Sunday Supper

Olive oil
Three carrots
Three ribs of celery
Small onion
Some boneless skinless chicken thighs
Chicken broth
Diced tomatoes
Fresh thyme
Fresh rosemary
Fresh sage
Kosher salt
Fresh-ground pepper
Balsamic vinegar
Hot buttered baguette

BLISS.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Sunday is my favorite day of the week because we usually do a whole lot of nothing. I like doing nothing. Nothing is awesome. Our do-nothing day today consisted of going to the store, then sitting around watching movies (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and working on our Loremaster achievements in World of Warcraft, while homemade chicken soup was simmering on the stove and pumpkin pudding mousse was chilling in the fridge.

Highlight of the day: watching HPatGoF and yelling "Edward!" every time someone says the name "Cedric." Yes, I am a dork. Whatcha gonna do?

Yeah, I love Sundays.

Chickety-Split

This recipe is so vague that it hardly counts as a recipe, but this was yesterday's dinner and today's lunch, and I am still impressed that it was so easy to make and is still so tasty, so I'm going to share it anyway. It's been cold and dreary, and this was a perfect pick-me-up on a bitter Sunday night and a gray Monday afternoon. The only thing that would have made this better is football.


CHICKETY-SPLIT

• 1½ lbs. boneless chicken thighs*
• 3-4 medium red-skinned potatoes
• 3-4 large carrots
• seasonings: salt, pepper, dried thyme, rosemary (all to taste)**
• olive oil (and/or cooking spray)
  

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse chicken in cool water and pat dry. Season on all sides with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Arrange in a single layer in a covered baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray (or put 1/2 tsp. olive oil in the dish and spread around bottom and sides of the dish with a paper towel -- strictly to prevent sticking). Wash potatoes and carrots. Cut potatoes into 1-1½" chunks. Cut carrots into pieces about 3-4" long, and half if necessary. (You want long pieces, not matchsticks.) Arrange in a covered baking dish. Drizzle very lightly with olive oil (mostly to prevent sticking), stir to coat, and season with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Cover both dishes and bake at 350°F for 1-1¼ hours or until chicken is fully cooked and vegetables fall apart when pierced with a fork. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Makes about 6 servings, depending on how many thighs you have, and how many potatoes and carrots you used (1 thigh, approximately ¾ potato, and approximately ¾ carrot per serving). You can always adjust the number of potatoes and carrots you use to suit your needs.


STANDARD DISCLAIMERS:
* = I don't usually use dark meat, because I don't really like it, but thighs don't bother me, and I think breasts will get too dry.
** = I used kosher salt, fresh-ground pepper, dried thyme leaves, and dried rosemary leaves on everything, and little bit of some kind of lemon-herb seasoning blend on the chicken. We couldn't really taste or smell the lemon, though, so it's definitely NOT required.

World's Easiest Beef Stew

No pics today -- we all have the plague or something and didn't do much but lay around and watch football. G and Cupcake are worse than I am -- I had this back in December, but they're just getting it now. I wanted to make something warm and cozy for dinner today that would also be easy and I whipped up this beef stew that turned out great. And it only took one dish, plus a cutting board and knife.


WORLD'S EASIEST BEEF STEW

• 1½ lbs. stew beef, cut into approximately 1" cubes
• 3-4 carrots, cut into approximately 1" pieces
• 2 stalks celery, cut into approximately ½" slices
• 2 large potatoes, cut into approximately 1" chunks
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• handful of button mushrooms, quartered (optional)
• salt, pepper, and thyme to taste*
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion
• ⅔ cup beef stock
• 1 bay leaf (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare beef and vegetables and place in a large covered baking dish. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. Stir to mix well. Add tomatoes and stock and stir until evenly combined. Cover and cook for 1½-2 hours or until meat and vegetables are cooked through. (You may want to stir once or twice.) Then uncover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until most of the stewing liquid is cooked off. Remove bay leaf. Let sit uncovered for 10-15 minutes before serving with crusty bread.

Enjoy!


* Footnote -- which I originally forgot about! I used salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence as seasonings, because I love me some herbes de Provence (with lavender). Just thyme will work fine, though.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

This was going to be a post with the "good" version of yesterday's picture in it, but instead I am going to give you a "toddler-approved" recipe for chili that will help you clean out your cupboards and possibly make you or someone you love turn into some sort of demon. An adorable demon, but a demon nonetheless.

Disclaimer: this is "gringa" chili, and it's also very weak. Even I think it's wimpy, and I hate food that is very spicy. But this was done intentionally, so that we could share this with Cupcake. As she gets older we will gradually increase the heat and spices. In the meantime, you can call this a "chili bean stew" or something like that if it makes you feel better. Or if you are from Texas. Anyway -- there are a lot of ingredients in this, but getting everything together is really the hardest part.


CUPCAKE'S CHILI

• 1½ cups dried red kidney beans (or canned equivalent)
  
• 1 cup dried pinto beans (or canned equivalent)
  
• ½ cup dried pink beans (or canned equivalent)
  
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium sweet onion (Vidalia or similar), chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minded (or equivalent)
• 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
• chili powder, to taste (about ½ teaspoon)
• oregano, to taste (about 1 tablespoon)
• cinnamon, to taste (about ½ teaspoon) -- optional
• 1 can (10½ ounces) Ro*Tel Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
  
• 1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes with mild green chiles
• low sodium V-8 or tomato juice, as needed (approx. 4 cups)
• low sodium chicken broth or water, as needed (approx. 4 cups)
• 1 small can (8 ounces) no salt added whole kernel corn (or frozen equivalent), drained
  

If using dried beans, sort and rinse beans. Place in a large stockpot and cover with 8 cups of hot water. Add 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then turn burner off. Let beans sit, covered, for at least an hour or until mostly softened. Drain, rinse, and set aside. (If using canned beans, just drain, rinse, and set aside. In either case, you should have approximately 6 cups of beans or so.)

When beans are prepared, combine bell pepper, onion, garlic, and ground beef in a large stockpot. Add a small amount of olive oil, if desired, for browning. Add about half of the chili powder, oregano, and cinnamon. Set the rest of the seasonings aside for taste adjustment later. Cook over high heat until meat is browned and vegetables are soft.

Add both cans of tomatoes and juice and heat to boiling. Cook 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add beans and stir well to combine. Heat to boiling. Add 2 cups of V-8 or tomato juice and 2 cups of broth or water. Make sure that beans are completely covered with liquid. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and checking liquid levels. Add V-8 and broth (½ cup each at a time) as necessary.

Check doneness of beans and consistency of "broth." Adjust seasonings if necessary. If beans require additional cooking, add additional liquid as needed. If beans are done enough, then reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until desired consistency. Total simmer time should not be more than 2-2½ hours. Just before serving, add corn. Stir to heat through, and serve with shredded cheddar cheese and dollops of sour cream, if desired.

Enjoy!

Savory Sunday: Lazy-Ass Lasagna

Not sure what you all do on Sundays, but here at the Casa de Locos, Sundays are all about two things: the 1:00 game, and the 4:30 game. Occasionally we watch the 8:15 game, and once in a while we'll watch MNF, but mostly, between 1:00 and 8:00, we watch football until our heads explode and The Amazing Race comes on.

Sitting around yelling at the television can get exhausting, so we need to do a little gnoshing on the way, and much as I love them, Triscuits only provide so much nutritional value. So we need to eat a real meal. And the real meals we eat on Sundays are usually my favorite of the week, because after all this time, I have learned how to make some excellent nommables that require only a minimum of work. Because TiVo is nice, but watching the game live? Even better.

This week we are having Lazy-Ass Lasagna, because we were in the mood for Italian-ish food and it's super easy, plus we already had a good portion of the necessary ingredients in the cupboard or fridge (which also makes this a BOSSY's Poverty Party Serving Suggestion). The general recipe follows, but before I start, a few reminders: (1) I am not Italian, and I doubt any self-respecting real-live Italian person would actually serve this to company, and (2) I think of recipes as "suggestions," so your actual mileage may vary.


LAZY-ASS LASAGNA

1 lb. box mafalda pasta (or any other shaped pasta), uncooked
15 oz. container ricotta cheese
At least 2 cups mozzarella or pizza-blend cheese
Italian, pizza, or pasta seasonings, to taste
26 oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce (or equivalent homemade)
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed (or other ground meat)

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Very lightly coat a 13"x9" baking dish with cooking spray, olive oil, or butter/margarine.
• Pour uncooked pasta into baking dish and spread out to cover pan.
• In a bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, seasonings, and 1/2 cup of pasta sauce.
  
• Spread ricotta mixture evenly over uncooked pasta.
• Crumble sausage evenly over ricotta and pasta.
• Pour remaining pasta sauce over meat, ricotta and pasta.
• Add approximately 2 cups of water (enough to cover bottom pasta layer completely - the cheeses and meat do not need to be covered).
• Cover with remaining mozzarella cheese.
• Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 450°F for 1 hour or until pasta is cooked completely.
• Enjoy!