Delicious Broccoli Cheese Soup

I came up with this from ingredients I had in my fridge that I didn't want to waste. All the other ingredients are staples I keep in my pantry or freezer. It was fantastic.

Part of a roasted chicken from the store that no one was interested in any more
Leftover cooked broccoli on the verge of mushy
half an onion
stalk of celery cut into a few pieces
2 tbsp. butter
2-4 tbsp. (?) flour
1 can evaporated milk
Knorr powdered chicken bouillon
black pepper
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded parmesan or 4-cheese blend from Trader Joe's

Put the whole chicken in a pot with some water, the onion and celery and let it simmer until the onion is mushy. Strain out all the solids, leaving just the broth. If desired, you can put the broth in the fridge or freezer to turn the fat solid so you can strain it off, or use a fat-separating tool such as a special cup or "mop". Pick off whatever chicken is left on the bones and put it in a bowl. Put the broccoli in a blender with some of the broth and blend until it's finely chopped. Make a white sauce by melting butter in a skillet or saucepan, gradually adding flour, then adding canned milk. Gradually add broth to make it the consistency you desire. Add chicken bouillon if desired, season with black pepper, stir in as much cheese as you want until melted. Add broccoli mixture and cooked chicken.

Taco Salad

Was at the store this afternoon buying bread and trying to think of an easy dinner idea, and it came to me: Taco Salad. I bought tortilla chips, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados. At home, I used the microwave to defrost a Costco roasted chicken that I had been storing in the freezer for a rainy day. I browned some ground beef, also from the freezer, then added a packet of taco seasoning mix from my pantry, the required water, and an undrained can of black beans from my pantry. While washing and cutting the lettuce and tomatoes, I let the meat mixture simmer until the sauce was thick, and dinner was ready. Everyone put whatever they wanted in their salad. Here is what was available:

shredded romaine lettuce
chopped tomatoes
chopped avocado
shredded cheese
roasted chicken
seasoned ground beef with beans
tortilla chips
sour cream
salad dressing
Pepperidge Farm parmesan goldfish (our family's "croutons"--one child doesn't like taco salad)

Lemon Chicken with Zucchini

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 ½ cups sliced zucchini
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cut chicken into thin slices (like in Chinese restaurant food). Blend broth with cornstarch. Stir in soy sauce and sugar, set aside. Preheat wok or skillet over high heat. Add oil. Stir fry the chicken until barely done, remove from pan. Add a little more oil and stir fry the zucchini until tender, add chicken, add broth mixture and stir until thick and bubbly. Stir in lemon juice. Serve over rice. This is easy and delicious. The zucchini absorbs the flavor of the sauce beautifully. I used to really like this with a handful of peanuts thrown on top until our child with a peanut allergy joined the family.

Note: The above recipe is as it was given to me, but in real life I use two or three times as much zucchini and 1 c. broth, 2-3 tbsp. cornstarch, and 4 tbsp. soy sauce. (We like plenty of sauce.) And black pepper. And I saute some onions with the zucchini.

Apple Craisin Salad

(From Lisa G., absolutely delicious)

1 head leafy green lettuce, cleaned and torn
2 granny smith apples, thinly sliced
1/3 cup toasted, slivered almonds (optional if banned)
1/3 cup Craisins (or Trader Joe’s dried cherries)

Dressing:
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
3 teaspoons yellow mustard (I use 2 tsp. of brown)
Juice of half a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Delicious Spinach-Chicken Spaghetti

Tonight my younger daughter chose spaghetti and meatballs, which on the one hand is good because it's super easy and everyone likes it. (Bottled sauce, Costco meatballs.) On the other hand, the thought of eating one of those meatballs, or the sauce that had those meatballs in it, made me nauseous. I like bottled sauce but only with ground beef or by itself. So it was a little depressing thinking of making something that at least no one would complain about, but that I didn't feel like eating.

Then I remembered I had half a bag of baby spinach in the fridge, and some leftover Sprite chicken! I had cooked 1.5 pounds of spaghetti, so after draining the spaghetti, I put some back in the still-warm pot. Then I added some real butter, and the baby spinach, stirred it around and put the lid on. The heat wilted the spinach quickly. Then I added some kosher salt, fresh black pepper, and chopped leftover chicken. I served it with Trader Joe's shredded "Quattro Fromaggio" (like fresh parmesan, comes in a ziploc bag; I store it in the freezer so it keeps forever without getting moldy) on top, and a tiny squeeze of lime (I like lemon or lime on my spinach). Wonderful!!

This would make a great "grocery store dinner"--just pick up a roasted chicken and some bagged spinach at the store and you are good to go.

Recipes for My Kids

It just occurred to me that when my kids are older and out of the house and want my tried and true recipes, I can make this blog into a book using blurb.com or something like that. Then, I realized, heck, wherever my kids are they can access this blog and get the recipes and tips they need!

Japanese Steak House Vegetables

We like the vegetables at the Teppanaki Japanese Steak houses where they cook in front of you. Here is our home approximation:

zucchini, peeled and cut into little short pieces (the size of tootsie rolls or a little bigger)
oil
1/2 an onion, sliced
mushrooms, if you have them
fresh bean sprouts
Kikkoman reduced sodium soy sauce
Mrs. Dash
sesame seeds
real butter

Heat the oil and saute the onion until transparent. Add the zucchini and stir fry until almost done. Add a few shakes of Mrs. Dash, add the mushrooms, saute for a few minutes, add a couple tablespoons of real butter; when it melts stir in the bean sprouts, cook until just softened, season with a few dashes of soy sauce and sesame seeds. Serve with rice and a protein.

Easy Delicious String Beans

Frozen baby string beans from Trader Joe's (in a clear package)
Oil
Mrs. Dash
1/8 of an onion, thinly sliced or chopped

On medium-high, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan that has a lid. While oil is heating, put in a few dashes of "Mrs. Dash" and the onions. (This is not necessarily how she finishes them, but this is how my Chinese mother-in-law starts her stir fried vegetables.) Stir-fry until onions are fairly soft. Add the string beans, stir fry for a minute or so, then put the lid on, turn the heat down a little, and set the timer for five minutes. When I do this, the water from the frozen vegetables is enough to steam them until done. Check after five minutes--if they are too crisp for your liking, give them a stir and put the lid back on for a couple more minutes. String beans are more forgiving than broccoli--if you overcook broccoli, it's awful IMHO, so I usually just stir fry broccoli the whole time, keeping the lid off.

These frozen beans from Trader Joe's are just as good as fresh, IMO.

Pasta Salad

This is so easy and everyone in my family likes it! I always have the ingredients on hand to make pasta salad so it's great for company or if I need to bring something to a pot luck. Make a lot so you have leftovers for the next day.

Required Ingredients:
Dry rotini, penne, or other pasta
Bottled Italian or Greek salad dressing (we like Pat & Oscar's, from Costco)
various vegetables

Vegetable Suggestions:
Fresh broccoli florets, cut small
Frozen peas
Carrots cut in thin matchstick size pieces
Cherry tomatoes
Sliced black olives or greek olives
sliced cucumbers
sliced celery

Optional Goodies:
Chopped leftover ham
Chopped or shredded leftover chicken
Feta Cheese
Sliced Mozzarella string cheese

Cook the pasta. During the last minute of cooking, drop the broccoli florets in the boiling water with the pasta and blanch for 1 minute. Dump the pasta and broccoli into a strainer. When drained, dump into a large bowl and add a whole package of frozen peas. (The peas cool the pasta and the pasta slightly cooks the peas! This is great if you're in a hurry.) Stir in whatever other ingredients you want, and dressing. It's nice to have a variety of colors (and I always have these on hand) so I always use carrots, olives, and peas.

Costco sells a prepared Greek pasta salad that's good. But all it is, as far as a can tell, is penne pasta, Greek dressing, feta cheese, Greek olives, and shredded roasted chicken. So you could easily do this at home.

Chicken Salad on Croissants

Just had this at a 90th birthday party luncheon for one of the ladies at my church. It was soooo good. Here is the recipe:

Canned white meat chicken (she got hers at Costco, looks like tuna but larger can)
finely chopped green onion
1/4 tsp. dry mustard (per large can of chicken?)
finely chopped celery
salt and pepper
mayonnaise

Mix, and serve on sliced croissants, or another kind of bread, with lettuce. At my wedding reception we had chicken salad made with home-cooked chicken on homemade cream puffs.

Costco Spiral Ham and "Funeral Potatoes"

Our only ham is the spiral one from Costco. It's super easy for company or for the family; you can freeze the leftovers or cook with them all week--use in fried rice, pasta salad, etc. I usually buy one of these hams when I go to Costco and store it in the freezer to have on hand.

Is it bad luck to use the word "funeral" in my blog? Hope not. These are fondly called "Mormon Potatoes" or "Funeral Potatoes." I lifted this directly from recipezaar.com. I don't add the butter or use so much sour cream. Nor do I do the corn flake topping although it sounds fabulous. I always use the frozen potato shortcut, but I use the cubed hash browns not shredded.

Apparently the Lutherans claim this recipe, too. :)

12 large potatoes or
1 (32 ounce) bag frozen shredded hash browns
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream (OR 1 c. sour cream & 1 c. milk)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted (I don't use)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I don't use)
2 cups crushed corn flakes
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1Peel potatoes and boil for 30 minutes, until just tender.
2Cool and grate into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3Heat oven to 350º.
4Combine soup, sour cream, cheese, ½ cup melted butter and onion.
5Gently blend into the potatoes.
6Combine corn flakes and 2 tbsp melted butter. Sprinkle on top.
7Bake for 30 minutes.

Authentic Japanese Teriyaki Salmon

I'm not kidding, I got this recipe from a real Japanese friend from Japan!

Mix equal parts maple syrup and soy sauce and pour over salmon for half an hour. Grill, basting regularly with the sauce.

I use cheap generic "pancake syrup", and Costco salmon. This is our standard meal for company. Serve with rice and a green vegetable. It is awesome!

Sprite Chicken

This is what we're having for dinner tonight if I can stop writing and start marinating! We will have it with mashed new potatoes with the red skins.

This is my family's favorite marinade for boneless skinless chicken and it's really easy. I keep a "secret stash" of cans of Sprite in my closet so they don't get used up by my family. I keep the horseradish in the fridge and it lasts a long time. You can marinade overnight or just a couple of hours. Grill, fry, or broil. The next best thing to grilling IMHO is cooking them on the stove top on a grill pan. A grill pan is a frying pan with raised ridges and leaves grill lines on the food. Make a lot of this and you can use the leftovers for a green salad bar, or pasta salad, the next day. Leftover Sprite chicken doesn't last long in my house.

Easy "Sprite" Chicken Marinade (My version)

1/2 - 1 c. Oscar's Greek Salad Dressing (or any Italian or Greek dressing you have around)
1/4 - 1/2 c. Kikkoman reduced sodium soy sauce
3/4 can Sprite or 7-up (drink the rest)
1-2 tbsp. cream-style horseradish

Original “Sprite” Chicken Marinade
(from Jane W.)

½ c. oil
½ c. soy sauce
1 c. lemon-lime soda
1 tbsp. horseradish
a couple cloves fresh garlic or 1 tsp. garlic powder

Improvement on Dinner Card Idea

Laura gave me a great idea which improves on the concept of writing dinner ideas on individual 3x5 cards. She got a cardboard recipe box at the dollar bins at Michaels and is going to fill it with cards. On the back of each card she will write a list of ingredients needed for the dish. Then, on Sunday afternoon she will sit with her kids and they will help her pick the menu for the week. She'll look at the backs of the cards and make a shopping list based on what she needs for those recipes.

It is important to note that this is not a traditional recipe box--this is a box of the names of tried-and-true "keeper" recipes or meals (although you could certainly store your recipe cards in there as well, but I'm storing more and more of mine on the computer). You could even put your favorite takeout places on individual cards. After using them, you could file them in the back so you don't use them again for a while.

Another variation is this really cute meal planning notepad that Jenny sent me that I've been using faithfully. I save the used sheets and stack them in the back for future ideas. I could even reuse them in the same order if I want.

The important thing in all this is to make it FUN. First, make it fun for YOU. Making dinner is not fun for me but making a little box of cards or using a cute notepad IS. Letting the kids help plan makes it fun for them.

Tortilla Soup

I didn't have any garnishes on hand when I took this photo but they are what makes this soup fabulous. I made this for Mireya and her family right after she had a baby and they raved about it. This was quite a compliment to me.

2 bone-in chicken breasts OR roasted whole chicken from the store
½ - 1 onion, cut into a few chunks
Season-all, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, to taste
2 small cans chopped mild green chilis, blended in blender (we don’t like big chunks)
2 cans chopped tomatoes, blended in blender (we don’t like big chunks)
1-3 cans chicken broth, depending on how much broth you already have in the pot
(If necessary) 1 tbsp. (or so) powdered chicken bouillon
A couple handfuls raw white rice (or use leftover cooked rice, add at end)
A couple handfuls crushed tortilla chips

Garnishes:
Tortilla chips
Cheese
Sour cream
Avocado

In large pot, simmer chicken with onion & dashes of spices in some water (enough to cover chicken) until chicken is done. (I buy roasted whole chickens to keep in freezer to make soup later, so in this case you just need to have chicken in water long enough to defrost/heat it.) Take chicken out of pot and let cool. When cool shred chicken and set aside. Skim onions out of broth. Add chopped tomatoes, chilies, & canned broth. Add raw rice. Simmer until rice is cooked or as long as you want. Taste & adjust seasonings. Stir in crushed tortilla chips—they will thicken broth slightly and add nice flavor. Add cooked chicken before serving. Serve with garnishes on top.

I like this as a soup rather than a “stewp” so it shouldn’t be too heavy with rice or too tomatoey like chili.

Easy Dinner Tips and Recipes

Tips on Making Dinner:
--Making dinner continues to be one of my biggest daily challenges.
--However, knowing “what’s for dinner” gives you so much peace throughout the day.
--It doesn’t have to be fancy, just planned.
--It gives you brownie points with your family….
--It makes the next day’s lunch much easier because of leftovers.
--I collect ideas by asking my friends what they’re having for dinner, in person or in email.
--Ward cookbooks are excellent for easy foolproof dinner recipes.
--The ideas below are not low-fat; I try to eat small portions & lots of fruits & vegs on the side.

“Cowboy Spuds”
Get some large baking potatoes, wash and bake for 1 hour at 400deg. or until easily pierced with fork. While potatoes are baking, put little bowls of toppings on the table: butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, real bacon bits (I get at Costco and store in freezer) or chopped up leftover ham, cooked broccoli, leftover chicken, etc. etc.

Tater Tot Casserole
Preheat oven to 350. Brown 1 lb. ground beef (or less), drain off fat. Mix with 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 soup can full of milk, a dash or two of onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking pan, layer tater tots all across the top. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Easy Chicken Parmesan (Cdf. Ward Cookbook 1992)
8 frozen breaded chicken patties 1 30-oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 lb. spaghetti Shredded mozzarella cheese
Bake patties as directed on package, but reduce baking time by 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, cook spaghetti in boiling water; drain and put in greased 9x13 baking pan. Pour about ¾ of the sauce over spaghetti and mix together. Place cooked chicken patties on top of spaghetti; top with cheese and the remaining sauce. Bake at 350 for about 15 min. or until hot and cheese is melted.

Baked Chicken and Rice (Cdf. Ward Cookbook 1992)
1 cup uncooked rice 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup 1 pkg. Lipton dry onion soup mix
2 cans water (from soup can) Black pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Pour uncooked rice into 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle onion soup mix over rice. Sprinkle pepper to taste. Place chicken on top. Mix soup and water together; pour on top of chicken. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or until rice is tender.

Stouffer’s Frozen Lasagna
I never make homemade because we really like this. I get it at Vons and it’s about $10-12 for a large “family size” tray. (We do not like the Costco brand of lasagna.) Great leftover, and great introductory table food for toddlers. Starting from frozen, you need to allow about 2 hours to bake it, following package directions.

Fried Rice from Leftover Chinese
This is probably really obvious, but get Chinese takeout (we like Chin’s or the one next to Henry’s Mkt.) and ask for extra white rice. The next day, make “fried rice” by mixing all the leftovers and rice in a big frying pan and heating it up.

Instant Pot Roast

Heat about 2 cups canned beef chunks from big #10 Costco can (looks awful until heated and shredded, then just like pot roast. Freeze portions from can in individual bags) with 1 pkg Knorr Onion Soup Mix (+ called-for water) and 1 pkg brown gravy mix (+ called-for water) until thickened. Serve over rice. Shockingly homemade-tasting.

Advice to Jackie

My friend Jackie asked me for dinner planning advice and I sent her this long email back. Since she is not the first to ask, nor will probably be the last, I decided to start this blog. Here is my letter to her:

For starters, sit with your family and have them tell you all the things they like for dinner and write them down in a list. You could write each dinner on a separate index card and shuffle them like cards and make a new thing each night. Or everyone could have a "night" to pick their favorite dinner. Once you have the week's menus planned, make a shopping list and buy what you need for the week. Kids really like it when you post the menu for the week on the fridge, too.

As for picky eaters, I did the totally "wrong" thing when my kids were young (according to some people) and made a fairly grownup dinner (something myself and my husband would actually enjoy eating) AND also provided chicken nuggets or something like that along with it. I rarely tried to get my kids to try new things. But when they were on the table, sometimes they'd try them, and when they'd go to friends' houses or eat out, they would get exposed to new things. They have gradually gotten less picky as they've gotten older. I always did insist on a certain amount of vegetables--I think it was the number of pieces (broccoli, baby carrots, etc.) to match their age or 2x their age. Now that my three older kids are teens and a young adult, they are asking for more sophisticated things. Like my 14 year old, the pickiest, asked for Korean Chap Chae last week!

Tonight I decided we are going to have Tortilla Soup, which I love and most of the family likes, AND bacon-wrapped tater tots (turkey bacon from Costco) so I don't have to listen to complaints from the one who doesn't like tortilla soup. It's all about my mental health, truly. We'll have a salad and fruit, too. All the soup eaters are allowed to eat the tots, too, so it's not like I'm making a separate meal for her.

Meal planning is a challenge for me, especially with all varieties of picky eaters, but I feel so much better when I know "what's for dinner." Also, per the preparedness booklet that I included in the bag, I keep staples in the house so there is always something I can make. With the birth of my third child we got a freezer for the garage so I always have extra bread, ground beef, chicken, frozen vegs & froz. berries from Trader Joe's, shredded cheese, etc. You can even freeze milk.

The other thing I do is keep a running shopping list (dollar store magnetic pad of paper) on the side of my fridge, with a pencil attached with a ribbon to the side. Whenever I think of something we need, I immediately write it down on the list. Otherwise I will forget. I'm also training my kids to do the same. Then I just take it with me to the store.

I know about nutrition but I don't worry too much about making the main dish low fat as long as I provide vegetables and fruit to go along with it. If I core and slice a bunch of apples and put them on the table, they will all get eaten.

The other thing that has helped me a LOT is to ask my friends what they're having for dinner. I feel that every time I learn a new easy recipe, it's such a treasure to add to my dinner armory.

As I write this, I've decided to start a blog about it. I've had other people ask me for advice about easy dinners so this will be a good way to share. The address is dinnermentor.blogspot.com and I will post some recipes soon.

You can also try savingdinner.com. This is from the "Dinner Diva" who works with FlyLady. She should have some free menus/recipes to try. I subscribed for a while but didn't renew because my family didn't like enough of her recipes. She also has several cookbooks that are very popular.