Recipes

A couple of you asked for more info on the frozen dinners I made recently. We had the first one tonight, and it was terrific!


Rosemary Mustard Chicken and Veggies

Here are the 3 recipes I used, all three originally from Real Simple, years ago (thanks to Rachel for 2 of them), though only one was originally intended to be a make-ahead meal. I don't follow these recipes exactly anymore, and I tend to use all chicken breasts, but this gives you a sense of the proportions. Basically, just combine everything and freeze. From frozen, bake at 400 for 25 minutes, stir and bake for 25 more minutes. That's it. Dinner on the table. 

Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
1  3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 yellow onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons maple syrup
6 sprigs fresh thyme


Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound trimmed green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin—about 3 ¼ pounds)

Rosemary Mustard Chicken
1 pound new potatoes
2 carrots
2 small zucchini
2 T whole grain mustard
2 T olive oil
1.5 t salt
.5 t pepper
1 T rosemary
4 6 ounce chicken breasts

First Morning in Chicago

Really enjoying the hotel breakfast...



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North Carolina Weekend

We're in the mountains with friends this weekend. I forgot to take photos most of today, but here's a couple of shots from this evening.







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$60 and 2 Hours

What can you do with $60 and 2 hours? Here's what I did on Saturday afternoon. I made 9 one-dish meals for my family.

That's just over 13 minutes per meal (take that Rachel Ray!) and less than $7 per meal (and it would have been less if I hadn't bought happy, organic chicken).

I did three different chicken dishes: maple-thyme with sweet potatoes and vidalia onion, lemon/garlic with green beans and potatoes, and Dijon-rosemary with zucchini, carrots and potatoes. They are all prepped and frozen, ready to go straight in the oven after work.

I've also been stocking away other things, like homemade bread, a batch of Aarti's Sloppy Bombay Joes, my pulled pork, a few smoked pork tenderloins that my parents gave us and a fair amount of Trader Joes frozen delights. I find it especially helpful to have the protein taken care of so I only have to worry about playing with our CSA veggies (or doing nothing at all!) on a school night. All part of my plan to get ahead of the game before I start my new job. I certainly won't stay ahead, but this should help some!

Arkansas Trip - Waffles!

I think that Carter's favorite things about visiting my parents house are:

1. There is a grown-up already awake when he gets up
2. That grown-up can be counted on to make REAL waffles, from scratch
3. He gets to help work the waffle making machinery

This is a vast improvement over fending for himself to get frozen waffles at our house (which he often EATS frozen -- by his choice/at his insistence).

Here are the waffle-makers at work!

Arkansas Trip - Riverfront Park

On Sunday, while Mom worked and the men played golf, Carter and I took a trip to Little Rock. After lunch with Mimi, we met up with Jyll and Caleb to play. We went to the playground on the riverfront, which is now one of my favorite playgrounds of all time. It has lots of tunnels built into the ground, and lots of places for kids to climb. It's a bit difficult to keep up with your kid, since you can't always predict where he'll pop up, but otherwise, it's a great play area.

Arkansas Trip - Magic Springs

We spent last Saturday at Magic Springs. Carter enjoyed the amusement park as much as he did last fall, and this time he even loved the pirate ship. This time, the water park was also open. We'd been promising to take Carter to a water park when he became a better swimmer. While he's not 100% there yet, he's had HUGE improvements over the last month, so we were so happy to get to take him. He had a good time, but the cooler weather and his lack of body fat made for a chilly time!

Arkansas Trip - Day on the Lake

We had a terrific long weekend in Arkansas with my parents. Here are some shots from our first full day, spent on the lake in Hot Springs Village. It was surprisingly cool and windy, which would have been nicer, had we not planned entirely for activities designed to keep us cool.

Kayaking in the morning 

Thomas armed with water squirters

On the boat in the afternoon

T attempting to water ski

And... failing.

Okay, Kimbros

We don't have enough kids to call your raise. But we do think this constitutes another raise to you...