Friday, April 1, 2011

Seven Quick Takes: Quick Meatless Meals

Running out of time and meatless ideas?  Here you go.

1. Scrambled eggs and toast: Self-explanatory.  Cheese on top of the eggs is  a nice touch.

2 Veggie soup:  Saute garlic, onions, and/or celery.  Add vegetable broth/tomato juice/ water (about two cups per serving).  Throw in whatever veggies you have on hand and simmer for a couple of hours.  Good with bread, of course.

3  Home-made Mac n Cheese: See last post.

4  Tuna Melts:  Mix canned tuna, celery and mayo to taste.  Spread on halves of bagels or English muffins.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Broil til cheese melts.

5   Veggie Fried Rice: Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.  Mix 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1 t sugar and 1 T soy sauce; add to cooking vegetables.  Add about 3 c. cooked rice.  Stir-fry five minutes.  Add cook or frozen veggies.  Cook for a couple more minutes.  Beat 2 eggs.  Drizzle eggs over rice mix and cook til eggs are done.

6  Grilled Cheese. With home fries is a nice touch.

7  French Toast.  Mix 2 eggs, 1/2 c. milk, 1/4 t. salt, 1 t. vanilla, and 1/2 t. cinnamon.  Dip sliced bread into egg mixture and fry.  Good with fruit on the side.

Enjoy!

And check out everyone else at Jen's party here.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Mac n Cheese

Last night we had Mac n Cheese, one of the kids' favorites, with steamed broccoli.  I ate most of the broccoli.

But, I love homemade Mac n Cheese for them.  I use whole-grain noodles ($.99 per package) and I make the cheese sauce while the noodles are cooking. 

I melt 6 T of butter and add 6 T of flour.  When that has blended and bubbled for a couple minutes (it should look light brown and slightly grainy while it bubbles), I add 2 C milk.  I whisk this until it starts to thicken and then I add 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (cheddar for color, but you could probably use any kind of cheese that's not processed).  I continue to stir this over medium heat until the cheese melts and the whole thing is gooey and pale orange. 

By that point, the noodles are done and drained.  I put noodles on plates and drizzle the cheese sauce over to taste.  Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and you have a healthy dinner fit for a king.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Crazy like a fox... who cooks... or something

So, today I was going a little nuts with everything being stuffed in my fridge and freezer.  So, of course, I went a little crazy and made a lot of food to compensate.  We had:

Steamed broccoli and green beans (green beans were in the scratch-n-dent bin at grocery store)
Italian sausages (also discounted)
Garlic cheese bread (whole wheat bread from freezer, garlic mix was  a gift a while ago, cheese needed to be used)
Lasagne (discount noodles, home-made sauce)
Sparkling juice

Dessert (little cake squares with sliced strawberries and chocolate syrup.  I know it's Lent; don't judge!)

And I still can't fit anything in the fridge.  Aaargh!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Aaaaaand we're back.... Magic soup

So, after a period of crazy intensity, I'm back at my computer and in the kitchen.

Today I found myself with a fridge full of leftovers of various kinds.  I needed more space in there.  So, today's Magic Soup was more adventurous than usual.

I started by sauteeing onions, celery and garlic (which, due to kitchen neglect, needed to be used NOW) in olive oil.  I added four cups of chicken broth (home-made) and four cups of beef stock (store-bought).  Then I threw in four potatoes, four carrots and a bunch of fresh green beans.  And a half-cup of rice.  I let that simmer for awhile.  When the veggies were pretty tender, I threw in some beef leftovers. While the original beef sandwiches were delicious, my todders tire of food quickly.  I also added about half a jug of tomato juice.  It's been simmering on my stove all afternoon, smelling lovely.  However, a taste test indicated I needed to add a half tablespoon of salt.  The resulting brew is thick and savory and Bri has been asking about it all day.  I'm going to throw in some dumplings to round it out before I serve it to the troops. 

And we have a home-made apple pie for dessert. 

I learned that stocks can be combined without affecting the flavor significantly.

It's good to be back.