You are currently browsing the daily archive for March 5, 2009.
This post is part of the Bare Cupboard Blog Carnival.
I got up very early this morning and made a casserole for breakfast. It was pretty filling, and most of the kids loved it. There were leftovers, so I froze them in individual servings for John to eat on a day when I’m not quite so chipper. For those of you with food processors, this breakfast will be a snap. For me, let’s just say I won’t need to do arm curls today.
I scrubbed and grated five large (organic, local) potatoes and one peeled onion. I put them in a 9×13 casserole dish, melted six tablespoons of (pasture) butter and poured it down over the potatoes. I stuck this in the oven at 425° for forty five minutes. While that was browning, I fried a pound of local mild pork sausage and scrambled a dozen eggs, not cooked, just stirred together. I crumbled the cooked sausage on top of the potatoes and poured the eggs over. Now, normally I’d take a bunch of cheese and toss that in there, and maybe some bell peppers or tomatoes or salsa. But John likes it simple, so it was plain. After thirty minutes at 350°, it was done. I cut it up into 12 squares. Sure enough, John ate his plain. I had salsa and a little shaved mozzarella on mine. Rose had hers with homemade ketchup, and Christy had hers mounded with grated cheddar. Hubby found the leftover fajitas (beef, peppers and onion) and plunked that down on top of his serving. We all went away happy, except Blair who slept through breakfast. Again.
I got all the running around done today that I needed to do yesterday. Dinner needed to be quick and simple to get hubby off to a business meeting at 6. I had some leftover rice, and I had bought some chicken and bell peppers at the store, so that’s what we had. It’s too simple for a recipe, but for those of you who think linear rather than spacial, here you go:
Simple, Cheap Chicken and Sweet Peppers
served us 7 without leftovers
3 pounds chicken
2 tablespoons coconut oil
4 sweet green bell peppers
2 cloves garlic
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons naturally fermented soy sauce
2 tablespoons arrowroot
cooked rice
pineapple chutney
Start by peeling and mincing your garlic. (Garlic should have 5 minutes exposed to the air before cooking to allow the good allicin and sulfur compounds to fully develop.) Set that aside and heat coconut oil on medium high in large skillet or wok. Cut chicken meat away from bones and into bite-sized pieces. Add to hot pan. (Remember, hot pan->cold food->food doesn’t stick.) While the chicken browns, remove the stems and seeds from bell peppers. Cut peppers into bite-sized strips and add to pan with garlic once the meat is browned and barely cooked. (The trick here is to not overcook the chicken “just in case” and dry it out. To test it, grab a medium-sized chunk and cut it in half. It is done enough for this dish when it has just a little pink inside. The chicken will continue to cook with the peppers.) Give the pan a stir around every so often while you mix together the stock, soy sauce and arrowroot. When the peppers become dark green, but before they get soft, add the stock mixture. Allow it to come to a boil and then remove your pan from the heat. Stir the sauce all over the chicken and peppers. Serve with hot rice. This is really, really good with pineapple chutney.
“Organic, free-range chicken breasts” were on sale today. They still had their skin and bones, and I needed the bones for my next stock batch anyway (I’m no breast snob) so I picked up a couple packages. When I prepared the meat for this meal, I got out the two freakishly large breasts from the package which together weighed three pounds. I pity the poor chicken who had to try to walk around these monstrosities on those little tiny feet. Now, I’m not naive, I know “free-range” means virtually nothing in meat processing. And I know that “organic” is supposed to mean no hormones are used in feeding or raising meat thus classified. I have to wonder: have we bred an entire race of Playboy-model-chickens that sport turkey-sized breasts on their tiny little bird frames? How could these gigantic hunks of meat come from an organic bird?
I write in my cookbooks. A lot. I give each recipe a couple one-to-ten ratings: for ease of preparation and tastiness. If anyone has specific helpful comments, I’ll put those in, too. Things like “try this with raspberries next time” usually go on a sticky note, but if raspberries worked well, I’ll add it to the book. I also put in a note of how many days or hours of “lead time” is required for the recipe. I also note the cost of the recipe and any cost-reducing ideas. If the recipe uses fresh ingredients that are seasonal, I’ll add a note like “June-September” to keep me from wanting to use more expensive, less nutritious out-of-season non-local foods. Every so often, there’s a family anecdote I’ll add, too.
When we find a truly exceptional recipe that is unanimously adored, inexpensive and not crazy difficult, I’ll add it and all its notes to a computerized recipe program (I use MacGourmet.) My plan is to present a bound book of Mom’s Best Cookbook to each child as they leave home.
The Dark Side of Fat Loss
