Tuesday, April 28, 2009

About making dinner

It does happen. Actually, I make dinner on average 5 nights a week. Lately I've been trying to make the most of what I buy at the grocery store. I'm sure a lot of people are doing the same these days. For me it's about the cost but also about cutting down on trips to the store. So I've been working on carry-over dinners. These are items I make for one meal and carry it over to a meal later on in the week. I have three favorite meats for these: whole chicken, beef roast, and pork tenderloin.
I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and put my recipes on the blog. I'm pretty sad about that, because I have been experimenting a lot. I also want to include pictures of what I've been cooking, but that will also have to wait. These days, I cook dinner with Sophia straddled on my back. I hope this will lead to interest in the kitchen, however it could backfire and she could loathe it. Please let her love it, I could use a helper.
So while I do have a chance to chat about food, here are some of my carry-over ideas:

Chicken
First meal: Roasted chicken with Pappy's seasoning, stuffed with onions and carrots
Carry-over ideas:
  • Chicken enchiladas with leftover shredded chicken
  • Risotto with peas and shredded chicken
  • Penne alfredo with sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and shredded chicken
  • Manicotti stuffed with ricotta and shredded chicken
  • Chicken pot pie
Beef Chuck Roast
First meal: Pot roast with carrots and celery
Carry-over ideas:
  • Carne asada soft tacos, leftover shredded beef reconstituted with some taco seasonings
  • Rigatonni or Polenta with shredded beef in rich beef ragu (puree leftover pot roast vegetables and gravy, add tomato sauce and cook down)
  • Shepherds pie, also using leftover mashed potatoes if you served that with the pot roast
Pork Tenderloin
First meal: Oven roasted pork tenderloin
Carry-over ideas:
  • Chile verde
  • White bean pork chili
  • Pulled pork sandwiches (it's a lot leaner than a pork butt or shoulder, so you'll need to basically chip the meat and add the BBQ sauce and simmer for a bit)

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