Archive | May, 2012

My daily lunchtime dilemma…and a recipe

4 May

I dread the daily lunchtime dilemma.

I have such a hard time with lunch. I always have, even for my kids. I don’t love lunch unless it’s leftover dinner or unless it’s breakfast for lunch. But, if we have no leftovers and if I have had breakfast for breakfast and don’t want it again for lunch, I get kind of stuck. Some days my work schedule is such that I can eat a late breakfast and skip lunch altogether. Other days I have to eat lunch for lunch and I often just don’t know what to have.

This week I had one of those days. I’d done breakfast for breakfast and I was working from home so I had to eat lunch at home and there were no leftovers. I opened and closed the fridge a half dozen times, and the pantry closet never had anything new in it no matter how many times I looked.

Finally, I was completely starving.

Desperate.

I opened the fridge again, and I saw two things that struck my fancy that I hadn’t noticed before: leftover cooked bacon, and a fruit dip from my mom (one of my all-time faves) that had just a little bit left in the container. Somehow those two things came together in my head and I knew I had a fabulous little lunch in store for myself.

A few minutes on broil in the toaster oven and I had a crispy baked potato with bacon and cheese for my lunch.

Along with the leftover bacon, I pulled out some cheddar cheese. With the dip I pulled out a kiwi. I went to my potato bin and got myself the biggest baked potato I could find and I threw it in the microwave until it was cooked through. I opened it up, put in some butter, mixed it around and put the bacon crumbled on top. Over that, I grated the cheddar cheese.

I then put the whole thing in the toaster oven on broil for just a few minutes. When I took it out, it was crispy and piping hot.

It was delicious. I was in heaven.

And then, my mom’s almond fruit dip…this dip is so good! It’s great on strawberries, or on pineapple or on kiwi or really on just about anything. We’ve done grapes and cantaloupe too, it’s yummy.

This dip is great for company, or in this case, for me.

There was just enough left for me to make a little side dish for myself with the dip and a kiwi, although I could’ve skipped the kiwi. I’ve been known to eat this dip with a spoon. The kiwi was healthy though, right? Right.

It was perfect.

You too, can have my perfect lunch at your house!

Here is the recipe for my mom’s Almond Cream Dip, which according to my recipe card, she got from a 1982 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine.

INGREDIENTS

One 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 ounce vanilla instant pudding

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

1 tsp. almond extract

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pudding using only one cup of milk.

Fold in whipped cream and almond extract.

Refrigerate if not served right away.

Enjoy! And tell me, what do you like to eat for lunch?

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The proof is in….the powdered cheese packet

3 May

A double batch, even!

A few weeks back I did a blog post about the convenience of using the Knorr sauce mix packets and I mentioned that yes, even I make hot dogs and mac & cheese, and that I actually love hot dogs with mac & cheese. I promised to prove it to you by taking a photo of my meal the next time we had that for dinner.

Well, today’s the day.

Dinner!

We had the meal this week for dinner and I did remember to take a picture. Here is my dinner table ready for one of the easiest dinners ever. You’ll notice though, I assuage my guilt by putting out a big veggie tray to go along with the mac & cheese and hot dogs. This particular tray had fresh green beans on it, which my kids love, but by the time I took the dinner table photo the beans were gone. They were there though.

So there you have it.

Hot dogs, mac & cheese and veggies. My house. Dinner.

I love hot dogs grilled on the stove top griddle!

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New dinner recipe: Butter Cream Chicken

2 May

This was a new recipe for us, and the entire family liked it!

I’m going to apologize right off the bat here: although I know that this recipe came from a blog called Jamie Cooks It Up, I have no idea how I happened upon the recipe, so I apologize to whomever found it first and passed it on to me.

It was delicious.

Very rarely do we have a meal that absolutely everyone likes. There’s just too many varying tastes in our house. However, this one, everyone liked it, even Alex. That’s saying a lot.

That all being said, it’s probably not the healthiest recipe, so kind of like my Chicken a la King recipe, it’s best had on occasion only.  I served ours with Rice Pilaf and my new favorite way to make asparagus: roasted. The sauce was so good though, I even put it on my rice. I would’ve put it on just about anything I could find, I liked it that much.

Here for you now, is Jamie’s recipe. Any modifications I chose to do are in parenthesis. The rest is as she wrote it.

Time: 30 minutes start to finish  (It did take me slightly longer on my first try. Like, 30 minutes longer.)
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Simple ingredients!

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken breasts (I used a bunch of tenders)
1 1/2 sleeves Ritz Cracker, ground into crumbs
Olive Oil
1 C chicken broth
4 T butter
1 C  + 2 T half and half, divided
1/2 t thyme, dried
2 T cornstarch
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
 
1. Cut your chicken up into chunks with some kitchen scissors. I usually cut each breast into thirds or sometimes fourths depending on the size of the breast. (*Because I used tenders I did not have to do steps one and two.)
2. Place your chicken into a gallon sized ziploc bag and seal the bag. Pound the chicken flat with a meat mallet. 
3. Grind the Ritz Crackers into crumbs in a small food processor. (*I put them in a ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush them up. Then I put the chicken right into the bag to coat with crumbs.) Place them in a shallow pan, I find a loaf pan to work best for this step. 
4. Press each chicken piece into the crumbs, being sure to coat both sides generously. Place each coated chicken piece on a plate. “Don’t they look lovely, June. Love the feathers.”…name that movie, anyone?
5. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once it is good and hot, pour about 5 tablespoons Olive Oil into your pan. 
6. Let your oil heat up just for 30 seconds or so, and then put the chicken carefully in the pan. Don’t crowd it now. You’ll need to cook the chicken in two batches. 
7. Let the chicken cook until it’s nice and golden brown on the bottom, should take about 3-4 minutes. Turn each piece with a fork and allow it to cook on the other side. The chicken is done when it’s no longer pink inside. 
8. Remove the chicken to a separate plate and cook your second batch of chicken, adding another few tablespoons of oil to the pan before you add the chicken.
9. Once you have cooked all of the chicken you’ll have some beautiful crispy treasures left in the pan. Add 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup chicken broth to the pan allowing the butter to melt. Whisk the mixture around a bit, scraping the bottom of the pan to break the crispy pieces loose.
10. Add 1 cup half and half and 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme. Whisk it around to incorporate and allow it to come to a boil. 
11. Into a small bowl pour 2 tablespoons half and half and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir it around until smooth.
12. Pour the cornstarch mixture into your pan and stir it with a whisk. Allow it to return to a boil…as it heats it will thicken into a nice smooth sauce of wonder and bliss…here comes your kiss. 🙂
13. Remove it from the heat, give it a taste and add a bit of salt and pepper to you liking. 
14. Serve it over the crispy chicken and enjoy!

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Another great recipe from The Budget Gourmet Mom

1 May

Do you ever get tired of the same old thing?

I love asparagus! I found out earlier this year that most of my kids like asparagus, so I was so thrilled when Aldi’s started carrying it in their frozen veggies section because it meant that we could afford it and afford to have it any time we wanted to.

I bought it by the boatload. We had it all the time.

I’m tired of asparagus now.

Well, not tired of asparagus so much as I am tired of cooking it the same old way every time, which everyone likes: sauteed with oil and garlic in a frying pan on the stove, which is also the same way we make our green beans because it’s everyone’s favorite way.

I was happy to see a new cooking suggestion a few weeks back from The Budget Gourmet Mom blog that I follow. It was a recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Red Onions and Garlic and it made me wonder why I’d never thought to roast my asparagus before.

Sometimes you just need it to hit you over the head, I guess.

It also reminded me that I have another recipe for preparing asparagus that my mom used to make, so when I make that one, I’ll post it as well. I haven’t made it in years and years.

So here is Krista’s recipe for you for Roasted Asparagus with Red Onions and Garlic. If you’d like to see her beautiful photography to go along with her preparation of the asparagus, head on over to her blog. I go there EVERY day and I always love her posts.

Thank you Krista!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb asparagus
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • a few thin slices of red onion
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400°
  2. Wash and trim the asparagus. Lay out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
  3. Mince the garlic and sprinkle over the asparagus. Top with red onion rings.
  4. Bake 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

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