Day two...three days late...

So I'm a bit late.  But if you think about it, we've traveled pretty far.  The Pastichio was tremendous.  We had another pan left and I served it to some of our runners today.  One of our kids is of Greek heritage and she told me it smelled like her house when her Mom makes it!  (Great compliment and I'll take it!)  She settled in to a plate of familiarity and then said, " Coach, this is better than my Mom's.  Her's is much creamier and this is much better.  More cheesy!"  So glad everyone liked it!

I made Spaghetti as well today, so we had quite the Adriatic tour.  Tonight we were supposed to have Dusted Pork Chops, but we'll have them tomorrow.  We helped at a track meet and ate lunch late.  We were still full when it came time to think about dinner. I'm not complaining, we just need to shift my cooking to tomorrow.

Dusted Pork Chops come from a really yummy recipe that was an epic fail for DH.  The part he liked was the seasoning on the meat.  I mixed some up in a jar and use it from time to time to season our pork chops and chicken. And yes we do call it Chicken Dust.

The recipe comes from The Gluten-Free Bible, Publications International, Ltd., Lincolnwood, IL, 2010.  I used to work down the street from there. Talk about a small world.   The recipe is actually South American Chicken and Quinoa.  The first 3 ingredients mixed with the last 2 make our Dust.

South American Chicken and Quinoa
1 t. ground turmeric
1 t. dried thyme
3/4 t. salt, divided
1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
2 T. olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. uncooked quinoa
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 t. curry powder
1/4 t. ground ginger

Combine the turmeric, thyme and 1/4 t. salt in a shallow dish.  Dip the chicken pieces into the spice mixture coating all sides; set aside.
Heat 1 T. of the oil over medium high heat.  Add the bell pepper and onion. Cook and stir 2 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.  Remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon; set aside.  Add the remaining oil and the chicken to the skillet.  Cook and stir 5 minutes or until browned and cooked through.  Rinse the quinoa in  a fine-mesh strainer under cold running water; drain well.  Combine the quinoa, chicken broth, coconut milk, curry powder, ginger and the remaining 1/2 t. salt in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to low; simmer covered, 10 minutes. Stir chicken and pepper mixture; cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.  Serves 4.  

So for my version, I dust the chicken like it says in the recipe and end up with cool chicken nuggets and follow the cooking instructions for the chicken part of the recipe above.  I've also used it on chicken legs and baked them in the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.
Until tomorrow... or maybe it's just later since it's already tomorrow...

Day one of the World Tour...Singapore noodles. Day two's recipe Pastichio

 

Dinner was so yummy!  There is an incredible amount of prep that goes into Singapore Noodles, but it is so worth it.  I spent my afternoon as my own Sous Chef.  Once everything was prepped (mind you I had no idea how many guests would show so I prepped enough for 3 recipes), I relaxed for a bit, waited for the guests to arrive and find out if there were any allergies I needed to be aware of.  There were no allergies and I only had to make 1 recipe's worth of dinner.  I boxed up 2 bonus dinners and served the rest.

Speaking of Sous Chef, one shortcut I can think of is for the julienned carrots.  I always make carrot sticks every week for DH to take in his lunch that he brings to work.  I used carrot sticks that I had left from Friday for the julienned carrots.  It was easy to just chop the sticks into 6 smaller pieces.  I'm sure commercial carrot sticks would work the same way, and it would save a step in your dinner prep.

Wednesday is Pastichio.  Miss M was asking me tonight what it was, but I do remember her liking this the last time I made it. This was one the whole family loved.  Again it's another labor intensive dinner, but so worth it when you have time.  It's break and so I have that kind of time now.  I also know I will really appreciate the bonus dinner on January 12th! :) 

This could be put in two different dishes and baked at the same time and one could be frozen intact for another day, reheated in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350° making it two 6 serving dinners.  That was me when I had a fuller house.  Now I'm content to serve this to company first and then portion out bonus dinners for later.

Pastichio

1½ c. unsalted butter, divided

6 rounded T. flour

1 qt. milk, heated

2½ c. grated Parmesan, divided

9 eggs, divided

Salt & pepper to taste

1½ lb. elbow macaroni, cooked

2 large onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2½ lbs. ground beef

½ 6 oz. can tomato paste

½ c. water or tomato juice

½ t. ground cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

           Melt 1 c. butter in a large saucepan.  Add the flour and stir until golden.  Gradually add the hot milk, stirring constantly over low heat until the sauce is thick and smooth.  Stir in ½ c. of the cheese; cool.  Beat 6 eggs; stir into sauce.  Season to taste.  Melt the remaining butter in a large skillet.  Sauté the onions and garlic until golden.  Add the ground beef, stirring until the meat is browned.  Don’t pour off the fat.  Add the tomato paste, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper (to taste).  Stir and simmer for 20 minutes.  To the macaroni, add the remaining 3 eggs and a handful of cheese.  Butter a high sided 9 x 13 or 10 x 15 pan.  Spread with half the macaroni.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Pat the mixture down.  Add the meat, spreading to cover.   Sprinkle with more cheese.  Top with the remaining macaroni and remaining cheese.  Press down.  Spread the cream sauce on top.  Bake at 350° until firm and golden, about 1 hour.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Makes 12 servings.

Our world tour..first Singapore, then Greece and beyond!

 Monday night's dinner, Singapore Noodles, comes in part from the interweb.  I have tweaked it to our family's preference, but it is a huge hit and we have it often.  I cut out the red pepper flakes, water chestnuts and mushrooms but added chili powder, slivered pea pods and use rice noodles instead of the noodle nests.

Singapore Noodles a la Lorri

1 lb medium rice noodles
1/4 c. cooking oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. slivered fresh ginger
1/2 t. chili powder
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/3 c. green onions
2/3 c. julienned carrot
1/2 c. slivered peapods
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. oyster sauce
3 T. curry powder
2 t. soy sauce

Bring a pot of  lightly-salted water to at rolling boil; add the rice noodles and return to a boil.  Turn off the heat and let stand 5 minutes; drain and let stand for 5 minutes; drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or deep 12" skillet.  Stir in the garlic, ginger and chili powder; cook a few seconds until the garlic begins to turn golden.  Add the chicken, green onions, and carrots.  Cook and stir until the chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peapods, peanut butter, oyster sauce, curry powder and soy sauce until the peanut butter has disolved into the sauce.  Stir the noodles into the chicken mixture; cover and reduce heat to warm or very low.  Let stand 10 to 15 minutes so the noodles absorb some more of the sauce.
Serves 6.

I'll post the Pastichio and Dusted Pork Chops recipe tomorrow. I'm looking forward to break...this is gonna be filled with meals at home, grocery shopping field trips, visiting with friends and naps!  :)

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Roasting Chicken & cookie baking

     Tonight's dinner was Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.  It was super yummy and now I have a leftover carcass with which to make soup.  I was thinking either chicken rice or chicken barley.  Hmmm. . . a bonus meal on top of our bonus meals!  Can't beat that! :) It was a 5 lb roasting chicken.  I picked it up at Harvestime Sunday.  My back fridge kinda freezes my meat, so I thawed it pretty quickly and roasted tonight.   

     Next week, Monday is Singapore Noodles, Wednesday is Pastichio and Friday is Dusted Pork Chops.  I'll post those recipes over the weekend.  I still have shopping to do for Christmas.  Winter break just started a few hours ago.  I did manage to get all my cookies baked save for half of my melting moments and my pepparkakor.  That will happen in a bit (or maybe tomorrow) so I have them for Sunday.  We are just settling in with coffee for tonight, so after the battery recharge...the baking will begin.

My Week Evaporated!...but the Lime Chicken and Meatloaf were yummy!

Monday and Wednesday got away from me...then again so did Thursday.  We did have the Lime Chicken on Monday, 

our bonus meal of Curried Turkey with Rice, Meatloaf on Wednesday, 

went out with friends yesterday and I baked cookies until 2 AM.  I'm looking forward to our Roast Chicken tonight.  I can start early because there is no practice tonight.

Birthdays, Chicken and Meatloaf (without the yucky red sauce)

     So it's birthday season in our family and we are celebrating today.  I wanted to post the recipes for tomorrow and Wednesday as well.  Monday is Lime Chicken.  I have only made this once during our 38 years together, so I guess you could say it's been a while.  I remember it was from before we had kids and when I was working on a hand written binder of recipes that would one day turn into a cookbook.  It may still, but now you'll have a couple of recipes from the beloved "Green Binder".  

     Wednesday is Meatloaf with Brown Gravy.  The kids and I would have the 'Blue Plate Special' at Barbara's Kitchen in Edgebrook back in the day.  They would get Meatloaf most of the time.  (Turkey was available as well, but the Meatloaf was the favorite)  Now, I will tell you our kids were middle schoolish when we had it at home for the first time because my Dear Hubby (DH) told me in no uncertain terms that he hated meatloaf.  I found out he hated the "red stuff" on top.  Good thing I grew up with a Swedish Mom and she never put a topping on ours and served it with brown gravy.  Again...he said it was like sliced meatballs.  So glad that some leopards can change their spots. 😍

Lime Chicken

1 c. rice 

2 c. chicken broth

1 ¼ lb. boned chicken breast halves

¼ c. flour

1 t. salt

¼ t. pepper

6 T. butter (divided)

2 T. honey

1 large clove garlic, sliced

4 thin slices lime (divided, with 2 slices cut in half)

½ c. dry white wine

9 oz. frozen pea pods

     Cook the rice according to the directions using the broth instead of water.  Coat the chicken with the mixture of the flour, salt & pepper.  In a large skillet, melt 4 T. of the butter with the honey, garlic and 2 of the whole lime slices.  Add the chicken, cook over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning once.  Add the remaining 2 T. butter and the wine.  Bring to a boil.  Add the peapods; reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 min. or until the peapods are crisp-tender.  Garnish with the remaining halved lime slices and serve over the cooked rice.  Serves 4.

Swedish Style Meatloaf

¼ c. chopped onion

½ c. bread crumbs (cracker crumbs work too)*

¼ t. nutmeg

½ t. garlic salt

½ c. milk (can be rice milk)

1 egg

1 ½ lb. ground beef (or half beef/half ground pork)

    

     Preheat the oven to 375°.  Mix well the onion, crumbs, nutmeg, garlic salt, milk and egg togther in a medium bowl.  Add the ground meat and incorporate well being careful not to over handle the meat.  Place in a 9 x 5" loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.  Remove from oven and  let rest 10 minutes before slicing, using a serrated knife.  Serve with brown gravy.  Serves 6.

* I've used crushed rice crackers to make this recipe gluten free.  It works really well.

Brown Gravy Mix

This recipe (Beef Gravy Base) is from "Fix it Fast Cookbook" from the Better Homes and Gardens series, Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, IA, 1979.

1 ⅓ c. nonfat dry milk powder

¾c. flour (rice flour works here also)

3 T. instant beef bouillon granules

¼ t. dried thyme, crushed

½ c. butter

2 t. Kitchen Bouquet or powdered Caramel Coloring

     Combine the dry milk powder, flour, bouillon granules, and thyme.  Cut in the butter and Kitchen Bouquet until the pieces resemble cornmeal. (If you are using the powdered Caramel Coloring, combine that with the dry ingredients.) Store a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.  Makes about 3 cups of mix or enough for 6 cups of gravy.

     To prepare the gravy:  In a saucepan, slowly blend 1 cup of cold water into ½ c. of the gravy mix.  Cook and stir until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Cook for 1 more minute.  Makes 1 cup prepared gravy.

MMM Ribs!

     Tonight's dinner was great.  Miss M joined us.  The ribs were seasoned well.  My hubby that didn't like ribs liked these ribs when I tried the recipe for the first time 2 years ago in September.  This has no smoky flavor which is what he objects to. (No bacon, ham, barbecue sauce, or anything with a smoky sauce)  Ok, I started to eat my ribs before I took the picture...first oops!

     Then I realized I didn't share the recipe...second oops!  Been that kind of week!  This is a variation on a recipe from Allrecipes.com. I leave out a couple of things and change up the bbq sauce suggestion.  Knowing that DH has an issue with said sauce, I use Brianna's Homestyle Saucy Orange Mandarin dressing or sometimes a "Peachy" Peach Vinaigrette that I get at Earl's Farm Market in Fennville, MI.  

Carolina Style Ribs

¼ c. brown sugar

8 t. lemon juice

2 T. white vinegar

2T. apple cider vinegar

1 ½ t. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. molasses

1 c. prepared mustard

1 t. dried minced garlic

1 t. salt

½ t. ground black pepper

⅛ t. cayenne pepper

¼ c. Brianna’s Orange Mandarin salad dressing

1 rack pork spareribs cut in 2 rib sections

In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the ribs.  Mix well and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 250°.  Place the ribs in a lightly greased baking pan.  Cover with the sauce and roast for 3-4 hours or until the meat is tender.  Baste the ribs with the sauce during the final 30 minutes.  Scrape up the sauce from the pan and serve it on the side with the ribs.  Serves 4-5.

**These can also be made in a crock pot.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours or 4-5 hours on high.

Company, Dopiazah and reminding myself that sauce needs to be separate...

Company came this week and we enjoyed the Dopiazah!  It was so yummy and there were no leftovers...even better.  I'll figure out what to make on the day we are supposed to have that bonus dinner.  We're on break from school, so I have many options...I could even make it again if I wanted to.  We'll see...

The Dopiazah was perfectly seasoned and both the guys had seconds.  It was one of those meals you wished went on forever. Maybe Willy Wonka could make that gum for me...

Bonus dinners this week were Turkey Curry and Swedish Meatballs.  The Curry was a bust; it was put over the rice and the dinners were boxed up before I learned that was not the best way to store them.  Sauce needs to be separate from the rice. I ended up making sandwiches later that evening.  Oh well, live and learn!

Yummy meatballs and the next recipe Dopiazah for Wednesday...

Tonight we had Curried Meatballs with Rice.  We've had that for dinner as another of our "go to" recipes for a long, long time.  It was a recipe from early in our marriage.  It never disappoints.  I boxed up 3 dinners for later and we had no leftovers.  Miss M joined us and we talked about how I should sometime make the rice by itself because it's so darn good! Mmm...a hint of ginger just makes it a stand alone with other dinners.

 Wednesday is going to be Dopiazah for dinner.  Dopiazah means double the normal amount of onions.  The recipe I use comes from The Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking, Octopus Books Limited, 59 Grosvenor St., London, WI., 1982.    

Dopiazah
3/4 c. ghee*
2 lbs. onions, peeled and sliced
2 t. cumin powder
1 t. fenugreek powder
1 T. turmeric powder
2 t. Garam Masala (recipe follows)
3 green chilis, chopped
1 lb. boneless lamb shoulder or leg cut into 1 inch cubes
1 1/4 c. water

Melt the ghee in a heavy pan, add the onions and fry gently until soft.  Remove half the onions from the pan and set aside.  Add the spices to the onions remaining in the pan and fry for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the chilis, then the lamb and fry until the lamb is browned on all sides.  Stir in the water and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the meat is tender.  Add the reserved onions and cook a further 5 minutes until the curry is fairly dry.  Serve hot with rice.  Serves 4.

 Ghee:  Clarified butter.  Also sold in jars in the Indian section of the supermarket.  You can clarify your own butter to save money by melting over low heat and separating the milk solids from the oil.  Refrigerate the ghee and use within 3 months.  

Garam Masala
1 1/2 t. whole cardamoms
5 t. coriander seeds
1 t. cumin seeds
1 1/2 t. whole cloves
2 T. whole black peppercorns

Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods, then place on a baking sheet with the remaining ingredients.  Bake in a preheated 475 degree oven for 10 minutes, then leave to cool.  Grind to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle or food processor.  Store in an airtight container.   

Back to the Plan...and a recipe

     Last week was weird dinnerwise at the end of the week.  I made the dinner swap on Wednesday for Thursday.  That worked well.  Friday was a whole different story.  I had planned on Rogan Josh, but 1, there were leaves to get up before the snow coming on Saturday and 2, there was the concert at school.  DH went for a run and was going to quickly shower and then wanted to go out for dinner after the concert.  He thought it was starting at 6 pm.  I checked, but too late to start Rogan Josh for dinner, to find out that it started at 7.  I needed at least half an hour just to marinate the meat.  Not happening.  I switched gears and thanks to the Saffron Road World Cuisine Company, I was able to make Tikka Masala.  I chopped up fresh chicken, carrots, onions and some bell pepper, sauted the mixture, added the sauce and continued simmering. At the end of prep, I decided it was not enough gravy for DH, so I added 1 cup of plain yogurt to the sauce, being careful not to boil the mixture so it won't separate.  The rice in the rice cooker took longer than making the Tikka, so that was all we had to wait for.  Dinner was done in time and I was able to put away the leftovers (I know...the very thing I'm trying to avoid!) before we left for the concert.

Then last night, there was a basketball game that DH wanted to see, but he also wanted to meet friends for pizza.  So much for the bonus dinners.  Well, that means more lunch.  The snow got in the way of our friends meeting us, but we went anyway, bought a huge pizza so we'd have leftovers (mostly for Miss M) to bring home.

This week will be more normal I hope.

Tomorrow's recipe is a fan favorite, except for Miss K.  Curried Meatballs with rice has to be the most oft requested dinner when I ask.  I can't blame them, the meatballs are awesome and the rice can stand alone.

Curried Meatballs with Rice

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 1/2 t. curry powder
1/2 t. salt
2 T. oil
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 c. beef broth
1 c. rice
1/8 t. ginger

Mix well the beef, crumbs, sauce, curry and salt.  Shape heaping Tablespoonfuls into meatballs.  In a skillet, turning occasionally, brown the meatballs in the oil.  Push them to one side; saute the onions about 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in the broth, rice and ginger.  Roll the meatballs on top of the rice mixture.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, stirring occasionally, and simmer 15 minutes or until the rice is fluffy and the meatballs are done.  Serves 4.

Another dinner swap...and a recipe

Last night I did a Dinner Swap for tonight.  I made the Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole and we had dinner with friends tonight. (Which was yummy by the way)  Dinner last night was yummy as well.  I'd tweak it a bit by adding more carrots and I left out the salt and pepper, but it does need the salt.  I boxed up our bonus dinners for later.  Tomorrow we will have our bonus oven fried chicken dinners.  Tonight should have been Turkish pilaf.  Miss M and I will have them for lunch tomorrow.

  Here is the recipe for Friday.  It comes from Indian:  a Collection of Over 100 Essential Recipes, Paragon Books, LTD, 2008.  

Lamb Rogan Josh
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 t. asafetida, dissolved in 2 T. water
1 1/2 lb (700 g) boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 2" (5 cm) cubes
2 tomatoes, seeded
1 onion, chopped
2 T. ghee or vegetable oil
1 1/2 T garlic and ginger paste
2 T. tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 T. ground coriander
1/4 t.-1 T. chili powder
1/2 t. ground turmeric
1 t. salt
1/2 t. garam masala
     Put the yogurt in a large bowl and stir the dissolved asafetida. Add the lamb and use your hands to rub in all the marinade, then set aside for 30 minutes.
     Meanwhile, put the tomatoes and onion in a food processor and process until blended.  Melt the ghee in a  flameproof casserole dish or large skillet with a tight fitting lid.  Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir until the aromas are released. Stir in the tomato mixture, tomato paste, bay leaves, coriander, chili powder and turmeric, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes.
     Add the lamb and salt with any leftover marinade and stir for 2 minutes.  Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.  The lamb should give off enouigh moisture to prevent it from catching on the bottom of the skillet, but if the sauce looks too dry, stir in a little water.
     Sprinkle with the garam masala, re-cover the skillet, and contiune simmering for 15-20 minutes, until the lamb is tender. Serve immediately. 
Serves 4.

I am going to use beef in this recipe, since it's what I have on hand.  There's a concert at school on Friday, but I'm home early and can get this made so we can eat right away and go to the concert.

Until tomorrow...

Awesome curry and a recipe for tomorrow...

Tonight's dinner was awesome.  I used uncooked chicken so I cut it into 1" cubes and sauted it in a bit of oil before working with the onions and celery.  I packed up 3 bonus dinners for later and served the rest.  It was just the two of us for dinner so I put aside the leftovers for Miss M to have for lunch tomorrow.

I will be doing a cooking swap since we are going to our friend's house for dinner on Wednesday.  Tuesday's dinner will be lunch either Tuesday or Wednesday.  It's the Turkish Pilaf.  I'm inclined to have it for lunch tomorrow as that will make more room in the freezer for my bonus dinners. 

The Recipe for tomorrow comes from the interwebs.  Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole is a recipe that gets made 3 ways:  Quick, Semi Homemade or From Scratch.  I'm going to do from Scratch and will sub celery for the mushrooms since DH doesn't like them. Also for the sliced cheese, I'll use shredded since it's what I have.

Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole
3 T. unsalted butter
1/4 c. minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. minced white button mushrooms celery
3 T. flour
1/2 c. cream
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
2 c. water
1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef
1 c. carrots, sliced
Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese, sliced-9 slices
1 c. long grain white rice

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray an 8 x 9" baking dish with non stick spray.  In a medium pan over medium heat, add the butter and melt.  Whisk in the onion, garlic and mushrooms celery.  Add the flour, whisking constantly and cook for 30-60 seconds.  Add the cream and broth slowly and cook until thick.  Season and remove from the heat.  Place the cream mixture, rice, water, beef and carrots into the dish and stir to combine.  Bake for 90 minutes, add the cheese and bake for 5 minutes or until melted.  Serves 4-6.

Dinner and a recipe for next week

     The Turkey a la King was awesome.  I boxed up a container of rice and a container of the a la King.  I also had an extra portion from dinner and since Miss M did not join us, I put that in the fridge for her for lunch tomorrow or Monday.  The only glitch tonight was that I had no Cream of Chicken Soup.  I winged it (get it, a bit of poultry humor here) and used 1 can each of cream of celery soup and cream of onion soup.  Having done this, I have figured out that if I add 1 teaspoon of Chicken Bouillon granules, I can probably get a similar taste, just using one can of soup and achieve similar results.  This will cut the recipe in half, but at dinner tonight I realized it would feed 4 easily.  That would make a great dinner that is so quick to make, it is finished by the time the rice goes off.  I will do some tweaking of the recipe and adjust it accordingly.  

     My cream of onion soup search does continue though.  I have only found it at Strack & VanTil near JoAnn’s Fabrics here in Chicago.  That is a “field trip” store that requires more time.  We tend to go there on school breaks or in the summer, about once a month or so.  I am all out of cream of “whatever” soup now, so I can’t work with this recipe until winter break when field trips occur more often.  I will check Mariano’s next week maybe. It’s not a regular store for me, but it is on my way to stores that are.  I like to go there on Wednesdays when they’ll double 5 of my coupons.  I have some for cream soup, so that will work.  I also love their pick and mix sodas.  They have so many cool root beers to try!

     Monday's dinner is Curried Chicken with Rice.  This has been around our entire time together...since Summer of 82 at least! That's a lifetime to some people!

Curried Chicken with Rice

1 T. butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 small green or red bell pepper, chopped

1 c. rice

1 c. diced cooked chicken (see note)

2 c. water

2 t. chicken bouillon granules

1 1/2t. curry powder

     Melt the butter in a skillet.  Saute the onion until transparent.  Add the celery; saute until bright green. Add the bell pepper.  Stir in the rice and chicken.  Stir in the water slowly.  Add the bouillon and curry powder. Stir.  Bring to a boil, reducing heat to a simmer for 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.  Serves 4.

Note:  If using fresh chicken, dice and saute first. Incorporate the freshly cooked chicken in the recipe accordingly.  Also, canned chicken may be used as well. 

Dinner Swap

So after a long process of vacuuming leaves and finding muscles I didn't know I had, I decided to swap our Friday and Saturday meals.  We had our bonus Kofta Kari meals (totally yummy by the way) tonight and will have the Turkey a la King tomorrow night.  This will also allow room in the freezer for those bonus dinners.

Not an exciting night...just prepping for grocery shopping tomorrow.  More coupons than usual.  That's good because I'll save even more. :)

Until tomorrow.  Well  I guess really it's until later.

It was sooo yucky!

I have just one thing to say about tonight's bonus dinner.  Ok, two.  Yuck and never again.  I will not have previously cooked pork chops prepared this way again.

Suffice it to say fully cooked pork chops that are frozen and then reheated from frozen in the microwave are leathery and disgusting.  The cats ate it, but my human teeth are still yelling at me.  And then there's my Dear Hubby!  He really tried.  And then I asked him if he'd rather go out.  He just said, "Ok".  No critique, no eye rolling, no funny faces, just "Ok".

We went to one of our favorite places, Charcoal Delights.  They have lots of great non-gross food.  I thanked the awesome girl behind the counter for saving dinner for us.  I explained how my dinner was so yucky and she really bailed me out!  :)

If there is a next time for this recipe, I will make this in two separate baking dishes, but only parbake one of the casseroles.  I'll cool that one in the fridge and then freeze the dish for later, baking it (No more nuking pork chops) in the oven.  If it is another epic fail, I'll abandon the pork chops for chicken which I know will work in the oven.

I also thought about marinating the chicken in lemon juice and thyme for a bit first.  I don't know.  I'm still kinda traumatized...

Tomorrow is Turkey a la King.  That will be an awesome, predictable meal! :)  Literally can't wait.  Oh and you can add mushrooms to the recipe if you want.  DH won't eat 'em...they squeak. :P

Dinner tonight was Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles and Corn.  We had some Potato Rolls (one of my all time favorite things at Aldi) to go with.  Miss M joined us and we have no leftovers....

 Just like Mormor made.  Yummy!  Perfect for the chilly night (it's 39 right now, it was in the 60's yesterday) we ended up with!  I boxed up 24 meatballs for later.  I'll make more noodles then and I will use my homemade gravy mix for the gravy that goes with.

Tomorrow will be our bonus dinner of Pork Chops and Pilaf.  Can't wait!  I'll add a bit of lemon juice to the top of the chops before heating.  Probably grocery shop afterward.  We'll see.

Dinner went well.  Miss M joined us.  I figured I haven't made this in about 18 Christmas Eves.  That was when Miss K asked if we could eat something different since curry is so spicy.  Now we usually have Wednesday's dinner.  It's kind of ironic that I have them so close together in the meal plan.  I made Curried Rice with Golden Raisins to go with.  It was so yummy.  I packed up our dinners like normal, labeled them and they are waiting in the freezer for the 13th. 

 Friday's recipe is Turkey a la king.  This recipe almost seems like cheating because it uses soup, but sometime you just need convenience.

Chicken A La King Supreme

1 T. oil
2 ribs celery, diced
1 can cream of onion soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 soup cans milk
2 c. diced cooked chicken*
1 c. frozen peas, if desired

In a large saucepan, heat oil.  Add the celery to  the pan., cooking unitl transparent, but not brown.  Add the soups, stirring to combine with the celery.  Gradually add the milk. Stir constantly until thickened and well mixed.  Add the chicken and peas.  Heat until the meat is heated through and the peas are hot.  Serve over hot cooked rice or noodles.  Serves 6.

*Turkey also works well in this recipe.

I have also been known to swap the cream of onion soup for cream of celery soup.  If I do this, I add a diced onion to the recipe for flavor.

Tomorrow we go out with friends so our bonus dinners become lunch for Miss M and I.  :)  Yum!  Spaghetti for lunch!

December's list of recipes

So I've got the next recipe list for December put together.

14. Curried Chicken with Rice
15. Cheesy Ground Beef with Rice
16. Rogan Josh
17. Curried Meatballs with Rice
18. Dopiazah
19. Carolina Ribs
20. Curried Lime Chicken
21. Meatloaf
22. Roast Chicken
23. Singapore Noodles
24. Pastichio
25. Dusted Pork Chops

The plan is the same.  Cook Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Pack up bonus dinners for the freezer before serving dinner, label them with the serving date.  Serve dinner and have nothing to refrigerate when the meal is over.  Depending on what the meal is, I'll package it as a dinner for one or as an entree and a side dish.

Some days I end up with bones from our meat.  I freeze them and save them until I get enough to make soup stock (about 3 pounds).  I also freeze my vegetable scrapings to add to the making of the soup stock. Then I get bonus soup and stock for other recipes.  I love free meals!  Add a salad or a sandwich or just some crusty bread or crackers and voila!  Instant meal!  

This list gets us through the winter holidays which is great.  We have a two week break from school, so I'll likely clean out my freezer(s) [we actually have more than one, but I want to get it so we can just function with one chest freezer and move the extra fridge down stairs. I know, I know.]

Here's the recipe I promised: 

Swedish Meatballs

1½ lb. ground beef

½ c. grated onion

2 slices bread, crust removed broken into crumbs

1/3 c. milk

2 eggs

1 t. salt

½ t. pepper

⅛ t. nutmeg

Pinch allspice

2 T. vegetable oil

1/4 c. flour

1 c. water

            In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, bread, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice.  Form into 2 inch meatballs.  Brown the meatballs in the hot oil in a 12" skillet on all sides.  Into the juices, mix in 1/4 c. flour.  Whisk in 1 c. water to make gravy.  Bring to boil; reduce heat to simmer and simmer 5 minutes.  Add more water if the gravy gets too thick.  Serve with egg noodles.  Serves 6.

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome!  I love how this meal comes together when we have these big meals with our friends.  I also love how everyone has a buddy at the meal.  We go way back to preschool for the little one, but we've been doing Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Dinners for so long like this I don't remember not doing them this way.  We also do the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day barbecue thing too.  Love that as well!   The great thing about Thanksgiving turkey is  the leftovers to work with.  Historically (ok, for the past 35 years or so), DH has only eaten Thanksgiving leftovers.  Usually with Turkey Frame soup and Turkey in some other meal (like Monday's Turkey Curry).  We'll see if I can get this to go a bit further than I've gotten in years past.

Last night after dinner had been served, I cut off all the visible meat from the turkey and put it in ziploc bags in the fridge.  We had a 14 lb turkey which fed 8 people (we had 9 at dinner, but Miss L is pescatarian and had salmon).  I had 2 quart bags with enough turkey for 2 meals.  I broke up the carcass and put it in my 16 qt. stockpot.  I added a box of carrot sticks left from the week, a quartered onion and the carrot peelings from dinner prep, onion and celery trimmings from the stuffing prep that I had bagged up earlier in the day along with 1 1/2 gallons of water.  I brought it to a boil and turned the heat down to simmer and simmered it for about 4 hours.  The result was 1 1/2 gallons of the most gelatinous turkey stock I've seen in recent years.  I strained it into a smaller stock pot (8 qt.) and let the solids from the pan cool down so I would be able to pick the meat off the bones.  Again, I ended up with 2 generously full quart bags full of boiled turkey.  I took the stock out today and spooned about 4 ladles (approx 2 cups or so) into a 2 qt saucepan.  To that I added a handful of chopped turkey from the soups stock, 2/3 c. cooked rice from earlier in the week I had frozen, a rib of diced celery, 1/2 a diced small onion, a generous pinch of dried thyme, the leftover carrots from Thanksgiving (diced up), and 1/4 t. garlic salt.  The result was some yummy soup for Miss M for tomorrow's lunch.   That's my "Turkey Frame Soup" in a nutshell.  A bonus meal, plus turkey stock to use in place of the chicken broth in my Turkey Curry recipe.  Totally frugal, and totally a free meal.

Monday I'm making Turkey Curry.  This was our meal from the Turkey breast meat I'd cut off and freeze to use later.  I'm not freezing it this time since I'm using it Monday.

Turkey Curry
1 T. butter
1/2 c. diced celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
4 1/2 t. flour
4 t. curry powder
1/4 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. + 2 T. evaporated [NOT condensed] milk
3 c. cooked cubed turkey
1 red apple, cored &  diced
1/2 c. golden raisins

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.  Saute the celery, onion and garlic until soft; sprinkle with the flour, curry, ginger and salt; cook 3 minutes.  Stir in the broth and milk; bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Add turkey to the saucepan.  Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.  Stir in apple and raisinss; cook 5 minutes.  Serve over hot cooked rice.  Serves 4-6.  

I'll post my other recipes for the week tomorrow night.