Off to work again with a 1 1/2 hour commute and people to feed when I return home. And though it's nice to be able to afford fancier ingredients, well, I don't have the time to shop for those special items.
So here's the plan: find a way to cook for us that gets a meal on the table in 20 minutes, consists only of things available at the supermarket, takes advantage of seasonal fruits oh, and is relatively cheap!
Organization to the rescue. If a large restaurant can manage to feed hundreds of starving guests each night, without knowing exactly what each customer wants, then I should be able to imitate their success for my small family. After all, my customers have to eat what I put on the table!
So here's the first go at organizing the meals. I wrote out a quick cooking meal list for the week
We're having
- Chicken and potato casserole with assorted vegy
- Macaroni and cheese with ham and peas
- Pork chops with apples and potatoes
- Cold collation( a picnic to the rest of you :-)
- Falaffel with rice and salad
- Spaghetti with meatballs and salad
- Chicken nuggets with rice
It's pretty balanced- there's pork, chicken, beef, cheese and chickpeas for protein; potatoes, pasta and rice for carbohydrates; one tomato based dish, several salads and the unmentioned vegys in the mix. I know the casserole takes longer than 20 minutes, BUT, it can be made ahead.
I picked up the chicken, deli roast beef and ham, pork chops, rice, rhubarb, eggplant, squash, strawberries, mango, lemons, cukes, carrots, bread, cheese sticks, flour, potatoes, pasta and a can of black beans for about $45. I have milk, eggs and butter on hand( I stockpile butter on sale and I have laying hens) as well as tomato sauce, chickpeas, frozen mixed vegys, and hamburger.
Since I just finished the grocery shopping, here's the first trial effort.
Tonight , since it's almost 80 degree and my daughter is off to a play tonight, we're having a picnic supper of Deli roast beef, good bread, cucumbers with rosemary salad, and a quick -
ish rhubarb cobbler for dessert. The cobbler cooks while we eat and will be done by the end of supper.
Recipe for Rhubarb Cobbler
- Wash, trim and dice 1/2 lb of rhubarb and strawberries
- Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar, 1Tbsp of flour . Let sit for up to overnight
- Preheat oven to 450F
- Butter or use Pam in an 8" ovenproof dish or pan
- Place fruit in dish
- In new bowl mix 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar and some grated orange rind if you have it
- Cut up 4 TBSP ( 1/2 a stick ) of butter into really small pieces and drop into flour mix. Work it with your fingers until you get a sort of mealy texture.
- Add 3/4 cups of milk and mix quickly. This will look pretty icky.
- Drop this rather stiff batter on top of the fruit
- Bake for 25 minutes. you can put some melted butter over the batter to keep the crust soft, but I usually forget.
When we return tonight, I have to prep the chicken and potatoes for tomorrow's dinner.
