What's Cooking?

My mother-in-law gave me this great little gift last Christmas that has made all the difference for me when it comes to being intentional about meal planning and grocery shopping. It’s one of those magnetic pads that stick on the refrigerator. It’s appropriately titled, “What’s Cookin’?” and contains two columns, on the left it lists the days of the week vertically with enough room to write out meal ideas. The right side is titled “Shopping List” and it’s a place to write down items I need to pick up on my next run to the store. Although I’ve had to get more organized about meal planning over the years as our family rapidly transitioned from two adults to the addition of three little ones in three years, I had never quite found the right system for me. This simple list has changed that. Now I will admit to being a bit bent toward a type A personality. I’m the first born and have always enjoyed being organized. Not anal or anything but definitely driven to plan ahead and know what to expect. So sitting down on Saturday or Sunday evening with my “What’s Cookin’?” pad and recipe box and deciding what I want to make for the week is almost always enjoyable. Of course I don’t always stick to our menu choices but mostly it’s only because I over plan and we end up eating leftovers one night instead of me cooking a new meal – that’s always a welcome change for me! Once I’ve written out my meal ideas I go through the list of ingredients and write down any I’ll need to pick up at the store. I try to make dishes that incorporate much of what I have around already but it’s nearly impossible to have everything. And here’s the part that I get a good chuckle out of: I re-write my shopping list once it’s complete in order of what I’ll find where in the store. This is not something I would have dreamed of doing before having kids! In fact, I remember enjoying roaming every isle leisurely; picking items up on a whim that looked good. Gone are those days! With three kids as company (not always, but most often), getting in and out as quickly as possible is my motto!

Now here’s another bonus: my husband has begun to look at the list regularly and no longer asks that irritating, “What’s for dinner” question that makes me feel like he doubts I’ve thought about it and wants to remind me that our family is hungry. It’s not fair to accuse him of that because I doubt that’s often his real motive (he’s a simple, straight-forward man and I’m sure he is really just curious about what he’ll be eating in a few hours) but it always use to put me on edge because often I really wasn’t sure. Now (almost always) I am sure and it’s nice to see him go over to the list and check it himself. Not that he always approves, in fact sometimes he asks if we can change items around, maybe have grilled chicken and French fries tonight and the lentil casserole another night, but he always eats what I make and he always, every single meal I make, thanks me for making it.

In case you need a few more good reasons to start being intentional about meal-planning, here are some I came up with:

1. No more frantic 5 o’clock searches of the cupboards, freezer, and fridge to find something tolerable and quick to eat.

2. Less runs to the grocery store to pick up last minute items. I’ve found that I can now shop once every week to week and a half if I plan well. I save a lot of money this way because every extra trip to the store means a few extra items I didn’t plan to get – I just can’t leave with only what’s on my list (although I’ve gotten MUCH better!).

3. More balanced meals. Sometimes if I wait until the last minute and I am very hungry I will make whatever sounds good, and typically that is something salty, greasy, and fast. If I’ve planned ahead I can be intentional about having some vegetarian meals, some heavy meat meals, and some lighter meals like salad or soup.

4. I am now more likely to plan ahead and actually try new recipes. Since I have a time to sit down and plan it lends itself more easily to looking for and incorporating new ideas.

5. I can ask my family what they want before the week starts and have everything on hand to make their request. In the future, when my kids get older, I will have each of them (with my help and assistance) plan and prepare one meal a week which will hopefully set them up to be competent and comfortable cooking their own meals once they set out on their own.

One more thing: I am one of those people who, when in the right mood, could “waste” hours looking through cookbooks, recipe cards, or on-line recipe sites (allrecipes.com is my favorite because I enjoy reviewing others’ comments and getting ideas of how to tweak things to satisfy my likes as well). I don’t spend much time doing any of these activities anymore simply because time doesn’t allow but when I do I always enjoy the process and the couple of new recipes I come away with to try.

So, in the spirit of meal planning, let me share a few meals that I’ve made over the last few days, maybe one or more will appeal to you and inspire you to do some planning ahead of your own.

Curry Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Bake – 6-8 servings (generous)

3 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
2 large bunches of broccoli, cut and cooked
1 ½ C uncooked rice, cooked (about 4 ½ C cooked)
3 ½ C chicken broth
1 ½ C milk
2/3 C butter
2/3 C flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2/3 C onion, chopped
2 TBS lemon juice
3-4 TBS curry powder (depending on taste)

1. Cook chicken (I take frozen breasts and boil in water for about 20 min.), cool and cube.

2. Cook broccoli (I cut and boil in water for about 10 min.).

3. Cook rice (I like to use brown Basmati or Jasmine, but any kind works).

4. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, cook the sauce: melt butter. Stir in onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and curry.

5. Mix all ingredients together in a 9x13 dish. If you are serving immediately it doesn’t need to be cooked, if you want to keep it in the fridge over night you can either re-heat in the oven at 350 for about 20 min. or until heated through. You may also re-heat individual servings in the microwave.

Tamale Lentil Casserole – 6-8 servings (http://www.bettycrocker.com/)

1 TBS oil
1 onion, chopped (1 C)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 ½ C water
1 ¼ C dried lentils, rinsed & sorted
14 oz tomato sauce (I use Prego but you can use anything)
1 pkg. taco seasoning (1/4 C)
8 ½ oz package cornbread mix (I use Jiffy because it's so cheap)
8 ½ oz can cream-style corn
½ C cheddar cheese, shredded
½ C milk
1 lg. egg

1. Heat oil over med. heat and cook onion, pepper, and garlic until tender.

2. Stir in water, lentils, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning. Heat over med. high until boiling. Reduce to a simmer and partly cover, cooking for 1 or more hours, until lentils are tender. (I like to cook for about 1 ½ hours to really let the flavors blend).

3. In a large bowl combined cornbread mix, corn, cheese, milk, and egg. Mix until moist.

4. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Spoon lentil mix into dish and top with cornbread topping. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, until top is golden brown. Always put a cookie sheet under your casserole dish while baking, I forgot to last time and I have a gross mess to clean in my oven!

5. Let sit 10 min. before serving.

Chicken Pasta Salad – Serves 10-12

16 oz package pasta, cooked and drained
1 C celery, chopped
¾ C green olives, chopped
1 C green beans, chopped (can cook if frozen, or keep raw if fresh)
2 chicken breasts seasoned with Johnny’s Seasoning, cooked, and chopped
1 C salad dressing (I used ½ C balsamic vinaigrette & ½ C Italian dressing, but use what you like – a more Thousand Island/Ranch dressing was what was used in the original that I tasted).  Add more dressing if desired.

1. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl. Cover with clear wrap and let chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Each of these recipes are great as leftovers.  In fact, for dinner tonight I ate the chicken curry, my two sons ate the lentil casserole, and my daughter ate the pasta salad (my hubby was working).  I took lentil casserole with my for lunch when I subbed yesterday.  I LOVE leftovers (and so does the rest of my family) so I am very blessed!!!