No time to pack a pretty bento lunch this morning, I just grabbed something from the well stocked freezer.
Butternut Squash and Pear Soup. I rounded out the rest of my lunch with some cheese and crackers. Easy peasy. And very tasty!
This soup has a nice little zing to it from the curry powder and just a hint of sweetness from the pears. Just the thing for a gray day like today.
My menu plan for last night more or less got thrown out the window for various reasons. I keep plain chicken breast in the freezer for just that sort of occurance.
I thawed the chicken and found a simple and fast recipe in my 365 Great 20 Minute Recipes cookbook (out of print? I can’t find a link)
The recipe is called Ginger Chicken Saute and it really did take me only 20 minutes to get dinner on the table. This is recipe #106 of Project 365I had rice already cooked in the fridge, so I heated that up with a tiny bit of water in the microwave. Meanwhile I also sauteed some snap peas and yellow squash.
Dinner is served! Yum! Very gingery.
This could also be done as a make-ahead or OAMC meal if you make the marinade and freeze the chicken. Just cook and eat in that case. Easy Peasy! I will make this again for sure. Hubby inhaled it too, which is always a bonus.
Restocking the freezer this week. Some doubling up on recipes throughout the week. Ground turkey is on sale at Safeway for buy one get one free, so I’ll be making a HUGE batch of meatballs to freeze. I also want to restock my freezer with roasted red bell pepper and tomato soup. I might throw some beans in the crockpot for some sort of freezable stew later this week too. I bought a giant package of chicken breasts, so those will go in the freezer in at least 3 different marinades. (to be determined)
As of today, I am at 99/365 recipes. As always, these are in no particular order. (Already changing the menu since I forgot a few things at the store last night…)
Sat 26 – Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry – Cooking Light 04
Steamed rice, dumplings (freezer)
Sun 27 – Mini Meatloaves – Cooking Light 2004 (make double) and Twice Baked Potatoes (make at least double. hubby loves these)
Mon 28 – Pork Chili with Greens – 1001 Slow Cooker and Sweet Corn Cheddar Pancakes – From Asparagus to Zucchini
Tue 29 – Sage Stuffed Chicken Breasts – George Foreman Green Beans (wondering if this would freeze well?)
Wed 30 – CORN/Leftovers night (might change since I won’t be around this weekend to cook)
Thur 31 – Pork and Fennel Ragu – Cooking Light 2004 Rice, Bread, Salad
Fri 1 – Off to Canada! I’m teaching a 4 hour backcountry cooking class. So not ready! Hubby and kidling to eat leftovers or eat pizza.
Breakfasts – Strawberry Cinnamon Muffins – Cooking Light 2005 and Ginger Dessert Waffles – Spices of the World
Lunches – Green Apple Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette – Cooking Light 2004 and Tarragon Tuna Salad – Spices of the World and and Potato Salad with Parsley and Chives – Cooking Light 2004 (for hubby. Didn’t get made from previous menu) Slaw of some sort? I have green cabbage to use up.
Dessert – Applesauce Cake – Spices of the World (made with home canned applesauce) I also picked up an angelfood cake at the store – to be served topped with Cool Whip and home-canned berries.
It’s official! I am ¼ of the way through Project 365. I have made 92 recipes. Only 273 left to go! I am about 2 weeks ahead of schedule, but I’m anticipating a lot of days in April and later this summer when I will not be cooking at all.
Dinners this week are mostly from the pantry. Pretty much the only things I need from the store this week is a pound of hamburger and a large package of chicken.
As usual, these are most likely not in the order that I will make them. I’ve been trying to get the husband and kidling to eat more fruits and vegetables so I will also serve melon, grapes, pineapple and/or oranges with dinner. And bread. Always with the bread.
Sat – Canton Chicken and Rice from 1001 Low Fat
Sun – Chicken Stew with Parsley Dumplings (my own stew from the freezer) from 1001 Low Fat
Mon – Pork Schnitzel from Rachael Ray’s 365 No Repeats and Rice Pilaf with Shallots and Parmesan from Cooking Light 2004
Tues – Pasta Shells with Tuscan Tuna from Cooking Light 2004
Wed – Beef and Been Burritos from 1001 Low Fat and Zucchini with Oregano and Sun dried tomatoes from Asparagus to Zucchini and Herbed Polenta from 1001 More Low Fat
Thurs – Knit night. Hubby and kidling to eat leftovers or order pizza.
Fri – Fettuccini with Chicken Piccata from 1001 More Low Fat
Breakfasts – Almond Pancakes from Beyond the Moon and Muffins (undecided. Strawberry?)
Lunches – (also doubles as side dishes) Potato Salad with Parsley and Chives from Cooking Light 2004, Macaroni Salad from 1001 More Low Fat, Armenian Bean Salad from Asparagus to Zucchini and Egg Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes from Beyond the Moon.
Dessert – Double Crust Blueberry Pie from 1001 Low Fat (made with home-canned blueberries)
What’s in your pantry? Do you keep it well stocked so that you can make dinner in minutes?
Basic things I keep in my pantry are a wide variety herbs and spices, canned beans (garbanzo, white and kidney), chicken and beef broth, canned tuna, cream of xx soups, canned corn and tomatoes, dried pasta, rice, lentils, barley, quinoa, olives, sun dried tomatoes and jars of pasta sauce. In addition, I almost always have macaroni and cheese mixes, as well as Bisquick and corn muffin mix.
In the freezer is lots of frozen fruit and vegetables. I usually have a couple of pounds of hamburger and bacon as well has home made soups – especially chicken. We love the fish in marinades that I can find at Trader Joes.
What can I make from all this stuff? Here’s two ideas for you. Both use pantry items and take less than 30 minutes to make. Add some bread and salad or fruit and dinner is done in no time.
First, Chunky Beef Chili from my Eat Well Stay Well cookbook.
This serves 4 and has 443 calories per serving. I served it with some corn bread muffins and sliced oranges. I made the muffins first and let them bake while I assembled the rest of dinner.
Sauté 3 minced scallions, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin and ½ teaspoon oregano in 2 teaspoons oil for one minute.
Add 1 pound of ground beef and stir until browned.
Add 1 cup of corn, a 16 oz can of red kidney beans and a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes.
Simmer for 5 minutes and serve.
Another good pantry meal is Fusilli with Tomatoes, Spinach and Prosciutto (Zaar Link). Serve this with some crusty bread and fresh melon.
I have made lots of variations of this same dish, switching out the prosciutto for bacon or pancetta and the spinach for arugula or kale. Use whatever tomatoes you have on hand. I used canned and fresh this time around.
Lentils – Make ahead and freeze.
Lentils are cheap and easy. For a little more than a dollar, I can get a whole pound of dried brown lentils.
They are also good for you. They are low in fat and high in fiber, protein and folate. They are a good source of iron and potassium. One cup of cooked lentils has 230 calories, almost no fat, 7mg of iron and 16 grams of protein. Plus they are delicious!
I cook the entire bag of lentils, either in water or broth, then freeze the cooked lentils in 1-2 cup portions. A vacuum sealer works wonders for this. Try to freeze the packages as flat as possible so that you can stack them in your freezer like library books. Don’t forget to label and date the bags. This same method also works for barley and rice. It is nice to be able to make soups, salads and pilafs almost instantly because you have done much of the work ahead of time.
When you are ready to make a lentil dish, just thaw and add the lentils.
Some lentil recipes I’ve tried recently: (recipe titles are links to the recipes)
Lentil Pear and Goat Cheese Salad – from Eat Well Stay Well
Lentil and Fennel Salad – from Cooking Light (holey smokes batman! This is fantastic!)
Lentil Salad with Spinach, Cheddar and Pecans – from Food & Wine
And some old favorites:
Lentil Soup with Cauliflower and Bacon – from Food & Wine (this freezes well)
Tomato Lentil Salad
Mushroom and Lentil Soup – from Super Foods (this soup also freezes well)
Green Lentil and Mixed Vegetable Pan Fry
Still need more ideas? These are on my to-be-tried list:
Lentil Soup with Chard – from Cooking Light
Bay Scented Lentil Salad with Pancetta – from Cooking Light
Barley-Lentil Salad – from Beyond the Moon
Lentil Vegetable Soup – from Horn of the Moon
Lentil and Pancetta Soup – from Cooking Light
Bulgur and Lentil Pilaf – from 1000 Great Recipes
Sweet and Sour Lentils – from Moosewood Low Fat Favorites
Last fall, at the pumpkin patch, I picked up the most incredible vegetable cookbook. From Asparagus to Zucchini, A Guide to Cooking Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce. I have been slowly working through every recipe in the book.
This is just the latest recipe that I’ve tried. And it’s a keeper!
Project 365 Marches on. As of today, I am at 78 recipes. Ahead of schedule on purpose since I know there are quite a few days coming in April that I will not be cooking.
I am slowly adding series of books to my cookbook collection. The 1001 series by Sue Spitler is one of these. I have four, with plans to add at least two more.
Let’s start with 1001 Low Fat Recipes. So far this year I have made five recipes from this book; Italian Turkey Burgers, Chicken China Moon, Garbanzo Parsley Salad, Artichoke Delight, Country Lentil Soup and Potato Seafood Cakes.
Except for the Seafood Cakes, which I ended up heavily modifying, everything has been delicious. The recipes are well written, easy to follow and flavorful. Not something you always get from a low fat cookbook.
Other recipes I have tried (prior to 2011’s Project 365) include
Mushrooms in Vermouth and Turkey Marsala.
I have a ton of recipes tagged to try soon as well. Mushroom Barley Soup with Herbs, Chinese Coleslaw, Fruit Filled Muffins, Salmon Salad Farfalle, Sesame Shrimp Stir Fry, Easy Chicken Saltimbocca, Golden Spaghetti Squash… I could go on and on.
One thing I really like about this book, compared to other low fat books, is that it doesn’t call for a lot of “low fat” product substitutions. Instead, she uses less oil and cooking techniques to make the recipes healthy. They rely heavily on seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs. Food itself has a lot of flavor if you cook it right.
Most of the recipes take 30 minutes or less and don’t have an extensive list of ingredients. Additonally, they do not call for hard to find or “weird” ingredients. There are a lot of re-worked classic dishes throughout the book.
There are 18 chapters, starting with Appetizers. This is a very well organized book. Sometimes the chapters may be short, but it makes recipes very easy to find. For example, there is a whole chapter on Dinner Sauces. Vegetable Entrees are followed by Vegetable Side Dishes.
One Pan Wonders – Blog
Touch of Nectar 