Hey friend,

The semester is in full swing with homework each night and laundry piling up. I wanted to take a minute to tell you about how I try to keep kitchen chaos under control. One of the keys to actually eating at home is to make a plan. I sit down and write down what we are going to have each night during the week. There are many reasons to do this, to help with grocery planning, couponing, and motivate me to skip the drive-thru, to name a few. Once I know what I’m going to cook, I look to see if a second meal can come from the left-overs or a few additional ingredients. This week is a great example of that. I’m cooking two chickens…yes, whole chickens. If you’ve never tried it, I beg you to try! Call me if you want me to walk you through it. Seriously, it’s so easy. Then, you eat one the night you cook it and cut up the other one to use later in the week for the enchilada soup recipe and/or to top the salad. All the recipes this week are especially for beginning cooks. There’s no fancy steps or equipment, except for a food processor or blender, which we all learned how to use during college, right?

Give it a try, just one week and see how much better your food tastes, looser your clothes feel, and fuller your wallet stays.

Meatless Monday – Broken Pasta, One Pot Wonder

This recipe is perfect when you are really stressed for time. It takes 20 minutes and only dirties one pot.

4 cups homemade or 2 jars store-bought marinara sauce
1 package pappardelle or other wide pasta, broken into large pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
Parmesan cheese, to sprinkle on top

In a large saucepan, bring sauce and 2 cups water to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add noodles, and simmer, stirring frequently, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Season with salt. Serve with a dollop of ricotta, basil, and pepper. Top with parmesan to taste.

Two for Tuesday Chickens –

This is for a night when you have a couple hours before dinner needs to be ready. It’s not a lot of prep work, just a long cooking time. I make two chickens because I have a ton of recipes that calls for cooked chicken. I don’t like boiled chicken and this takes no time to add another bird to this. You could also use it as a Thanksgiving option if you don’t want to be up at dawn cooking. You’ll use some of this chicken later in the week. There are pictures of this on my blog, just search "chickens."

4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 (4-5 lb.) whole chickens, rinsed and patted dry
1 T. olive oil
4 baking potatoes cut into large chunks
2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
2 large carrots, cut into large chunks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place all vegetables on baking sheet with sides or roasting pan. Stir together salt and pepper. Sprinkle ½ tsp. salt mixture inside cavity of each chicken. Rub each chicken with ½ T. olive oil. Sprinkle remaining seasoning on chickens. Rub it in. Place chickens, breast side up on vegetables. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until legs and wings begin to fall away from body or meat thermometer registers 180 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with roasted vegetables under birds. Let cool completely before refrigerating leftovers.

Crockpot Wednesdsay –

1lb chicken chunked or shredded (use left-overs from baked chicken)
15oz can sweet whole corn kernels, drained (or use frozen)
15oz can diced tomatoes, drained
5C chicken stock
1 can enchilada sauce
3/4C onion, chopped
3/4C green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp ground pepper, divided
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Tortilla chips, crushed is better

To your slow cooker, add everything but the cheese and chips. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Stir well and ladle into bowls. Top with cheese and chips.

Day 4 – Strawberry Feta Salad

16 oz. package of strawberries, sliced, stems removed
1 4 oz. package of feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of nuts, whatever you have on hand, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, etc., chopped
4 cups greens of your choice, spinach, kale, lettuce, etc.
Dressing, recipe below

Combine all salad ingredients and top with dressing. Enjoy! You can add left-over shredded chicken from Monday to boost the protein.

Dressing:
2 oz. olive oil
1 oz. balsamic vinegar
1 oz. orange juice or lime juice
1 oz. mustard
1 oz. honey

Mix in a jar until well incorporated.


Day 5 – Fried “Rice”

This recipe replaces rice with cauliflower. I love cauliflower and in this recipe, you won’t even notice the difference. Add whatever veggies you like or have on hand. This is just a suggestion.
10 ounces fresh cauliflower, 1/2 medium head
Cooking oil
3 green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash ginger, optional
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Few drops sesame oil, to taste
Frozen asian veggies, thawed and patted dry
3 eggs, beaten

Grate the cauliflower using either the largest holes on a hand grater or with the grating blade in food processor. The results should almost resemble the size of cooked white rice. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a wok or very large skillet on medium-high. Quickly stir-fry the white of the onions and the garlic. Watch closely so as not to burn. Add the cauliflower; fry about 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly until it begins to color a bit. Don't overcook or it might get mushy. Stir in the ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and veggies. Stir-fry until somewhat browned. Push the "rice" to one side of the wok. Pour the eggs into the other side; scramble and cook until still moist. Mix the eggs into the "rice"; mix well and break up any large chunks of egg. This stores and re-heats well.

Day 6 – Pizza Night! Black and Bleu Burger

I love this recipe and have changed it up a dozen different ways. Don’t worry about putting the hamburger on raw. It cooks all the way through and gets crispy. It is wonderful. You may want to make two.

1 Boboli pizza crust or homemade crust, baked half way through
½ cup marinara sauce
1 tomato, thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 small container of bleu cheese
1/3 pound ground beef
2 T. Old Bay Seasoning or blackening spices of your choice
Red pepper flakes, if you like

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. I also heat my pizza stone. Top crust with sauce, tomato, onion, and cheese. Season ground meat with Old Bay. Scatter the ground beef on top. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Cook for 20-25 minutes until beef is completely cooked and cheese is melted and golden.


Day 7 - Chipotle Hummus for Game day
I make this a lot in the summer and often have it at work for my lunch. You can snack on it with chips or use cucumber, peppers, or carrots to make it a low-carb, high protein lunch. I don’t use tahini in this recipe because I don’t think you can taste the difference and it’s expensive. Try it and see what you think.

2 cans chickpeas, one drained, one with liquid
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Juice of one lime
1-2 chipotle peppers, minced
1 T. adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
1 T. cumin
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Place first six ingredients in a food processor or blender. Stream in oil until it’s a smooth consistency. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

With a full belly and light heart,
Brooke