Today's Tip

Be flexible. And try to keep a few staples in your pantry and freezer. I try to plan out our menu for the week so I don't have to make a lot of trips to the grocery store but life happens all the time. Sometimes people get sick, unexpected situations arrive, a meeting runs late......and you have to change your game plan for the night. So the dinner you needed to start prepping early doesn't happen and you have to change your plan. It's OK. I always have frozen chicken breasts and veggies on hand and if all else fails, there are always hot dogs or cereal in the house. So from time to time you may notice that meals planned for one week get moved to the next. It's life.

Weekly Menu

Monday: Gnocchi with basil pesto
Tuesday: Chicken & Rice with broccoli
Wednsday: Homemade Pizza
Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs
Friday: Chicken Provencale
Saturday: Salmon
Sunday: Dinner at Grandma's

Curry Chicken

This is one of our family's favorite meals. We have this at least every other week, and often once per week. There is a little heat to it for those with a delicate tongue like me, but if spice doesn't bother you, you won't have any problems. You can also control the amount of heat by cutting down on the spices a little.

Recipe
Adapated from Low Fat Low Cholesterol Cookbook

2 T vegetable oil
1 med. onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. garlic powder
6 oz. can tomato paste (preferably no-salt variety)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground corriander
1/2 tsp. ground tumeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne
8 oz. light sour cream
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. garam masala
2 T. powedered fiber (optional)
(I like to add some extra fiber to some dishes, like powdered Benefiber, since we don't ever seem to get enough into our daily diets)

Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour oil and coat the bottom of the pan. Cook onion for 4-5 minutes until tender. Add garlic powder; cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.

Stir in the spices (cumin, corriander, tumeric and cayenne).


Stir in the tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the sour cream. Add the salt and chicken and mix together thouroughly. If the mixture seems too dry, add additional water 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistancy. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the ginger and cook for 10-15 more minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from heat and stir in garam masala and fiber. Serve over rice (we like brown rice).

Weekly Menu

Here is what I am planning for this week:

Monday: Curry Chicken
Tuesday: Macaroni & Cheese and Applesauce (E's request for his birthday dinner)
Wednesday: Lemony rice with veggies
Thursday: Pasta with meatballs, garlic bread, salad
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Steak Sandwiches
Sunday: Meatloaf

Marinated steak

For a quick meal I like to have thin cut steaks and marinate then for several hours (you can marinate them for just 30 minutes if you are short on time). By using a thin cut of steak it makes the meal very quick and easy (although there is certainly a place for a good thick steak another night). Tonight I used about a pound of thin round tip steak that was on sale at the grocery store (skirt steak, flank steak etc. work great with this).

The marinade (you can play with the amounts and flavors depending on what your family likes):

3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup honey

2-3 minced garlic cloves

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried parsley (you can substitute 1/4 cup fresh if you have it)

1 tsp. dried mustard

Put the marinade ingredients into a gallon sized ziptop bag and squish them around to combine. Add the steak to the bag making sure to cover all the meat, and seal the bag. Put the bag into some kind of bowl or container to catch any leaks (just in case). Let the bag sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to several hours.

When you are ready to cook, just remove the meat and discard the marinade. Cook the meat to your favorite doneness (I like medium rare, especially for the thinnner steaks) and serve. You can grill it outside, pan sear it, or use a grill pan (as seen here).

Today's Tip

If you find a recipe your family loves, make extra. I like to make things in bulk and freeze them so I can pull a meal together quickly and easily. Some things go straight into the oven/microwave and others can be defrosted the night before. Today's pancakes are a great example.

Buttermilk Pancakes

These are yummy pancakes. They always come out light and fluffy. We love to make these on a relaxing Saturday morning. The kids love them with chocolate chips or you can try blueberries or nuts instead. Plain or otherwise, add your favorite syrup or other toppings for a delicious breakfast. I usually triple the original recipe and freeze all the extras for those mornings when we don't have a lot of time (so you can easily make 1/3 the recipe for about 20 pancakes). I can put them straight into the microwave or toaster oven for easy morning prep.

Recipe

Yields about 55 pancakes, depending on the size

Adapted from Foodnetwork.com

6 cups flour

6 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

6 eggs

6 cups buttermilk

3/4 cup melted butter

Optional: additives ( such as 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts)

Directions

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and mix to distribute. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl and mix together. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine. Fold in any additional items.

Note: Just mix until the batter comes together. It will still be lumpy. Do not overmix or the pancakes will be heavy.

The batter is mixed.

The chocolate chips were folded in.

Pancakes cooking.

The final product - chocolate chip pancakes. You could use mini chips for less chocolate also.