Something new, No I really mean it.

Last night I tried not only a new recipe, but something I have never had before.  I have heard of lots of burgers before and I tend to go for the original; but I decided to jump out there on something new.  The recipe: salmon burgers.  This is something that can be easily made from pantry items.  In fact I had all the ingredients but the buns (English muffins).  So it helps the pocketbook. 

The recipe can be found in Everyday Menus.
Small confession:  I wasn't feeling making dinner so much last night.  Drew even offered to make something really easy, but I was determined I was going to make dinner.  The determination paid off because 15 minutes later we were sitting down to dinner of salmon burgers and salad.  Wow.  This is one of those you have to have in your back pocket for something tasty, but so easy!  I also love that we used the canned salmon from Costco I purchased just for something like this.  I highly recommend this one.  I even whipped up some tartar sauce to top the burgers in that short amount of time.  I could not be more pleased!  Love it!

Simple Supper

Today I was a little under the weather; so after napping on the couch for the afternoon I went upstairs to cut coupons and came across a recipe to try for dinner.  We had on hand everything to make the recipe, so I thought it would be perfect.  Perfect except for one thing.  It was for Pumpkin soup.  My husband does not like pumpkin and will tell anyone that will listen.  I solved this problem by comprimise.  I decided to make something I know he loves and something I know he is not too keen on.  Pretty good idea, eh?
Let me set the stage.  I have never had pumpkin soup.  I do enjoy almost all things sweet and pumpkiny, but I was not so certain myself on things pumpkin savory.  So the solution to my problem didn't just serve Drew. 
So I, still trying to work from what I have on hand, decided upon Macaroni and Cheese.  Yes, readers the Macaroni and Cheese that has been mentioned at least a handful of times on this very blog - Granny's Macaroni and Cheese.  This was a no fail plan.  If the soup was horrible, we would just fill ourselves up on what we know we enjoy. 
Time to prepare dinner came and I started on the Mac and Cheese first. Here's the method (it is more a method than a recipe). 
1.  Cook noodles according to package directions.  Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Butter a casserole dish.
3.  When noodles are ready and drained, layer noodles and cheese (shredded sharp cheddar is best, tonight I used a combo of sharp cheddar and mozzarella - I thought I would try something new) to the top, ending with cheese.
4. Place pats of butter on top.  Sprinkle pepper on top to taste.
5.  Pour milk in the side of the casserole dish to halfway up the dish.  (see why it is a method?)
6.  Place in preheated 350F oven for as long as it takes for the milk to bubble up (this can be tested by slightly turning the dish to the side to see if milk is still milk, if it is still milk, it is not done)
7.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Once the Mac and Cheese was in the oven, I read a couple chapters of my book and then got started on the soup.  It was a pretty easy process and, as I said, included items from the pantry.  The recipe is from a Ralph's book of coupons, so if you have that laying around the house, give this soup a try.

Drew started asking questions about the soup very early on in the process.  The first one:  "What all is in this soup?"  Answer: "These are just onions I am cutting right now."  Second (as I hand it to him to take to the table): "Is this a cheese soup?"  Answer: "No."  Third (as he takes the soup and is about to eat the first bite): "Is this squash?"  Answer: "No."  Fourth (after eating two bites):  "What is this?"  This last one was in that tone of voice that implied, "you better tell me what this is."  So, I relented because he had already tasted it.  I told him it was pumpkin.  He gave me a look and then....he ate more!  We had a discussion that it did not tasted like pumpkin, but it smelled like it.  I wanted to scream, "SUCCESS!"   I did not and we continued to eat.  I really enjoyed the fall comfort food meal from the pantry. 

Big Batch Cooking

Normally, I do not make large quantities of food.  This is due, in large part, to our small family.  The other reason: we are not leftover friendly (by we, I mean, one of us).  At least that is what one of us thinks.  Tonight's dinner is proof that leftovers can be different for each meal.  This is often called morphing or cook once, eat twice meal planning. I did a lot of this type of meal planning while cooking through Robin Miller's cookbooks.  I highly recommend her cookbooks to all the mom readers out there.  She has really simple, flavorful recipes that save time and money in the kitchen.  She has a new cookbook I don't have yet and the next time I need a cookbook, I have a pretty good idea what I will choose.  
Tonight's dinner plan includes a plan for 2 meals this week and one next week.  I am so pleased to know there is a Master Planner in control of the meal plans I make.  I am thankful to find that, though this week offers much to do and limited time to do it all, I had already planned to make this cook once, eat 3 times meal.  What a blessing!

Here's the rundown:  PC's Stoneware Inspirations Make Ahead Get Ahead menu plan for Hearty Meat Sauce.  The meals made from this meat sauce: Beef Tostadas, Pasta Roll-ups, and Chili Bread Bowls.  We had the tostadas tonight, will have the pasta roll-ups on Wednesday, and will have the chili bread bowls early next week.  The beef tostadas left a little to be desired in the flavor department, but I know the flavors of the meat sauce will lend themselves better to the chili and pasta roll ups.  I am looking forward to the pasta on Wednesday.  You might notice in the picture that there are 3 containers ready for the fridge/freezer.  Bonus:  this freezes for up to 3 months and I have a head start on a meal for the holiday season!  Gotta love it!
By the way, Drew stopped by the store and got the items necessary to make the meat sauce and I was pleased to find out that all these ingredients cost about $14.00 (no sales, no coupons).  We will eat 4 times on this and I am planning to bless another family with a meal later this week.  That breaks down to about $3.00 a meal.  Not bad!

A New Degree

In this world there are many degrees of fabulosity.  Many of these degrees are "new" degrees.  Ghetto. Retro.  Absolutely.  Well, I have come up with my new degree based on tonight's dinner: Starchy fabulous.  Tonight we tried PC's Loaded Baked Potato Chowder from the Season's Best for Fall/Winter 09.  I love potato soup in general.  It is one of those comfort foods for me that is always satisfying.  Drew tends to really enjoy it, too.  I think this is the first time I have ever made a potato soup.  I need look no further for recipes.  I loved how easy this one is to make and the flavors - starchy fabulous.  One of the things that makes this recipe so easy is the Covered Baker from PC.  You do the whole soup in the microwave in less than 30 minutes, including "baking" the potatoes.   I love the idea of putting broccoli in this to change it up next time.  This time, I just cooked up a little bacon, crumbled it, and sprinkled it on top. I ate way too much of this, but I didn't want to miss out on all the creamy goodness.  Mmm!  As my mother-in-law would say, "Put a star by that one!" 

Fancy, schmancy...easy, peasy (cliche, anyone?)

Tonight's dinner was pretty good.  Could have had one more item to it, to make it more filling (my fault, should have trusted my gut - haha, like the pun?).  Thankfully, we had a coupon for BOGO McFlurries and they have a new one with Reese's peanut butter cups (yes, Drew will eat this - he is very selective with his preferences of dessert - he is a veritable moving target for desserts) and we supplemented dinner with dessert (an unhealthy one at that!).  I made Brandied Dijon Pork Chops from PC 29 Minutes to Dinner 2.  The rundown follows:
Drew picked up some very nice pork chops from Jensen's (definitely recommend their meat department) and the rest of the items on the ingredient list were pantry items, so it is a great *cheap* dinner.  I think it would break down to $6.00 total for the 2 of us to eat tonight.  Very nice flavor on the sauce, I did sub out the brandy (not because I think it would be bad, but because I didn't have a chance to run to BevMo to get "testers" - ok so maybe a was a little skeptical) for a little more chicken broth.  The presentation is very tah-dah, so it would work well for dinner with friends.  This would work nicely even when having company on a weeknight, as it is lightning fast.  We cut it in half because we are not gluttonous, despite the aforementioned dessert.  You could increase the recipe very easily and still have great results.  I paired the pork chops with green beans.  I would put some sort of grain with dinner next time to fill out the presentation on the plate.  Great job PC!