Almost end of month Turkey Part 1

 Through the lovely giving of a friend we have all the makings for a turkey feast. Other than dessert but that's all on us. We have only cooked a turkey once in our current apartment so this is a familiar but unique challenge. Size matters. How it started:

We were gifted a 13 lb turkey,  veggies and a few other things. That is the largest turkey we can fit in our small oven. That doesn't mean the largest one we've gotten, I mean we can't fit anything larger.

My preferred tray has hard wire handles and support on the bottom. It worked in previous years just fine. But not with this oven. The handles were an inch too wide for my tiny 30" apartment oven ('ll get to what i used on and in the turkey). You've seen this kind of pan, roughly 12 x 17. It's the 12 inches including the handles that is the problem. 

Same dimensions but a rectangle and it *just fit* inside the oven. So for future reference 11 x 16 is preferred size.

Now for the coating and other details. I only have stove top dressing so am not putting it inside the turkey for ease of cooking. I did quarter a small yellow onion, thought I had quartered a lemon but it was a small orange but stuffed that in there anyway along with some garlic slices and a good few tablespoons of unsalted butter. I should have salted the whole thing first but forgot.  

Butter coating:

1 cube (1/2 lb) unsalted butter softened

2 or 3 tbl Italian seasoning

2 tsp sage

Salt and Pepper

 

Mix that all together and set aside. Prep the thawed turkey and put it in the roasting pan first before coating. Don't used your hands, use a rubber spatula, fork or spoon. The turkey will chill the butter again and make it difficult to move around. I have seen olive oil used instead and that's an option. I prepped all the veggies the night before which is a HUGE time and space saver. This is not a high quality turkey but it was a gift and we will eat it for sure. 

We were also given a bundle of baby/very thin asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, some chicken broth, and two each, zucchini and yellow squash. That will go into a very tasty casserole later.

I diced up the veggies the night before so I had the carrots, celery and onion all ready to toss in a pot to saute before mixing in with the stuffing. Asparagus has been snapped and set in water then in a zip bag in the fridge so that is ready to go to steam in the microwave then lemon, garlic, salt and pepper will be added.  The neck and 'giblets' have been simmered in a pot with some chicken broth and the dregs from the veggies for the stuffing. That will be saved out for stock later and hope to make some soup down the road. The gravy is going to be from a package but am tempted to do a scratch gravy as well. Yeah, so much broth and juices to use for that it should be great.

So that's Part 1 of the Turkey Dinner, Part 2 will be after disassembling and serving. There is enough turkey for two, maybe 4 people for sure. 🦃🦃 

New month, new supplies

 This months supplies almost didn't happen due to circumstances beyond my control. A little late but money did come in so cooking has commenced.

Meats on the menu for this month: Stew beef chunks cut into smaller bits and portioned into four roughly 1 lb bags, packets of chicken thighs and chicken breasts, approx. 1 lb of shrimp and the ever present approx. 6lbs of hamburger in rough 2 lb portions divided in large freezer bags. Coming up for dishes as add ins, chow mein veggies, stir fry veggies and the assortment of red and green bell peppers, shredded cabbage for coleslaw, onions, garlic, potatoes, the usual.

Today was beef 'tips' (aka stew beef cut up smaller) with brown and mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This recipe could not be simpler. Chopped 1/4 of an onion, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 lb beef chunks, 1 packet each mushroom gravy mix and brown gravy mix and about a tablespoon of Italian salad dressing mix. One trick that I have heard and have yet to remember is sprinkling a teaspoon of baking soda on the beef before cooking. Apparently what this does is help tenderize the meat before cooking. This is really a good thing to do with tough cuts of meat like stew meat that you aren't going to stew for a long time.

I patted dry the beef then added a tsp salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder with a 1/2 tsp paprika. Let that sit in the fridge in a bowl while I cooked the potatoes. 

Heat pan with a little oil, add in the onion, cook until a bit soft, add in the meat and continue to cook until all sides are not pink. Add in crushed garlic and continue to cook until fragrant. Mix the two packets of  gravy and the Italian dressing mix with a whisk thoroughly in 2 cups of water. Add into the pan slowly and continue to stir on medium high heat until it begins to bubble, turn down to low, put cover on and check every minute or so to stir and make sure the gravy is congealing properly. Also gives the meat a chance to loose up a bit. Usually about five or six minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes. I had just enough left over for one small helping as a snack later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef prices. Through, the, roof. But it's worth it for having enough for meals to the end of the month. Yes, two or three years ago the price was about ten dollars cheaper for hamburger and about five dollars cheaper for the stew meat. Chicken thankfully hasn't gone up that much, but I am thankful for having the assistance to make this possible. 

Another delicious redux: Shrimp over seasoned rice. I got a picture of the finished product but now I do not remember how I cooked the shrimp. It wasn't garlic shrimp but did use similar seasoning to the rice, which was my basic recipe I skimmed from Pinterest. It definitely benefited from a liberal sprinkling of lemon juice to spark up the savory flavors of the rice and shrimp. I know I used a lot of butter and some oil, garlic of course and added in about a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed in water at the end for a sauce that stuck to the shrimp. We still have half a bag of shrimp and will probably use that with the chow mein veggies over rice. Yep that's what I'm going to do. 

Usually I am not focused on getting pictures when I'm cooking no one should be. If you're cooking, that's what you're doing and if it's something involved, you don't want to take your focus off to get pictures. So most of the time I'm doing that and then sit down to eat and forget to take pictures because  I want to eat. 

Self centered people tend to be the ones that post to instagram or whatever their account is of how great their cooking is or what restaurant they're eating at. Some people may sound and look like they enjoy sharing their food and recipes but if all the post is look at me look at what I'm eating, no. I am sharing what I cook for my kids and their kids when I'm not around anymore and any other random friends and family to enjoy good food. I preserved recipes from my parents as well for the same reason.

No matter what you cook, cook with your heart. 

 

 

Peruvian Chicken and Rice with Green Sauce

 Chicken thighs it is this time around. Following a recipe from Pinterest of course, I was only missing one ingredient, which is amazing for what this is. Why it's 'Peruvian' I don't know, unless it's the combination of green sauce and the marinade. I am not giving instructions on cooking rice. The picture shown on the recipe has a golden colored rice and only calls for Jasmine rice. I know for a fact that rice is not golden colored. They recommended cooking it in water or chicken broth so that's the difference. Will try that next time. My green sauce also turned out more white than theirs so... yeah. 

My spin on it to make up for the lack of jalapeño was  using onion and a combination of spices. It really did need the pepper but will do that next time as this sauce is out of the park delicious!

Chicken and Marinade

 

4-6 chicken thighs, bone and skin intact 

 

3 tbl lime juice (fresh called for, bottled is okay)

3 garlic cloves minced/crushed

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika (I used a scant tsp and added 1/8 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbl olive oil (I am out of olive so used canola)

 

In a bowl, combine ingredients for marinade whisking together thoroughly, toss chicken (rinsed and patted dry) into large zip lock bag, pour  over chicken, press out air, seal and mush together so well coated, put on a plate so pieces are all flat and put in fridge until needed. Minimum ½ hour but longer is better, overnight recommended. I added in a few pieces of frozen orange peel, thawed and chopped fine.

 

Green Sauce

 

1 c fresh cilantro

1(2) garlic cloves crushed

1 jalapeño (remove seeds and membrane for less heat)

2 tbl lime juice

1/4 c mayo or greek yogurt

2 tbl olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Water if needed for consistency

 

Drop all ingredients into a blender, jalapeño (onion) and garlic first. As I noticed I did not have a pepper so I substituted this way:

3 1/4 inch slices yellow onion chopped (roughly 1/8 cup)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

A few small pieces orange peel chopped fine 

 

Blend thoroughly on pulse until well blended, I added another tsp of lime juice and a little more salt.

The instructions for cooking the chicken did not make sense.

"Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the marinated chicken thighs for about 6-7 minutes per side until cooked through and golden brown with a caramelized crust."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the problem: what do they consider medium high heat on a scale of 1-9? Also, if you sear the chicken quickly at first and then continue cooking the chicken, it is not 6-7 minutes on a side and you will end up with burned chicken. It also does not call for any kind of oil in the pan. I added about 2 tbl of canola oil and turned the burner up to 7 1/2 or 8 until it shimmered. It took about 30 minutes for them to get seared, turning ever few minutes or so. They were were not searing so I had to take them out, pour off the liquid/oil in the pana and put it back on the burner. That resulted in searing but also sticking. After they were seared well I tested the largest one and it was not cooked through.

Right. Put them all on a large plate and completed the cooking in the microwave for 3 minutes. Tested the temperature on the biggest one that still looked a little pink and decided to put them back in for another minute. 165 is the recommended temperature and I always cook to 170-172 to be sure.

 

But let me tell you, it was delicious! The sauce was the kicker and is very similar to the seat of the pants green sauce I made before but this will be my go to sauce to put on chicken or shrimp tacos, any shrimp really, sandwiches... you name it.  It's the combination of lime, cilantro and garlic that is so universal really.  Change an ingredient or two and it would make a great salad dressing. Roasted chicken on a nice green salad, yessiree! It's very similar to the cilantro dressing from Pollo Loco actually.

I made bow tie hamburger skillet yesterday so nothing fancy there. Used a packet of mushroom gravy and beef gravy mix, and accidentally tossed in what I thought was way too much Italian Seasoning. Here's what happened: 

So I put about a tablespoon of seasoning into my little molcajate (mortar and pestle) then realized my small container was getting low so brought down the larger reserve container. Problem one, I only have a regular funnel with a small neck. Right.... hmmm paper funnel using 8 1/2 x 11 just rolled into a cone. The problem again is, I couldn't see how much was going in and ended up spilling about another tablespoon worth on the counter. Not going to waste precious spices so swept that into my hand, looked around then whatever, dropped it into the pan. I thought, no such thing as too much Italian Seasoning and it turned out just fine. 

Now I recall there is an origami method of making a paper funnel, so will have to look that up and make one to have on hand for just such a situation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of chicken and new sauce

No pictures indeed because I was hungry and it's chicken sandwiches. Who needs pictures? I'm low on certain cupboard staples so the next week or so is going to be chicken, hamburger and chicken. Will try and get hold of some beef next time other than hamburger.

So first off I used the three chicken breast cutlets that were left and soaked them overnight in a 'spiced buttermilk'. Namely:

1 c milk

1 tbl lemon juice

2 tbl rotisserie chicken spice mix

 

Whisk together thoroughly, let it sit a minute or two. I used a freezer ziplock bag and poured the buttermilk soak into the bag with the cutlets, put them on a plate in the fridge overnight. You can do an hour or two but this really set the flavor into the meat.

Now the fixing were the usual, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and tried my hand at another chicken sauce off the top of my head. I was lucky this time, it was tasty! I did a small batch since it was only for two sandwiches. Measurements are VERY approximate and at first I thought there was too much mustard but after whisking and adding in a little more bbq sauce it was perfect.

1/2 c mayonnaise

1 tbl bbq sauce (+ a smidge, to taste)

1 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 tsp dill pickle juice

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp each garlic and onion powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

 

Whisk it all together if in a round bottom bowl, if you use something that has straight sides, be sure to get a spoon to get all the ingredients in the bottom.

 

That turned out so well my partner used it on both sides of his buns and almost didn't leave enough for me. It's subtle but still has that tangy mustard flavor but isn't overpowering. Great balance of tart and sweet and smoky that was perfect for the chicken.

 

The previous recipe I did with the cutlets I was going for a cheese steak sort of sandwich mix. So I had red and green bell peppers and sliced onion. I think I only soaked the chicken for an hour or two in the buttermilk but it was another surprise dish combination.

 

 

I have never had a 'philly cheese steak' sandwich, the cooked peppers and onion with the cheese combo always kind of put me off.  Well, this has changed my mind and am now prepared to try the vaunted 'cheese steak and pepper' sandwich sometime when I can. Might have to see about getting some shaved beef like I did before, food for thought.

HA!

Finally, cannot recommend it higher to try the Costco Chocolate Mousse layer cake with ganache frosting. I bought it for my birthday earlier in the month and have forgotten to post about it. Huge cake of course that took us about two or three weeks to finish off. I bought it at the end of September since my birthday was the first week of October.  Note: I did not do the first cut of the cake..ahem.... I had to fix it with subsequent divisions. Standard slice size was even too big for my chocolate loving partner and had to give me the last half of his slice. You could divide those slices and it would still be more than enough for dessert.

 

 

Another original recipe and a giggle

 I finally have a functional car again so spontaneous trips to the store will resume without the hassle of public transit limitations. 

But on another note, I was looking for a crispy coating recipe to make fried chicken this weekend. I bought the multi multi pack of chicken thighs at Costco thinking... there'll be two or three in each pack. Nope, four good size chicken thighs in the first pack, oh my! This is fantastic because we can now have two pieces for each of us and not have to skimp. So on to that recipe I had saved on pinterest

 Now keep in mind, this is a coating for fried chicken..... see what it says  under the title of this recipe? 'Vegan - 6 servings'. This is a recipe for coating chicken and you're labeling it as vegan????? I giggled for a while about that, still am in the back of my head. Also shaking my head at just what our society has become.

Anyway. 

I attempted to make baked chicken with a layer of cubed potatoes underneath so they would absorb all the flavors as I've seen in some videos. 

As you can see, the chicken turned out fantastic. I marinated it overnight in Olive Garden Italian Dressing then sprinkled garlic powder on the pieces before popping it in the oven. I parboiled the potato pieces before coating them in olive oil, salt and pepper then put the rack over them and the chicken.

That was it. Unfortunately, the potatoes are a dismal stuck on failure. We got enough scraped off for the two of us but that was it. Am not trying that recipe again ever and will stick to frying in a pan. 

The chicken really was delicious, had the flavoring of the dressing and was perfectly juicy.  No coating at all just the chicken.

Yesterday was shrimp tacos with an incredibly spicy and yummy cilantro garlic sauce. I just winged it so when it was done I had to write the recipe down best I could, like I do. We had mixed shredded cabbage and avocado as well. I failed to get fresh tomatoes so no pico or salsa other than the sauce.

Creamy Cilantro Garlic Sauce

1 handful of fresh cilantro stems and all

1/2 c mayo

1/2 sour cream

1 tbl lime juice

1 tsp white vinegar

3 garlic cloves

3 slices fresh jalapeño (approx. 1/4 inch thick with seeds and membrane)

1/4 white onion chopped coarse

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1/2 tsp sugar 

 

Drop that all in the blender with veggies first then dressings and blend until smooth. If it's too runny add in more mayo until desired consistency. I have yet to try anything with greek yogurt bedcause I have yet to remember or find just plain full fat in small containers. This stuff has an incredible kick and I think the only thing I'd change is a little less jalapeño. Instead of tacos my partner has his shrimp on hamburger buns like a sandwich. 

Fried chicken tomorrow likely with mashed potatoes, maybe meatloaf or something hamburger based for Sunday then easy meals for the main part of the week. 

Will see what comes up in the kitchen! 

 

 

New month, new food

 Food finagling at it's finest. I managed a passable chicken parmesan for two with spaghetti and cheesy garlic bread.

Chicken breasts 

2 chicken breast cutlets (I used precut and frozen because ... )

1/2 c Italian Breadcrumbs

1/4 c Parmesan cheese (grated if you have a block of it otherwise I just used kraft parmesan/romano)

2 eggs

2 tbl flour

Salt and pepper.

Mozarella cheese, shredded coarse 

Italian salad dressing for marinade 

Olive oil for frying 

 

Marinara sauce can be as fancy or simple as you like. Jarred is fine but I did scratch.

 

1 can tomato sauce 

1 can diced tomatoes (prefer to use crushed tomatoes but this is what I had)

1/2 green bell pepper diced fine

1/2 onion diced fine

1 rib of celery diced fine

1/4 c of red bell pepper also diced fine (I had it on hand and figured it would add a bit of sweetness to the sauce)

1 inch piece of small carrot peeled. 

Olive oil 

2 tbl Italian seasoning plus 1/2 tsp oregano (ground in mortar and pestle together0

4 cloves fresh garlic minced/crushed

Salt/Pepper

Scant tsp chili powder or chili flakes 

 

Enough spaghetti for two cooked al dente

 

Cheesy garlic bread:

3 slices of sourdough bread (I used round loaf and large slices from the middle)

1/2 cube of unsalted butter

3 cloves fresh garlic minced/pressed

Parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese coarsely shredded.

 

If making marinara from scratch, start that first:

Heat medium saucepan with 1 tbl olive oil, add veggies into pan and stir to thoroughly coat with oil. When onion is soft, add in spice mix and stir until well coated. Crush two cloves of garlic into pan, stir and cook until veggies are mostly softened. Lower heat and add in diced tomatoes with liquid, stir to combine, let cook for about a minute or so then add in tomato sauce and carrot piece. Reduce heat to low and barely simmering taste test, add spices as needed. I added just a bare smidge of baking soda and a bit more spices and oregano. The carrot is a secret I learned from an Italian, it takes the acidity and sharpness out of the sauce without using sugar. Though if your taste goes that way you can add a tiny big of sugar. Let simmer on back burner while chicken is cooked.

 

Mix 1/2 cube butter, sotfened with three cloves garlic crushed  using a fork. Put in fridge if it is too melted. 

 

Rinse and pat dry the two chicken breast cutlets then put in gallon zip lock bag with 1/2 c Italian dressing (I used Olive Garden) and put in fridge. Marinate for minimum an hour, up to 4 hours is fine.

Before taking chicken out of fridge prepare frying ingredients.

Using two small 6x8 casserole/storage containers, scramble eggs, salt, pepper and flour in one until well combined, use second container for bread crumbs. 

Heat large pan on stove with 2 tbl olive oil (or a little more) medium high heat. Preheat oven to 425.

When pan is ready, take chicken from bag directly into the egg wash letting it drip a little before putting in breadcrumbs. Press firmly to get good contact over entire surface then place in hot pan carefully, repeat with second piece. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

 

Using a large spoon, add some marinara to bottom of 9x9 baking dish and using tongs or a fork add chicken pieces into dish. Spoon more marinara on top, sprinkle with parmesan, then add generous heaping of shredded mozarella to tops of chicken. Cook in oven at 425 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and melted.

 

While chicken is cooking, prepare cheesy garlic bread: 

Using a baking sheet, layer aluminum foil on bottom for easier clean up. Cut slices in half then spread with garlic butter, sprinkle parmesan cheese then good helping of shredded mozarella. Hold aside or in fridge until chicken is done.

 

Cook spaghetti according to directions while chicken is in oven.

 

(This took some juggling on my part because I forgot about the spaghetti and the bread ended up cold by the time that was ready)

 

Pull out chicken when done, set at back of stove or to the side, change oven to broil and slide in baking sheet with bread. Watch carefully! Takes only about a minute or less for the cheese to melt and get toasty under the broiler.

 

Assemble! Pasta on plate with a scoop of marinara, use spatula to transfer chicken to spaghetti (make sure it doesn't slide off!), add garlic bread. 

 

Things I would do differently:

Use crushed tomatoes not diced, this is a marinara and should be thick but not too chunky, I actually put it in my blender and pulsed a few times to get a better consistency.

 

If I had remembered the spaghetti at the right time the bread would have been piping hot and much better. 

Seriously, these cutlets were bigger than what we're used to, I should have only eaten half of mine but decided to finish instead. Bad idea. I was so uncomfortable for the rest of the night but it was delicious. Definitely a do again, oh and I would also suggest thicker sliced bread. This was fine but using a baguette and cutting our own thickness would make it better.

 

Mangiare!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been cooking..

Just haven't been taking a lot of pictures or doing anything about remembering and writing down recipes. Getting groceries this month has been haphazard so not as much creativity happening with new ingredients.

Later in August I attempted carne asada using frozen orange peels, onion, fresh jalapeño from the garden and other ingredients I found in a recipe but just cobbled it together.

It smelled delicious when it was cooking. Still haven't mastered tossing it in a pan and have it sear quickly. That only happens with open flame apparently.

They were tasty as tacos go, no avocado this round unfortunately but did have some homemade salsa and sour cream. It was food and can be served with rice instead.

This, this was my attempt at grande nachos. There's a lot going on here, pico, salsa, some taco seasoned hamburger, lettuce, cilantro, onions sour cream and believe it or not, there is cheese in there. This was also quite delicious, though still no avocado.

Switched it up to Italian and made garlic butter shrimp aka faux scampi, and made sure to buy some sourdough bread to make garlic toast. It was deeelicious! Very simple ingredients and you have to cook the noodles first and start the shrimp after. I have a habit of overcooking the shrimp but I think I did okay on this. I use a variation of garlic bread that I remember from an old restaurant when I was a kid. I think I posted the recipe for 'Trails Restaurant Garlic Bread' but maybe not added it to the labels.

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tbl unsalted butter, softened (not melted)

Parmesan cheese

Paprika

Baking sheet or foil

 

In a small bowl or ramekin, mix the garlic and butter together well using a fork, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in fridge while preheating oven (or broiler). Lay slices of bread on foil or baking sheet. Full or half slices, whatever you prefer. Spread garlic butter on the slices of bread, sprinkle with parmesan and paprika over the top. Place in hot oven (350 or higher if baking) watch them carefully if you have the broiler on, maybe a minute or two at most. Just want it browned and toasty.

Another recipe I used to do was with a long baguette. Just garlic and tons of butter, slice the bread almost all the way through in slices, spread the garlic butter between each slice, wrap in foil then bake for about twenty minutes. That is so good because the outside is crispy but the inside is garlic buttery softness.

Last of the shrimp was made into a wonderful lime cilantro shrimp over rice another one knocked out of the park, just hit all the right notes.

We finally got hold of some avocados and I had an old favorite. Scrambled eggs (with sausage this time but bacon is better), shredded cheese salsa, avocado and sour cream. It's my low level diy version of my favorite omelette from Denny's. Can't remember what it was but it had all the things with bacon and I'd ask for salsa and sour cream.

This was the chicken and stuffing bake again and again for got to mix the stuffing in with the chicken. I had enough veggies to do a pot pie kind of mix which was absolutely delicious but needed a little more liquid. I will try that again later in the month I think and make sure to cook the stuffing first so it's moist and then put it on top. 

And finally I tried a different way of cooking the hot dogs. If I'm really hungry I just wrap them in paper towels and microwave them. If I'm feeling more cookish, I'll cook them in a frying pan so they're grilled, but this time, I tried the 'New York Dirty Water' recipe. (oh I also bought a can of beanless chili so I can have chili dogs).

The recipe called for a lot more ingredients than I was comfortable with using for just two hot dogs but here's what I did:

Half a yellow onion sliced

Splash of ketchup and equal splash of cocktail sauce

Tsp of red wine vinegar

Tsp of black pepper

1/2 tsp each cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder 

One or two shakes of chili flakes

Tsp olive oil

Stir well as it heats up and when it starts steaming, add in hot dogs. Cook for approx 20 minutes or when it starts to boil. Turn off heat, let them sit in the water while you prep your buns.

I had on my dogs:

Mustard, relish, a few small slices of the onions from the water, chili and shredded cheese. 

Very yummy! I saved the dirty water to use next time and will only have a musard and relish dog so I can see what the difference in the flavor is.

So that's what I've been cooking up lately. Hoping next month we will be back on track and have some more tasty meals now that the weather is cooling down finally!

Crock pot meals here we come!

Finally back in the kitchen!

 With no car of my own relying on others to shuttle us for groceries delays a lot of shopping. This month it was a combination of that and having surgery and not being up to cooking for almost a week. Compound that with very high temperatures that have us closed up with AC on all day so cooking anything in the oven or creating smoke is not good.

Fixed pan fried chicken sandwiches last night and they were delicious of course, but forgot we had pickle slices! Drat! Oh well, still chicken pieces left over for another go around. Today I went relatively easy using some of the shrimp left over from last months purchase. With only 2 adults, bulk buys go a lot farther.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice

1 tbl butter
2 tbs green onion chopped
½ tsp pepper and salt
3 cloves garlic crushed
1lb shrimp
2 bl teriyaki sauce~
½ tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
½ (or full 8 oz) bag stir fry veggies

1 c rice cooked

Clean and rinse shrimp, pat dry and put in bowl with lemon juice and ½ of crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Stir to coat well. Add in 1 tsp teriyaki sauce and chopped green onions, stir to coat and set aside.
Add butter to large pan on medium heat with ½ of crushed garlic, cook until fragrant, add in shrimp and stir with tongs to turn shrimp over when pink, when almost done add in veggies and the remainder of teriyaki sauce. Add in pepper flakes mix well then turn heat down to low and cover pan for 5 minutes.

Serve over cooked white rice.

I almost added in some canola oil then changed my mind and left it out. Glad I did.

Oh yes and another inspiration that worked out really well, a very simple ramen bowl. Basic Maruchan chicken ramen package, a handful of stir fry veggies, garlic powder, chopped green onion. That's it., usually use crushed garlic and a good dash of ground pepper as well.

Easy meals for being not up to snuff lately. Not sure what I'll fix tomorrow but pulled out stew meat chunks... maybe something taco style or something. Will see what happens.

End of the month meals; Fun with leftovers!

 Plenty of meat in the freezer for cooking, just not a lot else to go with it. So simple meals on repeat with a few flairs and changes for variation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you do when you don't feel like fixing goulash or DIY hamburger helper? Use up the left over chili! Chili Mac! I should have used the small elbows but this turned out tasty and used up the leftover enchilada sauce that was sitting in the fridge from weeks ago. Cheese and sour cream and I went back for seconds  and we had leftovers of that for next day lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another pound bag of the stew beef chunks had been pulled out and I had an entire day and night to try and figure out what to do with it. Hmmm, brown gravy and onion soup mix, peas and carrots, instant mashed potatoes.... another tasty and filling meal! Just salt and pepper on the beef chunks that I cut into bite size bits used a little unsalted butter in the pan and browned them before I added in the gravy mix with a cup of water, then mixed that around, added in the onion soup mix and another half cup of water then a cup of the peas and carrots, put the lid on to let everything cook through. Whipped up the instant mashed potatoes (my last bag of potatoes rotted sadly) and spoon meat and gravy over the potatoes.... tasty. Would have preferred mushrooms mixed in but that can be for next time.

And for today's meal, innovation and invention. I have always loved cauliflower with cheese, it is one of my favorite dishes but the cheese mix I grew up on is no longer available. Sadness and dismay, it was a McCormick cheese sauce packet I believe and you just added milk and it tasted like nothing else. So what to do with a small head of cauliflower that I broke up to use yesterday and decided not to? Mac n Cheese! Oh yes and oven baked barbecue chicken with the rotisserie chicken seasoning (which I need to remember not to be so heavy handed, very salty)

The other issue right now is we are shutting up with the AC due to the heat outside which makes cooking carefully a priority. Right now the entire apartment smells like bbq sauce and pepper but also a bit of smoke from the oven. Using the oven also heats up the front half of the apartment as well. 

Adventures in cooking!

Yes it's summer but.... Chili!

 Among other things since Lasagna happened which I just ate the last of the leftovers yesterday. Chop it into small squares, remembered I had that jar of marinara and used that to give it some extra flavor, delicious down to the last bite. Nothing else remarkable as far as food is concerned in the last two weeks or so which is why I am  posting now.

 

We bought packaged pollo asado and of course made up some absolutely stellar tacos and partner had his over rice with chopped tomato, onion and cilantro, and diy refried beans. That chicken was just finished off as well in some ramen for him. I think I remember looking at the ingredients on the chicken and fixed up a reasonable copy of it but never wrote it down.

 

I bought a package of pork shoulder steaks that were a reasonable price and then realized I had no recipes for them. So used up the last of my bread crumbs and gave them the schnitzel treatment but no pounding because they still have a bone in them. Fixed up the Seasoned Rice and all that was missing was a side of veggies or broccoli. Nothing special about the process, used an egg with a little milk scrambled, flower and the breadcrumbs. Need to figure out how to keep the crumbs from flaking off.

 

So silly me, pulled out one of the packages of cubed stew meat and it was the larger sized bits. I do have a recipe for chili but didn't want to go rummaging through my recipe box for it so on to Pinterest... because initially I wanted to use the crock pot so it would cook all day. Found a recipe that used the cubed meat as well as black beans because I used the last can of pinto beans in the refried. Now here is where it gets silly:

They have you cook up the spices and veggies, do all the pre cooking then dump it all in the crock pot to cook. I thought, why dirty two dishes when I can stew this on simmer in the dutch oven?

Another mistake was misreading the ingredient measurements. 

So here's 'Award Winning Crockpot Chili'. Sans crockpot

1 T canola or other cooking oil

1 T cumin

1 T smoked paprika

2 T chili powder (I misread and thought it said tsp but corrected it)

3 T regular paprika (I thought that was a bit excessive and used 2)

2 tsp onion powder

1-1 1/2 lbs chuck roast cut into cubes

2 T brown sugar

1 tsp oregano (I used my garden oregano dried)

1 medium onion diced

(1/2 green bell pepper diced)

3 cloves garlic minced (used garlic I grew in my garden yay!)

14 oz (1 can) diced tomatoes (undrained)

4 oz can diced chilis (I didn't have any so I used one can Rotel and one can diced tomatoes)

1 c beef broth

1 T apple cider vinegar (I used 1 tsp)

2 cans black beans drained and rinsed (I only had one)

1 tsp salt

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium-sized skillet. When the oil shimmers, stir paprikas, cumin, chili powder and onion powder into the pan. Cook for 1 minute or until spices are very aromatic and remove from heat. (I had the oregano in there two because I didn't read effectively)

 

Add beef, sugar, oregano, onion, vinegar, garlic, tomatoes, green chilies, beef broth, beans and salt to the slow cooker. Transfer spices from the skillet into the slow-cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high, 6 on low.

 

This is where I got confused due to not reading well (stupid eyesight). I added the onion and I thought you cooked everything in that original pan then transferred so I just added the meat and everything into the dutch oven, stirred everything well brought it up to a good simmer then put the lid on and turned it down to let it cook for a few hours. I also added in a can of corn because it just looked like it could use something. Also I was thinking that adding in lime juice instead of the vinegar would give it a different flavor next time. When it was about an hour or two in I took the lid off and stirred, it was very watery so I added in about a tablespoon of cornstarch and water to thicken it up. 

Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro because that just makes it even better. I was going to add in cilantro toward the end of cooking but changed my mind. It's a fantastic flavor and can see how it may have won an award or two but I've also had better.

 

I can see how heating up the spices is an old world way of doing things and it does add a depth to the flavors. Most cooking you can screw up directions like this and it still turns out just fine. Which it did this time luckily. I was briefly tempted to use a drop of smoke flavoring instead of using the smoked paprika but didn't. Vinegar and that stuff I have used wrong and it ruins the entire recipe. If I were to use it I would sear the meat first, add a drop of smoke and stir it around then add the other ingredients give it a good char first with that smoke flavor would make it completely different for sure.

 

That's all I've got for this time, mid July is going to be busy so I'll be hopefully stockpiling on easy to fix meals and leftovers. I've got a bit of time until then, tomorrow is going to be chicken breasts somehow.

 

Lasagna has happened!

Pre-cooking the meat helped immensely for time but I ran just a tad short on mozzarella and really needed provolone on top. Oh well, I added some colby-jack cheese on top, cooked it for an hour then took the foil off and cooked for another fifteen minutes.

I had to kind of  mish mash the two recipes as I went due to using oven ready noodles but a semi-homemade sauce. Neither of the recipes from the box of noodles or the recipe I found on pinterest.

Not enough cheese and sauce. I broke some of the noodles up to fill in gaps so all of them were used. If I attempt this again, it is going to get more sauce and cheese for sure. I still have the jar of marinara sauce and will likely open that up and add it to portions I will fix  for lunch and dinner in the future. Really needed some slices of provolone on top.

 

I was afraid the noodles wouldn't be cooked all the way through and I thought I had feared it was true. The bottom layer of noodles would not cut and thinking about it, thought that was odd because it was being cooked from the bottom. Turns out, the bottom layer around the edges was burned. Not a rave review from my partner but it was good. If I had added anymore sauce it would have really spilled out over the edges. As it was, there was some drippage and burning in the oven. 

My Lasagna:

I chopped up half a green bell pepper and a red, a rib of celery, half a yellow onion and used four cloves of garlic. A little olive oil in the dutch oven and cooked the onion and garlic first, then added in the other veggies. Got that all softened then tossed in the can of tomatoes, juice and all then the crushed. Oh yes, since I was doing 'scratch' I used about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning with an extra teaspoon of oregano and crushed red pepper. Mashed that all together in the pestle and tossed that in.  I heated the meat in the microwave for a minute then tossed that in and stirred. Turned down the heat to about 3 but left the lid off, when it looked like it was bubbling a bit much, turned it down to 1 (really low) and put the lid on. Cooked that probably for about an hour, maybe forty-five minutes. Took the lid off and it looked a bit watery so I added in the can of paste and another large pinch of oregano. Salt and pepper fresh ground and a pinch of sugar. Taste test said it needed to be smoothed out a bit so I added a pinch of baking soda. I have heard you can add a carrot for a few minutes but I didn't have a carrot until after it was in the oven (found a bag of four carrots on the community table when I took Rocky for a walk while it was cooking). Started the oven on 350 then double guessed myself and turned it up to 400 but only for about fifteen minutes, then turned it down again. That may have been the reason for the burning.

Oh and we had a good chopped salad (not the absolute mashed chop that other people do) just a good standard salad with tomato, cucumber, red onion, romaine (fresh from the garden!), iceberg and a little bit of green leaf lettuce and some shavings of carrot.

We will have meals for days, which is a good thing. I like having leftovers to supplement fresh meals, that's how you make meals stretch longer. 

So, fresh meals not for a few days but there are pollo asado tacos in the future for sure.