A Week's Worth

of recipes, that is.

Now don’t go thinking I’m “Suzy Homemaker” or anything. I struggle to get home cooked meals on the table just like most women…and I don’t even have kids yet! It’s just me and Ben and I still have a hard time with it. So, in the spirit of one woman helping out another woman (or women, depending on who actually reads this), here is a week’s worth of recipes.

Well, it's a week's worth for us, at least. I mean, there is always at least 1 night (sometimes 2) we eat leftovers (can't have any go to waste!), there is 1 night we have small group so we eat with our friends (we rotate who brings food), and so that leaves 4-5 nights and sometimes we go out to eat. I'm giving you 4 recipes here, so there's my week's worth. ;)

Cranberry Chicken
# servings: 3

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
15 oz. can whole cranberry sauce
Small bottle French dressing
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix sauce, dressing, and soup mix.
Place chicken in a shallow baking dish and cover with mixture.
Bake for 1 hour.

Notes:
Although the ingredients sound odd, it’s actually very good! And it’s SO easy! I usually serve with brown rice and some type of green vegetable.

Credit:
Amy Parker (2008)


Cheese Ravioli with Sautéed Zucchini
# servings: 3-4

Ingredients:
1 lb. cheese ravioli (fresh or frozen)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 small zucchini
2 cloves garlic
½ cup (2 oz.) grated parmesan
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Cook the ravioli according to the package directions.
Drain them and return to the pot.
Meanwhile, slice the zucchini into thin half-moons and mince the garlic.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the zucchini, salt, and pepper.
Cook until just tender, 4-5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the zucchini mixture and ¼ cup of the parmesan to the ravioli and toss gently to combine.
Serve with the remaining ¼ cup of parmesan.

Credit:
Real Simple magazine (2009)


Fiesta Shrimp
# servings: 3

Ingredients:
¾ lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined (I buy the frozen kind)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, divided
1 large red bell pepper
¾ cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
½ cup Mexican blend cheese, shredded
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
rice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Chop the bell pepper and cilantro
Drain and rinse the black beans.
Place shrimp on a 24x18 sheet of heavy aluminum foil.
Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with 1 t. seasoning, toss gently.
Layer bell pepper, corn, cheese, and cilantro over shrimp.
Sprinkle beans and remaining 1 t. seasoning on top.
Fold edges of foil together over shrimp, sealing packet.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Cook rice.
Serve shrimp mixture over hot cooked rice.

Notes:
This is such an easy dish to make, it looks awesome, tastes awesome, and is a very easy cleanup (because it is cooked in a foil packet)…and it is healthy!

Credit:
Fort Bend Junior Service League cookbook testing recipes (2009)


Pulled Pork Tacos *crock pot recipe* (invite people over for dinner)
# servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
2 lb. boneless pork tenderloin (or butt or shoulder, trimmed of excess fat)
18 corn tortillas
2 cups salsa, plus more for serving
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup fresh cilantro
¾ cup sour cream
1 lime, cut into wedges
Any other taco toppings you like (lettuce, tomatoes, etc.)

Directions:
In a 4- to 6-quart crock pot, combine the salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and salt.
Add the pork and turn to coat.
Cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high for 4-5 hours), until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily.
20 minutes before serving, heat oven to 350 degrees.
Stack the tortillas, wrap them in foil, and bake until warm, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, using 2 forks, shred the pork and stir into the cooking liquid.
Serve with the tortillas, cilantro, sour cream, lime, and extra salsa.

Notes:
This is a meal that is good to serve for casual dinner parties because it looks like you put more effort into it than you really did!

From:
Real Simple magazine (2009)


Enjoy!

Also, please share any of your recipes with me. I'm always open to try new things and I especially love when they are easy to prepare, have few ingredients (and/or familiar ingredients), and taste yummy.

Reinventing My Lunch

I’m a creature of habit. I like what I like and I usually don’t stray too far from it…until recently, that is. Living in a big city has truly expanded my food choices. I like to say “I’ll try anything once” and I’ve stayed true to that so far. (But that doesn’t mean that I’m giving you permission to put a chocolate covered cockroach in front of me and ask me to try it…unless I’m going to win $1million for eating it!)

What I’ve found is that my taste buds have definitely matured. From simple things like the fact that I now like mustard, ketchup, pickles, and lettuce on my burgers when I used to only eat them with ketchup…to more expanded things like the fact that I love hummus, edamame, and green curry chicken (but not all 3 together)—things I never thought I’d like. And to top it off, I’m actually developing a taste for tomatoes now! My Dad would be SO proud!

Side note: I like to think that it’s not just my palate that’s maturing and appreciating other cultures now. But that’s another blog post…

So I was making my grocery list yesterday afternoon and realized how bored I am of the same ol' pb&j sandwiches I bring every day for lunch. Yes people, I’m only a few short weeks away from being 30 years old and I still eat pb&j’s most days of the week! I’ve had a couple of people at work make fun of my lunch and tell me it looks like the lunch they pack for their children (think pb&j, goldfish, and jello). I’m certainly not saying that I’m abandoning my beloved pb&j; however, if I don’t give it a break I’m going to get burned out on it for good. And that would be a tragedy!

So I’m at my computer (I do my grocery list electronically—more efficient that way since I can sort it in the order that my HEB is set up)…so I’m at my computer and I google something along the lines of “ideas for cold lunches” (cold because I like to eat at my desk so I can check my personal email and my friends’ blogs while I’m eating—and I sit at a cube which means I can’t eat anything with a strong odor—and most things that are heated emit some type of odor)…so I type that into google and a lot of the articles that pop up are referring to something called “bento”.

So I’m thinking to myself, “what the heck is bento?” I investigate further. Turns out that bentō is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. (Click here for the longer definition) I stumble upon the website http://www.justbento.com/ and the first thing I see is a post where the author is asking the readers to post their favorite bento recipes so that new readers (i.e., me) can get a good summary. How convenient! It’s meant to be!

So I scroll down and several people mention the “carrot kinpira”. I like carrots, and it turns out that kinpira is a Japanese cooking style that can be summarized as a technique of "sauté and simmer". Sounds easy enough and after reading the recipe, I decide that it looks like something I’d enjoy eating so I add a few things to my grocery list. I whipped up a batch after we ate dinner, which is when I usually prepare all of my lunches for the week (if I don’t do this on Sunday nights it never happens and I end up spending money on unhealthy lunches—neither of which is good). I packed it in my work bag this morning and was excited to try it out as part of my reinvented lunch.

So I tried my carrot kinpira today for lunch and it was yummy! Quite the departure from my usual lunch, but certainly worth it. Yay for trying something new and liking it! I’ve included the recipe below, and you can also click here to go to the recipe on the justbento site. The hardest part for me was cutting the carrots (I’m terrible with a knife!), so next time I’ll probably spend a little more money to get the pre-shredded carrots meant for a salad and then I’ll just lessen the cooking time a bit. Anyway, the rest was SO easy! This is the first time (I’m serious) that I’ve made a recipe and it actually looks like the picture! First time, people! This is exciting stuff! Is it just me who makes stuff that never looks like the pictures??

Carrot Kinpira
# of servings: 2

Ingredients:
2 medium carrots (or use the pre-shredded carrots meant for a salad)
1 Tablespoon dark sesame oil
A pinch of red pepper flakes (about 1/8 teaspoon, or more if you want it spicier)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce (I used the lite kind and it was good)
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions:
Cut the carrots into matchstick size.
Heat up a skillet or wok with the sesame oil (medium-high heat).
Add the carrots and toss around until crisp-tender, about 4 to 5 minutes depending on how skinny the matchsticks are. (Don’t forget to lessen the cooking time a bit if you’re using the shredded carrots.)
Turn the heat down to medium-low.
Add the red pepper flakes and toss.
Add soy sauce and toss.
Add the sesame seeds and toss.
Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

And If you have any suggestions for cold lunches, please leave me a comment with the info.