May 29-June 9, 2008

29 R - Vegetable Beef Barley Soup (BC 473 - or see this post), Cresent Rolls
30 F - Creamy Tarragon Chicken
31 S - Love Wedding In Vero Beach
1 U - Pizza, Salad
2 M - Saucy Mushroom Chicken, Orzo, Salad
3 T - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes
4 W - Church Dinner in Miami
5 R - Seafood Alfredo Baskets, Green Beans
6 F - Stuffed Peppers, Salad
7 S - Fruit Topped Pork Chops, Long Grain Rice
8 U - Goopy Chicken (AKA Down Home Chicken), Mashed Potatoes
9 M - Ravioli Skillet, Salad

I just love the name Goopy Chicken - I discovered this recipe in the "My Mom's Best Meal" section of Taste of Home. The gal spotlighted made this chicken for her family and the children fondly remembered it as goopy chicken. It is quite saucy. I will go a little easier on the molasses than her 2/3 cup. Molasses can get kind of overwhelming to me.

Hearty and Healthy: Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

Betty Crocker wasn't a woman at all, she wasn't a man exactly, but a creation of the Washburn Crosby Company that merged with General Mills. She was "born" in 1921.
Looks good for her age, right?
Here's "her" recipe for Vegetable Beef Barley Soup - a healthy and hearty dinner that is also quite economical.

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup (based on the Betty Crocker recipe, but I modified it to what worked best for me)

3/4 lb beef stew meat
1 tbsp canola oil
28 oz beef broth
1 cup water
salt to taste (may not need it, depends on broth)
2/3 cup pearl barley
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 med. carrot, sliced thin
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 med. onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen green peas
black pepper to taste

Brown beef in oil, pour in broth and water, add salt. Add barley and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 30 minutes (a good time to prep veggies), then pour in veggies and return to a simmer for 30 more minutes (a good time to make rolls to go with the soup).

As a note - you can use fresh tomatoes, but unless they are in season, canned diced will work better. You can use fresh corn - 1 ear will be 1/2 cup.

How to: Store Celery

It used to be that I would omit celery when a recipe called for it - mostly because I would use a single stalk and in a few days the rest of the bunch would be droopy and gross. It wasn't that celery was super expensive, it just seemed like I was tossing my $1.99 into the garbage can.

But I recently learned it does not have to be this way! Celery can easily be stored and kept crisp! All you have to do is wrap the whole bunch in a big piece of aluminum foil and keep it in the fridge. Remove what you need, wrap it back up and it will keep much longer.

Celery is a good source of fiber and vitamins and is not only nutrient dense, it's also very filling, making is a good snack.

Tastes Like Chicken: Rotisserie Chicken Ragout

Every now and then I add a recipe onto my meal plan that I think - no way am I going to like this one! But I'm not sure why I add those meals on, usually I don't like them, but this is an exception.

Ragout is a French cooking term, which I'm not sure how to pronounce - but I think it's ragoo, basically it's a catchall term that means to make a sort of stew. Based on what I read on wikipedia, I think they usually include tomatoes, but this recipe does not.

Rotisserie Chicken Ragout*

1 cup chopped yellow summer squash
1 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cubed cooked rotisserie chicken
1 can (15 ounces) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Saute the squash, zucchini, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add chicken through pepper, cook until heated through, stir in the parm.

This was much (MUCH) more tasty than I expected it to be. I think the cream made a big difference. I added the garlic in the last minute of saute-ing because it has a tendancy to burn. And I didn't use a rotisserie chicken, instead I seasoned 3 legs and 2 thighs with salt, garlic powder, and cumin (no pepper - pepper burns) and broiled them then shredded the meat - more work, but much cheaper. Also I used dry thyme.

*Simple and Delicious Magazine

May 1-13, 2008

Technically not a full 2 weeks, but we already passed 30 W....

1 R – Asian Chicken Noodle Bowls
2 F – Barley Vegetable Beef Soup (BC 473), Garlic Bread
3 S – Crab Cakes with Lime Sauce, Salad
4 U – Pizza, Salad
5 M – Rotisserie Chicken Ragout
6 T – Tacos, Refried Beans, Salad
7 W – L.O. Tacos
8 R – Calypso Chicken with Island Peas and Rice
9 F – Fill in the Blank (Rob has a conference, we'll probably go to McDonalds...)
10 S – Mushroom Fried Steaks, Micro Scalloped Potatoes, Broccoli
11 U – Basalmic Chicken with White Beans and Spinach (RR 78)
12 M – Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread
13 T – Greek Style Supper, Garlic Sesame Pita Chips