Easy chicken wings and salad. 12/2/23

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Beebamom

We do a lot of “scratch” cooking but after a busy day it is nice to know we have products in the freezer and fridge to make the dinner process easier. One of these is Taylor Farms salad kits. On Saturday I prepared their Southwest salad. I added some cut up tomatoes to give it more taste and visual appeal.

Southwest salad

Meanwhile John was cooking some Foster Farms Takeout Buffalo chicken wings. These wings cook for 20 minutes at 425F followed by 5 minutes at 450F for extra crispyness. They come with a packet of hot sauce and I added a ramekin of blue cheese dressing for a cooling element.

Crispy Buffalo wings and Southwest salad

It was certainly not a fancy dinner or very economical but it got the job done and was easier and cheaper than getting actual takeout or going out to dinner.

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Rotisserie chicken with sweet potato and broccoli. 12/1/23

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Beebamom
Rotisserie chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli

A trip to Costco always includes a rotisserie chicken. I disassembled the chicken as soon as I got home and shredded one breast for enchiladas on Monday and sliced the other breast for tonight’s dinner. Then I package up the thigh and leg pieces and the wings for lunches and meat for soup. The carcass goes in the freezer until I have enough bones for making stock.

Since I have been avoiding gluten John made a gravy from the drippings in the chicken container, some chicken and mushroom broth granules, water, and soy sauce. He thickened the gravy with potato starch. The sliced chicken warmed up gently in the gravy.

I cooked the buttered and salted sweet potato in the microwave for 8 minutes. The broccoli was steamed.

This is an easy, homey dinner that we both enjoy.

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Turkey kielbasa tacos? 11/30/23

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Beebamom
Split turkey kielbasa with mustard and relish on corn tortillas

Do you ever feel like not cooking? That was me on Thursday night. We were supposed to have a bunch of sheet pan vegetables with either shrimp or turkey kielbasa. It was still up in the air. Then I said I do not feel like a big production dinner and John agreed. So this is what we came up with. John had his kielbasa on rye bread and I opted for corn tortillas that I singed on the stove top. The kielbasa cooked for 90 seconds in the microwave. We ate on paper plates.

We cook a lot! Even on vacation! It was nice to do something simple with a minimum of clean-up.

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New England clam chowder. 11/29/23

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Beebamom
New England clam chowder with crushed corn chips

We made our usual clam chowder making a broth of half and half, clam juice, the juice from the canned clams, and white wine. The vegetables and herbs in it are leeks, onions, celery, thyme, tarragon, and potatoes. Simmer the pot of soup until the potatoes are cooked through. Then add the chopped clams.

John garnished his bowl with oyster crackers and I used tortilla chips since I am avoiding gluten.

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Weekly Menu – Nov. 27 – Dec. 3, 2023

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Beebamom

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Tilapia with polenta and cheese-y veg. 11/28/23

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Beebamom
Oven roasted tilapia with polenta and cheese-y broccoli and cauliflower

We really enjoy serving fish or shellfish over a loose polenta. John proportions his polenta 6 parts water to 1 part polenta. In this case it was 3 cups of water and 1/2 cup polenta. It simmers for 20 minutes with frequent stirring. Bob’s Red Mill is our favorite brand.

The tilapia starts a little later. In a 400F oven it takes about 12 minutes. Then I start the vegetables at the 8 minute mark. Today’s broccoli and cauliflower streamed in an ounce or two of water, salt, 1 teaspoon of butter, and a small handful of shredded cheddar cheese. After a few minutes cooking covered I take the lid off and let the water evaporate leaving a buttery, cheese-y coating on the vegetables.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Kitchen tips, Methods, pescatarian, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Vegan Chana dal with rice and greens. 11/27/23

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Beebamom
Chana dal with rice and greens

Chana dal is a mixture of dried split chickpeas, spices, onion, ginger, garlic and a spicy tomato broth. I make it in the Instant Pot which renders the dal cooked but not mushy in 18 minutes without soaking. Google Chana dal Instant Pot for a recipe that sounds good to you.

I served this over Power Greens and my 50/50 mixture of rice and riced cauliflower with some cilantro garnish and a squirt of sriracha in the rice.

Posted in Easy, Indian, Instant Pot, Legumes, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Scrambled egg and hash. 11/26/23

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Beebamom
Scrambled egg and a potato, onion, broccoli, and veg sausage hash

For my Breakfast for Dinner (BFD) this Sunday I decided on a simple scrambled egg and put most of my effort into making a hash. I started by frying one small dice potato and added onion and broccoli after the potato had a head start. Deciding that it wasn’t enough food for my BFD I cooked up a Beyond Breakfast Sausage patty, chopped it up and added it to the hash. Now my dinner had some heft!

A note about the sausage—To me this BBSausage patty did not taste like meat or vegetables. It also had a peculiar smell. I much prefer patties that taste like vegetables rather than trying to imitate meat.

Posted in American, Breakfast For Dinner (BFD), Easy, Eggs, Kitchen tips, Methods, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Grilled burger, tots, fennel salad. 11/24/23

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Beebamom
Grilled burger with sautéed onions and Utah fry sauce, tater tots (plus two mashed potato leftovers puffs), and fennel salad

This is our last night in Utah so we are in eat-down mode. We are using the rest of the fennel, thyme, and lemon to make a salad, and the leftover mashed potato to make a few potato puffs. John grilled some perfectly medium rare burgers and charred our ciabatta rolls. This was way too much bread for me so I ate my burger with a knife and fork. I just wanted to present the picture the way normal people would eat it!

Utah fry sauce is ubiquitous in these parts. It is merely a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup. No fancying up by adding tabasco and pickles which would have turned it in Thousand Island dressing. When I was a kid on the East Coast we used to call this Russian dressing. Maybe because it was red? LOL, I just read that in Germany this dressing is called American dressing so I guess not!

Posted in American, Beef, Grilling, leftovers, Vacation cuisine, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Kenwood shrimp with rice 11/23/23

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Beebamom

The eponymous Kenwood shrimp from the now defunct Kenwood Restaurant is my company shrimp preparation. Once you have everything chopped up and all the components assembled it takes less than a half hour to make.

Mise en place

Luckily I like to chop up vegetables. I also like to play around with recipes. Mostly I follow along diligently but today I doubled the pinch of cayenne pepper because my guys like things spicy and after I had served the dish John went back to the portion of sauce left in the pan and added a half cup of clam juice so we could all have more sauce. (So 1 cup cream and 1/2 cup clam juice for more sauce.)

Kenwood shrimp with rice

Here’s the recipe –

Posted in American, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Shellfish, Special occasion, Vacation cuisine, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment