Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Monday morning mini-marathon (for cooking)

A trip to the grocery store late last week to get mainly meats meant I could get an early start Monday morning on meals for the week. Several leftover sides made it even simpler. Here are some of the dishes I turned out in two hours:

Five boneless, skinless chicken breasts became:
Fried Chicken--one breast, cut into five cutlets, seasoned with salt, pepper and steak seasoning, cooked in a little olive oil.
Chicken Strips--one big breast, cut into narrow 3-inch strips, marinated in a bottled marinade sauce, then sautéed in a little canola oil, yielded enough for several servings, and are ready for fajitas, a salad, or a main dish.
Spinach-stuffed Chicken Rolls--three breasts, split from the back, and pounded evenly, with a layer of spread made in a small food processor, of fresh spinach, cooked Brussels sprouts, sour cream, and steak seasoning, rolled with the ends tucked in, held with toothpicks, sautéed in olive oil, then baked in a casserole covered with foil, for about thirty minutes. Some of the filling oozed out, but I just spread it back on top of the rolls before refrigerating them.

Turkey Sausage--in links like kielbasa, cut into coins, sautéed with soy sauce, leftover BBQ sauce, and Worchester sauce.

Three pounds of ground beef became:

Meatloaf, Hamburger Patties, and Cooked Beef for Spaghetti Sauce, Tacos, and Chili.
A good morning's work.

Super Sunday Menu

Super (Bowl) Sunday meant lunch at my house this year. We had five adults and two toddlers visiting, and I wanted to have an ambitious but rounded meal. I also wanted to include several Paleo dishes, but more traditional (high calorie) dishes as well. Nobody went away hungry, and the leftovers have been delicious and easy to incorporate in other dishes. The menu:

Chicken tortilla soup.         BBQ wings.         Chili-cream cheese dip
Rotel cheese dip.         Assorted corn muffins.         Sweet potato fries
BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, lite raspberry pecan vinaigrette dressing
Roasted pear, pecan and spinach salad.         Scoops and tortilla chips
Shredded cheddar cheese, sliced avocados, tortilla chips
Deviled eggs, dill pickles, sweet gherkins, stuffed olives.         Jalopenos
Black olives, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, lemons.         Salsa
Pumpkin cheesecake bars.         Sticky brownies.        Cool Whip

We have a two-level kitchen island, so most things fit on there, with the soup on the stove. The corn muffins stayed hidden in the microwave until after lunch, but not on purpose. The two hot cheese dips were by special request, and neither could be disguised as Paleo. The roasted pear salad was similar to Cheddar's Restaurant's recipe, with the vinaigrette as topping. I served so many individual toppings so each person could could garnish as he or she pleased. Good meal, great company.