Monthly Archives: October 2013

Spaghetti Squash with Lemon and Capers

We have one of these, so I’m going to give this recipe a shot.

From The Food Network.

Ingredients
2 large spaghetti squash
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 tablespoons sweet butter
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/4 cup diced zucchini (rind only)
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
1/4 cup julienne tomato concasse (peeled and seeded)

Total Time: 55 min
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut both squash in 1/2 lengthwise and scoop out all seeds. Rub them inside and out with the oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place the squash cut side down on a sheet pan or cookie sheet and cover with foil. Place in the oven and cook until the rind is slightly soft or gives with a little pressure, about 20 minutes. When they are done, scrape the meat out with a fork and reserve, keeping warm.

In a hot skillet, melt the butter and continue to cook until dark brown. Add the capers, zucchini, and bell pepper to stop the butter from cooking any further, and cook, stirring, until tender. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

In a large mixing bowl mix the squash, butter sauce, and tomatoes and serve.

Continue ReadingSpaghetti Squash with Lemon and Capers

Beer Slow-Cooker Chicken

4-6 Chicken Breasts or 1 Whole or cut up Chicken
1 Can of any kind of Beer
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

*You can use whatever spices you like

Put all ingredients into crockpot

If frozen cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-10
If fresh cook on high 3-4 hrs or low 7-8 hours if fresh

Serve with rice and black beans

Continue ReadingBeer Slow-Cooker Chicken

Crockpot Chicken And Noodle Soup

Borrowed from Creatively Domestic via Pinterest.

5 cups of chicken broth (boxed or can is fine)
One 10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup onions, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1/2 cup carrots, chopped fine
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
One 15 oz can of whole kernel corn, drained
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup Egg noodles
2 cups cooked chicken chopped or 2 cans canned cooked chicken

Add everything but the noodles and cooked chicken to the crock pot on Low for 5-6 hours, the last hour turn on High, and add noodles and chicken.

Here is another version of the recipe:
Boil 4 chicken thighs in about 8 cups of water, make sure they are cooked through. Cool, remove skin and bone and shred with forks. Cool, cover and refrigerate. If you need, add water to the broth to make 5 cups. Add cream of chicken soup. Chop the vegetables, I like everything about the same size, celery, carrots, onions, green onions. Add everything to the pot and forget it for the afternoon, do not add the chicken and noodles -will add them the last hour or so.

Continue ReadingCrockpot Chicken And Noodle Soup

Commonly Prepared Meals

Originally published on: Apr 11, 2005. I’m updating this list because Stephanie is going back to work next week, and I’m going to take over many of the cooking responsibilities because she has a long commute. I’ve been looking at various recipe and grocery shopping apps, but I haven’t discovered quite the right combination that will work for me yet, so I’m trying to clean up many of the recipes I have already on my website. I’m updating links, going through recipes I’ve not yet made and adding them to the “to make or delete” list, and I plan on adding many of Stephanie’s “go to” meals. I’m hoping to put together a grid of “next week” meal planning, so can shop on weekends and have everything I need during the week, instead of throwing things together.

Entrees

Pasta Dishes

Baked Ziti (variation: vodka sauce)
Lasagna
Spaghetti
Baked shells
Spinach Mastachioli Bake
Chicken Saltimboca

Baked or Roasted Dishes

Elizabeth’s Cheap Drunk Chicken
Home Made Pizza
Pot Roast
Southwestern Pork Tenderloin
Baked Chicken Breasts with marinade
Baked tilapia with marinade
Baked salmon with marinade
Meatloaf
Spaghetti Squash with Lemon and Capers
Classic Baked Acorn Squash

crock pot / slow cooker

Crock-Pot BBQ Ribs Recipe
Beer Slow-Cooker Chicken
Baked Lemon Chicken
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Low Carb Texas Chili
Crockpot Chicken And Noodle Soup

Soups & Stews & Chili

Pea soup
Bean soup
Stephanie’s Dad’s chicken soup

Southwestern

Mom’s Taco Salad
Chicken Verde Enchilada Casserole
Spicy Beef Tacos
White Chili
Super Nachos
Skyline Chili
Cheese enchiladas
Chicken Fajitas
Hot Cuban Sandwiches

sandwich dishes

Cheese Burgers
Hot Dogs
Sausages
Veggie Burgers
Chicken patties
Sub sandwiches
Wraps

Breakfast

Eggs and Sausage Casserole
Aunt Chris’ Ham and Egg Casserole
Scrambled eggs
Waffles
French Toast
Pancakes
Steel-cut Oats
Cereal

Continue ReadingCommonly Prepared Meals

Todd Rokita embarrasses Indiana twice (at least)

Indiana State Representative Todd Rokita (R) has been making the news cycles recently to discuss his ignominious role in the government shutdown. He’s blissfully unaware of how ridiculous he sounds in this soundbite that gets prominent discussion on The Daily Show yesterday evening:

But what takes the cake is Rokita’s sexist remarks to a CNN anchor during a discussion of the government shutdown. At one point, Rokita dismisses Carol Costello’s questions with the remark “You’re beautiful, but you need to be honest.”

Lovely. If we’re remarking on people’s appearances, Todd, I have a thing or two to say about how you look.

Not to be outdone by Rokita, Indiana Representative Marlin Stutzman had this to say:

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., added. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”

Continue ReadingTodd Rokita embarrasses Indiana twice (at least)

Some government shutdown reading

First – let’s be clear on who’s responsible for this debacle:

The truth of what happened Monday night, as almost all political reporters know full well, is that “Republicans staged a series of last-ditch efforts to use a once-routine budget procedure to force Democrats to abandon their efforts to extend U.S. health insurance.” (Thank you, Guardian.)

And holding the entire government hostage while demanding the de facto repeal of a president’s signature legislation and not even bothering to negotiate is by any reasonable standard an extreme political act. It is an attempt to make an end run around the normal legislative process. There is no historical precedent for it. The last shutdowns, in 1995 and 1996, were not the product of unilateral demands to scrap existing law; they took place during a period of give-and-take budget negotiations.

Shutdown coverage fails Americans

As the rest of the world laughs at the United States:

“The world looked on with a little anxiety and a lot of dismay, and some people had trouble suppressing smirks,” wrote Kevin Sullivan in a piece for Malaysian outlet Awani entitled, “US shutdown leaves the world scratching its head.”

While Russia Today devoted an entire article to U.S. shutdown comedy, featuring noteworthy images and tweets carrying the #govtshutdown hashtag, photojournalist Lynsey Addario tweeted from India that the shutdown was not being taken too seriously.

“I’m in India, and my driver and translator are laughing at U.S. govt shutdown. So much for world’s great superpower. It’s closed,” she said in a Tuesday tweet.

As US shuts down, rest of the world looks on with bemusement, laughter

And of course Indiana has to show up as a national embarrassment, courtesy Todd Rokita being a dumbass on television:

Continue ReadingSome government shutdown reading