By the (cook)Book

Pictures and commentary about my life, mostly taking place in the kitchen...

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At Least It’s Not Fast Food

It’s a spaghetti-and-meatballs kind of night. And I don’t mean the homemade kind.

Things I always have in my pantry/freezer: spaghetti, spaghetti sauce in a jar, frozen meatballs and frozen garlic bread. [Not an all-inclusive list.]

I know, it’s not glamourous. I know that homemade sauce using canned tomatoes (or fresh) would be far better and tastier. But when all you’ve got are these 4 ingredients, and you just came home from a rather trying day at work, you need dinner to be as easy as possible!

At least it’s not fast food, right?

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Recipe: Cheesy Orzo

This is a Rachel Ray recipe, and it was SO GOOD.

I modified it slightly to suit the ingredients I had in the pantry:
I didn’t have an onion, so I only used the garlic.
I used only 1 cup of orzo and 2 cups chicken broth.
I only had shredded Swiss and shredded “Mexican” cheese, so I used about 1/4 cup of each.

Despite all of these modifications, it turned out GREAT. I will definitely make it again!

[I served the orzo with a simple baked chicken with some leftover store-bought BBQ sauce (I used Emeril’s Original). Dave added some sugar, Sriracha, Worcestershire sauce and chicken broth to the sauce. I heated the sauce over medium-low/low for about 20 minutes, while my chicken cooked. It was tasty!]

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By the way, we went to Zest in Broadripple for dinner this week. I ordered Chiles Rellenos, which were stuffed with mac n cheese. Amazing. (Taken with instagram)

By the way, we went to Zest in Broadripple for dinner this week. I ordered Chiles Rellenos, which were stuffed with mac n cheese. Amazing. (Taken with instagram)

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Easy Dinner Tonight: Chicken Tikka Masala Basamati Rice Bowl (Taken with instagram) To clarify the title of this post: I used a store-bought chicken tikka masala simmer sauce. I sautéed some diced chicken breasts (about 2-3 breasts) in a skillet over medium-high heat. After a few minutes, I added the simmer sauce, brought the mixture to a boil, then simmered until the chicken was cooked through. I served it bowl-style atop Basamati rice. Really easy and delicious dinner!

Easy Dinner Tonight: Chicken Tikka Masala Basamati Rice Bowl (Taken with instagram)

To clarify the title of this post: I used a store-bought chicken tikka masala simmer sauce. I sautéed some diced chicken breasts (about 2-3 breasts) in a skillet over medium-high heat. After a few minutes, I added the simmer sauce, brought the mixture to a boil, then simmered until the chicken was cooked through. I served it bowl-style atop Basamati rice. Really easy and delicious dinner!

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Recipe: Enfrijoladas

This is a link and a review of the Enfrijoladas recipe I used last night. The tortilla-dipping process wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I used corn tortillas and didn’t have to try very hard to keep them from falling apart. I also browned 1 lb of lean ground beef, mixed in 3/4 packet of taco seasoning, and added the beef mixture (with shredded cheese) to the filling before baking. It was really good (if you like beans)!