i am the dinner fairy

Yummy Potato Soup

2007-11-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

I got this idea from a friend of mine who served up something similar for Halloween. I thought it was divine.

Yummy Potato Soup

Prepare 8 servings of Bear Creek Creamy Potato Soup mix according to directions.

While that is cooking, fry up a small package of bacon.

When the bacon is cooked crispy, remove and pat dry. Cut into small pieces or crumble.

With remaining bacon grease, sautee about 1/2 white onion until it smells so wonderful you can hardly keep yourself from just digging straight into them with a spoon. They should be tender and will probably be a little brown from the grease.

Chop one bunch of green onions.

Dump bacon and onions into soup. Stir.

Serve up in bowls and top with grated cheddar cheese.

Oh my. This was the best of creamy potato soup which I already love PLUS all the flavor of an onion soup without the slithery wormy feeling. Totally divine. But don't talk to me about the fat.

PINK!

2007-10-23T13:24:00.001-07:00

And we're done. New colors, new template--What do you think?

Upcoming projects I might someday accomplish:

the great label project (in which posts/recipes are labeled and become easier to browse)
and buttons for people to link here

Beef Stew

2007-10-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Beef Stew is probably one of the first meals from scratch I ever figured out. I've tried many different recipes, but can never settle down into just one way of making it. I used to make it in a crock pot. But so often the potatoes weren't cooked all the way through and the meat was a little tough or chewey. So now I just make it on the stovetop. And it only takes about 2 hours to cook that way instead of all day.

Here's how I made the latest batch:

First I browned 2 lbs of stew meat in olive oil in a skillet with plenty of salt and pepper.

Chopped up 8 potatoes with skins.

Peeled and sliced about 6 large carrots.

Sliced about 6 celery stalks and sauteed in olive oil.

While the celery was sauteeing, I chopped up one large white onion and then added it to the celery along with about three tablespoons of minced garlic.

Then I dumped it all together in my largest pot with a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes.

Then I made up about 8 cups of beef boullion and poured that in.

My "secret" ingredient that just makes stew wonderful is grape juice. But I didn't have any, so I substituted about half a can of frozen apple juice concentrate.

I added about a tablespoon each of rosemary and thyme and more salt and pepper.

Brought it to a boil (that took about 30 minutes) and then let it simmer for an additional 2 hours.

It was so yummy! And the meat was so tender. Usually I add frozen peas just before I serve it, but I forgot. This meal could have used more potatoes and carrots, because it was still a little meat heavy for our tastes. But I had used all the potatoes and carrots we had. So what can you do?

The really great thing is that it made enough to feed our family for two entire meals. The frustrating thing is that it did not make enough to keep me in lunches for the rest of the week PLUS another dinner. So I squeaked out one meager bowlful for my lunch today (it's just so yummy!) and put the rest in the freezer for another time.

EDGE loves Butternut soup

2007-09-27T08:19:00.001-07:00

NOT Real. Just a clarification there. Don't try to get me anywhere near squash.

Thank you.

That will be all.

Nachos!

2007-09-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

About this time last year, a friend invited me over for lunch. It was so yummy. She just threw some velveeta cheese into a pot with a can of diced tomatoes and green chiles and served with tortilla chips. Voila! We pigged out on that and soda while the kids played somewhere else.

Today, I just felt like eating that. So I whipped up a batch in about 5 minutes. It's not all that healthy but it sure is warm and filling. And fast. If I wasn't so lazy I would make myself a nice drink instead of sitting here with a cup of water--which really just doesn't go with nachos. But alas...

Butternut Soup

2007-09-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

In actuality, my family won't eat this. But -I- love it. Did you know you can roast squash seeds just like pumpkin seeds? YOU CAN! They're yummy! Clean them and salt them, then throw them on a cookie sheet and roast at 250 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Butternut Soup

1 small butternut squash

2 T. honey

1 t. salt

½ t. ground nutmeg

¼ t. ground ginger

3 cups chicken stock or bouillon

Roast the squash. First poke it with a fork or knife to vent, then pop it in the oven at 400º for 45 minutes. When you take it out, it should be soft and a little puffy (like a big baked potato). Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds, peel the skin off. It should come off easily. Cut what’s left into chunks and throw it in a pot or microwave-safe bowl.

Over the squash chunks, pour the honey, salt, nutmeg and ginger. Some dried onions can be good, too. Then pour your chicken stock over the whole thing. It should be enough to cover the squash chunks plus an inch or so. If not, add water until it does. Nobody likes dry squash.

On the stove, bring it to a low simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. In the microwave, 10 minutes on high seems to do it. Then let it cool. Now you’re going to puree it. Do it a little at a time, and vent the steam as you go, or you will have squash splatters! That little rubbery thing in the top of the lid? It comes out—ya, like that, it’s for pureeing hot stuff, just like this. You don’t think it’s hot, but when those soft chunks of cooked squash burst open—it is. Awesome.

Now, if you’re going to eat it right away, warm it back up and throw a dollop of cream on there. Yummy. If you’re saving it for later, it freezes great! What a yummy autumn treat!

Chicken Wraps

2007-09-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

Dinner last night was really wonderful! My husband just raved about it every other bite. Made me feel great. The ingredient list is small, the recipe is simple. Nevertheless, assembly took quite a while. At least to make enough to feed 9 of us.

We have a bag of precooked breaded sesame chicken that I buy periodically on sale at Macy's. But I suppose you could use any cooked chicken that you have handy. Here's what I did.

1. Take a tortilla, warmed up in the microwave so it's pliable.
2. Place two leaves of Romaine lettuce in the center.
3. In the fold of the leaves, place as much chicken as you like. We did about 4 or 5 little "nuggets."
4. Add sliced, garden fresh tomatoes
5. Add sliced onions
6. Add thinly sliced bell peppers
7. Add thinly sliced cucumbers (we actually didn't do that last night, but it would have been heavenly!)
8. Squirt the thing with a generous amount of ranch dressing.
9. Wrap the sides of tortilla around chicken mixture.
10. Wrap bottom of rolled tortilla in aluminum foil to hold it all together and prevent leaking.

YUM!

After School Snacks

2007-09-05T14:50:00.001-07:00

When my kids were younger, I used to make and serve them after school snacks. Now that they are older I pretty much let them fend for themselves. Sometimes I hate that, though. It seems like the snacking goes on forever and everyone is always asking for something.

Anyway, today, I decided to make and serve a snack again. Apple slices with peanutbutter. You can't imagine how much my kids love this snack. It's like a treat for them! And they are always asking if there is more. And since it's just apples and peanutbutter, I'm usually okay with them having a heaping helping.

My favorite is to take a really tart apple--like Granny Smith--and just smother it in peanutbutter. So yum! We've already been through 10 apples this afternoon!

Taquitos

2007-09-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

Last night for dinner, when I was NOT using a freezer meal, I made taquitos. My family loves taquitos and so do I. I don't really follow a real recipe, but here's approximately how I do it.

Get a bunch of shredded beef. You could probably used ground beef (like if you have a stock of precooked meat in your freezer like me), but I used canned beef chunks. Then I just threw it all in a skillet with some water and some taco seasoning. Not much seasoning. My husband doesn't like it much. Just enough to give it another flavor besides just plain beef. When the water had simmered off and I was just left with the seasoned meat, I chopped up some cilantro and stirred that in, too.

You can never go wrong with cilantro.

Then I got another skillet and heated some olive oil on medium heat. I dipped corn tortillas in the oil until they were soft and pliable without breaking. Then I took them out (they are pretty greasy at that point) and filled them with the meat. I roll them up and tuck the loose tortilla end underneath the roll and place them in a baking dish. When the dish is full, I stick it in a 375 degree oven until the tortillas are crisp which takes about 20-30 minutes.

They were served with rice and pico de gallo, of course! YUM!

Psychology

2007-09-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

You're probably wondering what on earth psychology has to do with food or meals. I don't really know. But I know there is something wrong inside my brain when it comes to food. Do they have food psychoanalysts?

I have a freezer stocked full of freezer meals. Yay, for me, right?

Yeah.

So tell me....Why is it that with all these meals in my freezer, and a dinner to prepare every night, that I can't seem to use them? Every night I start thinking about what I will make for dinner and rather than pull a ready made meal out of the freezer (even on nights when we are crazy busy!), I stand in front of the fridge or pantry looking to try and make something from scratch?

Muffins

2007-08-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it started. But somehow I started the tradition of baking a bunch of muffins and freezing them when it's time to go Back to School. They make a fast and healthy breakfast that can be eaten alone or supplemented with other things. They are a quick and filling after school snack. They are great to put in school lunches. In fact, if you put them in frozen they keep other things cold while they defrost. What could be more perfect?

I'll tell you. You can make muffins jam-packed with good stuff and kids like them because they are sweet and cup-cakey. I make my muffins with only whole wheat flour and I especially like recipes that include fruit for extra fiber and vitamins.

One of the all-time favorites is Pumpkin Bread. We try lots of different variations on the recipes and I can never quite keep track of which ones were the best. Most pumpkin bread recipes use milk, which I can't do (C's allergic). Here's the recipe I'll be making next:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups sugar
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 beaten eggs
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
2 cups mashed pumpkin
Sift goteger dry ingredients. In separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, water, pumpkin and mix well. Add to dry ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes in greased muffin pan.

Another family favorite is Whole Wheat Applesauce Blueberry Muffins. These can be sweeter if you use sweetened applesauce or healthier by using unsweetened applesauce (that's usually what I do). They are super moist and filling.

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
(I fold in lots of blueberries, too)
Beat oil and sugar until well mixed. Beat in appleasuce and baking soda. Fold in flour and cinnamon. Blend throughly. Pour into muffin tins sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

My personal favorite is a regular old Whole Wheat Bran Muffins. I ususally just buy some bran cereal from the store and tweak a recipe on the box.

I try lots of different muffin recipes. I like recipes that use new fruits or fruits in combinations that I've never tried. Sometimes we have banana muffins. Once I found a recipe for strawberry-banana muffins. Those didn't turn out so great. By that I mean, that people weren't DYING for them, but they were liked and eaten. It's hard to go wrong with muffins.

My latest experiment was Peaches and Cream Muffins.

batter:
2 cups canned peaches, drained (save syrup)
4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
2 cups milk

filling:
8 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp peach saved peach syrup
1 tsp almond extract

topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Dice drained peaches to size of peas. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In separate bowl combine eggs and oil. Then whisk in the milk. Combine egg and flour mixtures. Then fold in diced peaches.

For filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, peach huice and almosnd extract. Fill greased muffin tins half full of batter. Drop 1 tsp of the filling into each muffin cup of the batter. Top with 1 1/2 tbsp more batter.

For topping, mix cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle over muffins. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

This recipe was MUCH more work than I usually do for muffins. But don't peaches and cream muffins just sound divine? As it turns out, they weren't that great. I mean, don't get me wrong. They were good. Just not the kind of good that was worth all that extra work. You can't really taste the peaches and the almond extract in the cream is just too much. Next time I would leave that out completely. The recipe says it makes 24 so I doubled it. But it ended up making 72. And then of course I had to halve it and make a whole other batch with soymilk and fake cream cheese for Allergy Boy. He likes them, though. But boy I was wiped out. All but 10 are sitting in my freezer right now. I think that makes a total of 75 frozen muffins.

Should last a day or two anyway.

Freezer Meals

2007-08-24T17:08:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't been writing much over here. Not that many people read this blog anyway, so I don't think it's a great loss. Nevertheless, I'm still struggling to feed my family. Here are two posts (here and here)where you can read about what I've been up to lately.

Oh yeah. And this one.

Heaven with Pico

2007-07-07T19:08:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was at Costco and bought a huge tub of Pico de Gallo.

(This is one of our family's favorite songs by Trout Fishing in America.)

I thought it would be a great way to spice up a lot of food and we could use it forever. That huge tub was gone within days and I was so sad!

Then in the past week, I have eaten out at Bajio Grill and Chili's. Both times I have just had wonderful meals with not nearly enough Pico to satiate my desire. My husband and I were lamenting this shortage of Pico and decided to do something about it.

We had steak soft tacos, refried beans, and white rice with generous helpings of Pico de Gallo.
The refried beans were just heated out of a can, nothing special. We bought steak at a post-Independence Day grocery store meat sale and I just used my beloved kitchen shears to quickly and easily cut them up into strips. And we just grilled them without marinating or anything.

Meanwhile I was dicing up veggies. I had looked on the internet to find a recipe but they were all so different. Some used white onions, some green, some red. Some had hot peppers, others not. Garlic? Lime? Cilantro? Oh heavens YES to cilantro! So in the end we just decided you can't really go wrong with pico as long as you put in what you like. So we used:

11 roma tomatoes
one red onion
one large bunch of green onions
about 1/2 a large bunch of cilantro

Then I separated out my half and added to it:
1tsp garlic
several dashes of lime juice
generous sprinkling of salt

It was good. The meal was absolutely wonderful! However, I think I would like to tweak the Pico recipe for next time. I think white onions would give it more the flavor I was looking for instead of red (my husband says he wants white onions instead of green). I think I'd like more garlic, more lime, and maybe try a little diced serrano pepper and maybe a tomatillo or two. I'm not sure eactly what the texture of diced tomatillo is like, but I think the flavor would have been a nice addition.

ANYWAY, we have copious amounts of pico de gallo leftover as well as quite a bit of everything else. So I think it's going to be good eating at our household for the next few days...

Yummy Day--snacks

2007-06-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the Dollar Tree now has a frozen food section? The one near my house does now. So the last time I was there I picked up a couple of packages of frozen soft pretzels. For $1.

Today we opened up a package for snacks. The 6 pretzels were much larger than I anticipated and came with their own soft pretzel salt to apply! What a great cheap snack. All the kids had satisfied tummies for only .16 cents each. Can't beat it!

Instead of a real smoothie today it was just lemonade (mixed sweet) with a whole bunch of ice cubes. As it turned out, this was a great way to make the juice last longer but everyone thought it was a special treat to get a lemonade icee.

And then I had a hankering for nachos. This is a recipe I got from my friend, Jessica. It's fast and easy, but I don't know about cheap or healthy.

Big chunk of velveeta cheese
One can of mexican diced tomatoes
*Heat until cheese is melted through, serve with tortilla chips.

YUM! I could eat this all day. And it's so easy and filling and not sweet. Today I couldn't find mine my mexican diced tomatoes so I did a can of regular diced tomatoes and a can of diced green chiles. I think that was a little too much liquid because my cheese turned out kind of runny. But it still tasted good!

Smoothies

2007-06-28T18:23:00.001-07:00

This summer, we are trying to make it through without turning on the air conditioning. Besides stocking up on otter pops, popsicles and ice cream and playing in the water as often as possible, I have been making lots of smoothies.

In the past, smoothie-making has had disastrous results. Nothing turned out yummy at all and no one would eat it so it was all a waste. My tried and true standard was to mix lemonade (mixed sweet with less water than usual) with frozen strawberries. You can't go wrong!

But a woman in my neighborhood told me that she made smoothies all the time. I asked her if I could get her recipes, because mine never turned out quite right. She said she didn't use recipes she just threw some of this and some of that in. It was all things that I have and use around the house. So this summer I thought I'd just try throwing some stuff together. Surprisingly, so far it's working!

Here's the basic rule for the smoothie. Put your liquid ingredients in first. Then put your frozen/solid ingredients in last. for the consistency to turn out right, I need to put in equal amounts of liquid and frozen.

Here's what I've done so far:

3 cups milk
1 cup Vanilla Mealshake
Frozen Berries (enough to reach the 6 cup mark on my blender)
*Blend till smooth

3 cups apple juice
8 oz frozen sliced peaches
frozen berries (enough to reach the 7 cup mark on my blender)
*Blend till smooth

3 cups apple-raspberry juice
8 oz frozen sliced peaches
frozen berries (enough to reach the 7 cup mark on my blender)
*Blend till smooth
**The apple-raspberry juice made for a much zippier and yummier smoothie than plain apple juice alone.

3 cups limeade
8 oz frozen sliced peaches
frozen berries (enough to reach teh 7 cup mark on my blender)
*Blend till smooth
**The lime was a touch overpowering, but still very yummy!

Here's what I still have to try:

More variety of milk-based smoothies. I'd like to try putting yogurt (refrigerated or even frozen first) in a smoothie or a little ice cream or something. But with a little guy with dairy allergies, that requires two batches and I haven't worked myself up to that yet. The first smoothie I tried to make for him was a disaster.

Also, my friend said that she just tossed in whatever fresh or canned fruit she had around the house (kind of like fruit casserole!), but I'm reluctant to try something non-frozen.

Adding bananas in. I don't like bananas mixed with stuff so it's just my personal preference that I haven't tried it yet. I know my kids and husband would love it.

Something chocolatey. Like milk, cocoa mealshake, peanutbutter and banana. Maybe some ice.

I like the mealshakes because they provide vitamins, minerals and protein plus added sweetness. But we also have a bunch of soy protein that I'd like to add in, too. And powdered vitamins. I'm going to be my own Jamba Juice!

Dorito Casserole review

2007-06-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

So I kind of messed up the Dorito casserole--mistaking chicken thighs for chicken breasts and not getting enough meat. I also substituted diced tomatoes with green chiles for just plain old diced tomatoes. It was pretty tasty. It's hard to go wrong with Doritos. But I have a problem with serving it again since it was just soups, chicken and doritos. Not really a meal, you know? Maybe I could add in some rice or something if I make it again...

Tonight for dinner we had waffles, fruit salad and scrambled eggs. It was pretty easy. Just added water and oil to the Krusteaz mix and tripled the recipe for the waffles. For the fruit salad I threw some grapes and chopped, fresh peaches and apples into a bowl. It didn't look like enough so I grabbed a can of pineapple chunks, drained it and threw that in, too. Then I added a couple of tablespoons of limeade to the mix to sweeten everything up and make sure the apples didn't turn brown (vitamin C is an anti-oxidant, you know). It was perfect. Light, yet filling. And everyone loved it.

Chicken Dorito Casserole

2007-06-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine said she tried this several months ago. She LOVED it. Her husband loved it. Her kids loved it. I'm thinking of trying it. Looks simple enough, though not particularly healthy...... In fact, maybe I'll try it today (it's 5:30 and I don't have a dinner plan yet!). I'll let you know how it turns out.

3 boneless chicken breasts, cut up
1 pkg. Doritos
1 can Rotel
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. grated cheese
Line casserole dish with Doritos. Mix Rotel and soups. Layer chicken then mixture. Top with grated cheese and bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted approximately 30 minutes.

Welcome, Edge!

2007-06-25T04:14:00.001-07:00

Everybody give a warm round of applause to the Freezer Fairy! We look forward to many wonderful eats!

I am the Freezer Fairy!

2007-06-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

I've been trying literally for weeks to think of some clever way of introducing myself. I'm a mom, like you, and I dread the question:
What's for Dinner?

It's not that I hate cooking. I just hate having to cook Every.Single.Night.
So I don't. I cook a couple nights a week and then once a month or so, I spend the whole day cooking and freezing copies of meals. My Dinner Fairy lives in my freezer. And I love her. She always has an answer to the question.

I've posted a few recipes I had laying around, some freezable dinners and some other things. Look for the label below: freezer fairy and see what I'm up to!

One important note: My family is only 5, so the recipes are about half the size of those by Real, the original dinner fairy. Check the authorship notes (I appear as Edge) and make sure you know what you're getting!

Parmesan Chicken

2007-06-11T20:47:00.001-07:00

2 T. Dijon mustard
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 t. dried parsley
1/2 t. garlic powder
2 lbs of chicken breasts (about 4)
1/2 c. bread crumbs (seasoned, or add some basil and parsley)
1/4 c. panko or crushed Ritz crackers

Mix mustard, mayonnaise, cheese, parsley and garlic in a gallon bag. Squish it. Then add the chicken breasts. In a separate bag (only need a quart size for this), mix the bread crumbs and Panko. Panko is japanese breadcrumbs. It's...kind of coarser. I don't know how to explain it. More like cracker crumbs. My grocery store has it in the Asian foods section. If you can't find it, use crushed Ritz crackers. That's it. You freeze those bags together.

On serving day, dredge the sauced chicken in the bread crumb mix, and then bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so. You know, until it's done. It depends on what thickness of chicken breasts you use, I guess. You can serve it with noodles and red sauce or whatever.

Orange Glazed Chicken

2007-06-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

1.5 lbs of chicken breasts, cut into stir fry bite pieces
(You can also just take pre-frozen chicken breasts or tenders, and cut them when you serve.)
1/2 bag (about a lb.) of frozen stir fry veggie mix
sauce:
1/4 c. honey
2 T. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes

Real simple. Put the chicken in a bag. Put the veggies in a bag. Put the sauce ingredients in a bag and seal and squish. If you want, add a cup or two of rice in a bag and put all 4 bags (chicken, veggies, sauce and rice) in one big bag.

On serving day, cook the rice, stir fry the veggies, then the chicken until all browned. Add the sauce and cook to thicken. Serve over rice. Takes about 25 min start to finish.

Tomatillo Salsa

2007-06-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

tomatillos from the Muum (as many as you can steal from the pile o' produce, which this summer, was a lot)
cilantro (a bunch)
garlic (one clove)
green chiles or jalapenos or anaheims or poblanos (I buy the canned, diced ones because I have a fear of chopping chiles)
sugar (not more than a couple tablespoons)

Peel stuff that needs peeling. Chop everything. Then puree most of it. Leave some big chunks of tomatillo, though. Mix it all together. To help you out, I put notes on the picture over there >>>>>>>>>>>>

Mmmm.
This has such a citrusy, fresh taste, I really love it. Mmmm.

Granilla

2007-06-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

Why my kids call this granilla, I do not know. Granola, vanilla, granilla.

Granilla

5 c. rolled oats
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. sliced or slivered almonds
1/4 c. sesame seeds or sunflower seeds (shelled, please)
1/2 c. wheat germ

Stir that all up in a BIG bowl. In a glass measuring cup (1 qt. size works best), combine:

3/4 c. of any combination of molasses, maple syrup (REAL syrup, please) and/or honey
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 t. vanilla

Stir that all up in the smaller bowl or cup, then pour it into the big bowl. Stir until it's all wet. Now you can either bake it in the oven or in the microwave. Either way, your house is going to smell great, and you're going to need two 13x9 pans, lined with foil. You don't have to line the pans with foil, but if you don't you'll have to, like, wash them. And who wants to do that?

So, if you want to do the oven, divide the raw granola between the two pans and throw them in a 300 degree oven. After 20 minutes, take them out and stir it up. Leave them in there for 10 or 15 minutes more (do you like your granilla crispy or extra crispy?). Then take it out and let it cool.

If you want to do the microwave, just keep it in the bowl. You're going to microwave for 8-10 minutes total. You have to stir it after the first 2 minutes, the second two minutes, then each minute after that. REALLY. It's like chex mix. You are heating oil and if you don't stir it and distribute the heat, it can actually burst into flames in your microwave. And that's no good for anyone. So only set the timer for 1 or 2 minutes at a time. Then, when it's cooked enough for your tastes, dump it out on those same foil lined pans and let it cool. See? So the microwave is faster, but you have to babysit it and you don't save any dishes. *shrug*

When it's cool, put it in ziploc bags. Sooooo good over yogurt for breakfast. Or at night. Anytime, really.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

2007-06-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

1 large can pineapple chunks
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 T. molasses
2 T. brown sugar
1/4 oil
3 T. cider vinegar
1 t. garlic powder
6 chicken breasts, boned and skinned
1 bell pepper

Drain the pineapple chunks, saving the juice, and set the chunks aside. Mix the juice with everything but the chicken and bell pepper. Marinate the chicken breasts in the refrigerator (I use a freezer bag for the whole thing--works great) for 6-8 hours, or overnight.

Drain the marinade and (make the blond hunk) grill the chicken. Slice the chicken and the bell pepper in to strips and serve with the pineapple over rice. This got 5 stars from our picky band of future food critics.

This recipe from the book: Lion House Entertaining (see link below). If you aren't from Utah, the Lion House is where ritzy wedding receptions get held in Salt Lake City. Something especially romantic about being married in Brigham Young's house? I don't know. But they are famous for their fabulous food.

Chicken Rolls

2007-06-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

12 rhodes bake'n'serve rolls, thawed but not risen
(you can make fresh rolls for this, too, but I only do that when I'm stocking the freezer--just let the dough rise, then break them into roll-sized bits for the next step, before they rise again)
8-10 oz of cooked, chunked chicken (you can use the canned stuff from costco)
1/4 c. sour cream
salt, pepper, thyme, dried onion
1 beaten egg
bread crumbs

So, you mix the chicken, the sour cream and your seasonings together. It makes like, a chicken salad kind of thing. Yummy.

Then you take a roll. Mash it. Real flat. Ya, so it makes a 3" circle or so. Put a spoonful (not too big) of the chicken mixture in the middle and wrap it up, sealing the edges as best you can. They leak anyway, sometimes. Nothing for it. Do that 11 more times.

Once you have your cute little wrapped up rolls, brush them with beaten egg and sprinkle them with bread crumbs. Or whatever. You can roll them in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs, but that just gets my hands and counters dirty.

Then you can freeze them (flash on a plan and then into a ziploc), or put them in a greased pan (13x9" works nicely) and bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. They rise a bit in the oven and as you're making them, so they end up about 4" in diameter. Serving sizes are about 1 for kids, 2-3 for adults. Teenage boys--6 each. Easy-shmeasy.

They are quite hot inside when they come out, so you may want to break open those meant for little people that lack the sense to test temperature before stuffing entire chicken-stuffed rolls in their face. A gift of my experience, to you with love.

Nut & Grain bread

2007-06-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

Makes 2 loaves

3-4 c. boiling water
¼ c. cream of wheat
1 c. rolled oats
½ c. grape-nuts

Pour the water over the cereals and let sit for 15-20 minutes, until it’s cool enough to touch. You can just use 1 or 2 of these, or the cereal your kids left sitting untouched for breakfast. That's how I usually start this recipe.

Add:

¼ c. molasses
½ c. honey
2 T. yeast

And stir well. Let it sit another 10 minutes.

Now you should have a dark brown, gloppy, lumpy mess. That’s good.

Now add:

1 T. salt
2 eggs
½ c. sliced almonds
2 T. sesame seeds

And any other stuff you have around—wheat germ might be good, or sunflower seeds. You are a creative person.

Now start the flour:

3-4 c. of whole wheat flour
2-4 c. of white flour

Stir and then knead in the flour – as much as you can.

Let it rise in a buttered bowl with buttered (or sprayed) plastic wrap on the top. In an hour, come punch it down. It will be sticky again—that’s ok. Let it rise another hour (whole-grain breads get 2 rises), then punch it down and cut it in half. Make it into loaves and put them in the pans. Let it rise (proof? Whatever-) one more time in the pans for 20-30 minutes. Bake it for 25-30 minutes in 375 degree oven. If you want to get fancy, you can brush with butter or egg and put extra seeds or nuts on top. When it comes out, let it cool for 10-15 minutes and then take it out of the pan. Put it in a plastic shopping bag or an unsealed Ziploc bag—this will keep your bread from getting hard and stale before it’s even cool, especially if you live in the desert. J Enjoy, you nutty baker!

Shepherd's pie

2007-06-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

for each serving to feed 4-5 people, you need:
1 lb ground beef
1 c. of frozen mixed veggies
1 can of tomato sauce (the little cans)
1 T. worchestire sauce
salt and pepper, herbs and spices (I like garlic, and basil or thyme, but you can be creative!)
1/4 c. fresh chopped onion or 2 T. dried chopped onion or 1/2 t. onion powder
2 c. of mashed potatos (I use instant)
maybe some cheese for the top

So you do a little math, and it's not exact--for 3 family-sized servings, I used 4 lbs of ground beef, and 2 cups of veggies, and 1 large can of tomato sauce...

First, brown all the ground beef and split it between your containers. 1.5 qt. casserole dishes work best for this--you can use gladware type, like I do, or the foil disposable kind, like my sis. So you brown the ground beef, then put it in your containers. Add the veggies, tomato sauce, onions, worchestire sauce, salt, pepper, herbs, etc. Mix it all up. You should still have some room at the top for the potatoes. Slap the potatoes on top, sprinkle it with cheese if you like, and cover it. Then mark and freeze. When you don't feel like cooking, pull it out (hopefully in the next month or so) and pop it in the microwave or oven for an hour or so. Don't bake plastic containers.

Menu review

2007-06-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Although I never officially posted a grocery shopping list, I was in fact able to jot down what we didn't have on hand and go buy it at the store. I also decided that there was no way I would keep certain produce fresh enough to make it worth my while to do a two week list all at once. So I just bought for the first 7 recipes from menu #1.

On Sunday we had the Taco Salad and Cafe Rio rice. I had a nice little surprise. Moriah wanted to make dinner with Chris helping. I told him that I had the ingredients for any of these 7 recipes and they could choose and make whatever they wanted. Moriah picked the taco salad. I made some bread in the background while Chris and Moriah set to work. I didn't have to be consulted at all which was nice. Also, since they knew I had all the ingredients for that recipe, I didn't have to answer a bunch of questions about if or where we had something. They just looked until they found it. It was so organized that all the kids wanted to help and soon Chris had them all working on different parts.

The taco salad was a big hit, as usual. The rice wasn't loved or hated--except by me, who loved it. So Chris didn't think it was worth the work of putting all the veggies in it. But I think we'll do it again because it added a bit of nutrition and vitamins to just regular old white rice and I think it would be something nice for the kids to grow into loving.

Monday we had Mandarin-orange chicken served over brown rice. I liked it. I think I may have been teh only one. The kids didn't like all the onions and peppers in it. Of course! And my husband didn't like the oranges in it because it was too sweet. So either way, I lose. I thought it was a fairly nice way to do something different. I didn't love it enough to make it all the time, but once in a while would be a nice change. However, since I'm alone in that opinion, I probably won't make it again.

Tuesday we attended a barbecue. One of the people who attended owned a restaurant and had brought some rice. I think it's Greek or at least Mediterranean. But the rice is yellow and is sprinkled generously with Paprika. I liked it. They had a lot leftover and sent us home with a whole casserole dish of it.

Today I made the Chicken Rolls and Sugar Snap Peas. I just felt like peas instead so I switched it up. It's much easier to switch stuff up like that when you have a plan to go by. I didn't really feel like making dinner tonight (surprise surprise!) but knowing we had the ingredients all on-hand and that the produce would go bad if I didn't get to it (I had a PLAN for it, after all!) and having the recipe right there....kind of made me do it.

So I served chicken rolls, yellow rice and sugar snap peas. The rice was neither hated or loved. The Chicken rolls were everyone's favorite, as usual. I messed up on the recipe for the peas. One direction says to "drain well." That's an important step. Be sure you don't skip it. Other wise your sauce gets to watery and doesn't stick to the peas. I thought they were alright. I mean, they were definitely edible, but they weren't something I'd go back for. My husband didn't like the orange in the sauce, but otherwise thought they were fine. I was thinking I might like it more orange-y, not so watered down as ours was because I failed to "drain well."

Overall, this week has been a success so far. We've enjoyed a few days of good eating and the fact that I am actually organized and have a plan means that I'm not so stressed.

#1 2 week menu and grocery list

2007-05-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

GROCERY LIST WILL BE POSTED SOON!

Chicken Pot Pie and Spinach-Strawberry Salad
20 oz or more of frozen veggies
1 cup chopped onion
2 cans cream of chicken soup
Milk
4 cups cubed, cooked chicken
4 potatoes, diced and boiled until almost tender
6-8 storebought pastry pie crusts
*In a saucepan, cook onions in margarine or butter until tender. Stir in frozen veggies, potatoes, and soup. Add a little milk. Divide and pour into three or four prepared crusts. Top with remaining crusts (crusts are easier to work with if they are room temperature). Flute edges of pastry and cut slits in teh top for steam to escape. Bake iom a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes

Green or Red Leaf lettuce, torn
Romaine lettuce, torn
Fresh spinach
Fresh sliced strawberries
Poppyseed Dressing

Taco Salad and Cafe Rio Rice
Corn tortilla chips
2 cans black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 medium chopped white onion
1 bunch chopped green onions
4 diced tomatoes
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
green or red leaf lettuce, torn
sour cream
salsa
guacamole
cheddar cheese

6 cups cooked white rice
8 whole tomatillos
1/2 cup cilantro
4 cloves minced garlic
1 serrano pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 Tbsp chicken broth
4 Tbsp olive oil
salt
*In a medium pan, just cover tomatillos with water. Bring to boil. Add serrano pepper. Boil until tomatillos turn yellowish. Save water. In blender, puree tomatillo, cilantro, garlic, 2/3 pepper, and onions. Add 4 TB of saved water. If available add 4 TB chicken broth. In pan, cook sauce in about 4 TB olive oil until heated through. Salt to taste. Mix with rice.

Chicken Pasta Salad and Whole Wheat Bread
Enough pasta to feed your family
2 or 3 chicken breasts, diced
2 cups diced raw carrots
2 cups frozen peas
Salad dressing (vinaigrettes or Italian dressings work nicely)
*Boil pasta until tender but firm, drain. Add frozen peas, carrots, and chicken. Stir. Pour enough dressing to coat. Stir again.

1/3 cup oil
1/3 c honey or 1 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 c steaming hot tap water
1/4 cup gluten flour (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp dough enhancer (optional)
3 3/4 tsp. instant yeast
7-8 cups whole wheat flour
*Mix together first four ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour adn pulse. Put in 1 1/2 more cups of flour, gluten flour, dough enhancer and yeast. Pulse again. With mixer on medium speed, add remaining flour just until dough pulls clean from the sides of bowl. Knead 10 minutes on medium-high speed. Preheat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn oven off. Spray loaf pans with cooking oil spray. Pour dough out onto oiled counter, divide adn shape into loaves. Place into pans. Let loaves rise 35 minutes in warmed oven. Do not remove bread from oven. Turn oven to 350 degrees and let bake for 30 minutes.

Beef Stroganoff and Sugar Snap Peas with Orange Butter
1 1/2 lbs of browned, ground beef
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 chopped white onion
Milk
*Mix all ingredients and cook over medium heat. Add milk until sauce reaches desired consistency. Serve over rice.

6 cups fresh or frozen sugar snap peas
4 Tsp orange marmalade
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp ginger
2 Tbsp margarine or butter
*Remove strings and tips from peas. Cook fresh peas, covered in a samll amount of boiling salted water 2 to 4 minutes or till crisp-tender. (Or, cook frozen peas according to package directions.) Drain well. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat and stir orange marmalade just till melted. Stir in vinegar, ginger, and 1/8 tsp pepper. pour sauce over hot cooked sugar snap peas. Add margarine or butter, tossing lightly to coat.

Mexican Mix-Up served over Brown Rice
2 large cans red enchilada sauce
2 cans black beans
1 diced green bell pepper
3/4 diced white onion
2-4 cups frozen corn
*Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until the corn is cooked through and warm. Serve over rice. Top with grated cheddar cheese.

Cook brown rice according to package directions.

Chicken Rolls and Parmesan Green Beans
3 diced or shredded cooked chicken breasts
A brick or two of cream cheese
A bunch of diced green onions
6 cans of refrigerated croissant/crescent dough
*Mix all ingredients except for dough. Place some of mixture in each crescent dough triangle and roll up and cook according to package directions.

Enough green beans to feed family
Sauteed with minced garlic in a tablespoon or two of olive oil
Then sprinkle liberally with fresh parmesan cheese

Mandarin Orange Chicken served over Brown Rice
3 diced chicken breasts
1 cup orange marmalade
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp dry mustard
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 large green pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
*Sautee pepper and onion in olive oil until tender. Set aside. Salt and Pepper chicken on both sides. Brown in olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients (except oranges and veggies) in small bowl to create a sauce. When chicken is browned, pour sauce into skillet. Stir until mixture thickens and boils. Reduce heat to medium low and cook 12-15 minutes. Stir in oranges and veggies just before serving.

Cook brown rice according to package directions.

Lentil-Barley Shepherd's Pie
4 cups water
1 cup uncooked lentils
1/2 cup uncooked barley
2 large carrot diced
2 medium onion chopped finely
16 oz. canned tomatoes diced
2 clove garlic crushed
2 tsp flour
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp herbes du Provence
salt and pepper
3 medium potatoes cooked and mashed
*Peel, cut up and boil potatoes until soft, then mash. Heat 2-1/2 cups water, add lentils and barley, simmer 30 min. Heat remaining water in a saucepan, add carrot, onion, garlic and cook until tender, then add tomatoes and spices. Mix the flour with a little water and add to sauce pan, stir and cook over low heat until thickened. Combine contents of saucepan with cooked lentils and barley, place in ovenproof baking dish, cover with mashed potatos.
Bake at 350 deg. F for 30 min. (or you can make it ahead of time and bake it for 45 min. with it starting from refrigerator temp.)

Whole Wheat Pizza and Crudite
6 c. whole wheat flour
3 pkg. or 3 tbsp. active dry yeast
2 1/4 tsp. salt
3 c. warm water
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 tsp. honey
*Pour flour into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and salt. Mix well. Add water, oil and honey; mix well. Divide into thirds. Cover with a moist cloth and place in a warm spot for 10 minutes to rise. Punch down and press into 3 greased 14 inch pizza pans or 10 inch pans for a thicker crust. Spread sauce and other ingredients on pizza crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Chop cucumbers and carrots.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Brown Rice
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 cooked chicken breasts, diced or shredded
bunch of torn corn tortillas (approx. 20)
bunch of sour cream (approx 1 1/2 cups)
bunch of cheddar cheese
2 cans diced green chiles
*Mix everything except cheese togetherand put it in a casserole dish at 375 until heated through. Before removing from oven, sprinkle with cheese.

Cook brown rice according to package directions.

Spanish Rice and Beans and Fruit Salad
3 pkgs Spanish Rice mix
2 cans black beans, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes
3 cups frozen corn
Cheddar cheese
*Cook rice according to package directions. If the directions do not call for diced tomatoes, add 2 cans. When the rice is finished cooking, stir in beans and corn. Serve topped with cheddar cheese.

Dice enough of your favorite fruits to feed family. We like raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, fresh peaches, fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple and apples. Stir in a few tablespoons of frozen Bacardi mixer (whichever flavor appeals). Serve.

Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce and Stir-Fry Snow Peas with Cilantro
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Heat sauce in large sauce pan with 1 lb. browned ground beef. Serve with mozzarella or parmesan cheese.

4 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced green onions
2 cups snow peas
1 cup vegetable stock
4 tsp cornstarch
1 cup finely chopped cilantro
dash of soy sauce
pinch of sugar
*Heat oil in large skillet until very hot, almost smoking. Add green onions and snow peas, tossing or stirring quickly to coat them with oil. Add stock, cover the skillet, and cook for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water and the cilantro. Stir the cornstarch mixture quickly into the peas, stirring constantlyuntil th esauce thickens; season with soy saue and sugar. Serve immediately. The entire cooking time for the peas should not exceed 5 minutes.

Here's the plan, Stan

2007-05-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

So two nights ago it was corn dogs. Definitely not my best mommy moment. And last night, my 11 year old finally suggested burritos to me after I had been wandering around for an hour trying to think up a meal.

Obviously, I need a plan. And this is it. Simple really, but still somehow difficult for me. I will figure out what we are eating ahead of time. Make sure I have those ingredients on hand and then I will know exactly what's for dinner. Eventually, I'd like to plan things out a month in advance. But I'll take it in little baby steps and just do next week.

I actually did this one time several years back. Our family decided that it was important to us to eat meat sparingly and so we decided that we would only eat meat once a week (pepperoni on Pizza for Friday night didn't really count!). Cooking vegetarian was very difficult for me and so I made a month long calendar where all the meals rotated. As I recall, it seemed to work okay.

Menu plan to come.

Feast or Famine?

2007-05-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Definitely famine. Pretty much no blog posts equals no real dinners for me. We had leftovers one night (the kids didn't even really like the Indian food the first time around, so I don't know what we were expecting). Last night, my husband made dinner. It was yummy. It's one of my favorites that he makes. He likes to experiment quite a bit. Doesn't like the same tastes repeated. So even if we strike up on a meal that he really just loves, he's always trying to tweak it to make it just a little different. The kids and I joke around about all the strange things he concocts and that they usually involve some plethora of beans or peanuts. But he really does have some hits. So be sure to check them out when I get them posted.

Chicken Favorites

2007-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I don't like the look/smell/feel/taste of dark meat and bones kind of gross me out. So I almost exclusively cook with boneless, skinless chicken breast. If there are recipes that use some of the cheaper cuts out there that don't make the meat inedible to me, I'd love to hear them. Because breasts are expensive.

Hawaiian Haystack
Diced, cooked chicken
Cream of chicken soup
Pineapples
Bell peppers
Cheddar cheese
Chow mein noodles
Served over cooked rice

Bruschetta Chicken Bake
2 pkgs stuffing mix
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tsp dried basil leaves
Dash lemon juice
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Place tomatoes with their liquid in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, 1 cup hot water, and garlic. Stir just intil stuffing mix is moistened. set aside. Place chicken in a 13x9 baking dish. Add dash or two of lemon juice. Sprinkle with the basil and cheese. Top with stuffing miscutre. Bakde 30 min (or until chicken is cooked through) in 400 oven.

Easy Chicken Bake
2 pkgs stuffing mix
2 cups hot water
3 chicken breasts, cut up into bite-sized pieces
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup sour cream
2 bags (32 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
Sprinkle 1 cup of dry stuffing mix evenly on bottom of a 13x9 pan. Set aside. Add hot water to remaining stuffing mix. Stir just until moistened. set aside. Place chicken over dry stuffing mix in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream and veggies. Spoon over chicken. topwit prepared stuffing. Bake 30 min(or until chicken is cooked through) in 400 degree oven.

Chicken Salad
4 cooked chicken breasts
2 cups red grapes, halved
6 green onions
3 celery stalks
1 cup mayonnaise
1 large carrot
Lemon pepper
Finely chop chicken and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Finely chop celery, carrots and onions. Mix chicken, celery, carrots, onions, and grapes. Stir in mayonnaise. Pour over chicken mixture and stir evenly.

Side Dishes

2007-05-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Now that you've picked your entree, what do you serve with the meal? This is always completely baffling to me. Recipe books dedicate about 1% of their pages to side dishes which seem to always include potatoes. Surely there is more! What do you make?

Our standard side dishes are:

White rice (because it only takes 15 minutes)
Brown rice (because it's yummy and healthy, but it takes a while and I usually don't prepare ahead enough)
Mixed Vegetables
Corn
Steamed Broccoli
Garlic Toast

When the kitchen is clean and I have time and am in a good mood I might be prevailed upon to make:

(all recipes will be up soon)
Yummy Green Beans
As many whole, frozen green beans as will feed my family for that meal
Sauteed in butter or olive oil and garlic and salt until tender
Sprinkled with fresh parmesan
**My kids can't eat enough of these. They love them.

Fried potatoes
Diced potatoes
Fried in olive oil until tender
Sprinkled with salt, pepper and garlic powder

Mashed potatoes
Peeled, quartered potatoes
Boiled until tender
Add butter, milk, salt to taste
**Someday I'll have to measure out how I make it. But I usually just eyeball it. This is a big hit with my family.

Cafe Rio Rice
6 cups cooked rice
8 tomatillos, whole
1/2 cup cilantro
4 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 Serrano pepper, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 Tbsp chicken broth
4 Tbsp olive oil
Just cover tomatillos with water and boil in sauce pan. Add tomatillow and whole pepper to water adn boil until the tomatillos turn yellowish. Save water In blender, puree tomatillo, cilantro, garlic, pepper and onions. Add 4 Tbsp saved water. If available add 2 Tbsp chicken broth. In pan, cook sauce in olive oil until heated through. Mix with rice.
**It was a lot of work and kind of messy, but YUM! At least for me. As I recall the kids and husband didn't like it too much.

Funeral Potatoes

Old Standbys

2007-04-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

So what are your old standbys? What are the meals that you make that you don't even have to think about, don't have to open a recipe book for?

Some of mine are:

Chicken Enchilda Casserole
2 cans cream of chicken soup
cooked chicken
bunch of torn corn tortillas
bunch of sour cream
bunch of cheddar cheese
2 cans diced green chiles
*Mix everything up and put it in a casserole dish at 375 until heated through

Chicken Pasta Salad
2 bags of my favorite noodles
Diced carrots
Frozen peas
cooked, diced chicken
topped with our favorite dressing

Beef Stroganoff
1.5 lbs ground beef
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1.5 cups sour cream
1 cup diced or sauteed (I like both) onions
Served over rice

Chicken Roll-ups
3 diced or shredded cooked chicken breasts
A brick or two of cream cheese
A bunch of diced green onions
6 cans of refrigerated croissant/crescent dough
Mix all ingredients except for dough. Place some of mixture in each crescent dough triangle and roll up and cook according to package directions.
**We've also made this using tortillas rather than the dough and I've often wondered how it would taste with just regular biscuit dough. Adding bacon is wonderfully tasty, too, if you are not worried about the fat and don't mind spending the extra money.

My Variations on Mexican Mix-Up (submitted by Utah doula below)
2 large cans red enchilada sauce
2 cans black beans
1 diced green bell pepper
3/4 diced white onion
2-4 cups frozen corn
Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until the corn is cooked through and warm. Serve over rice. Top with grated cheddar cheese.
**We preferred this recipe without chicken and find it's a very filling, tasty, vegetarian meal.

Taco Salad
Black and Pinto Beans
Meat (optional)
Green Leaf Lettuce
Diced white onions
Diced green onions
Chopped cilantro
Diced tomatoes
Sour cream
Fresh salsa
Tortilla chips (Lime flavored tortilla chips are really awesome!)

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Whole wheat bread
Provolone (or other) cheese
Thinly sliced red onions
Thinkly sliced tomatoes
Mayo
Spread Mayo on the OUTSIDE of bread. On the inside, layer the cheese, tomatoes and onion. Toast until cheese is melted.

"Belgian" Chicken and Rice
Two cooked, diced chicken breasts
Enough cooked rice to feed the family
Enough mixed vegetables to feed the family
diced white onions (sauteed, optional)
Grated cheddar cheese
Mix all together and serve
*My kids LOVE this meal. There are never leftovers.

Why I am the Dinner Fairy

2007-04-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Actually I am not.

That's my try at positive affirmations, though. I have a major problem getting dinner on the table every day. And sometimes we go a long while without having a real evening meal. After times like that, I can't even remember what meals I usually cook. It's like the dinner part of my brain just turns off and I can't get it back on again. That's where I find myself this week. Not even able to remember my old standbys.

So the purpose of this blog is to create a place where I can put all my recipes so they don't keep getting deleted from my brain. I'd also love for as many people to contribute as possible so my family doesn't have to be subjected to my same old tired recipes year after year. So you post recipes in the comments and I'll move them into the body of the text. It'll all be searchable and maybe I'm not the only one who would benefit from something like this.

The only requirement is that they be cheap, fast, and healthy....or any combination of at least two of those! And nothing fancy please. I could use my cookbooks for stuff like that.