Chicken has always been my go-to for children because most will eat it! This is why I know how to cook it in every way - even though I don't eat fried foods... or breaded... or stir fry...
Oh - so, before I forget. Many apologies for these recipes not coming along as originally promised. We can, however, begin to see them more frequently. This is because I now have a boyfriend that appreciates my cooking :) Also, has a picky-eater for a daughter. This will make for great experiments and sharing! Or epic failures and disappointment. Either way, you may get a good laugh!
Onto the recipe. I have posted one in the past about mustard maple roasted chicken. This is a great "child-friendly" choice since it has a hint of sweetness to it. Makes it more appealing to the youngins! And let's face it - you can't go wrong with potatoes!
Rachael Ray's original recipe, you can find here. As usual, I make my own adjustments. And this is a very cheap meal! About $15 feeds a family of four - Can't beat that!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (or sub regular brown mustard)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lime for juicing (you can skip this, if you'd like)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 large baking potatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste.
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (I sometimes keep chives on hand. You can skip this, too)
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the honey, mustard, veg oil and lime juice. Add the chicken and let marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes. You never want to cook meat straight from the fridge - it shocks it and makes it tough when you cook it. While the chicken is marinating, in a large saucepan combine the potatoes and enough salted water to cover; bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes for only about 20 minutes, then drain and let them sit for a few so they can slightly cool. Slice the potatoes into wedges - about one-inch thick, slice long ways. Transfer to a bowl and gently toss with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Here, you can try different things with the potato wedges - add parsley or onion powder - garlic salt or seasoning salts. Whatever your taste buds prefer!
Preheat a grill to medium-high. Add the chicken and potatoes, and grill for about 10 minutes on each side. Or, cook stove-top on medium-high heat (same thing- about ten minutes on each side for the chicken). If you choose stove-top for the chicken, pop the potatoes into the oven, preheated at 450 degrees, for about 15 minutes on a broiler pan.
If you have chives, sprinkle the dish with chives before serving. I like to serve asparagus or steamed carrots along side this dish. Carrots are a better alternative with children (which I'm sure you're aware). Enjoy!
Showing posts with label rachael ray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rachael ray. Show all posts
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS
Classic-American family receipe, you think? Of course not! Especially from Rach! You may CLICK HERE for a direct link to her "kid-friendly" dining and SEE BELOW for a very abbreviated version for your enjoyment! These types of recipes are exceptionally fun for the gremlins though, if you homemake your meatballs! At the ripe age of 5, playing with your food doesn't get any better.. and it is always a treat to eat a no-so-round-almost-flat meatball made with the love and dedication of your mini-me. Now.... I have never made a meatball before so don't expect that recipe here, yet! See Rach's recipe in the link above.
Now.. onto ingredients for sketti:
(as a reminder, especially to new "readers", I don't measure anything... I "EYEBALL" it)
- couple tablespoons of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- thyme seasoning, dried
- rosemary seasoning, dried
- sage seasoning
- three bay leaves (or not!)
- oregano seasoning, dried
- basil seasoning, dried
- marjoram seasoning, dried (I never have this on hand and "substitute" parsley - just because.)
- 1 bag frozen italian meatballs
- 1 can whole, peeled tomatoes
- 1 large can of tomato puree
- 1 small, baby can tomato paste
- beef stock
- quarter can roasted tomatoes (not necessary, but I like)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 shallot
- about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
- 1 pound of spaghetti pasta
- dash of salt / dash of sugar
- 1 pound ground beef, cooked (or ground hot italian sausage)
I normally use fresh herbs for pasta sauces because the flavor is much more vibrant. However, when I woke up in the mood to cook yesterday morning at 8:30am, I wasn't heading to the grocery store in my pajamas. And by pajamas, I mean yoga capris, tank with no bra, smeared raccoon eyes with sleep probably still in my eyes. No, maybe not... I splashed water on my face after I brushed my teeth. No hairbrushing took place at this time, though. It was still half up on the make-shift ponytail left over from pillow-head.
I had a half bag of italian meatballs left over from a Christmas party in my freezer (in addition to the full bag I used FOR the meatballs) so what I did was pulled out food processor and ground these up after heating through in the toaster oven (on bake). Therefore, I did not use any ground beef listed above in the ingredients. It was a nice alternative and, again, I wasn't going to the store.
Directions for your Sauce:
Pour in the can of whole tomatoes and add about a cup of beef stock. Simmer, with lid on for about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, start browning your ground beef (or sausage). Use a potato masher to mash the whole tomatoes (I personally don't like chunks in my sauces. If you do, just do a quick mash - nothing major). At this time, add your tomato paste, give it a swirl and then add your can of tomato puree (I typically have tomatoes on hand that need to be eaten or thrown out... so I puree these to use instead of the canned puree). Add about half a palm full each of all of your dried seasonings. In a small blender (I have a handheld blender that holds about a cup) combine your garlic, shallot and roasted tomatoes. Again, if you like chunky, don't blend the tomatoes, just dump in the sauce - however, I have found that MOST rugrats won't eat chunks of anything... I know my precious nieces won't! If you don't want to blend, just grate the garlic and shallot into the sauce. If you are OK with chunky, just chop it up! Add your mixture to your sauce, give it a swirl. After draining your cooked ground beef (or sausage), dump into your sauce - or in my case, ground italian meatballs. Stir until combined, toss in your frozen meatballs, bay leaf (if desired), stir and cover. Let simmer for an hour to incorporate all the flavors and heat the meatballs through. At this time, give it a taste. You may find you need more salt. If it is a bit salty, add a tad bit of sugar (this offsets the acidity). Season to taste - this is YOUR sauce so play with it! Make it your own - Rach uses crushed red pepper flakes in hers. If you like a bit of heat on it, just do it! Alternately, I use ground hot italian sausage in most my red pasta sauces. Gives it a nice kick. My older sister can't even tell it's "hot" - she doesn't even eat your food if she sees you putting pepper in it, so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell her.
After you have made your personal-taste adjustments, if you need to loosen up the sauce some add a few turns of the pot of EVOO - if it's a bit too runny for your taste, add some parmesan cheese (about and 1/8-1/4 cup).
Throw your pasta into salt-seasoned boiling water. Cook to al-dente. Drain and add your pasta to your sauce OR if you're entertaining, cook it through, drain and put it on a large platter, then dump your meatball sauce over the top. This makes for a great presentation! If I was a "good" blogger, I would have taken a photo of my finished product on display - instead of just my whole tomatoes cooking. I believe I was distracted by my need to begin tuna salad... It was a massive cook-fest Sunday for me!
It would look something along the lines of this - all mixed together. I like "presentation" so top it with parmesan and parsley! If you have fresh leaf, it's even more vibrant! Serve, of course, with garlic bread of choice.
If you choose "non-chunky" style, most children would clean their bedrooms for spaghetti and meatballs. Probably one of the easiest go-to recipes. And quite cheap. Some, if not all of these spices are in SOMEONE'S spice cabinet. They were all in mine... but I'm a self-proclaimed cooker. It's imperative I have these to make myself feel chef-like. You, on the other hand may need to swing through the spice section at Wal-mart on your next trip. The Dollar Store even carries some of these! As an added note, I use all of these spices for various different other recipes as well so you can never go wrong. Well, maybe - but we'll never know. Frozen bag of Italian meatballs- store brand were $2.98/bag. There are approximately 32 balls in a bag. Your most expensive thing here will be your ground beef (or hot italian sausage).
MAKE AHEAD:
If you want to use this for later in the week, say - next weekend's dinner because you are going out of town on a much needed girls' beach trip, cook your sauce as above. Let cool to room temperature, put in an air tight plastic container and toss it in the freezer. CERTAINLY the hubby (or boyfriend/significant other/domestic partner... I try to cover all bases) is self sufficient enough to thaw a sauce, re-heat it (either stove or microwave), cook up some pasta and serve. Right? Or.. I may just be giving them too much credit. What can I say? I'm single!
I hope you enjoy - again, it's YOUR sauce. Play with it. Add some of Rach's ingredients if you like to experiment. If you wish for something a bit more traditional, take out some of MY ingredients. This is all about YOU. Make it happen.
Now.. onto ingredients for sketti:
(as a reminder, especially to new "readers", I don't measure anything... I "EYEBALL" it)
- couple tablespoons of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- thyme seasoning, dried
- rosemary seasoning, dried
- sage seasoning
- three bay leaves (or not!)
- oregano seasoning, dried
- basil seasoning, dried
- marjoram seasoning, dried (I never have this on hand and "substitute" parsley - just because.)
- 1 bag frozen italian meatballs
- 1 can whole, peeled tomatoes
- 1 large can of tomato puree
- 1 small, baby can tomato paste
- beef stock
- quarter can roasted tomatoes (not necessary, but I like)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 shallot
- about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
- 1 pound of spaghetti pasta
- dash of salt / dash of sugar
- 1 pound ground beef, cooked (or ground hot italian sausage)
I normally use fresh herbs for pasta sauces because the flavor is much more vibrant. However, when I woke up in the mood to cook yesterday morning at 8:30am, I wasn't heading to the grocery store in my pajamas. And by pajamas, I mean yoga capris, tank with no bra, smeared raccoon eyes with sleep probably still in my eyes. No, maybe not... I splashed water on my face after I brushed my teeth. No hairbrushing took place at this time, though. It was still half up on the make-shift ponytail left over from pillow-head.
I had a half bag of italian meatballs left over from a Christmas party in my freezer (in addition to the full bag I used FOR the meatballs) so what I did was pulled out food processor and ground these up after heating through in the toaster oven (on bake). Therefore, I did not use any ground beef listed above in the ingredients. It was a nice alternative and, again, I wasn't going to the store.
Directions for your Sauce:
Pour in the can of whole tomatoes and add about a cup of beef stock. Simmer, with lid on for about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, start browning your ground beef (or sausage). Use a potato masher to mash the whole tomatoes (I personally don't like chunks in my sauces. If you do, just do a quick mash - nothing major). At this time, add your tomato paste, give it a swirl and then add your can of tomato puree (I typically have tomatoes on hand that need to be eaten or thrown out... so I puree these to use instead of the canned puree). Add about half a palm full each of all of your dried seasonings. In a small blender (I have a handheld blender that holds about a cup) combine your garlic, shallot and roasted tomatoes. Again, if you like chunky, don't blend the tomatoes, just dump in the sauce - however, I have found that MOST rugrats won't eat chunks of anything... I know my precious nieces won't! If you don't want to blend, just grate the garlic and shallot into the sauce. If you are OK with chunky, just chop it up! Add your mixture to your sauce, give it a swirl. After draining your cooked ground beef (or sausage), dump into your sauce - or in my case, ground italian meatballs. Stir until combined, toss in your frozen meatballs, bay leaf (if desired), stir and cover. Let simmer for an hour to incorporate all the flavors and heat the meatballs through. At this time, give it a taste. You may find you need more salt. If it is a bit salty, add a tad bit of sugar (this offsets the acidity). Season to taste - this is YOUR sauce so play with it! Make it your own - Rach uses crushed red pepper flakes in hers. If you like a bit of heat on it, just do it! Alternately, I use ground hot italian sausage in most my red pasta sauces. Gives it a nice kick. My older sister can't even tell it's "hot" - she doesn't even eat your food if she sees you putting pepper in it, so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell her.
After you have made your personal-taste adjustments, if you need to loosen up the sauce some add a few turns of the pot of EVOO - if it's a bit too runny for your taste, add some parmesan cheese (about and 1/8-1/4 cup).
Throw your pasta into salt-seasoned boiling water. Cook to al-dente. Drain and add your pasta to your sauce OR if you're entertaining, cook it through, drain and put it on a large platter, then dump your meatball sauce over the top. This makes for a great presentation! If I was a "good" blogger, I would have taken a photo of my finished product on display - instead of just my whole tomatoes cooking. I believe I was distracted by my need to begin tuna salad... It was a massive cook-fest Sunday for me!
It would look something along the lines of this - all mixed together. I like "presentation" so top it with parmesan and parsley! If you have fresh leaf, it's even more vibrant! Serve, of course, with garlic bread of choice.
If you choose "non-chunky" style, most children would clean their bedrooms for spaghetti and meatballs. Probably one of the easiest go-to recipes. And quite cheap. Some, if not all of these spices are in SOMEONE'S spice cabinet. They were all in mine... but I'm a self-proclaimed cooker. It's imperative I have these to make myself feel chef-like. You, on the other hand may need to swing through the spice section at Wal-mart on your next trip. The Dollar Store even carries some of these! As an added note, I use all of these spices for various different other recipes as well so you can never go wrong. Well, maybe - but we'll never know. Frozen bag of Italian meatballs- store brand were $2.98/bag. There are approximately 32 balls in a bag. Your most expensive thing here will be your ground beef (or hot italian sausage).
MAKE AHEAD:
If you want to use this for later in the week, say - next weekend's dinner because you are going out of town on a much needed girls' beach trip, cook your sauce as above. Let cool to room temperature, put in an air tight plastic container and toss it in the freezer. CERTAINLY the hubby (or boyfriend/significant other/domestic partner... I try to cover all bases) is self sufficient enough to thaw a sauce, re-heat it (either stove or microwave), cook up some pasta and serve. Right? Or.. I may just be giving them too much credit. What can I say? I'm single!
I hope you enjoy - again, it's YOUR sauce. Play with it. Add some of Rach's ingredients if you like to experiment. If you wish for something a bit more traditional, take out some of MY ingredients. This is all about YOU. Make it happen.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Mustard & Maple Roasted Chicken
ok... so several things went wrong..
Waaaay wrong....... Turned out beautifully though!
Now, my ingredients are very similar to Rach's, however I improvise, remember? This is supposed to be simplified and easy... and simple.. and easy... so I will go ahead and apologize now..
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, melted (pop in the microwave after you pre-heat the oven)
2 pounds medium potatoes (about 6), skin-on and cut into wedges
4 crispy apples, quartered and cored then cut into 8 wedges per apple (I have a nifty apple corer-thingie that does this in a snap!)
3 medium yellow onions, peeled, cut into 6 wedges each with root attached (very important)
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped (I chopped about 10-12 sprigs) - you can also use dried thyme, just the same
1 5-pound chicken, quartered OR 5-quarter legs (mine was 5.23 lbs)
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
About 1/2 cup dark amber maple syrup
About 1/3 cup grainy mustard
About 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
About 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
About 1/3 cup chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, grated(i used three - you may use 2)
Serves 4 (or 6 - depends on how we look at this...) If you notice, most of these measurements are "about". This is straight from Rach's website... and I 'eyeball' my ingredients... never claimed to be any kind of baker! With that being said, these are NOT precise. Alter the sauce to taste! I did..
Ok, kids - this is where I went wrong... I used BONE-IN thighs. This is much cheaper (I speant $4.08 on 5.23 lbs!) However, takes much longer to cook! I was not anticipating almost 2 hours for this dinner! Which would lead to my epic FAIL for my very first assignment *sigh*
Also, be sure you wedge your potatoes all the same size! Cut into half, then quarter each section... makes cooking time more evenly.
Onto Preperation!
Pre-heat your oven to 400ºF.
In a deep roasting pan (you want sides at least 2" tall - it was a disaster for me to get this in and out of the oven. Lost lots of yummy juices. The fact I used an aluminum pan doesn't help either. Use a roasting pan, folks... a REAL-LIFE roasting pan....), dress the potatoes, apples and onions with melted butter and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. While this is roasting, combine the syrup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, stock and garlic in a small bowl.
Dress the chicken with the EVOO, salt and pepper and arrange over the potatoes and onions. The take your sauce mixture and pour evenly over the chicken and potatoes and roast for 1 hour more (this is with your normal chicken). If you use bone-in,
after an hour, I flipped my chicken to roast both sides (and I didn't want my birds black on one side, pink on the other!). Flip it then pop it back in for another 30 minutes or so. You want to taste your potatoes and make sure they are soft enough. Mine tasted like I had just chopped them up, straight from the bag! Certainly didn't taste like they had been in an oven for an hour.. so, I increased the initial roasting time to 20 minutes.
This is the golden goodness you come up with:
This has wonderful sweet flavors from the apples and carmelized onions - and salty flavors from your potatoes! When you are serving this, remove the onions (unless you prefer to eat them - I do not). This is why you keep them on their roots - makes it MUCH easier to fish out of there!
Now... I have a few notes on this first dive bomb of mine: it's not "short and sweet" but it is simple and a GREAT make ahead meal. I personally have a lot of these ingredients as staples in my pantry. I always have stock on hand for any reason; garlic; onions, EVOO and Worcestershire sauce..
I went to the store and spent about $20 on chicken, a bag of yellow onions, fresh thyme (this, unfortunately isn't one herb in the garden!), grain mustard, maple syrup (you may also substitute Amber Agave here, as well), 4 apples (I love apples but don't eat them often enough to keep on hand), cider vinegar (mine in the cabinet expired) and a 5-lb bag of yellow potatoes.
If you do choose to make ahead, all you have to do is prepare in full, cook, cover and refrigerate. Pop it in the oven on the day you want to serve for about half hour - to heat all the way through. note: cooked chicken can be kept in the fridge for up to five days.
This had great flavor and I was impressed - I have not yet given this over to my sister but I will this evening so I can get the 7 & 4 year old take on this. I believe they will be pleased!
you can find Rachael Ray's original recipe <~~ there!
Let me know if you have any fun improvisions to try out on this recipe! I promise the next one will more thought out and less complicated..
Waaaay wrong....... Turned out beautifully though!
Now, my ingredients are very similar to Rach's, however I improvise, remember? This is supposed to be simplified and easy... and simple.. and easy... so I will go ahead and apologize now..
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, melted (pop in the microwave after you pre-heat the oven)
2 pounds medium potatoes (about 6), skin-on and cut into wedges
4 crispy apples, quartered and cored then cut into 8 wedges per apple (I have a nifty apple corer-thingie that does this in a snap!)
3 medium yellow onions, peeled, cut into 6 wedges each with root attached (very important)
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped (I chopped about 10-12 sprigs) - you can also use dried thyme, just the same
1 5-pound chicken, quartered OR 5-quarter legs (mine was 5.23 lbs)
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
About 1/2 cup dark amber maple syrup
About 1/3 cup grainy mustard
About 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
About 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
About 1/3 cup chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, grated(i used three - you may use 2)
Serves 4 (or 6 - depends on how we look at this...) If you notice, most of these measurements are "about". This is straight from Rach's website... and I 'eyeball' my ingredients... never claimed to be any kind of baker! With that being said, these are NOT precise. Alter the sauce to taste! I did..
Ok, kids - this is where I went wrong... I used BONE-IN thighs. This is much cheaper (I speant $4.08 on 5.23 lbs!) However, takes much longer to cook! I was not anticipating almost 2 hours for this dinner! Which would lead to my epic FAIL for my very first assignment *sigh*
Also, be sure you wedge your potatoes all the same size! Cut into half, then quarter each section... makes cooking time more evenly.
Onto Preperation!
Pre-heat your oven to 400ºF.
In a deep roasting pan (you want sides at least 2" tall - it was a disaster for me to get this in and out of the oven. Lost lots of yummy juices. The fact I used an aluminum pan doesn't help either. Use a roasting pan, folks... a REAL-LIFE roasting pan....), dress the potatoes, apples and onions with melted butter and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. While this is roasting, combine the syrup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, stock and garlic in a small bowl.
Dress the chicken with the EVOO, salt and pepper and arrange over the potatoes and onions. The take your sauce mixture and pour evenly over the chicken and potatoes and roast for 1 hour more (this is with your normal chicken). If you use bone-in,
after an hour, I flipped my chicken to roast both sides (and I didn't want my birds black on one side, pink on the other!). Flip it then pop it back in for another 30 minutes or so. You want to taste your potatoes and make sure they are soft enough. Mine tasted like I had just chopped them up, straight from the bag! Certainly didn't taste like they had been in an oven for an hour.. so, I increased the initial roasting time to 20 minutes.
This is the golden goodness you come up with:
Now... I have a few notes on this first dive bomb of mine: it's not "short and sweet" but it is simple and a GREAT make ahead meal. I personally have a lot of these ingredients as staples in my pantry. I always have stock on hand for any reason; garlic; onions, EVOO and Worcestershire sauce..
I went to the store and spent about $20 on chicken, a bag of yellow onions, fresh thyme (this, unfortunately isn't one herb in the garden!), grain mustard, maple syrup (you may also substitute Amber Agave here, as well), 4 apples (I love apples but don't eat them often enough to keep on hand), cider vinegar (mine in the cabinet expired) and a 5-lb bag of yellow potatoes.
If you do choose to make ahead, all you have to do is prepare in full, cook, cover and refrigerate. Pop it in the oven on the day you want to serve for about half hour - to heat all the way through. note: cooked chicken can be kept in the fridge for up to five days.
This had great flavor and I was impressed - I have not yet given this over to my sister but I will this evening so I can get the 7 & 4 year old take on this. I believe they will be pleased!
you can find Rachael Ray's original recipe <~~ there!
Let me know if you have any fun improvisions to try out on this recipe! I promise the next one will more thought out and less complicated..
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Blogging... with a purpose!
Life should be exciting.. I need excitment in my life. I have applied for a second job. I want to buy a home by mid-year next year so I need to start saving more. This will also keep me IN from spending money while OUT. Logical? I think so..
On to exciting! I was finally able to sit, relax, drink a glass of wine and watch 'Julie & Julia'. I was very intrigued (and impressed) with Julie's accomplishments. With that said, I thoroughly weighed pros and cons of me doing the very same thing with Rachael Ray (aside from Marilyn Monroe and Monica "Mons" - from Ace & TJ, Rach is my woman crush).
I love to cook. Every part of throwing new "stuff" together to see how it will turn out is captivating. Am I always good at it? (lol) No, but I do get a thrill out of it.
Now... what I have come to realize is that ALMOST all families (especially single mothers) don't have time to prepare and cook for an hour or two. Unless, of course, you are that perfectly manicured soccer mom that married "up" in life (no offense to anyone, I swear). My younger sister actually inspires me with my objective because I have two very beautiful nieces that are almost 4 and 7, and she cuts it really close just to get home for dinner-time and pop open that can of raviolis before it's time for homework! I'm sure most of America is this same way because most families I know, both mom and dad work - or single moms..
Ok, I will get to my brainiac idea momentarily, but first I must touch base on Rach so you guys understand the plan... Rach doesn't really spend a massive amount of time in the kitchen so she mastered 30-Minute Meals (to cook not bake... we don't bake..) Ingenious, informal and great fun. Rach likes to use pricy ingredients, though (and some things I still can't locate in the grocery store.. but not often!) She also likes to use large amounts of onions and peppers. I have found that I now use onions in cooking - and i don't tell anyone - because the flavor is amazing! This is my secret so no one figures me out: grate it on a Fine Cut long grater - it almost liquifies it for you so you get all the wonderful juices and flavors and leave the chucky bits behind! *squirrel*
Located on her website, you can also find "Budget Meals", as well.
http://www.rachaelray.com/food/collections/budget/index.php
I tell you guys all of that to say this: I'm simplifying. Beginning October 8, 2012 I Wwill begin blogging about fast and easy recipes the entire family will love (this includes those tiny picky eaters)! This provocation, of course comes from the movie 'Julie & Julia'. I am going to piggy back her idea and utilize Rachael Ray, you know, instead of Julia Child.. I have Rach's 30 minute meals at home and will incorporate Budget Meals into the mix to save some money for you folk. I will also improvise. Keep all the recipes simple and short. The less ingredients, the better for those working families to deal with after a long day in the office, or in a truck... or on a field site... or atop a roof... you get the picture.
Exciting times and I am whole heartedly looking forward to this. I don't have anyone at home to really cook for so my meals will be sent to my sister, brother-in-law and nieces for taste testing, feedback and the infamous gremlin approval (or not...) I will commit to one recipe a week for now (but I'm sure I will post more than this). No disappointments, I want!
Blogging sub section titles are still TBD - I need some creative juices... We will chat soon, kids!
On to exciting! I was finally able to sit, relax, drink a glass of wine and watch 'Julie & Julia'. I was very intrigued (and impressed) with Julie's accomplishments. With that said, I thoroughly weighed pros and cons of me doing the very same thing with Rachael Ray (aside from Marilyn Monroe and Monica "Mons" - from Ace & TJ, Rach is my woman crush).
I love to cook. Every part of throwing new "stuff" together to see how it will turn out is captivating. Am I always good at it? (lol) No, but I do get a thrill out of it.
Now... what I have come to realize is that ALMOST all families (especially single mothers) don't have time to prepare and cook for an hour or two. Unless, of course, you are that perfectly manicured soccer mom that married "up" in life (no offense to anyone, I swear). My younger sister actually inspires me with my objective because I have two very beautiful nieces that are almost 4 and 7, and she cuts it really close just to get home for dinner-time and pop open that can of raviolis before it's time for homework! I'm sure most of America is this same way because most families I know, both mom and dad work - or single moms..
Ok, I will get to my brainiac idea momentarily, but first I must touch base on Rach so you guys understand the plan... Rach doesn't really spend a massive amount of time in the kitchen so she mastered 30-Minute Meals (to cook not bake... we don't bake..) Ingenious, informal and great fun. Rach likes to use pricy ingredients, though (and some things I still can't locate in the grocery store.. but not often!) She also likes to use large amounts of onions and peppers. I have found that I now use onions in cooking - and i don't tell anyone - because the flavor is amazing! This is my secret so no one figures me out: grate it on a Fine Cut long grater - it almost liquifies it for you so you get all the wonderful juices and flavors and leave the chucky bits behind! *squirrel*
Located on her website, you can also find "Budget Meals", as well.
http://www.rachaelray.com/food/collections/budget/index.php
I tell you guys all of that to say this: I'm simplifying. Beginning October 8, 2012 I Wwill begin blogging about fast and easy recipes the entire family will love (this includes those tiny picky eaters)! This provocation, of course comes from the movie 'Julie & Julia'. I am going to piggy back her idea and utilize Rachael Ray, you know, instead of Julia Child.. I have Rach's 30 minute meals at home and will incorporate Budget Meals into the mix to save some money for you folk. I will also improvise. Keep all the recipes simple and short. The less ingredients, the better for those working families to deal with after a long day in the office, or in a truck... or on a field site... or atop a roof... you get the picture.
Exciting times and I am whole heartedly looking forward to this. I don't have anyone at home to really cook for so my meals will be sent to my sister, brother-in-law and nieces for taste testing, feedback and the infamous gremlin approval (or not...) I will commit to one recipe a week for now (but I'm sure I will post more than this). No disappointments, I want!
Blogging sub section titles are still TBD - I need some creative juices... We will chat soon, kids!
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