Category Archives: recipes

menu plan Monday, recipes

Boxing days

Menu Plan Monday logoThe packing has begun, which means that things are disappearing at an alarming rate. Things like my address book, which my sister-in-law was shocked to learn was one of the first things Rockford packed. Sometimes he subscribes to the “sweep everything on this surface into a box” method of packing. This move seems to be one of those occasions.

With such chaos unfolding, it’s likely that this menu plan won’t actually come to fruition. There’s a good chance that the Crockpot, for example, will be boxed up by Thursday. If that happens, we’ll order pizza.

Monday: Chicken enchiladas

Tuesday: Beans and rice

Wednesday: Sloppy Joes (recipe follows!)

Thursday: Tofu coconut curry

Rockford is aware that if he packs all of the pots and pans, he won’t be eating. So if nothing else, we’ll be eating Rachael Ray’s Super Sloppy Joes for the next three weeks. It’s one of my favorite one-skillet meals.

Rachael Ray’s Super Sloppy Joes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops.

Eating, recipes

Indian Butter Chicken

My menu-planning has fallen by the wayside a little since I started working on the weekends. We were having friends over for dinner last night, and at 3pm I still didn’t know what we’d be feeding them. After a little searching, I decided to try this recipe for Indian Butter Chicken. I’ve never had Indian Butter Chicken before, but it sounded good. With 3 cups of heavy cream, it also sounded really, really bad for you. Fortunately, the recipe’s author posted a revised, healthier version, too, and that’s what I made.

It was tasty.

Indian Butter Chicken

  • 1/4 cup butter + 1 tablespoon
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 can evaporated milk
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
  • 2 tablespoons tandoori masala

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

    Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook slowly until the onion caramelizes to a dark brown, about 15 minutes.

    Toss cubed chicken breast with tandoori masala and spread out onto a baking sheet. Bake chicken in preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 12 minutes. Once done, add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.

    Meanwhile melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat along with the tomato sauce, evaporated milk, salt, cayenne pepper, and garam masala. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low; cover, and simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in caramelized onions.

    • menu plan Monday, recipes

    A "Deceptively" simplistic menu

    It may not look like a very exciting meal week. But looks can be deceiving. We’re going to be trying some “Deceptively Delicious” foods this week, in the hope of getting some veggies into Poppy’s system.

    Monday:     Chicken nuggets

    Tuesday: Sloppy Joes

    Wednesday: Shredded beef quesadillas

    Thursday: ?

    Friday: Pizza

    We tried two great new recipes over the weekend. On Saturday we had Moo Shu Shrimp, and yesterday we had Shredded Salsa Beef tacos. We’ll be having both again!

    The Moo Shu, from Cooking Light, was super-quick to put together, and it tasted like we’d ordered takeout.

    Moo Shu Shrimp
    2 teaspoons peanut oil, divided
    1 tablespoon minced garlic, divided
    1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used pre-cooked frozen)
    2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
    1 cup shredded carrot
    1/2 cup chopped green onions
    6 cups Napa cabbage, shredded
    2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
    1 tablespoon water
    2 teaspoons cornstarch
    1 teaspoon Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
    2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
    8 (6-inch) flour tortillas

    Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and shrimp; stir-fry 3 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through. (Since my shrimp were already cooked, I only stir-fried them long enough to cook the garlic.) Remove shrimp from pan; keep warm.

    Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and mushrooms; stir-fry 1 minute or until mushrooms are tender. Add carrot and onions; stir-fry 2 minutes. Stir in cabbage; cook 2 minutes or until wilted.

    Combine soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, cornstarch, and Sriracha in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir soy sauce mixture into cabbage mixture. Remove from heat; stir in shrimp, tossing to coat. Serve with hoisin and tortillas.

    The authors of “Don’t Panic: Dinner’s in the Freezer” developed their Shredded Salsa Beef recipe for the Crockpot. I thought it might work in the pressure cooker, too. And I may not be daring anywhere else, but I am courageous in the kitchen. Occasionally.

    Anyway, I didn’t quite get the liquid conversion right, but once I got rid of the extra “juice,” the beef was exceptionally good. I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat ground beef tacos again. “Don’t Panic” also suggests using this as a filling for burritos, chalupas or quesadillas (which we’ll be having later this week).

    Shredded Salsa Beef
    2 lbs. beef roast (chuck or round)
    1 tablespoon oil
    1 onion, chopped
    4oz can chopped green chiles
    1 cup chunky style salsa
    2 tablespoons brown sugar
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    1 clove garlic
    1/4 cup beer
    Brown both sides of meat in a skillet in oil. Place in pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Cook for an hour and 40 minutes under high pressure. Remove beef and shred. (If there’s too much liquid left in the pressure cooker, remove some of it!) Return beef to pressure cooker and stir to combine meat and liquid.

    Crockpot version: Brown meat, place in Crockpot. Add remaining ingredients plus enough water to just cover roast. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.