Quick, fast, and tasty...

I think a lot of home cooks with they had more recipes for meals that are quick, fast, and tasty. I know I am always looking for more! So, when I was looking around some of my favorite recipe web sites, that is normally what I am looking for. This past week, I found one that is a definite keeper. It is also a pasta dish that is low on tomatoes, but is not full of heavy cream.

Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Fake Bake (adapted from Rachel Ray)

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni
• 1 pound Italian Sausage
  
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
  
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 (14.5) can diced tomatoes
• Handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
  

Directions

-Prick sausages with a fork and place in a large skillet with 1 inch of water. Cover and bring water to a boil then reduce heat. Allow all the liquid to cook away then brown the sausage. Remove from the pan and reserve the dripping.

-Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.

-Add the peppers, onions, and garlic to the pan. Cook until the vegetables are tender.

-Slice the sausage and add the slices back into the pan with the vegetables. Cook until the sausage becomes crisp around the edges.

-Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock, making sure to get all the browned bits off the bottom (this is where the flavor is!). Stir in the crushed tomatoes and parsley and bring to a bubble. Reduce the to low.

-Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the ricotta cheese and half the Parmesan. Stir to combine and until the cheese is all mixed through.

-Add the past mixture to the peppers and onions. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

-Serve with the rest of the Parmesan.

Chicken... a wonderful reason to eat stuffing!

So, this week I am roasting a chicken. In reality it's because I have been craving some cornbread stuffing... so the chicken is just an excuse. This has become one of my favorite recipes and now is a "must have" at my family's Thanksgiving table. It's a tiny bit sweet and a whole lot of tasty. It also makes a ton of stuffing, so be prepared!

Cornbread Stuffing (adapted from Pioneer Woman)

• 1 whole Pan Of Cornbread (I use Jiffy because I like the sweetness)
  
• 1 loaf French Bread
  
• 1 stick Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 2 cups Celery, Chopped
• 4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• Dried parsley to taste
• Dried sage to taste

- Chop up the cornbread and french bread into one inch cubes and allow to dry for about a day.

- Add one stick of butter into a large skillet. When it’s melted add the onion and celery and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are tender.

-Add 4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add some of the dried parsley and some of the sage.

-Place the bread crumbs into a large bowl and ladle in the broth/vege mixtures. Add enough broth into the bread crumbs to make it moist, but not too watery.

-Add more parsley and sage to taste.

-Either stuff the bird and bake according to directions or place in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

This weeks menus

Last week wasn't that great of a week. We ended up getting pizza on Friday night and eating out on Saturday night. As such, we didn't have the salmon or the shrimp penne. Those have now been pushed back to future days. Hopefully we do better this week.

This weeks meals will be:

Tonight is Country Style Ribs in the Slow Cooker and Cole Slaw.

Wednesday is Italian Sausage, pepper, and onion fake bake with garlic bread.

Friday is Roasted Chicken, cornbread dressing, and corn.

Sunday is Superbowl munchies! Coconut Shrimp with dipping sauce, chicken wings, pan fried onion dip and chips, cheese and crackers, and something sweet (no idea what though). I may also add some jalapenos poppers for myself as mom would never eat them!

Monday is whatever I decide I want while I am at the store as I only have to cook for myself.

Homemade Pot Roast

So I am mixing things up from my original menu and plan. Tonight was supposed to be Salmon Fillets over Couscous, but I am changing that to Pot Roast. It's cold, rainy, and it's supposed to start snowing soon. So I decided I wanted something warm, filling, and rich for dinner tonight and Pot Roast just fits the bill.

I use a recipe that my mom taught me and it is the recipe she has used since I was a kid. It's not something you can make quickly and takes a decent amount of time to cook. However, it is SO worth the time and work.

So today I am sharing with you one of my favorite recipes EVER. This is my mom's recipe and one I hope to continue to make forever.

Mom's Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 3-5 lbs Chuck Roast
  
• 1.5 lbs of Carrots, cut into even sized chunks (keep them decently large as they cook a long time)
  
• 1 lg Onion cut into quarters
  
• 10-12 medium Red Potatoes cut into even sized chunks
  
• Vegetable Oil
  
• 5 Beef Bullion Cubes
  
• Water
  
• Corn Starch
  

Preparation

-Use a Dutch Oven or Large Cast Iron Skillet

-Preheat the Oven to 350

-Season the Roast. Sear in the Dutch Over or Skillet in Vegetable Oil until all sides are browned. Remove the Roast from the pan.

-Put the Onions into the pan and allow to brown. Add a small amount of Water in order to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.

-Put the Roast back into the pan. Add the Beef Bullion Cubes and enough Water to come 3/4 of the way up the Roast.

-Put the pan into the over and cook, covered, for an hour.

-Add the Carrots to the pan and more water if needed. Put the pan back into the oven for an hour and a half.

-Add the Potatoes to the pan. Put the pan back into the open for half an hour.

-Remove the pan from the over. Remove the Potatoes to a bowl and the Carrots and Onions to another bowl. Remove the Roast to a plate.

-Put the pan on low heat on the stove. Make a mixture of corn starch and water. Add this mixture to the juices and water in the pan and bring to the boil. Add mixture until the thickness of the gravy is to your liking.

-Serve the Pot Roast and Potatoes with the gravy. Serve the Carrots and Onions on the side.

Menu starting 1/24

So, I've been gone a few days. Things are starting to get busy again in my life thanks to school and other reasons. Hopefully I can handle everything going on in my life without falling on to bad habits.

You see, I am a stress eater. When I get stressed out I find something to eat and it is usually something that has a lot of fat or sugar in it. Luckily, I don't have a lot of that stuff in the house anymore so it's a bit harder for me to do this. I still need to stop doing it though because it throws off my whole day and makes me feel worse then I did before.

So, meals are getting moved around and changed due to changes in schedules. Here is what the menu looks like for this week:

1/24 Teriyaki Chicken (crockpot), Salad, Rolls
1/26 Salmon Filets, Couscous/Rice, Asparagus
1/28 Pot Roast, Carrots and Onions, Potatoes
1/30 Penne with Shrimp and Herbed Cream Sauce, Garlic Bread
1/31 Tangy BBQ Ribs (crockpot), Cole Slaw

Also, I am moving my grocery days to Wednesdays instead of Mondays. I hate going to the grocery store on weekends and Mondays I have a night class so I would be rushing to get the food in the slow cooker on time. I need to eat at about 4-4:30, so the food has to often go in before 10 AM or so. There is no way I could get up, get ready, go to the store, and get back in time to put the food on. So, now I am going to the store on Wednesday mornings and buying groceries for Wednesday through Monday.

Soup's on!

I have classes tonight, so I have soup in the crockpot. This way I can eat before I leave for class and then mom can come home from work and still have a hot meal without much work on her part. Tonight is Minestrone Soup with fresh bread that I picked up at Earth Fare the other day.

Soup is actually pretty difficult for me to get recipes for. So many of them have a ton of tomatoes and I just can't have that much tomato (due to medical issues). This recipe only contains one small can of tomato paste for the whole thing, which is a lot less then I normally find for Minestrone or Vegetable Soups.

Minestrone Soup (based off of a recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 4 carrots, sliced
  
• 3 ribs celery, cliced
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• olive oil
  
• 1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
  
• 4 cups chicken broth (can use vegetable broth to make a vegetarian version)
  
• 1 (24 oz) can pinto beans, drained
  
• 1(10 oz) bag frozen green beans
• 2-3 cups chopped cabbage
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 Tbsp parsley
• 2 Tbsp italian seasoning
• Water to fill
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup small pasta
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
  

Preparation

-Use a 4-6 qt slow cooker

-Saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in oil until tender

-Combine all ingredients, except pasta and cheese, in slow cooker

-Cover and cook 4-5 hours on High (or 8-9 hours on Low)

-Add pasta 1 hour before cooking is complete

-Top individual servings with cheese

This weeks menu

Tomorrow is grocery day! So, here is my meal list for next week. It has changed a bit from when I posted the menu list for the next couple of months. Part of the reasoning was due to my class not meeting yet on Monday because of the holiday. Another reason is because I cleaned out the freezer the other day and decided we need to do our best at eating from it. I had to throw away WAY too much food because it had been in there way too long. So, we need to do better at that as it will save us money. The less I have to buy at the store, the better!

I am also trying to work on using coupons and the ads better to try and save money.

1/18 Honey Mustard Pork Chops, Angle Hair Pasta, Glazed Carrots
1/19 French Toast, Sausage, Cantaloupe
1/20 Minestrone Soup (crockpot), Fresh bread
1/21 Salmon with Couscous/Rice
1/23 Marinated Steak, Baked Potato, Salad