I didn’t feel like making dinner tonight, but my son came home so I felt cereal wasn’t a great option. This dinner is so easy, and takes very little energy to prepare.
Baked Chicken Thighs
1 package chicken thighs, bones in
1/4 cp ketchup
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
Place thighs in 9×11 pan. Combine ketchup, oil and spices and spread it onto the tops of thighs. Bake in preheated 375F oven for 1 hour
Baked Steamed Rice
2 cups parboiled rice
5 cups water
1 tsp garlic powder
1 can sliced mushrooms
1/2 cp frozen or canned peas
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 diced green onion for garnish
Place rice, water, mushrooms, peas and garlic in 9×11 pan. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour at 375F. Take out and fluff with fork. Place in serving bowl, add soya sauce and garnish with diced onion.
Sauté onions in Dutch oven with oil until golden brownAdd crushed tomatoes and minced garlic, salt and pepper to meat and rub in all over. I insert some cloves into the meat by making little holes with tip of my knifeTake remaining spices and flour and rub onto meatPut meat into Dutch oven on top of sautéed onions and brown both sides (3-4 minutes each side on medium heat)Add 6 cups of water (enough to cover meat) along with whole potatoes. Cover and let simmer on low for 1 1/2 to two hours. Take out and slice and return to pot. Allow to simmer for another 1/2 hour until meat is soft. Serve in roasting pan with liquid.
Thaw out 12 egg roll wraps Prepare scrambled eggs mixture using 5 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 tsp dill powder, salt and pepper to taste Spray 12 muffin containers with olive oil spray Fill each muffin tin with wrap In each wrap add: 1 tsp canned sliced mushrooms 1 tbsp grated cheese 1 tsp diced chives
Top with scrambled egg mixture
Place in oven for ten minutes or until eggs are done.
Great for kids lunches or to take on picnics or day trips
1 banana 2oz fresh blueberries 1 egg 1/4 cup milk 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or more if you like cinnamon) 1 scoop vanilla sugar Blend all ingredients in blender. Pour batter into flat tray. Dip both sides bread into batter. Fry in warm skillet with canola oil. (About 3 minutes per side). Makes four pieces of French Toast.
Serve with fresh blueberries, whipped cream or syrup
Two packets of chicken cutlets (2 cutlets per pack)
1 egg, scrambled
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Place egg, and bread crumbs into separate bowls as shown in picture above
Cut chicken into thin slices
Pound chicken flat with meat hammer
Dip each piece, first into egg, then into bread crumbs, then set gently on plate.
Take a flat skillet with high walls, add enough canola oil to cover an inch of bottom. No more.
Important NOTE: Oil burns quickly, so this step has to be closely monitored. Fire can happen if the temperature of the oil gets too high. Constantly maintain an even temperature by lowering and raising heat. The oil should never be more than 350F as Canola catches fire at 390F. Use a meat thermometer to monitor your heat.
Place each piece of coated chicken gently into hot oil. Cook on both sides for 3 – 4 minutes each or until golden. Lay onto paper towel to absorb oil when it comes out of pan.
1 jar Manischewitz Gefilte Fish, drained of broth.
Prepare all vegetables by dicing thinly. Place Gefilte fish in sieve, and drain broth. Place vegetables into warm skillet with oil. Sauté until vegetables are tender, but not done. Add two tablespoons sugar and pepper. Add diced tomatoes and water along with Gefilte fish. Stir gently until everything is incorporated and fish is covered with tomato broth. Cover and let simmer for half an hour. Serve warm, but tastes great cold as well!
In university I used to need to work harder on some subjects and every Thursday night, I’d get together to study Engineering Static’s with a friend. This is where I learned about the amazing flavour of Ratatouille, and it’s a recipe that’s stayed with me forever.
Sauté onions until goldenPlace thighs, top down and braiseTurn thighs over and sauté other sideAdd spices, potatoes and water and simmer
2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 chicken thighs
2 large potatoes halved
4 tsp of sweet paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 cups water or chicken broth
2 tbsp flour for thickening at end
Place oil into skillet and add minced garlic with sliced onion. Sauté until slightly golden. Add chicken bottoms in, top down. Braise until skin is slightly brown, 3-5 minutes
Turn over and do the same to bottom half. Sprinkle each thigh with sweet paprika (1 tsp per thigh). Drop potatoes into pan, keeping everything level. If food is doubled up, it won’t cook evenly. Add salt and pepper to mix. Add 2-3 cups water and cover. Turn down flame, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Take off cover and turn chicken pieces over so tops brown. Add 2 Tbsp flour, stir and simmer for extra 5 minutes until gravy forms. Cover potatoes and chicken with gravy and plate. Sprinkle with paprika before serving. This is basically more “brown food” but it’s soft and a great comfort food for those chilly fall nights.
Due to this recipes simplicity, it was the first one I was formally taught how to make. Now that summer is coming to a close; and all the wonderful veggies are available, it’s a great way to make use of them! Hope you enjoy 😊
1 wok (can use large frying pan, but a wok will give you best results)
3 romaine lettuce leaves (can use bok choy but I’ve found mine to be buggy recently), cleaned, checked for bugs and sliced in inch long strips
2 medium carrots, sliced thinly and on a diagonal (diagonal slicing provides more surface area to cook the veggies with so they cook faster. It also gives more of an area for absorption of flavours and sauces used)
2 celery stalks, sliced thinly on diagonal
2 green onions or one shallot, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp shredded ginger root (can use powdered ginger but not as strong!)
1 medium zucchini, sliced thinly on diagonal
1 cup frozen or fresh broccoli heads
1 red pepper cored and sliced lengthwise into fine strips
Three tablespoons sesame or olive oil
1 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoons cornstarch or flour with 1/4 cup water, stir together to make thickening gravy
1 large fast fry steak (~1 pound) sliced in inch wide diagonal strips
Prepare all veggies and sort by hardness. You will begin by frying hard veggies first because they take the longest. Place wok over medium flame. Add oil. When oil gets warm, add carrots, celery and onions first along with garlic and ginger so the flavours of the spices absorb into the veggie mix. Add broccoli. Fry until done but still a bit hard. Push the veggies up side of wok and replace with zucchini and red pepper. Fry until tender. Push up sides of wok. Add romaine leaves. These take one minute to soften. Push up sides of wok. Finally add meat, water, soy sauce and sugar. Sauté meat until it’s done to your liking. Stir in a tablespoon of cornstarch to some water until smooth and pour into water/meat mixture (can also use flour instead of cornstarch) Mix until gravy thickens.
Bring down vegetables into meat mixture, stir until covered in sauce.
Prepare 2 cups of uncooked rice or noodles as directed on package.
Serve hot stir fry over rice or noodles and top with sesame seeds as garnish.
(This recipe is dedicated to my best friend in life, who I have enjoyed making this with on countless evenings at home together while listening to music and talking about life, the universe and everything! 🍺)
