Alright, here's my first attempt at a food blog. I really shouldn't call it that, because I follow several food blogs, and this will probably never look anything like theirs. They gather ingredients (take a photo), proceed step-by-step (each with a photo), oh - and the photos are taken with high-quality cameras with natural lighting. Yeah, that's not my reality. I made ten dishes from 7 pm one night to 10 am the next day (don't worry, I slept!) because that was the time I had. However, I thought I'd share what I did and how I did it since I have some friends and family who want my recipes and/or want to only cook once a week too. Here goes:
Southwest Chicken Salad
I cooked 1 lb of chicken breast tenders in oil/salt/pepper in the skillet while I sliced an onion, a red pepper, and some fresh 'shrooms. When the chicken was done cooking, I put it on a plate and threw the veggies in the pan. I also tore up some lettuce, sliced a cucumber, and opened cans of black beans and shoepeg corn (just because that was the kind I had on hand). If I'd had fresh tomatoes, that probably would have been good too. Assembly: lettuce, fresh cucumber, corn/beans, sauteed veggies, chicken, topped with salsa and farm dressing (a local restaurant's version of Ranch dressing). I loved it, Daughter claims she doesn't eat salads and refused to try it, hubby doesn't like corn/beans/cucumbers so he tolerated it.
Hoagies and Grinders (navy beans, navy beans, meatloaf sandwich... c'mon, you've got to know that song!)
I started with a loaf of roasted garlic bread (Costco and Hy-Vee bakeries both make this). Cooked 1 lb. of sausage, one diced pepper and one diced onion in the same skillet used for the salad. It was hot and hadn't had any weird seasonings in it... and I hate to do dishes. I forgot to drain off the fat at this point - don't be like me. Then I drained a can of Italian-seasoned tomatoes and added them to the skillet. Topped it off with a little spaghetti sauce - just enough to cover everything. While the photo only shows one half of the sandwich (because hubby and i had polished off the other half already), I cut the bread in half and sprinkled with olive oil. I had the bread in a 350-degree oven to toast while the meat/veggies were doin' their thing. Once the bread was toasty, I layered it with meat and topped with a little reduced-fat mozzarella cheese. Back in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese, then dig in before the rest of your family steals it all.
**Both of these recipes were made and mostly consumed fresh. We did have few leftovers for the following day. However, the rest of the stuff I made were recipes that can keep for a few days in the frig. For example:
Zatarain's reduced-sodium jambalaya mix, but ramped up with a can of Rotel tomatoes, a diced onion, and a diced pepper.
**This is probably a good time to mention that we in this house may die if we ever found ourselves without onions, peppers, or mushrooms. I've heard Italian cooks talk about the trinity of olive oil, garlic and lemon... well, this is my trinity.
Continuing on with my frig-friendly foods:
Stir fry - you already know which veggies I started with, plus carrots, garlic, broccoli, summer squash... really anything you have on hand. While those saute, I cook a batch of sticky rice. You can use any rice, but sticky rice doesn't seem to dry out after a day like other kinds do. To season the veggies we always use a little soy sauce mixed with some cornstarch (so the sauce is thicker), a little fish sauce, sriracha hot sauce, and then whatever we feel like - rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, duck sauce. We make a lot of Asian food so I have lots of bottles of sauce in my frig! Oh, and you can saute meat for this too. Diced pork loin or thinly sliced steak work well. I'd cook it first, remove it to a plate, then cook the veggies in the skillet.
Pork chops, baked potatoes, and steamed veggies. Pretty straightforward - meat and veggies bake in the oven, veggies cooked in the microwave, then all get divvied up in trays so we can use them one meal at a time. For those nights when no one is home at the same time.
For people who hate "leftovers" and think eating these foods sounds like eating "leftovers" - try storing them in glass dishes/bowls, then on the night when you want to eat, warm them in the oven. Gives them a better taste than warming things in the microwave (although that's awfully fast!)
So I said I made ten items in a 16-hour period. I did, but the rest made their way into the freezer. That'll have to be a future post because I hear a certain someone singing the ABCs in bed, which means she's ready to get up. :)
