I came up with this to use the leftover cooked brown rice I had in the fridge.
1 can salmon, drained, bones and yucky skin picked out
1 cup cooked brown rice
handful or two of fresh spinach, roughly torn
Combine in a bowl or plate. Add a splash or two each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Microwave for two to three minutes, until spinach is wilted and everything is heated through. Add a little bit more oil and vinegar or a splash of salad dressing if it is still a bit dry. Serves one.
Fish is pretty quick for a chronic chick.
2 medium sized halibut fillets (I used the individually wrapped, flash frozen, wild Alaskan halibut fillets from Costco), thawed
2 T. Old Bay Seasoning
Rub the Old Bay Seasoning into the halibut fillets with your hand, coating both sides. Drizzle about 1 – 2 T. oil in a cast iron (or other) skillet and heat on medium. Add fillets and cook approximately 8 minutes per side. Serves 2. I served this with rice cooked in the rice cooker and some sauteed fresh peppers.
I needed to clean out my freezer of frozen bits of this and that. Voila, “Hodge Podge” was born! This was fast to prepare but took a while to fully cook.
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 uncooked orzo pasta
4 cups beef broth
1/2 c. pizza sauce
1 small can green chilies
1 tsp each rosemary, basil, Italian Herb blend, powdered garlic
1 Bay leaf
salt and pepper
1/2 c. each frozen peas and corn
1 c. each cooked and chopped ham and roast beef
Brown celery and onion in a bit of oil in a large pot. Add the next 8 ingredients (carrot through to salt and pepper) and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook until vegetables and pasta are tender. Stir in frozen peas, corn, and meat. Cook until everything is heated through. Oops I forgot to time the cooking! My bad – and why I’ll never get a cook book deal – I’m too fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants when I cook. I’d say about 30 minutes cooking time, all together.
2 Italian sausages or one “Mennonite” sausage (Spolombo’s sausages are gluten free)
2 – 3 tsps. minced garlic
2 onions, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 19 oz. can lentils, rinsed and drained
2 19 oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
8 T. uncooked rice
Remove casing from sausages if necessary and cook in skillet over medium heat. Drain fat. Add the rest of ingredients to the skillet (if it’s big enough, otherwise transfer sausages to a soup pot and add rest of ingredients to that container.) Simmer 10 – 15 minutes until vegetables are tender and the rice is cooked. Serves 8.
This has little preparation but needs extra time to marinate and cook.
8 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
1 large onion, chopped into quarters
2 lemons, quartered
4 cloves garlic (or more)
2 – 3 T. olive oil
1 T. rosemary
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp pepper
Place all ingredients in large Ziploc bag. Squeeze lemon quarters to release juice and include them in the bag. Seal bag and mix well, ensuring that the chicken has been well coated. Leave chicken to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight in fridge. Preheat oven to 350. Pour all contents of the Ziploc onto a baking sheet or casserole dish and put in oven. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through. Delicious with mashed potatoes or brown rice and a salad.
We needed to clean out our fridge so I decided to make chili. Some of these measurements are approximate. I didn’t have any yellow onions, but you could add 1 onion, chopped and brown it with the pepper, celery and mushrooms.
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
approximately 6 – 7 mushrooms, sliced
1 c. grape tomatoes, halved
1 cooked spicy chicken sausage, chopped
1/2 lb. cooked ground beef
1 19 oz. can tomatoes
1 19 oz. can lentils, rinsed and drained
1 – 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 c. each salsa and ketchup
a lot of chili powder went in by accident – I’m guessing about 3 T.
1 tsp. each (approximately) cumin, garlic powder, dried onion bits, italian seasoning blend and ground pepper
shake of cinnamon
1 tsp. cocoa powder
Brown the pepper, celery and mushrooms. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes. Serves 4 – 6.
Outside our front door
The weather outside is truly frightful. -30C with the windchill. Goody. Cold can make my chronic pain flare, in part from the “shoulder hunch” – you know the look, shoulders hanging off the ears to ward off the chill. A drafty house doesn’t help. I’ve moved my laptop in front of the fireplace.
Here’s a go-to soup we make often. We’ve taken it on winter car picnics like the time we went to visit the ice sculptures at Lake Louise, Alberta. A thermos of soup, a thermos of hot chocolate and some buns were our repast that day. We also take it in our RV in the summer (made ahead) for our first night when we’re busy getting set up at our campsite. It makes a fast, filling supper or lunch, requiring only buns to complete the meal. Great for potlucks too.
1 lb. lean or extra lean ground beef, browned
2 large cans Habitat vegetable or minestrone soup
Combine in a large pot and heat until steamy. Serves about 4.
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1” pieces
1 package onion soup mix
½ c. red wine
1 can low sodium, low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1 can whole mushrooms, rinsed to remove excess sodium
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook covered on low for 8 – 12 hours. Serves 4.
My girlfriend and I have gotten together twice now to “Once a Month Cook” taking recipes out of the namesake book “Once a Month Cooking.” This method has you prep, cook and freeze recipes to eat later. My girlfriend and I divide the shopping, prepping and cooking and, for my part, I spread the shopping, prepping and cooking out over the week. Then, her and I meet to assemble the meals and do any other cooking. Last Saturday was such a time. In the space of just over three hours, we assembled eight recipes that served four or more. What I learned from Saturday’s session was:
It’s a fun time but I do pay for it with increased pain and stiffness. Still, I think it is worth it for days when I am either not feeling up to preparing much, have medical appointments later in the day, or need to contribute something to our weekly potluck.
As I survey my freezer’s contents, it really is like being at a buffet. What shall we have – will it be the Chicken Tetrazzini, the Mexican Stroganoff, the Chicken Ala King or the Southwestern Chicken Soup? There’s a vegetarian option (Crustless Spinach Quiche) and even Shish Kabobs!
This definitely falls outside my 30 minute limit but hey, if you don’t count the prep and shopping, each recipe only took 22.4 minutes to make (3 hours = 180 minutes / 8 = 22.4)!
Slow Cookers are Chronic in the Kitchen’s best friend
Adapted from Chatelaine magazine
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
1 each red & green pepper, sliced into thick strips
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 T. curry powder
1 T. all purpose flour
1 tsp. bottled chopped ginger or grated fresh ginger
½ tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 ½ c. frozen peas
19 oz. can chickpeas or lentils (optional)
Place vegetables in bottom of cooker than chicken. Add spices and broth. Cook on low about 5-6 hours. Then add peas and chickpeas and cook until heated through.
Serves 4 – 6
Chronic in the Kitchen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
