New Recipe Resolution: Apricot Chicken

If you have these five ingredients, then you have a meal: 

- chicken breasts or thighs
- apricot preserves
- soy sauce
- Brussels sprouts
- butternut squash

My friend has been emailing recipes to me to help with my new year's recipe resolution and she sent this five-ingredient meal that was, as you can imagine, super easy to make. 

I bought a package of chicken thighs, since they were less expensive, and took off the skin. In a bowl I combined one jar of the preserves with a few (6-8), strong shakes of soy sauce. Soy sauce is ultra-salty, so be careful with how much you add and taste along the way. Some people may want their glaze sweeter and some may want it to be on the saltier side.

Place chicken pieces in a baking pan and salt and pepper each side, then cover with the glaze. Put the pan in an oven pre-heated to 450 degrees and cook for 25-30 minutes. 

The Brussels sprouts and butternut squash make for the perfect sides, but you can choose whichever veggies you like. Fresh & Easy has packages of butternut squash already cubed, so I bought a bag of that and a bag of Brussels sprouts and laid them out on a sheet pan. I drizzled on olive oil and sprinkled the veggies with salt, pepper, and thyme. I add the tray to the oven and cooked for about 25 minutes. You can serve with rice or pasta if you want to add a starch.

I love when people send me recipes, so if you have any that I should try, send my way! As you can probably tell, I like to take the easy, low-budget route. 

Enjoy the eats!

Image from Pinterest

New Recipe Resolution: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

In the days when I used to eat at Olive Garden, I always ordered either the Ravioli di Portobello or the Chicken Con Broccoli. Then, for whatever reason, I didn't order alfredo-based sauces anymore for a long time. They were too heavy. And when reheating leftovers, the amount of oil that had separated out was kind of eye opening.

Well, I decided to give it another whirl. At home. Since one of my 2015 goals is to make one new recipe a week, I figured that Chicken Broccoli Alfredo would be easy and tasty, and it was!

I used: 

- 1 package of uncooked chicken already cut up in small, thin strips
- 1 package of uncooked broccoli
- 1 package of penne noodles
- 1 jar of Alfredo sauce

Four ingredients! Woo! I sauteed the chicken in a little bit of oil and added salt, pepper, and garlic salt for added flavor since chicken is so bland. I steamed all the broccoli and boiled the penne. Once everything was cooked, I drained the noodles, then added the broccoli and chicken to the pot. 

Finally, I poured the Alfredo sauce over everything and mixed well. I filled up the sauce jar halfway with water and put the lid back on, shook it up, and poured in the pot to get every last drop out. My mom taught me that trick when cooking with jarred sauces. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread. 

Bonus of making this meal: Although I could have made my own sauce, the kind I used only had 4.5 grams of fat per serving, so I was able to make the pasta broccoli heavy and light on sauce. Just like I wanted it.

Mikey told me it was excellent! Then again, he says that about everything I cook. Smart man. His only request for next time: use bowtie pasta. 

As you can tell, I'm a fan of the quick and easy recipes that aren't too expensive. The whole meal came to about $15 for two people with leftovers. Later on in the year, I will try to attempt to be more ambitious with recipes that contain more than four ingredients, but in the meantime, it feels good just to be cooking at home.

Bonus kinda-sorta recipe: I enhanced my leftover rice and veggies from the other night by heating them up and adding a perfectly fried egg on top, soy sauce, then doused it all with sriracha. Everything is better with that stuff.

I'm learning to use what's in the fridge and cabinets, which isn't much, but it's helping me get creative and planning out the exact groceries I need when shopping. So far, so good. 

Enjoy the eats!

Cooking on a Budget: Recipes for Two

When I lived alone a typical dinner might have been: 

• leftover pizza
• microwave popcorn
• Ramen noodles
• cereal 

Living with someone makes me realize that both he and I deserve a better effort. Although, don't knock cereal for dinner. It's quick with easy cleanup. 

I find myself making the same things: spaghetti, tacos, and ordering Chinese takeout. I ask people for dinner ideas all the time and know there is no shortage of recipes online to choose from, but it all seems like so much work!

For those who are with me and honestly don't have much time or money to spend on cooking, I have a few meal ideas to share with you that are perfect for two or for one plus leftovers.

Meal #1: 

Salmon 
rice pilaf
asparagus

Marinate the salmon in teriyaki sauce or cover in pesto before baking. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook for 20 minutes. Use foil on your baking sheet so it's easier to clean up. 

You can buy salmon in packs of two at Fresh and Easy for fairly inexpensive. On one side of the baking sheet, put your marinated salmon. On the other side, add asparagus and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in the oven to bake away.

Then, get yourself a microwaveable bag of rice pilaf. In just 90 seconds, you have delicious rice pilaf and you didn't have to dirty a single dish. For someone who doesn't have a dishwasher, this means a lot.

When you put this on a plate, it looks like you put in true effort, when really the whole thing takes about 20 minutes and uses one baking sheet.

My plating skills could use some work.

Meal #2: 

Roast

potatoes

baby carrots

Roast definitely makes you feel like a big deal when really you put everything in a pot and let it simmer forever. Raise your hand if you received a crockpot for your high school graduation. Raise your hand if you have not used said crockpot since graduation. 

I fall into that category only using my crockpot to make queso dip a.k.a. Velveeta cheese + Rotel. I could really go for some of that right now.

I pulled out the ol' crockpot in my eager anticipation for fall and decided to cook a roast. Make sure to season that sucker before dropping it in or it will be bland. I used: salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt. Rub it in to the meat and place in crockpot. Add in veggies of your choosing. I have always had roast with potatoes and carrots, so that's what I added, plus some chopped up onions.

At this point you can cover with cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, or just use water like I did because I forgot to buy the first two mentioned items. Turn your crockpot to high for about 5 hours or so. Oh, I also squeezed in some BBQ sauce because I felt like that was the right thing to do.

After cooking, use some of the broth to make gravy. Start by mixing about a cup of the broth with flour and then add to a pan on the stove. Stir in more broth and flour as needed for thickness. Taste and season.

There is roast underneath that swimming pool of vegetables.

Meal #3: 

Stir fry

When I fear like something is about to go bad, I put it in the freezer to hopefully use at a later date. This actually worked to my advantage for once as I remembered I had chopped up, cooked chicken in the freezer. 

I added vegetable oil to a pan and added in cut up potatoes. I like using the Yukon gold or fingerling because the skin is better to eat. Once these became slightly tender, I added in my chicken, cut up zucchini, cut up leftover asparagus, and rice. I added in salt, pepper, soy sauce, and sriracha. I didn't take a picture because I was too hungry since I had just finished taking an Insanity class. But it was delicious and took practically no time at all. 

These are all recipes if you don't have a lot of time or don't want to take a lot of time. Or, if you are tired of getting take out. Or, if you are on a food budget. I am all three. But please, please share with me your easy recipes.