Dinner: Quick and Dirty

This is one of those meals that you make when you get off work late and the kids have girl scouts/football/ballet, etc.  You don't want to get fast food, but you don't know if you have time to feed them.  It's probably not the healthiest thing, but it's quick and it's easy.

Desperate Dinner:

3 3/4 cups water
3 pkg ramen
1 cup of cooked chicken (I like using rotisserie chicken that's on sale the day later.  I cut it up and freeze it for when I need it.)
1/2 cup frozen peas
11 oz can vacuum packed corn
1 cup cheddar cheese (optional)

Boil water in medium saucepan.  Reduce heat to medium and add remaining ingredients, except cheese.  Eat when noodles are soft and everything else is warm.  It takes approx. 3 minutes for dinner to be prepared.  Top with cheese. 

Play with your food: Brat Split

We served hot dogs at my son's 5 birthday party a few years ago and I wish I would have done this then.  It's such a neat presentation of the basic BBQ foods and it encourages kids to eat all of the different choices... or at least try them.  So today I'm going to give you directions for making a "Brat split".

Ingredients (and I use this term lightly):

1. Hot dogs, Bratwurst or other sausage
2. Pasta or Macaroni salad
3. Potato salad
4. Coleslaw
5. Steak Sauce
6. Mustard
7. Mashed Potatoes
8. Pickle Relish
9. Cherry tomatoes

So here's how it works:

Split the hot dogs in half lengthwise and place in a banana split dish or oval dish.  Place an ice cream scoop sized portion of the three salads inside of the hot dog.  Use the mustard as "ice cream condiments" and drizzle over the appropriate salad.  (i.e. the mustard represents caramel topping and the steak sauce represents hot fudge.)  Place a dollop of mashed potatoes over the center scoop to represent the whipped topping and add a cherry tomato on top.  I'm making this tonight for dinner and we'll see if it encourages my boys to sample foods that they would normally dismiss outright.  Happy Eating!

30 minutes or less: Turkey-Basil Piccata

Juicy cutlets are only 10 minutes away in this fabulous dish perfect for busy weeknights.

Ingredients:

2 T all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3/4 pound turkey cutlets
2 T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1 1/2 t dried (1 1/2 T fresh) chopped basil
1/2 c white cooking wine
1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice from half a lemon
Other half of lemon, sliced

1. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish and dredge turkey cutlets in
    mixture.  Shake off excess, they only need a thin coating.
2. Cook turkey in hot oil over med-high heat for 2 minutes on each side or until
    done.  Remove from skillet.
3. Reduce heat to med-low.  Add garlic and basil to skillet.  Sauté 30 seconds to
    release some of the flavor.  Add wine, lemon juice, and lemon slices.  This will
    deglaze the pan, but will also create a thin sauce that can be served over the
    cutlets.  Return cutlets to pan and cook until heated through.  Enjoy!

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks: Cleaning burnt food off pans

So I use anodized, non-stick pans when I cook.  They're great.  But they need to be washed by hand so they don't lose their effectiveness. Very rarely does anything stick when I cook.  However, when my husband cooks, there tends to be more food that boils over, chars, and surprisingly sticks.  Scrubbing pans is a real pain in the butt and I risk scratching the coating by using anything too harsh.  So I've found two great ways to "deglaze" the pans.

The first is used while the pan is still hot and on a burner.  Just add liquid.  Pretty much any liquid will do, leftover broth, water, whatever.  The liquid will pull up the stuck on pieces.

The second is used when the pan has already cooled.  In my house, this is the technique I use after I come home and find my pans all disgusting from sitting for a while.  (I can't really complain though.  At least this way I know he's feeding the kids.)  To pull the nasties off these pans I put them on the stove with a thin layer of clean dishwater (yes, add soap).  Heat the water to boil and that will take off the crusties.  If you're cleaning a soup pot or something larger and the yuckies are up the sides or around the rim, then use tongs to hold a sponge and use the heated water to wipe the sides.  Once again, it'll take it right off. 

Happy Cleaning!

Must have item of the week: Small Micro-Cooker

The Small Micro-Cooker is a must-have miracle worker.  It cooks vegetables quickly (including potatoes! They're ready for mashing in only 4-6 minutes!), heats up sauces, and melts butter in the microwave.  But best of all, it cooks frozen meat in only a fraction of the time.  I can cook a pound of ground beef in this thing in less than 5 minutes.  In addition to the awesome cook time, the lid has a built in strainer so I can drain the fat out of it quickly and easily.  It will also cook frozen chicken and other meats.

I use this thing at least three times a week to help speed up cooking time.  It's wonderful for making spaghetti sauce.  I like to use it to cook a pound of beef, drain the meat, then add some pre-made spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning. Pour over some noodles and Voila! Ten minutes to spaghetti.

It's offered from Pampered Chef for the surprisingly low price of $8.00.  They also have a larger version for $10.50.

What's for dinner? Chicken Tortilla Soup

My children are constantly asking this question.  And I'll be honest, I've typed it into Google search a few times myself.  Well, moms and dads, today's answer is Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It's made in the slow cooker and is easily adjusted.  My own children (aged 2 and 6) ate it up without complaint.  This behavior was highly unusual since my 6 year old hates anything "spicy" (flavored at all) and my 2 year old is hesitant about soups and green herbs in general.  I hope your family enjoys as much as mine did.

Chicken Tortilla Soup via Slow Cooker

Ingredients:
4 frozen chicken breasts (you can use already cooked and shredded, but I'm lazy)
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilies (I like Ro*Tel.)
1 can tomato sauce
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 med. onion, chopped
1 t. minced garlic (2 cloves or straight from the jar)
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 t. sea salt flakes (I'm sure reg salt would be just fine.)
1/4 t. pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (12 oz) pkg of frozen corn
2 T dried cilantro or 4 T parsley
1 1/2 cups of water
1 can chicken broth
chips (optional)
cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
tortilla strips (optional)

1. Place ingredients down through chicken broth in slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4.
3. Take out chicken and shred with two forks on a plate or cutting board.
4. Stir chicken back in and serve.  Add optional ingredients as desired.
5. Enjoy!