A Note on... Cooking

Earlier this year, I was reading a blogger's New Year's Resolutions.  She always has great ones, and one of them this year was to cook dinner with her spouse once a week.  She admits to not being much of a cook, which is why this was on her list.  It made me wish her lots of luck, but mostly hope that she didn't try to make all fancy meals, get discouraged, then stop.  But rather to find some easy recipes that are unfailingly good, that you can master, so the experience is enjoyable.  This made me start thinking about my own cooking, and how this would have been good advice for the 20-year-old me. 

I've always felt that if you can read, you can cook.  And goodness knows there are an over-abundance of recipes available to anyone who knows the word Google.  Not to mention enough cookbooks for every man, woman, and child in the world to have 2 or 3.  So, I've tried a ridiculous number of recipes, most of which I don't really remember, weren't necessarily that good, and that I certainly didn't master.  It was also a trial for my poor husband who has VERY simple tastes and not an adventurous taste bud in his body.

Only lately have I started to see the value in having a set of ALWAYS good, easy to prepare dishes.  This makes dinner planning much easier, and the meal a joy to eat.  It's a requirement that everyone in the house like the dish.  Which reminds me of this book:

Anybody familiar with it?  It's about the best kids' book ever.  With wonderful illustrations.

ANYWAY :)  I was mentally compiling a list of things I thought fell in this category and wondering what other families do along these lines.  Please feel free to chime in!

Our family's first and foremost favorite meal is grilled cheese and tomato soup.

 They're always happy to see it.  This doesn't take much skill and is mastered pretty quickly.  We switch out cheeses occasionally, pepper jack being a favorite.  A few years ago, when I was feeling anti-cream of chemical-soup, we also switched from Campbell's Tomato soup (!) to Pacific Organic Creamy Tomato Soup.  (I know its not a "cream of" soup, but why stop there?)  The organic soup is SO good! We all prefer it now.  Just note to NOT get the low sodium kind - it's not nearly as tasty.  Of course.

Related, quesadillas are a big hit, and SO easy.  And yummy.  Did I mention yummy? 

This menu choice has evolved from plain cheddar and salsa in the microwave to a much yummier version.  It usually involves shredded cooked chicken, shredded cheddar or Colby jack, caramelized onions (*key ingredient!*) and some kind of soft cheese, such as savory flavored cream cheese, Alouette cheese, or even Laughing Cow cheese wedges.  They usually get cooked on the stove top, but are also very good in the oven.  If this isn't in your menu plan, add it!  Today!  So easy, so good.

Another addition to our menu regulars this last year has been BBQ Chicken Salad. 

Picture credit: A Turtle's Life For Me

I ran into it some way or another on A Turtle's Life for Me blog.  Here's the link to the recipe:  http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/11/my-favorite-salad.html
Again, so good, so easy.  I've served it to many people and it's been universally liked.

Another recent repeater on our menu has been Cajun Beans and Rice.  It has a funny start to it.  My parents-in-law always buy lots of groceries when they come to visit.  One of the leftovers from a visit a while ago was a box of Red Beans and Rice mix.  It wasn't something I used, or wanted to use.  But one day, I got tired of looking at it and decided to come up with something to use it in.  I had the idea to make Cajun wraps, and looked for inspiration online.  Finding a list of thing to go into the wraps, I put it all together and it was love at first bite!  And has been another favorite ever since.  One night, Andy said he'd rather just eat the insides and skip the tortilla.  (He does this with breakfast burritos, too. {goofy})  But it stuck, so we just eat it sans tortillas now.

 Basic recipe:
     ~ box mix of Red Beans and Rice, fixed according to box directions
     ~sauté onion strips and 2 bell pepper strips (any color)
     ~add to veggies: sliced Andouille sausage, shredded cooked chicken
     ~combine finished beans and rice with the sauté and ENJOY

Hamburger Surprises - I think this may be a long standing tradition in some other families, but I've been a long time "coming 'round".  And I also cheat.  Rhodes frozen roll dough?  Yep!  Easy!
This is a VERY versatile recipe.  There's the traditional hamburger and cheddar, but we tried one that took it up a level with ground buffalo (I still used beef), shredded smoked gouda, and sun dried tomatoes.  Tasty!  But really you can put anything you can dream up in them.  Pizza toppings, sautéd veggies, ham, black beans and corn?  Great for experimenting.  Just thaw (raise) the rolls, flatten them into discs about 4-5" across, put a scoop of filling in the middle and wrap the dough around it, pinching the bottom together and place in pan bottom side down.  Bake at 350 for about 20 min.  If you have teenage boys, be prepared for them to eat approximately 5 each.    Actually, I'm just guessing at that, but they go down SO easy!

And that's probably a long enough post for now!  What's on your regular gets-repeated-often-because-everybody-loves-it-and-its-easy menu?