I did something new! I baked potatoes in the crockpot and next to those potatoes, I put a pyrex dish with chili in it!
I was home on Wednesday so instead of microwaving the potatoes for dinner (Wednesday's dinner theme is quick, the quicker the better!), I thought I'd like to try the potatoes in the crockpot. I had read that if a dish is oven safe then you can use it in the crockpot. Apparently this is a good method if you are making a smaller dish than the size of your crockpot calls for. I was nervous.
Loaded Potatoes:
2 large potatoes, cleaned, forked and wrapped in foil
1 can of chili and beans
a few green onions, chopped
sour cream
cheese
other potato toppings
The chili goes into the pyrex dish and the potatoes next to them. I cooked on high for 3 hours. The chili was over cooked (but not burnt) and the potatoes were perfect! Then top the potatoes with all the fixings!
If I use this method in the future and I do not plan on being home, I will probably cook the potatoes on low for 4-5 hours and then add the chili (in its on bowl) after I get home from work. The chili just needs to heat through.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Crockpot Ranch Chicken Recipe
Today, right now, as we speak, I'm working on dinner. Tuesday's are crockpot days! And I love that! I almost forgot to do some prep work last night for this meal, but I eventually remembered. At the very least, I like to set out the ingredients and recipe the night before so all I have to do in the morning is throw everything together.
Here's how I made it:
Ranch Chicken with Potatoes
~2 Servings (with maybe some leftovers)
2-3 chicken breast, frozen
5-6 tiny to small potatoes
1/2 bag (small bag) of baby carrots
1/2 onion, sliced
1 can (10oz?) cream of chicken
1 pkg dry ranch seasoning
1/2 cup of milk
Mix the cream of chicken, dry ranch and milk together in a small bowl. Add frozen chicken to the crockpot, add potatoes, carrots, and onions. Cover with the cream mixture. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
We've had this meal a few times now and it's a good one. The original recipe calls for pork chops, but I don't like pork chops. Feel free to use either, but don't ask me how to cook pork!
Ok, here's the deal with crockpots. The cook time really depends on how full the dish is. The less full, the less cooking time you will need. Through trial and error (read severly burned, dried out meals), I've learned the right cook time. You just need to experiment. My cook time might be a little less if I didn't keep it in the CP all day. But I've learned that when it's keeping warm all day I really only need it "cooking" for about 3-4 hours. I have a large crockpot (6 qts maybe??) so when I make meals for 2, I only fill the stoneware about half way sometimes even less.
Maybe one day I'll do a post with CP tips. But for now, just remember, if you are starting it before you leave for work and it will be warming all day, aim on the short cooking time. When you get home you can check it out and if it's undercooked, you can easily turn it on high for an hour and probably be fine. If you are going to be home when you are cooking, just check on it and add more time if needed. Good luck!
Here's how I made it:
Ranch Chicken with Potatoes
~2 Servings (with maybe some leftovers)
2-3 chicken breast, frozen
5-6 tiny to small potatoes
1/2 bag (small bag) of baby carrots
1/2 onion, sliced
1 can (10oz?) cream of chicken
1 pkg dry ranch seasoning
1/2 cup of milk
Mix the cream of chicken, dry ranch and milk together in a small bowl. Add frozen chicken to the crockpot, add potatoes, carrots, and onions. Cover with the cream mixture. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
We've had this meal a few times now and it's a good one. The original recipe calls for pork chops, but I don't like pork chops. Feel free to use either, but don't ask me how to cook pork!
Ok, here's the deal with crockpots. The cook time really depends on how full the dish is. The less full, the less cooking time you will need. Through trial and error (read severly burned, dried out meals), I've learned the right cook time. You just need to experiment. My cook time might be a little less if I didn't keep it in the CP all day. But I've learned that when it's keeping warm all day I really only need it "cooking" for about 3-4 hours. I have a large crockpot (6 qts maybe??) so when I make meals for 2, I only fill the stoneware about half way sometimes even less.
Maybe one day I'll do a post with CP tips. But for now, just remember, if you are starting it before you leave for work and it will be warming all day, aim on the short cooking time. When you get home you can check it out and if it's undercooked, you can easily turn it on high for an hour and probably be fine. If you are going to be home when you are cooking, just check on it and add more time if needed. Good luck!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Next Week's Meal Plan
Here's my meal plan for next week.
Sunday (10/14) - Tilapia with Bean Salad - For the tilapia, I usually just serve with some sour cream. When I'm feeling exceptionally not lazy I will make it this way: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2243
Bean Salad:
1 can of navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 tomato, chopped
Sunday (10/14) - Tilapia with Bean Salad - For the tilapia, I usually just serve with some sour cream. When I'm feeling exceptionally not lazy I will make it this way: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2243
Bean Salad:
1 can of navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 to 1 whole avocado, chopped
Dressing: mustard (honey, or regular or dijon or spicy all work), EVOO, pasted garlic
Monday (10/15) - Salad with Chicken (made on Sunday) - this is a salad with baked chicken, nothing fancy, but it's easy to make it the day before. We ended up eating this salad in a tortilla and essentially had a wrap for dinner. It was a nice change!
Tuesday (10/16) - Ranch Chicken with Green Beans (Crockpot Meal)
Wednesday (10/17) - Loaded Potatoes
Thursday (10/18) - OYO
Friday (10/19) - Brian's grilling beef kabobs
Saturday (10/20) - New Recipe! (I haven't decided yet)
Meal Planning Obsession!
I'm baaaackk!
I'm going to try this 2 blog thing for awhile and see how it goes. Lately I've been pretty proud of myself about how organized I've gotten my meal planning. I think there's a lot more to do, but for now it's working! So I'd like to share my success.
With my son, I realized that cooking during the week is not going to work. For one, I want to spend my evenings with him and not in the kitchen. Sometimes I tried starting dinner after my son went to bed, but that just ended up being too late for us mainly because I'm usually ready for bed not long after my son (much to my husband's dismay).
So what have I been doing? Finding crockpot recipes, cooking things up on Sunday for the week, and having a "I'm sorry but you must fend for yourself tonight" once a week.
Right now I'm only meal planning dinners, but I think I'd like to include lunches, at least on the weekends soon especially as my son grows older and we start ending the same things. (Right now we are still in the jarred, soft veggie, other random finger food stage).
I sat down and thought about what worked with our schedule for the week and then categorized recipes into which day I thought they best fit. Ideally I wanted at least 8 recipes in each day/category. That way we'd have 2 months between meals. However, for some days/categories this didn't happen.
Here's the breakdown:
Sunday: I have some flexibility with this day because it's possible to cook dinner early and have us all eat together. However, I decided that Sundays will be fish day. Fish is a really flexible meal for me because I buy a large bag of frozen fish filets. These thaw quickly (in water) and the dressing for them are things I always have on hand. This is also a benefit because I don't waste food if for some reason I want to switch or not cook after all.
Monday: Premade dish. Usually a salad or a casserole. I make this dish on Sunday. Monday for dinner, it's either ready to go as is or just needs to be baked (which can happen anytime).
Tuesday: Crockpot dinner. My requirement for crockpot meals is that it must not require any additional cooking (I'm not into this brown meat and then add to crockpot scam). 95% of the time, I throw all the ingredients together Tuesday morning before I leave for work. This does add 5 minutes to my morning. But it's worth it. I set everything out Monday night so I don't have to think about what I'm supposed to put into the crockpot. If it requires any chopping I usually do that Sunday when I'm cooking Monday's dinner.
Wednesday: Quick night. Ideally for me, these dinners are something where the meats already been cooked and it's something I can throw together in about 10 minutes or less. Examples are grilled sandwiches, turkey pockets (Thanksgiving turkey from the freezer!). This day is a day where I only have 4 meal ideas so far. I need more!
Thursday: On Your Own (OYO). Typically there are leftovers from Monday's or Tuesday's dinner. If not, we scavenge (on our own!) in the freezer or a pizza or tv dinner.
Friday: This day alternates. On Fridays that I work (every other one), Brian is in charge of dinner and that dinner is cooked on the grill. Our options are slim, but since it's every other Friday I feel that I can get away with 4 grill staples. The other Fridays I cook! These are perfect nights for new recipes or some of our trusted favorites. I have no shortage of these recipes!
Saturday: This day also alternates. Every other Saturday we plan on eating dinner out. I try to pair out the OUT with Friday where I cooked so that I am only cooking 1 weekend night a week. This doesn't always happen, because travel and activities occasionally interfer. But for the most part it works.
In future post, I will post the meal plan for the week and start populating that with recipes. Right now I have an 8 week rotation after 8 weeks of this, the meal will essentially begin to repeat. Maybe in 8 weeks I'll have enough meals to add another week?! I'm open to ideas and recipes!
I'm going to try this 2 blog thing for awhile and see how it goes. Lately I've been pretty proud of myself about how organized I've gotten my meal planning. I think there's a lot more to do, but for now it's working! So I'd like to share my success.
With my son, I realized that cooking during the week is not going to work. For one, I want to spend my evenings with him and not in the kitchen. Sometimes I tried starting dinner after my son went to bed, but that just ended up being too late for us mainly because I'm usually ready for bed not long after my son (much to my husband's dismay).
So what have I been doing? Finding crockpot recipes, cooking things up on Sunday for the week, and having a "I'm sorry but you must fend for yourself tonight" once a week.
Right now I'm only meal planning dinners, but I think I'd like to include lunches, at least on the weekends soon especially as my son grows older and we start ending the same things. (Right now we are still in the jarred, soft veggie, other random finger food stage).
I sat down and thought about what worked with our schedule for the week and then categorized recipes into which day I thought they best fit. Ideally I wanted at least 8 recipes in each day/category. That way we'd have 2 months between meals. However, for some days/categories this didn't happen.
Here's the breakdown:
Sunday: I have some flexibility with this day because it's possible to cook dinner early and have us all eat together. However, I decided that Sundays will be fish day. Fish is a really flexible meal for me because I buy a large bag of frozen fish filets. These thaw quickly (in water) and the dressing for them are things I always have on hand. This is also a benefit because I don't waste food if for some reason I want to switch or not cook after all.
Monday: Premade dish. Usually a salad or a casserole. I make this dish on Sunday. Monday for dinner, it's either ready to go as is or just needs to be baked (which can happen anytime).
Tuesday: Crockpot dinner. My requirement for crockpot meals is that it must not require any additional cooking (I'm not into this brown meat and then add to crockpot scam). 95% of the time, I throw all the ingredients together Tuesday morning before I leave for work. This does add 5 minutes to my morning. But it's worth it. I set everything out Monday night so I don't have to think about what I'm supposed to put into the crockpot. If it requires any chopping I usually do that Sunday when I'm cooking Monday's dinner.
Wednesday: Quick night. Ideally for me, these dinners are something where the meats already been cooked and it's something I can throw together in about 10 minutes or less. Examples are grilled sandwiches, turkey pockets (Thanksgiving turkey from the freezer!). This day is a day where I only have 4 meal ideas so far. I need more!
Thursday: On Your Own (OYO). Typically there are leftovers from Monday's or Tuesday's dinner. If not, we scavenge (on our own!) in the freezer or a pizza or tv dinner.
Friday: This day alternates. On Fridays that I work (every other one), Brian is in charge of dinner and that dinner is cooked on the grill. Our options are slim, but since it's every other Friday I feel that I can get away with 4 grill staples. The other Fridays I cook! These are perfect nights for new recipes or some of our trusted favorites. I have no shortage of these recipes!
Saturday: This day also alternates. Every other Saturday we plan on eating dinner out. I try to pair out the OUT with Friday where I cooked so that I am only cooking 1 weekend night a week. This doesn't always happen, because travel and activities occasionally interfer. But for the most part it works.
In future post, I will post the meal plan for the week and start populating that with recipes. Right now I have an 8 week rotation after 8 weeks of this, the meal will essentially begin to repeat. Maybe in 8 weeks I'll have enough meals to add another week?! I'm open to ideas and recipes!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
New Blog
I've started a new blog! While I still thoroughly enjoy cooking, food and new recipes, I don't see myself having a lot time to devote to this hobby in the near future. But I still like the idea of having a blog...so I've decided it's time for blog that's mainly all about Drew. It can be found here:
http://kristalusby.blogspot.com/
http://kristalusby.blogspot.com/
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Week 20!
Well I’m halfway there! The little nugget is unofficially 6.5 inches and 10.5 ounces. This is what I know so far about my constant companion:
He/she is a squirmer! We had our ultra sound last week and while the nugget was very cooperative, when the tech tried to get a picture of the foot, Nugget would not stay still long enough so the picture didn’t turn out.
He/she is also stubborn! I have been feeling the nugget a lot lately and I’ve noticed that the jabs and kicks are stronger than they were in the beginning. For about a week now at least I’ve made Brian put his hand on my belly in hopes to feel the nugget. But nothing! The nugget stops moving! I’ve noticed that Nugget is especially active after I eat candy or dessert and even last night after my ice cream cone, the nugget was laying low and avoiding high fiving his papa. Oh well, I’m sure Brian will be feeling this too before long.
Other than that we are working on the baby registry and still debating names. With only 4.5 months to go, I think time will really start to fly by. Time to get ready!
He/she is a squirmer! We had our ultra sound last week and while the nugget was very cooperative, when the tech tried to get a picture of the foot, Nugget would not stay still long enough so the picture didn’t turn out.
He/she is also stubborn! I have been feeling the nugget a lot lately and I’ve noticed that the jabs and kicks are stronger than they were in the beginning. For about a week now at least I’ve made Brian put his hand on my belly in hopes to feel the nugget. But nothing! The nugget stops moving! I’ve noticed that Nugget is especially active after I eat candy or dessert and even last night after my ice cream cone, the nugget was laying low and avoiding high fiving his papa. Oh well, I’m sure Brian will be feeling this too before long.
Other than that we are working on the baby registry and still debating names. With only 4.5 months to go, I think time will really start to fly by. Time to get ready!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Eating for Two
Well here I am. I know you've been wondering what's been going on. Here's the truth...for the last 2 months food in general has disgusted me. I couldn't even look at my own blog because that last post about the steak wrap would make me want to throw up. It's sad, but true. I am slowly coming out of my food nausea where soon I should be able to think more about food and hopefully get back into experimenting with recipes. For awhile we might focus on baking. We'll see.
The truth is morning sickness is not fun. It makes you do crazy things, like eat cereal for dinner.
But! I am now 15 weeks pregnant and have most (but not all) of the nausea behind me. Last week was the first week in a long time that I was able to meal plan without gagging. There's still some foods out there that make my stomach turn (Asian cuisine in general for some reason), but for the most part I can get back to more varied dinners which don't include cereal.
So, I'll try to keep this blog updated. Although I'm sure it'll become more about being pregnant than about cooking. I can't help it, that's just where I am in life.
Biggest disadvantage to being pregnant - not being able to eat cookie dough. Last month I made chocolate chip and sugar cookies and all I wanted to do was stick my face into the large bowl of dough. This is illegal in the pregnancy world though. I refrained. I mustered all the will power that exists and managed to resist. But it was difficult.
Biggest advantage - eating for two! Bring on the food!
The truth is morning sickness is not fun. It makes you do crazy things, like eat cereal for dinner.
But! I am now 15 weeks pregnant and have most (but not all) of the nausea behind me. Last week was the first week in a long time that I was able to meal plan without gagging. There's still some foods out there that make my stomach turn (Asian cuisine in general for some reason), but for the most part I can get back to more varied dinners which don't include cereal.
So, I'll try to keep this blog updated. Although I'm sure it'll become more about being pregnant than about cooking. I can't help it, that's just where I am in life.
Biggest disadvantage to being pregnant - not being able to eat cookie dough. Last month I made chocolate chip and sugar cookies and all I wanted to do was stick my face into the large bowl of dough. This is illegal in the pregnancy world though. I refrained. I mustered all the will power that exists and managed to resist. But it was difficult.
Biggest advantage - eating for two! Bring on the food!
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