Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Man's Out Fishing

My hubby got up early to go fishing in Urbanna, so of course I couldn't fall back to sleep after his alarm went off.  The little one ended up coming into our room just before 6 and fortunately fell back to sleep until 7:15 (unheard of!).  I got up and took advantage of the quiet time to start planning the grocery list and meals for this week.

First, I always see what I have stocked in the fridge and what's on sale for the week at the local grocery store.  I have lots of chicken in the freezer and chuck roast is on sale.  I have not tried these recipes yet, so hopefully they turn out ok!  We will be having:  Wild rice and turkey soup, Asian chicken, and Italian Pot Roast.

My wonderful Aunt Cathy, Tessa calls her Gacky, gave me a cookbook called Once a Month Cooking.  I have yet to try and do the once a month cooking, but I love the recipes that I've made from it and the fact that you can freeze them ahead of time.  The Asian Chicken recipe comes from this cookbook.

Asian Chicken (from Once a Month Cooking)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup regular, uncooked rice

Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, oil, garlic, and ginger to make the marinade.  Freeze chicken in marinade in a 1-gallon bag.
When preparing to serve, thaw chicken.  Pour chicken and marinade into a baking dish.  Bake in a preheated oven 350 degreesF for 35 minutes.  Prepare rice according to package directions.  Serve chicken over rice.

I am a cookbook collector.  Another favorite is the newest edition of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  I love doing soup on Sundays now that the weather is cooling off.  The wild rice and turkey soup calls for chopped cooked turkey, but I have chicken on hand, so that is what I will be using.

Wild Rice and Turkey soup (from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook)
1 6.2 ounce package quick-cooking long grain and wild rice mix
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup sliced celery
2 14 oz. cans reduced sodium chicken broth or 3 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups chopped smoked turkey or chopped turkey or chicken (about 10 ounces)
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional)

Prepare the rice mix (using the seasoning packet) according to package directions, except omit butter or margarine.
In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat.  Add mushrooms and celery.  Cook about 5 minutes or until vegetables are almost tender and most of the mushroom liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally.  Add chicken broth and pepper.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.  Stir in cooked rice mixture, turkey, wipping cream and dry sherry if desired.  Heat through.

I love the south and the sweet southern accents.  Another thing I love about the south are my Southern living cookbooks and magazines.  The recipes I have tried from them have always been good.  I got the Italian Pot Roast recipe from my All New Southern Living Cookbook.  My mom gave it to me a few years ago for Christmas and it has been well loved.  This recipe is a slow cooker recipe, which I love!!!  The crock pot in our house is used at least once a week.  It's a teacher's best friend.

Italian Pot Roast
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
1 boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 14 oz. can beef broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
3 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Place mushrooms and onion in a 5 1/2 quart slow cooker.  Sprinkle roast evenly with pepper.  Brown roast on all sides in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Place roast on mushrooms and onion in slow cooker.
Sprinkle onion soup mix evenly over roast.  Pour beef broth and tomato sauce over roast.  Cover and cook on high 5 to 6 hours or until meat shreds easily with a fork.
Remove roast from slow cooker, and cut into large chunks; keep warm.
Skim fat from juices in slow cooker; stir in Italian seasoning and tomato paste.  Sitr together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until smooth; add to juices in slow cooker, stirring until blended.  Cover and cook on High 20 to 30 minutes or until thickened.  Add roast pieces back to slow cooker.  Cover and cook until thoroughly heated.  Serve over egg noodles.

3 comments:

  1. So glad you started doing this!

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  2. Hi Kelly!
    How are you doing?! This blog is so great ! I am excited to follow-- I hope you are feeling well-congratulations on a baby boy!!

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