Upcycled Left Overs

One night, I made a big pot of Brown Jasmin rice with chicken. And had plenty of left overs for the next day's lunch. But come lunchtime, I wasn't thinking about sticky second-day rice. I wanted something new and fresh.

We had bought a pack of egg roll wrappers from the Asian market in Sioux City, the last time we were there. So, after a quick soak. I rolled in fresh spinach, leftover rice and chicken and julienne carrots. We made a quick dipping sauce which made the meal.

In a fry pan, I quickly browned each side. And in less than 15 minutes we had a beautiful, healthy lunch.

Egg Roll Sauce
2 Tablespoons Dark (or regular) Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Rice Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Hot Chili Sauce
Juice from half a small orange.

Mix all together and serve with spring rolls, pot stickers or vegetables.

Trader Joe's Compilation Meals

Every now and again all we really want to do is put a few things together for E-Z dinner. Right?
So Trader Joe's has some goodness in the aisles. I'll make it my job to share some compilation dinners from TJs.

This Monday night we had a fun one. There was no school, so right about 1:00 when relaxin' and practicin' and chores were done,  my Dear asked the kids if they wanted to go bowling.  I added, bring a jacket and off we went (surprise!) to Disney's California Adventure for 5 quick rides. (Yes, we invested in passes. Yes, no one was there, but another family from our school. Yes it was fun.)

At the end of the trip, my youngest was begging for a hot dog but I don't really wish to give the mouse empire all of my money, so we headed home for a simple bowl of Trader Joe's Chicken Chili.

Heat it up.

We serve it over the TJ's organic corn chips with a little dollop of organic sour cream and about a teaspoon of (hand) shredded Cheddar. Not a tremendously balanced meal, but just enough - this bowl full of fun.

• For tex mex taco salad - make your taco salad and pour warm chili on top
• For chili soup - add chicken stock, additional chicken meat and top with scallions
• Some like chili mac with noodles

If you aren't making chili from scratch, I really like the Trader Joe's version.
How about you?
What's a super-quick meal at your house?

Meal Planning: Takin' it easy

We've got a lot going on in these next few weeks.  I'm keeping things nice and easy when it comes to dinners.  By planning simple meals, cooking and prepping ahead, and making good use of leftovers, I hope to keep things in the kitchen under control.

One of my time-saving strategies is to work ahead.  This weekend was a big cooking weekend.  On Saturday afternoon I made cookie dough and bread dough.  I made a whole roast turkey on Sunday.  While the turkey was cooking I cut up all of the veggies I need for my turkey noodle soup and the veggie egg bake and stored them in the fridge in reusable containers.  After the turkey was out of the oven I baked cookies for the charity bake sale at my hubbie's work on Wednesday.  I scrubbed up a few potatoes, sprinkled them with kosher salt, and wrapped in aluminum foil into the bottom of the oven to bake at the same time as the dozens of cookies.  Those baked potatoes made for a quick and tasty dinner last night.  While I was working on the cookies, I took the turkey carcass and leftover roasting veggies and made stock for the soup.

A lot of my power cooking and prepping is done on weekend afternoons while my kiddos are napping or in the evening after they are settled in bed.  I find that listening to my favorite radio stations and sipping a cup of tea or a nice glass of wine makes for a relaxing time even though I'm getting things done.

How do you make cooking fun and relaxing?

Spatchcocked Chicken Night

Heather, Jemma, Joan, Michelle and I can tell you, this was one fun and silly night. This gaggle of gals and dads and kids gathered -  each with our contribution and Jemma's was this quick-to-make chicken. Wonderful, yummy, quick. We also found ourselves mimicking Dan Aykroyd mimicking Julia Child (ah...) in an English accent as we pitched the bird into the oven. I'm quite aware you had to be there. But kitchen fun is worth recalling.

This recipe calls for a whole, spatchcocked chicken. The technique is described in the recipe below, but I'll venture the guess that it can be done with a cut up chicken. Which makes it viable for a weeknight. I'll try it and report. But, you can too.

Served along with: salad, brown rice, dessert. The sauce is very tasty over rice!

Let us know what you like in a comment!