegetables in the same pan used for porkchops. Add remainder of sauce mixture. Cook until tender. Divide vegetable onto plates and drizzle with sauce (We love the sauce so I just pour all of it over each plate. Add as much or as little as you like).

Aunt Juanita's Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a recipe from my Aunt Juanita. They are the best PB cookies you'll ever taste and they are super quick and easy. The best part is we always have the ingredients in our pantry.

Ingredients:
1 cup of peanut butter (any kind-- we use extra crunchy b/c we are big PB fans)
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 large egg

Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Roll into 1-inch balls (I use an ice cream scooper for large cookies). Place on greased cookie sheet. Criss-cross each cookie using a fork dipped in granulated sugar. Bake at 325 for 8 minutes for chewy cookies, 10-11 minutes for cruncy cookies.

(makes about 6-12 depending on how big you make them).