Category Archives: Eating

Chomp it up.

Eating

Next time I'll just have some ice cream

Pop Tarts

“A cookie!”

That’s what Poppy called my Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tart. And she was right. These little confections shouldn’t be confused with breakfast. Nor should they be confused with a hot fudge sundae. The crispy pastry contrasts nicely with the gooey filling, but there’s no distinctive flavor involved. They’re pure Sweet.

These are festive little fellas, though. They’re festooned with chocolate swirls and rainbow sprinkles, like a tiny party in a foil wrapper. Which is appropriate, because as the sugar buzz settles in, I find that I’m overcome with the undeniable urge to crump. Another good reason to avoid Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts.

If anybody needs me, I’ll be over in that corner, waiting for the twitching to stop.

Eating

Streamlining dinner works for me

Works for Me Wednesday

After trying a few “once a month” and “once a week” cooking plans, I found that I missed cooking on a day-to-day basis. That being said, it is nice to have a day off from kitchen duty every now and then. I’ve found that doubling my favorite recipes works well for me. It’s important around here that I set aside the portion that’s meant for the freezer before we start eating dinner. Otherwise, the freezer-bound food might well get eaten.

Here are a few recipes that I’ve found work well for doubling and freezing.

  • Shredded Salsa Beef. Good for tacos, enchiladas and quesadillas.
  • Chicken pot pie. Make and freeze extra filling. On serving day, thaw filling and heat through, then add it to the crust and proceed as normal.
  • Southwestern pork and sweet potatoes.
  • Chicken enchiladas.
  • Sloppy Joes.
  • Honey-pecan chicken.
  • I also like to have precooked, shredded chicken on hand for use in things like Chicken tortilla soup.
  • Lasagna primavera.
    • menu plan Monday, recipes

    A "Deceptively" simplistic menu

    It may not look like a very exciting meal week. But looks can be deceiving. We’re going to be trying some “Deceptively Delicious” foods this week, in the hope of getting some veggies into Poppy’s system.

    Monday:     Chicken nuggets

    Tuesday: Sloppy Joes

    Wednesday: Shredded beef quesadillas

    Thursday: ?

    Friday: Pizza

    We tried two great new recipes over the weekend. On Saturday we had Moo Shu Shrimp, and yesterday we had Shredded Salsa Beef tacos. We’ll be having both again!

    The Moo Shu, from Cooking Light, was super-quick to put together, and it tasted like we’d ordered takeout.

    Moo Shu Shrimp
    2 teaspoons peanut oil, divided
    1 tablespoon minced garlic, divided
    1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used pre-cooked frozen)
    2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
    1 cup shredded carrot
    1/2 cup chopped green onions
    6 cups Napa cabbage, shredded
    2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
    1 tablespoon water
    2 teaspoons cornstarch
    1 teaspoon Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
    2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
    8 (6-inch) flour tortillas

    Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and shrimp; stir-fry 3 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through. (Since my shrimp were already cooked, I only stir-fried them long enough to cook the garlic.) Remove shrimp from pan; keep warm.

    Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and mushrooms; stir-fry 1 minute or until mushrooms are tender. Add carrot and onions; stir-fry 2 minutes. Stir in cabbage; cook 2 minutes or until wilted.

    Combine soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, cornstarch, and Sriracha in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir soy sauce mixture into cabbage mixture. Remove from heat; stir in shrimp, tossing to coat. Serve with hoisin and tortillas.

    The authors of “Don’t Panic: Dinner’s in the Freezer” developed their Shredded Salsa Beef recipe for the Crockpot. I thought it might work in the pressure cooker, too. And I may not be daring anywhere else, but I am courageous in the kitchen. Occasionally.

    Anyway, I didn’t quite get the liquid conversion right, but once I got rid of the extra “juice,” the beef was exceptionally good. I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat ground beef tacos again. “Don’t Panic” also suggests using this as a filling for burritos, chalupas or quesadillas (which we’ll be having later this week).

    Shredded Salsa Beef
    2 lbs. beef roast (chuck or round)
    1 tablespoon oil
    1 onion, chopped
    4oz can chopped green chiles
    1 cup chunky style salsa
    2 tablespoons brown sugar
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    1 clove garlic
    1/4 cup beer
    Brown both sides of meat in a skillet in oil. Place in pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Cook for an hour and 40 minutes under high pressure. Remove beef and shred. (If there’s too much liquid left in the pressure cooker, remove some of it!) Return beef to pressure cooker and stir to combine meat and liquid.

    Crockpot version: Brown meat, place in Crockpot. Add remaining ingredients plus enough water to just cover roast. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.