Tangy Chicken

A favourite--

Package of boneless chicken thighs or breasts

brown chicken in olive oil

add 1/2 cup water,  1/3 vinegar, 1/4 soy sauce

(optional and tasty, add 1 diced sweet potato)

cover with lid, simmer for 1/2 hour

the sauce is like a yummy gravy, add flour or cornstarch and simmer for a few minutes after you take the chicken out to thicken sauce

serve over brown rice

Variation: add cream and mushrooms (no potatoes for this though)

Easy Apple Pie

We have an organic apple tree in the yard. It is organic because since we moved in 3++ years ago, we have never done a thing with it and every fall there are hundreds of red apples ready to be picked. To go with our Roast dinner, I baked a pie using frozen pie crust. Boy, if I thought the roast was easy, the apple pie was a piece of cake!

Thaw 2 frozen pie crusts.

Peel and chop 12 small apples. (squeeze some lemon juice onto the apples so that they do not brown)

Mix 3/4 sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch, lots of cinnamon. Toss apples and dry mix together.

Pour into shell, put in 8 small dollops of butter onto the apple batter.

Moisten edges of pie and put the other pie crust on top, pinch the sides together.

Cut a few slices into the pie, brush with egg, sprinkle with a liberal amount of coarse sugar.

Bake 350 about 4o minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Yumm!!

Roast beef and vegetables

And so I learn that being the mom is not as mystical and magical as I always thought it would be. Tonight I cooked a roast. It was so super easy, not as expensive as steaks, and made the house smell amazing. As a child, this was the fancy winter time Sunday night meals that everyone would awe over. Now I can do it too!

Pot Roast-sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary

bake fat side up-375 for a coupe of hours

Toss potatoes, carrots, onion, sweet potato, rosemary, lemon juice, put in oven for the last hour or so that meat is cooking

Gravy-take the leftover roasting juice, add red wine, pickle juice, s+p, cornstarch mixed with water, simmer over low heat till thick

We had friends over for dinner and watched the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay while everything was in the oven! Served with Tinhorn Creek Pinot Noir

Basic Lasagna

So we all have our favourite ways to make lasagna, but I was quite please how this one turned out, so I think I will do it the same way again. It's all in the layering...

Layer 1- a thin layer of sauce 

Layer 2- whole wheat noodles

Layer 3 -sauteed vegis

layer 4- cottage cheese/ricotta/egg mix

layer 5- grated mozzarella

layer 6-whole wheat noodles

layer 7-beef and tomato sauce mix

layer 8 -the other half of cheese mix

layer 9-grated mozzarella

layer 10-whole wheat noodles

layer 11-sauce and lottsa mozza

bake 350-45 minutes

Butternut squash mac and cheese

So this is a Rachel Ray recipe, instead of frozen butternut squash, I just roasted fresh and pureed in the bullet for a minute.

• 1 pound macaroni with lines, such as tubatini or mini penne rigate
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs for garnish
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 box frozen cooked butter nut squash (10 ounces), defrosted
• 1 cup cream or half-and-half
• 2 cups sharp cheddar (8 ounces), grated
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, eyeball it
• Black pepper

Preparation

Heat a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Salt the water then add the pasta and cook to al dente or, with a bite to it.

While pasta cooks, heat a medium heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the EVOO and butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the thyme and grate the onion directly into the pot with a hand held grater or Microplane. Cook the grated onion in butter and oil 1-2 minutes, then add flour and cook together 1-2 more minutes. Whisk in stock, then combine with butternut squash until warmed through and smooth. Stir in cream or half-and-half and bring sauce to a bubble. Stir in cheeses in a figure 8 motion and season the completed sauce with salt, nutmeg and pepper. Taste to adjust seasonings.

Turkey Pie

Ingredients:

frozen pie shell crust

2 eggs

1 cup grated asiago

1 cup ricotta cheese

 feta cheese

1 package of italian sausage

2 green apples (peeled and cubed)

1/2 onion

clove of garlic

bake pie shell according to package (or make your own!)

take the skin of the sausage, chop, and saute till almost cooked, put in bottom of pie

saute onion, garlic and apple in butter and sprinkle of sugar, pour over sausage in pie

mix eggs, cheeses, pour into pie

Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes

kind of like a quiche but way better-----yummm...

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

olive oil

onion

celery

garlic

green pepper

mushrooms

broccoli

tomato

small can diced tomato

can of kidney beans

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

avocado, high fat yogurt, shredded cheddar

saute: garlic, onion, celery, green pepper in olive oil.

add: mushrooms, broccoli, tomato, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, spices

simmer 1/2 hour

serve over whole wheat spiral pasta, top with avocado, yogurt, and cheese

yummm.....

feeling meaty? add a pack of lean ground beef and a can of tomato paste