My daughter says we "speed date" food because I love playing with ingredients and am constantly creating new recipes. My family becomes attached to certain recipes and wants me to make the same things over and over and over again. My daughter says that asking for spaghetti twice in one month is not asking for the same thing over and over again. :) It feels like it to me though, … [Read more...]
Alea’s Lemon Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
I wanted a fast and easy recipe for Sunday dinner because the eclipse was going to occur right about the time we usually eat dinner. However, I only took into account the timing of the full eclipse and forgot that it would start 20 minutes before that time and last for quite awhile afterwards. Family kept wandering in and out of the house as they took turns looking at the … [Read more...]
Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole
This casserole is a nice way to add more fresh vegetables, and some whole grain rice, to the dinner menu. I used celery and broccoli since this was what we had available. You can substitute this for your favorite fresh vegetables, or whatever you have on hand. I also used a can of cream corn, to bring an added fun flavor, and a little creaminess. My teenage sons loved … [Read more...]
Alea’s Asian Chicken Skillet
My family loves stir-frys. And I really appreciate how quickly they come together. However, some days I feel like using one pan for rice and another pan for the stir-fry is one pan too many when it comes time to clean up. It's not because I am lazy... oh who am I kidding? It's totally because I am lazy! This recipe combines our favorite Asian flavors in one easy skillet … [Read more...]
Alea’s Broccoli Salad with Kohlrabi and Chicken
I like to operate from a menu plan, but during the summer my menu plan is written in pencil and subject to change after visiting the garden. On today's tour I discovered that some of my kohlrabi and broccoli plants were beginning to flower. I immediately began harvesting...and creating a new dinner plan. My daughter describes kohlrabi as a B list vegetable - not cool … [Read more...]
Alea’s Easy Broccoli and Beef
This recipe is featured in our 20 Meals from Costco for $150 Meal Plan #1. I love how fast stir-frys come together. Broccoli and Beef is one of my favorite dishes, but I avoided making it for years because I thought the recipe involved too many steps for an easy stir-fry dinner. The recipe I was given by a friend involved cooking the meat in oil, steaming the veggies, … [Read more...]
Alea’s Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Extra curricular activities are the scourge of my existence. They are leaving me weary and interfere with my dinner plans. I have fewer helpers and less time to prepare dinner for my increasingly hungry crowd. Food allergies prevent me from indulging in my occasional desire to pick up fast food. Food allergies also make prepackaged convenience foods cost prohibitive. So I … [Read more...]
Smothered Pork Chops Recipe
Smothered Pork Chops. Oh yes. We'll be making you again!!! And as you can see, we have yet again another sorta vague recipe. It leaves me wondering...How many chops?! Based on the fact that I doubled the celery and onion it called for and that was plenty for the 9 chops I had...I'm going with 4 chops for the original recipe. Place the flour with a little salt and … [Read more...]
Grilled Marinara Chicken
I loved the Grilled Salsa Chicken so much. I had to try something similar with marinara and fresh Italian herbs. It's a toss up. They are both just so yum-ilicious! Grilled Marinara Chicken Yield - 4 servings Preparation Time - 15 minutes Cooking Time - 20 minutes Ingredients 1 package chicken thighs ($2.26) Manager's Special :) Fresh basil, oregano, … [Read more...]
Bacon, Broccoli and Tomato Pasta Salad
Pictured above: the mixins. This is a quick and easy pasta salad. And quite refreshing too. (Too bad, it's cool and wet outside today!) Bacon, Broccoli and Tomato Pasta Salad Yield - 4 servings Preparation Time - 10 minutes Cooking Time - 15 minutes Ingredients 2 cups elbows or penne pasta noodles ($.50) Almost out of my $.50 boxes of pasta! 6 strips of … [Read more...]