Shame on me, I haven't blogged about food in the longest time. This week I did some multitasking in regards to making dinner. This is something that I love doing.... You basically get two dinners, but its like you only are cooking one. Its great because we are all super busy and we should all cook at home more. Here's the method to some of my madness:
So you love a home cooked meal, but can't see yourself cooking every single night. My advice is to cook two meals at once. You save cooking time and clean up time.
The first step is deciding what you should make. You need to pick one dish that is quick, and one dish that is hands off. By quick I mean something that you can whip up in less than 20 minutes. An example would be grilled chicken or stir fry. By hands off I mean something that you can "set and forget." An example would be a stew or roast.
These are the two meals that I made this past Tuesday and how I did them both at once...
Tuesday night's dinner was Hunter's Chicken Stew, a microwave only stew recipe that I got from my beloved Everyday Food magazine. Its a 20 minute meal start to finish with hardly any dishes to clean.
Ingredients: 8oz of sliced Shitake Mushrooms, 1lb of skinless/boneless chicken thighs cut into 1" chunks, 1/4tsp crushed rosemary, 1 1/3 cup crushed tomatoes, a strip of orange rind, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Steps: Nuke (covered) the mushrooms, oil (about a tbsp), and garlic with 1/4 cup of water for 2 minutes. Throw all of the other ingredients in the casserole (microwaveable) mix it up. Nuke (covered) for 12 minutes more. Serve with bread or whatever over carbs you deserve.
Now while the mushrooms are in the microwave gather your ingredients for Wednesday night's dinner, Meatloaf. While the chicken is cooking for the 12 minutes you can put together can bake your meatloaf for the next meal. You may have your own meatloaf recipe, so use that one... or you can use mine:
Ingredients: 1lb of ground beef (or one of the meatloaf packs with the 3 different kind of meat), 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs, one beaten egg, 1/3 cup of crushed tomatoes (use the same can that you did for the stew), 1/4 cup of diced onion, 1/4 cup of milk or beer, oregano, pepper.
Steps: Mix it all up with your hands (remove jewelry and leave the warm water running for easy clean up), form into a loaf. Bake in an oven that is preheated to 350 degrees. Cook it until it reaches an internal temp of 160 degrees. (About 45 minutes.) I also cut small red potatoes into quarters and bake them along side of the meatloaf, just season them with some oil and spices.
By the time your meatloaf is in the oven your stew is done.... And in less than 20-30 minutes you have two home cook dinners. Let the meatloaf cool, cover it and put it in the fridge. You can nuke it the next day or heat it up in the oven. Try throwing in some veggies that you can nuke/roast along side of the loaf with the potatoes
So that is my food wisdom for the week.
(Oh and lets not forget the meatloaf sandwiches the night after. Yum.)
So you love a home cooked meal, but can't see yourself cooking every single night. My advice is to cook two meals at once. You save cooking time and clean up time.
The first step is deciding what you should make. You need to pick one dish that is quick, and one dish that is hands off. By quick I mean something that you can whip up in less than 20 minutes. An example would be grilled chicken or stir fry. By hands off I mean something that you can "set and forget." An example would be a stew or roast.
These are the two meals that I made this past Tuesday and how I did them both at once...
Tuesday night's dinner was Hunter's Chicken Stew, a microwave only stew recipe that I got from my beloved Everyday Food magazine. Its a 20 minute meal start to finish with hardly any dishes to clean.
Ingredients: 8oz of sliced Shitake Mushrooms, 1lb of skinless/boneless chicken thighs cut into 1" chunks, 1/4tsp crushed rosemary, 1 1/3 cup crushed tomatoes, a strip of orange rind, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Steps: Nuke (covered) the mushrooms, oil (about a tbsp), and garlic with 1/4 cup of water for 2 minutes. Throw all of the other ingredients in the casserole (microwaveable) mix it up. Nuke (covered) for 12 minutes more. Serve with bread or whatever over carbs you deserve.
Now while the mushrooms are in the microwave gather your ingredients for Wednesday night's dinner, Meatloaf. While the chicken is cooking for the 12 minutes you can put together can bake your meatloaf for the next meal. You may have your own meatloaf recipe, so use that one... or you can use mine:
Ingredients: 1lb of ground beef (or one of the meatloaf packs with the 3 different kind of meat), 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs, one beaten egg, 1/3 cup of crushed tomatoes (use the same can that you did for the stew), 1/4 cup of diced onion, 1/4 cup of milk or beer, oregano, pepper.
Steps: Mix it all up with your hands (remove jewelry and leave the warm water running for easy clean up), form into a loaf. Bake in an oven that is preheated to 350 degrees. Cook it until it reaches an internal temp of 160 degrees. (About 45 minutes.) I also cut small red potatoes into quarters and bake them along side of the meatloaf, just season them with some oil and spices.
By the time your meatloaf is in the oven your stew is done.... And in less than 20-30 minutes you have two home cook dinners. Let the meatloaf cool, cover it and put it in the fridge. You can nuke it the next day or heat it up in the oven. Try throwing in some veggies that you can nuke/roast along side of the loaf with the potatoes
So that is my food wisdom for the week.
(Oh and lets not forget the meatloaf sandwiches the night after. Yum.)
posted by Alaina @ 10:11 PM
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