Sunday, May 24, 2009

When You Become a Blogger

You do smug things, like post your menu plan for the week, and boast about your grocery shopping method. The problem comes when you're me, and you put "spaghetti" on your menu but fail to put "spaghetti" on your grocery list.

I could have used linguine or fettucini or even elbow macaroni or any of the other many noodles we have, but I didn't feel like it... so we had a pantry meal last night. I've mentioned pantry meals before and had a comment about posting our pantry meals, so here was mine - made with things that I almost always have in the pantry/fridge/freezer:


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Sophia said it was "the best dinner I ever did eat before!" She even got up this morning and said "that was good last night, Mom." Well, there goes my motivation to ever menu plan again!

I keep big bags of frozen chicken in the freezer, and last night I made some dipped in flour, salt and pepper, then in egg/white wine, then in bread crumbs (I'll just call that Chicken Schnitzel), the risotto is just aborro rice, onion, chicken stock, Parmesan, and fresh parsley; and I always keep baby carrots on hand - these were cooked in chicken stock and brown sugar until just barely soft.

Sometimes I'm kind of glad when I have to resort to pantry meals, because it's a good excuse to be creative (not that chicken, rice, and carrots is overly creative). I have so many amazing looking recipes tabbed in magazines, bookmarked on blogs, and tabbed in cookbooks, that I don't give myself many opportunities to just experiment on my own.

So, in lieu of my normal planning, I'm going to do something different this week (believe it or not, I have NEVER done this before!) I am going to go grocery shopping and just buy things that look good, and make up all my recipes this week. We'll see how it goes ;)

Anyone else have a good pantry meal to share?

6 comments:

Holly said...

That looks really good! :D

Sarah said...

My go-to meal when I am out of ideas is pocket chicken and potatoes. I make little "pockets" out of aluminum foil and put chicken breasts in there w/ lots of herbs/spices. Then I do the same thing with cut up potatoes. Throw them in the oven at 350 for 30 min and they are done! Super easy and tasty... and clean up is a BREEZE!

Dusty (To the Moon and Back) said...

That is a great idea, but I'm not brave enough to try it! lol. I'm not a cook, but I can follow a recipe very well, so I'm always too chicken to experiment.

Jodi said...

Yum Vera! I never thought about cooking carrots that way. I'm totally going to try it.

I found these recipes via the hillbillyhousewife and whenever I don't feel like "cooking" cooking - this is what I make.

Pinto beans - http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/mybestpintobeans.htm

Collard Greens - http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/mixedgreens.htm

And cheese grits (just quick grits with butter, salt and cheese. YUM.

Mike said...

My sons call my the best cooker in the whole wide world. I only cook them those 3-minute instant noodles.


Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com
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Stacy said...

That looks yummy! I made risotto Sunday night, too.

I tend to have salmon in the freezer at all times now. Dinner last night was salmon (with a spice rub I made up on the fly), grilled mushrooms and caprese salad. On the deck. I love this weather. :)

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