A Month of Meals - Day 4

Menu: Pasta w/ Pumpkin and Sausage, Spinach Salad w/ Apple & Red onion

Recipe: Posted here

I decided to try a Rachael Ray recipe for tonight. I've never seen her show, but I know she has a cookbook about fast meals. Off I went to her site to figure out what I could do with the leftover pumpkin from Matt's b-day cake. Ta-da! Pumpkin Pasta. I'm a pretty awful food photographer, but I think it looks better in my picture than the screen capture they used to accopany the recipe.

Damages: A large pot, a large skillet, two measuring cups, a cutting board. . . quite a few dishes, but I was able to fit all of them in one dishwasher load along with the rest of the dishes we created today.

Time Spent: 40 minutes. I'd never made this before and like so many things I make, I think it would go together a little faster the second time around. I try a new recipe at least once a week and sometimes I wonder if I make my life harder than it needs to be by doing this. I'm always looking for that next great recipe that we can't live without and something to use up the leftovers that another dish generates.

Pros: Only requires ingredients that I usually have on hand--except fresh sage. I substituted a teaspoon of ground. I also used half-and-half instead of heavy cream because that's what I had. As written, the recipe made enough for dinner and 4 additional servings.

Cons: We thought it tasted a little too sausagey. I think you could get away with half the sausage.

Final Review: I forgot to take a picture of the final review! At first Matt said one thumb up, but then it grew on him. It's the kind of dish that I think will taste better the second day. No complaints from Winnie except that she won't eat raw spinach. Instead of salad she just got apple slices. I probably won't be in a rush to make the pasta again. The salad, however, was terrific. Winnie dipped her apples in the dressing and it made just the right amoung of dressing.

A Month of Meals - Day 3

Menu: Morrocan Chicken, Couscous & Carrots

What I Actually Made: Taco Soup and Crescent Rolls

Today was one of those days when I just couldn't stomach the thought of cooking. Matt wasn't home for dinner and I was tired, so I pulled out my old stand-by, Taco Soup. This is Rachel Terry Quesada's recipe and I love her for it! I always keep the ingredient on hand for this one because it's truly a one pot meal, it takes 10 minutes or less of prep time and it can be on the table in 20 minutes if you need it to be.

Recipe:

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion (I generally use a couple tablespoons of dried onions)

1 package taco seasoning

1 can tomato sauce (small)

1 can corn

1 can kidney beans

Brown the ground beef with the onion and drain the fat. Add all other ingredients, including liquids. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

I usually double everything but the ground beef and the taco seasoning. I buy taco seasoning in large jars, so I 1 1/2 that. Sometimes we get fancy and eat the soup with tortilla chips and sour cream. We almost always top it with shredded cheese. Tonight we ate it with refrigerator crescent rolls, since I had an extra can from a recipe I made last week.

Damages: Only the dishes we ate off of. Since I doubled the recipe, I just put the rest in the frige in a pot for Matt to eat when he got home. I cooked the crescent rolls on my beloved pizza stone, which lives in my oven and only requires a quick wipe after use.

Time Spent: 30 minutes--15 prep (including defrosting my ground beef) and 15 of unsupervised cook time, except for stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Pros: Easy, easy, easy and everyone love it.

Cons: None--except it might be a little much for a 100 degree July day.

Final Review: We all love this one. Classic comfort food. In the cold months, I probably make this more than any other dish. Do you think my family would mind if I made this a couple times a week for the next 7 months?

While Winnie did love the soup, I think her smile can mostly be attriubed to the fact that I let her use the step stool as a table to eat in the kitchen tonight.

A Month of Meals - Day 2

Menu:
Baked Reuben Sandwich, Carrot-Apple Slaw

I know, I know. To most people this menu sounds gross. Matt was pretty skeptical, but he really liked it and Winnie ate all hers, so what more could I ask for. Except, perhaps, for Winnie to start using her utensils to eat.

Recipe:
Reuben Sandwich Squares
1 13 3/4-ounce package hot roll mix (I made my regular bread/roll recipe, rather than a mix--you'll need enough dough for one loaf of bread)

Prepare hot roll mix according to package directions just through mixing step. Divide dough in half. Let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Set aside 1 half of dough, covered, for top crust. On a lightly floured surface roll the remaining half to a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Cover; let rise 20 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven. (Baked layer will be lightly golden.)

1 8-ounce can Sauerkraut (1 cup, rinsed and well drained)
1/3 cup Thousand Island salad dressing
1/4 cup tomato sauce

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the rinsed and drained sauerkraut, Thousand Island salad dressing, and tomato sauce. Stir to mix well. Set the mixture aside.

8 1 and 1/2 - ounce slices Swiss cheese
3 3-ounce packages very thinly sliced corned beef (I used regular old cheap sandwich meat)

Arrange 4 slices of the cheese over the baked bread layer in the baking dish. Arrange all of the corned beef slices atop the cheese layer. Spoon the sauerkraut mixture over the corned beef. Top with the remaining slices of cheese.

2 teaspoons cooking oil
Caraway seed (optional--as in I don't add this)

Roll remaining dough into a 13x9-inch rectangle. Place over corned beef and cheese filling. Crimp edges. Cover; let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Brush the top with cooking oil. Sprinkle lightly with caraway seed, if desired.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till top is light brown. Cut into 6 squares. Remove each square from the dish and cool up to 1 hour on a wire rack. Pack each cooled square in a freezer bag. Store up to 1 month in the freezer. Makes 6 servings.

Carrot-Apple Slaw

I just threw things together for this. I combined apples (fresh from the tree), shredded carrots and crushed pineapple, then made a basic slaw dressing (mayo, vinegar, sugar and salt) mixed to taste. The slaw was mostly apples.

I meant to make a green salad as well, but forgot all about it until dinner was over with.

Time Spent: An hour and a half, but a good portion of it is time waiting, not working. The rise times kill you on this one, so I made it Monday night. I baked it for 20 minutes and then put it in the oven for another 20 minutes at 300 degrees tonight. I was cooked perfectly.

Damages: A sink full of dirty dishes and a messy counter. Definitely not a one pot meal, but almost all things that can go in the dishwasher, so not awful.

Pros: We only ate a third of the sandwich, so we can eat it for lunches tomorrow and freeze another two servings.

Cons: Definitely not something that fits my normal timeframe very well. I'd usually have to make this on weekends or make it the night before like I did this time.

Final Review: Matt was scared by the sauerkraut, but he really liked it. Winnie normally doesn't eat Swiss Cheese, but she didn't even seem to notice it in this, even though I think it's a pretty strong flavor. This is definitely a time intensive meal, but it makes a lot of servings and it packs really well for lunches so I'll probably make it again.

(p.s. Am I the only one that has a terrible time getting Blogger to space things correctly? I just don't have the energy to go in and edit the HTML code tonight to make this look good. Sorry about the confusion that causes in the recipe.)

A Month of Meals - Day 1

Menu: Spinach & Potato Frittata, Fresh Tomato Slices

Recipe:

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 small red potatoes, sliced

1 cup torn fresh spinach

2 tablespoons sliced green onions

1 teaspoon crushed garlic salt and pepper to taste

6 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Place potatoes in the skillet, cover, and cook about 10 minutes, until tender but firm. Mix in spinach, green onions, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Pour into the skillet over the vegetables. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until eggs are firm.

Time Spent: 30 minutes start to table

Damages: Basically a one pot meal.

Pros: Winnie cleaned her bowl

Cons: We ate all of it, so there are no leftovers for tomorrow.

Final Review: We love quiche and I think this is just a faster version of the same thing. I'll probably make it again because it's one of those dishes where no recipe is required and you can use just about anything you have one hand.

A Month of Meals (or maybe a week)

I'm dreading meals. I hate the rush to get home and make dinner before we have to get someone out the door or kids to bed. My family likes most of the things I make and I am meeting my goal of packing leftovers for lunches every day, but I wish I could find ways to enjoy cooking more, or do less of it, or do it faster. I've looked into pre-prepared options, but anything healthy is running in the neighborhood of $5.00 a serving. Since I try to keep our meals around $2.00 a serving, that's definitely out.


So, here's the deal. I'm going to share my menus, methods and techniques and I'm requesting your feedback. Would you cook these things? Do you have shortcuts or suggestions? Kitchen tools or gadgets to make life easier? Tried and true recipes to share? Quick meals that get you through in a pinch?


Here are some of my grounds rules for cooking:

• Most nights I only have an hour for preparing and cooking meals.
• I need really fast on Tuesdays.
• I'm willing to make my most involved meals on Sundays.
• I do as little as possible on Saturdays.
• I have to make enough food to have leftover for Matt and I to pack as lunches Monday-Friday.
• I plan all of my menus for the week and do my grocery shopping on Saturday.
• I never buy cuts of meat that cost more than $2.00 a pound.
• I never buy fruit that costs more $1.00 a pound.
• I try to cook vegetarian once or twice a week as a means of controlling cost.
• I don't do canned vegetables (although I do occassionally buy canned corn for Taco Soup).
• I try to make a wide variety of foods and expose my family to different things, though I have staple ingredients that many of my meals are planned around.
• I cut fat where I can, but I'm much more interested in providing nutritious foods than "low fat" meals.
• I don't discriminate against any food groups, although we don't do a lot of seafood because of the cost and the fact that I don't like fish.

I know my blog title is a month of meals, so it would make sense to start on the 1st, but since this is my blog, I'm going to start today.