One-dish dinner: Couscous and Veggies

This is my go-to meatless meal. I make it for myself a lot when Scott isn't here or for a side when he is here. The kids will eat it too. I posted a version years ago and I've probably shared it once or twice since but I'm going to put it into my recipe index for 2026...I shared awhile back that I want to share recipes this year that are mostly brainless, no weird ingredients, no fancy steps...just the dinners I'm already making a few times a month! You can find what I've posted so far here.

2 cups of dry pearl couscous

3 1/2 cups of chicken stock

1 small zucchini, chopped

1/2 onion, diced (or a shallot)

1-2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (not chopped)

1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped

One lemon --grate a teaspoon of zest + 1 tsp of lemon juice (you can use lime too, in a pinch)

Parmesan, about 3/4 cup --shredded from a bag or freshly grated (not the kind from the green can)

Olive oil, sea salt, pepper

In a large pan, heat olive oil to medium heat and saute the zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and garlic with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Once it's all golden brown, pull it off the heat and put on a plate to set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and, on medium heat, add the couscous and stir it around for a few minutes until it gets to be a golden-brown or toasted color. It'll burn quickly so keep an eye on it. 

Add the stock and stir to scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to low and simmer until the couscous is cooked through and has absorbed most of the liquid, about 10 minutes. 

Stir the vegetables back in. Add the grated lemon zest and lemon juice. Add in the parmesan and stir to melt it. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Enjoy warm but leftovers are fantastic too, reheated with some extra cheese.

Chicken Caesar Wraps

Here's an easy lunch or dinner. 

I came across something similar on an Instagram account where a mom made incredible meals for her large family every night. These were something they had for lunch. I can't be bothered to make actual lunch so that didn't quite hit for me but I decided to try them anyway. Along those same lines, I had to eventually unfollow because the unrealistic standards of making elaborate dinners every night and shopping only at Whole Foods made me a little crazy. I like to cook but I don't want to spend more than 30 minutes, hands on time, at the stove. Lately, since it's been staying light later in the day, I've been starting dinner later too. It's only a matter of time before we are eating at 8pm again because it's so light out that we lose track of time. 

But I've made this with frozen chicken nuggets cooked in the air fryer, rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, chicken I've pan fried on the stove, etc. You can do whatever you want! I can see us eating this a lot in the warmer months because it truly can be a no-cook dinner. 

Large tortillas or burrito wraps

Cooked chicken, seasoned however you want

Caesar salad mix

Extra shredded parmesan cheese, extra dressing (I use ranch), extra croutons

In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients together. I add extra cheese and croutons because, depending on the mix you buy, they can be a little skimpy on the toppings. I also add extra dressing to make the wraps stick together better. 

Put together a burrito any way you can (I'm terrible at it) and slice in half. 

**This year, I'm rewriting or redoing or adding to my recipe index. I'm putting all of the ones I'm posting in 2026 at the top of the page.**

Dinnerly review.

I subscribed to Dinnerly a few weeks ago. I picked Dinnerly on a whim, based on this article, which I bookmarked to refer back to. 

I think it was the best deal, price per meal, even though it wasn't a company I'd heard of before. 

Immediately I was annoyed: you must put in your card information before you pick your meals. Which means, you are locked in to a shipment before you pick and see what's available. Which led me to immediately, also, cancel my subscription as soon as I picked 6 dinners. 

The price was right with the hefty first-time customer discount, but I felt a bit like I was doing this:

...as I tried to navigate canceling without accidentally giving them more money.

I think I wrote that in the "why are you canceling?" reason box too. 

In addition, because I ordered on a Thursday, for a following Tuesday delivery, a lot of the meal kits were sold out. Friday is the last day on Dinnerly to make adjustments to your order for the following week. I didn't want to wait almost two weeks for a box (like, I was doing this so we could eat dinner the next week) so I just took what they had. 

Plus, my reason for doing this altogether was to get more variety in our dinner routine. Taking their recommendations seemed like a small price to pay and $70 was a good deal for what we got for sure. 

But that was a logistical issue on my end; I initially wasn't sure how the process worked. 

Anyway. It was about $70 for 6 dinners. 

The box showed up right on time. I don't know when it was actually put on the porch, but the timeframe was 9am-8pm and it was there when I got home from work at 4pm. 

Everything was packed in ice packs and still cold. 

There was one bag of chicken that leaked on the bottom of the box though, so I had to scrub down some of the items and throw away the ice packs away. 

I did report this on the website, which was very easy to do, and I immediately was given an $8 credit...

...after I reactivated my account of course and was set up with another delivery for a few weeks from now. 

Scott really enjoyed these dinners. They were, I admit, very easy to make and the 4-person portion gave us lots of leftovers because the kids didn't eat it. They have pb&j most nights with fruit and yogurt. They also like to eat their dinner at 4:30pm so there's that. 

I was okay with the dinners. I don't really do pork. Ground beef is hit or miss for me. I like chicken and vegetarian meals most. This box had a mix of all of them so I hit my goal of variety and they were all very easy to make. 

Here's the details:

Ravioli. This was really good. I'm usually not a fan of stuffed pasta and never buy/make tortellini, but this sauce was great and it made a lot. The ravioli in the box was round and the ravioli in the picture was square. I don't know why. 

Shepherd's Pie. This was like a bbq beef with veggies cooked in it. It was supposed to be "sloppy joe". I took a short cut and used a package of instant potatoes for the top. Scott liked it a lot. It was fine but not my favorite. Wells didn't try it either. 

Boneless pork chops. Scott, again, liked this a lot. I've literally never made a pork chop before because, shocker, it's not my type of food. I was in a hurry so I saved the rice for another night. 

Garlic Butter Steak. I made the rice with this. Skipped the potatoes because of time. Probably our favorite of the meals. 

Okay, this fascinated me. I could not get behind the cooking method of putting raw turkey sandwiches into the oven, so I cooked the turkey first. The sauce was good. It needed some tomatoes and cucumbers and it would've been make-at-home Greek food. So I feel like that was a missed opportunity.

Fresh dill on potatoes is a must after making this. The fries were very good. 

Flavor palate-wise, this was tasty. Stone ground mustard on chicken, and ranch on potatoes. You kind of can't beat that. 

Liked:

Lots of food for the price.

Very simple recipes but lots of flavor.

Some new cooking methods learned (cottage fries, put dill on fries, put garlic butter on steak)

Disliked:

Very potato heavy. We still have a bunch of potatoes on the counter.

Very meat-and-potatoes, which Scott liked but I didn't care about.

You are given nothing but raw ingredients in a box and you have to sort out what goes with what. 

In the end, I really liked the convenience of it. While I don't mind *cooking*, it's the finding recipes, making a list, physically getting the groceries, making sure I have everything...and then cooking that just wears me down in this particular season. 

This was a good experience so I do have another order placed for this week. I do recommend them 100% for the price vs. some of the other companies. 

This is obviously not a sponsored post but here's a link if you want to try it. 

Opening the box was a lot like the co-op experience I had in Colorado, when my friend and I would get fruit/veggies every week and then have to figure out what to do with them all. 

No Chop Chicken Pot Pie

You've seen the reels and the memes, I'm sure, where someone is saying that as soon as you say "start by chopping an onion", the recipe is no longer "easy". I agree. As soon as I have to start chopping things, the recipe can no longer be made with one hand, meaning it's not easy. 

One-handed recipes are necessary because it means I can tend to a fussing toddler while I cook. As soon as both hands are messy, I'm compromised. 

I have come up with a lot of no-chop versions of my recipes because of her. I wish I were kidding. 

I do admit that you have to cut up the chicken. I know. 

You could use a rotisserie chicken if you got one at the store that day or the day before or you could prep the chicken in advance. Dicing the chicken is the hardest part of this. I will probably time myself next time around, but I'm guessing the chicken can be diced and hands can be washed and dried in under 3 minutes. 

I made this particular dish on a day that my kitchen was torn apart for construction purposes, so it can be done under all kinds of circumstances. 

I used a regular pie dish for this but you could easily double it for a 9x13 pan. I've done that in the past too, just cutting up two pie crusts to and arranging them to cover it. 

No Chop Chicken Pot Pie

2 chicken breasts, diced

2-3 T. oil

1 t. kosher salt

1 t. poultry seasoning

1 t. dried minced garlic OR garlic powder

1 t. dried thyme

1 t. dried oregano

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans)

2 cups chicken stock or bone broth

3/4 cup milk (I used whole) + 2 T. cornstarch whisked in

1/4 cup heavy cream (if you have it, don't skip it)

2-3 oz. cream cheese (a flavored cream cheese like garlic/herb might be tasty. i used regular.)

1 pre-made rolled pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350*.

Brown the chicken in olive oil or avocado oil. Season it with the salt, poultry seasoning, dried garlic, thyme, and oregano *while it's cooking*. Once it's done, de-glaze the pan with a few tablespoons of broth or stock. 

Add in the milk and the rest of the stock or broth. Stir until it starts to thicken. Add in the cream and cream cheese and stir unitl the cream cheese melts. Stir in the frozen vegetables until everything is mixed and coated with the sauce. 

Pour into a pie pan.

Cover with the pie crust and make a few slits on the top to allow it to steam in the oven.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. I've been making chicken pot pie for years in every oven we've had (8 or 9 now!) and the cooking time varies Just wait for it to become golden brown. 

Pantry Enchiladas

I don't know what to call this. Basically, I throw together something similar to this once a month or so. It can be made with mostly ingredients you have on hand. During a time when we're pretty reliant on whatever we have in the pantry, you can use whatever ingredients you want! Every time, it's a little different. On this day, I didn't have any enchilada sauce, so I made a sauce using this recipe from Budget Bytes and now I will never waste money on cans of pre-made enchilada sauce again. If you get nothing else from this post, use that sauce recipe the next time you make enchiladas.

• Tortillas 
• Enchilada sauce
• Shredded cheese

For the filling, I used:

• 2ish cups shredded chicken we had leftover from grilling the night before
• 1 1/2 cups prepared brown rice
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 T. diced green chiles (from a can)
• Other ingredients I would/could normally use: ground beef,  queso, black beans, cooked peppers and onions, and Rotel

(it's worth mentioning that I had lime and cilantro but forget to use them, so include those if you have them)

And then I had this Hatch Chile Cream Cheese Spread. I bought it at a farmers' market last year. We had had a hatch chile dip in Colorado that was good enough to eat with a spoon. I've been looking for something similar ever since and such things, in Pennsylvania, don't exist. 

So I paid $10 for that jar of chile spread and have been putting it on my burritos and quesadillas and enchiladas for months. 

...it's gone now. 

I would recommend spreading your tortillas with sour cream or something similar? It gives a great flavor once everything is baked together.

350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covered with foil. Then broil the top for a few minutes. 

I made this with the intention of leftovers and there were none. It'd be a great meal to freeze for a later date though.

What are you cooking this week?

3-Ingredient Oven-Fried Potatoes

I'm pretty sure I've been trying to write this post all weekend. I really dislike writing recipe posts. I've found it to be a necessary evil, because I started posting recipes long ago in an attempt to broaden out my cooking/baking...I was making the same 4 things for dinner every week and ordering pizza on Fridays and eating out on the weekends...but it's so tedious. I'll never actually enjoy typing out recipes. I don't know how the food bloggers do it.

I thought that I'd share easy, pantry-staple dinners on Mondays right now.

Having easy food, without a lot of ingredients, is kind of a must in the current situation. There's no last-minute trips to the store to get something you don't normally have on hand.

I make these potatoes often. Probably once every 10 days, depending on my mood. I really do make them a lot because I make a meal out of them and when I made them last week, I just baked a piece of fish for Scott. Wells ate a few potatoes and some corn and peas. He's been eating these weird late lunches so he's not always in the mood for dinner. Anyway...

I prefer to use yellow potatoes or Yukon gold, but it doesn't really matter. Red potatoes are great too. If you're using russet, you'll want to peel them first.

Also, I don't know wtf this thing is or what it's made of, but it bakes potatoes in the microwave in 4 minutes. Scott bought that and that's what I use to "bake" the potatoes before I slice them and roast them.

That's the secret to this recipe: you want them to be baked first, so they're easier to "fry" in the oven.

If you don't have one of those Potato Express contraptions, just poke some fork holes into washed potatoes, put them on a microwaveable plate, and start out at 3-4 minutes, checking on them to see if they're softer, and then doing 3-4 minutes again. I cover them loosely with wax paper, so any explosions don't end up all over the microwave.

But then...

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Take your baked (cooled) potatoes and slice or dice them.

Spread them onto a metal baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Toss. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until they hit the desired crispiness or brownness.

(I, personally, like to eat them with any leftover Chick-fil-a sauce I have hoarded away in the fridge.)

Creamy Chicken Casserole

I got this recipe at a church recipe exchange in 2010 and originally posted it on this blog way back then. We loved it. Casseroles are generally not my thing but this is a crowd-pleaser. (don't worry, I'm going to delete that post with the awful pictures right now)

A few weeks ago, I ordered some supplies from Walmart in case we got hit with sudden sickness. When they were delivered, they had sent a can of cream of chicken soup with my cans of regular chicken noodle soup by accident.

I decided to pull this recipe out again, in an effort to use that can of soup and in an attempt to get Wells to try something different than our usual dinners. I rarely make anything casserole-like just because it's so specific and we have to be willing to truly eat the same thing for multiple days. The closest I usually get is the occasional chicken pot pie.

But this casserole is really good. The recipe credit goes to my Alaska friend Cherie Taylor but I believe it came from Taste of Home. I originally posted it back in 2010, but the pictures were...not good. These are iPhone pics but maybe a bit better?

If you need comfort food this week, you might already have the ingredients!

Creamy Chicken Casserole

2-3 chicken breasts diced into small pieces
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. poultry seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz. block of fat-free or light cream cheese, softened (this is my addition as the original recipe uses regular)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 1/2 cups crushed Club, Ritz, or Townhouse crackers
3 T. melted butter

Cook the chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and seasoning.  In a mixing bowl,   stir cream cheese and soup until blended.  Add frozen vegetables.  When the chicken is cooked, stir it in, and spoon everything into a pie plate.  Melt butter and toss in the cracker crumbs until coated and use them to top the casserole.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

The Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup.

I made this soup on Saturday and I wasn't expecting it to be good...that's going to sell you on it, right?

I had half a carton of bone broth to use up and I knew I had chicken in the freezer and it was chilly and rainy...so, soup it was. I won't say it's one of those 30 minutes or less soups or all-day simmer soups. It can be pretty much whatever you want it to be.

I used farfalle noodles because I had them. Half a package from Trader Joe's. You could use egg noodles or whatever you have on hand. I would put less in, versus more, because you can always add more noodles later and they do really soak up the broth.

And, a quick aside my mom might appreciate: my school had a dish similar to this called "chicken and bows". I never ate it but my brother loved it. A lot. And then, one day, he slipped in the cafeteria on a spilled pile of chicken and bows and had to go home early. I don't remember if he was actually injured. I remember he felt like his favorite cafeteria food had let him down. And my mom was mad because the school nurse wasn't very good at her job: my mom picked my brother up from school and he was still covered in sticky chicken and bow sauce.

Maybe that's why I never use these noodles for anything.

Unfortunately, I can't promise that these measurements are absolutely exact. This is just a good estimate of what I used because I wasn't planning on sharing it initially. But, I mean, it's chicken soup. Just put it together, right?

The difference with this chicken soup, compared to other soups I've made, is the bone broth. I have no idea why I haven't used it before! Probably because I thought it was expensive? And maybe some brands are and I can't be bothered to try making my own (though it's probably not *that* hard).
This Walmart brand costs only 40 cents more than a carton of regular chicken stock. Totally worth it.

The Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup

1 pound chicken, cut into small chunks
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery, including the leaves
2 boxes chicken bone broth (32 oz. each)
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. minced garlic (from the spice cupboard, not fresh)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. sea salt

In a stockpot, brown the chicken in a tablespoon of olive oil and add the seasonings: thyme, garlic, onion powder, pepper, and salt.

Add the carrots and celery (you could do onion too). Stir.

Add in the bone broth and cover, simmering on low, low heat for at least 30 minutes, but I did it for an hour (my plan was 30 minutes and then I got distracted).

Bring back to a boil and add the noodles, cooking for the time instructed on the package.

I made grilled cheese to go with it. Wells refused to eat the soup at all, and wouldn't eat the grilled cheese either. Jett took that from the highchair tray after I left it there during bath time.

One-Pan Sausage and Veggies

At one point, in Laramie, I really started taking advantage of the fact that I could get a pizza delivered in 30 minutes. They didn't deliver to where we lived in Colorado. After Wells was born, we would get pizza probably once a week.

I realized I had to become more efficient in my cooking, so as to not spend all night making dinner, but still try to make dinner on the nights Scott was home. There were definitely a few nights where we'd have cereal or eggs or something.

I make this a lot. And I absolutely may have posted it before but, even if I did, it deserves a repeat because it's the easiest dinner hack I've come across in awhile. I originally found it on Pinterest maybe two years ago.

I'm going to venture a guess and say I make this once a week.

I really love chicken sausage and used to think it was too expensive. I've gotten over that that though because it's just so versatile. I particularly like it for these sheet pan dinners because I always have a fear of chicken not being cooked well enough. Chicken sausage is already fully cooked, so you just have to brown it up in the oven with the vegetables and the cooking time won't get out of control. Have you ever tried to make dinner and a 30 minute meal turns into an hour? I feel like that happens a lot to me. Now that we have a gas stove/oven again, things cook much more quickly but that wasn't the case with electric in Wyoming.

Anyway. This meal:

1. Very few ingredients.

2. One-pan dinner.

3. Terrific as leftovers.

4. No cream-of-something soups or seasoning packets, as are often advertised with one-pan dinners.

5. If you put the sausage on top of the vegetables, the seasoning from the sausage flavors everything else, so you don't need to spend time pulling out and measuring spices. I usually just top it off with a sprinkle of sea salt and some parmesan cheese.

One-Pan Sausage and Veggies

1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and diced
1 large yellow or a few small red potatoes, diced (if using russet, peel first)
2 cups of chopped broccoli
1 package of chicken sausage, sliced into coin-sized pieces (I used a parmesan and asiago-flavored one here, but you can pick any variety)
Sea salt to taste and/or parmesan cheese for topping

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line a sheet pan (9x13 or 12x18...I've found metal works best) with foil.
Brush with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Put the potatoes on the pan on and toss to coat.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until they start to brown.

Stir. Add the chicken sausage and broccoli and bake for another 20 minutes, stirring at least one other time so nothing sticks to the pan. You can add more oil if this is the case.

When everything is browned, it's done. Sprinkle with sea salt and parmesan and toss to coat.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

The dinner of champions.

When I'm left to my own devices, I rely on pancakes, quesadillas, yogurt bowls, or green smoothies. 

This is a favorite lately. It's what I eat when I really just want cookies for dinner. 

(Doctored-Up) Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 cup Bisquick

1 egg

1/2 cup milk (I use unsweetened coconut milk)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix the Bisquick, egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla with a whisk. After all the lumps are whisked out, stir in the chocolate chips.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat a teaspoon or so of canola oil (or butter). Medium heat (I put it on 5 1/2 or 6) and when sprinkled with droplets of water, the oil should pop (I learned that from a Little House book). I also use a paper towel to wipe down the pan with the oil before it gets too hot.

Pour the batter into the size of pancakes you would like and then cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side before flipping. If it doesn't come up easily with a spatula, then that side's not done yet (Rachael Ray taught me that). 

Anyway, this will make 4-6 pancakes, depending on the size. I usually have 3 with syrup and save 1-2 for a snack with peanut butter the next day. 

Crispy Gnocchi and Veggies

Recipe challenge, recipe #50.

I didn't plan on adding this one in as I rounded the homestretch of this recipe challenge.  But I made it for dinner last night and it was so easy and tasty that I thought you might like to know about it.
The picture is evidence that I made dinner around 6pm when it was dark out and not conducive to food-blogging, but gnocchi is gnocchi I suppose.

Along with pearl couscous, I usually try to have a package of gnocchi in the pantry because it makes for a quick dinner.  I stretch it with whatever veggies I have on hand, and sometimes top it with pesto or marinara.  This time, I kept it simple with grape tomatoes and sautéed zucchini and garlic.

I used my cast iron skillet (which I love) because it could go in the oven.

In the skillet, I heated some olive oil and put in a diced zucchini.  I added about 20 grape tomatoes, halved, and a clove of thinly sliced garlic (I slice my garlic instead of mincing it to give it a sweeter flavor) once the zucchini was crispy.

In a separate pot, I boiled some water and cooked the gnocchi for 2-3 minutes until it floated to the top.  I strained the water and then added the gnocchi to the cast iron skillet to let it brown up a bit.  I added another tablespoon of olive oil because gnocchi will stick.

After a few minutes, I tossed it all together really well and then added about 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella to the top.  Then I put it in the oven to broil for a few minutes.

And that's it.  Dinner.

(A link to) Mexican Stuffed Shells

Recipe challenge, week thirty-four. Kind of.

I can't lie. I haven't cooked in awhile.  In fact, grocery shopping isn't even fun anymore. In fact-in fact, I stopped at Chick-fila for dinner the other day when I knew Scott wouldn't be home until late.  I really just wanted a giant unsweetened tea, but I figured a chicken wrap would hold me over as I hunkered down to two hours of paperwork on a Thursday night.  How boring, right? The dogs weren't happy about it, but someone has to work to buy all those treats....

In fact, I've taken a step back from social media in general because I like to be intentional with things and right now I'm busy being intentional with things other than blogging.  Mostly school stuff.  But I've been insisting on half an hour of Pilates (at least) every day. It takes an extreme amount of forethought to put a workout into a busy day, and I'm the first one to admit that I've been going to bed too late.  However, dinner has barely been getting made because by the time I leave school, drive 30 minutes home, and I feed/walk/play with the dogs, it's almost 6pm and I have stuff to do and I end up putting something together for Scott and I just eat whatever.  It's not a practice I recommend.  If I'm lucky, I keep up with the laundry and dishes as the week goes on. Which means not often.

However, I made these stuffed shells weeks ago and took them to my friend who'd just had a baby.  I made a double batch so we had dinner for two nights too.  I do love freezer cooking and this is a great example of something you can make, wrap up tightly, stick in the freezer, and pull out on a busy day.

 It's not my recipe;  I googled "healthy Mexican stuffed shells" and this is what came up.  So I don't know if this counts because I didn't invent it. But it IS new and I DID make it and it's not like I'm writing a cookbook or plagiarizing, right?

I'll just post the link.  Just in case.

Fajita Quinoa

Recipe challenge, week twenty-three (which is this week)

In case you're looking for a high-protein, low-carb kinda meal this weekend...I make fajita meat in the crockpot a lot and it's easy to freeze once you cook it too.  This is like a giant Mexican quinoa salad of sorts, but I'd totally put this with tortillas, taco shells or on nachos.  The idea for the recipe came from A Year of Slow-Cooking, but I made them into quesadillas a couple of years ago.

This is a recipe post, but I do have other things to say.

Scott asked me if I wanted to go to a Kenny Chesney concert with a bunch of people he works with later this year.  Apparently it's a tail-gating extravaganza with tickets ranging from $40-$240.

I tried to be diplomatic with the smiley face.  He didn't answer my email, so when we Skyped yesterday, I asked about it.  He said, "Yeah, I figured that was a NO."

All I could think of was this gif.

Okay, maybe it was just the one thing that I needed to get out.

Fajita Quinoa

1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced

1 packet fajita seasoning mix (or 2 T. of homemade fajita/taco seasoning)

¼ water

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 bell peppers, thinly sliced

Cooked quinoa (I use chicken broth instead of water: 1 cup dry quinoa, 2 cups broth, cook it like you would rice)

Guacamole/pico de gallo/cilantro

In a 4-quart crockpot, combine all of the ingredients and stir it around.  Cook on low for 2-4 hours.  It cooks pretty quickly because the meat is already sliced.  Serve with quinoa and your favorite toppings for Mexican food. 

You can easily double this recipe in a 6-quart crockpot and even freeze portions in Ziploc bags.

Burrito Bowls

Recipe challenge, week eighteen.

Since tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, you can make this for dinner and enjoy it with a margarita. Or two.  Unless you're going out somewhere.  In which case you can still make this and enjoy it with a margarita (or two) on any old Tuesday night.

Aside from the Chipotle that I enjoyed for lunch on Friday, I've only been to a Chipotle restaurant twice.  Once in Springfield, Missouri and...well, I feel like I've been there twice.  Maybe I haven't. I really can't remember.  I've been to Qdoba dozens and dozens of times because it's always been more accessible.  Though there is a Chipotle on every corner in Colorado Springs so I don't know if my reasoning makes any sense.

I think the reason why I never go there is because I can make stuff at home that tastes just as good.  I mean, the Chipotle I had was okay.  Nothing wrong with it.  I'd probably eat it often if it was set down in front of me.  But I swear that if you buy a particular array of ingredients at the beginning of the week, you can eat Chipotle-like food every day.

-Chicken or steak (pre-cooked)
-Frozen or fresh corn
-Tomatoes
-Pico de gallo (or salsa)
-Black beans
-Garlic
-Onion
-Peppers
-Cilantro
-Lime
-Shredded cheese
-Avocado
-Smoked Paprika
-Tortillas

I almost always have these foods on hand, and have put them together in several combinations and it always tastes amazing.

Start off by sauteing the thinly sliced peppers and onions in some olive oil for a few minutes. Add in thinly sliced garlic (sliced gives a sweeter flavor than minced) and let it cook for another minute or so.  Add in bite-sized pieces of chicken or steak (or you can make it without) and sprinkle on some smoked paprika.  Toss in the frozen corn, drained and rinsed black beans, and tomatoes.  Let it all cook together for a few minutes.  Add in some chopped cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

In a bowl, place a warmed tortilla.  Top with the filling and sprinkle cheese on it.  Add slices of avocado and enjoy.

Often, I'll just make burritos out of the mixture and then warm them in the oven for 20 minutes before topping with avocado.

Another variation is to leave out the meat and use diced, roasted sweet potatoes.  This is my go-to dinner/lunch-prep meal because it's so easy and tasty.

Italian Couscous and Weekend Scenes

Recipe challenge, week sixteen.

What a close call.

I almost didn't have a recipe for today.  I made this yesterday and packaged it up to take for lunch this week.

I first discovered Israeli (Pearl) Couscous at Trader Joe's in Los Angeles a few years ago.  I stuffed my TJ's dry goods into my suitcase and made it once I was back in Alaska.  I did this with it back then.  Adding the pesto makes it extra rich.

I really just love the texture of the pearl couscous.  Sometimes I buy it in the bulk bins (I used to get it at Fred Meyer, now I'll get it at Whole Foods), and this time I just bought a box at Trader Joe's.  It's less than $2 and is the great base for a vegetarian dinner.  Onion, zucchini, or peppers could all be sauteed and added in. A meatless Monday, perhaps?  Also, this is the perfect use for that pesto you made last week.  I mean, I made last week.  I hope you made it too.

Italian Couscous
serves 4-6 as a side dish

1 box pearl couscous (or 2 cups, dry)
1 3/4 cups water or chicken stock
12-15 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
Olive oil
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1/2 cup shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh herbs for garnish (optional)

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with oil.  Add the sliced garlic and tomatoes.  Cook until the garlic just starts to brown.  Remove to a plate. Add in the dry couscous.  Coat it with olive oil and toast until it's lightly browned. Add in the water or chicken stock.  Cook and stir over medium heat until all the water is absorbed.  It takes about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and garlic back in and then stir in the pesto.  Top with cheese and herbs.  Add salt/pepper if needed.

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My weekend passed uneventfully.  Honestly, most are uneventful right now.  But that's okay.  I have a job that requires me to talk and be "on" all day long, so I welcome the break to just be.

I got a haircut.  This is a whole long story thing.  I'll probably explain later in the week because this was indeed the only exciting part of my weekend. 

Except for the hailstorm.  Scout, in the aftermath.  

The cloud that dropped the hail, moving onto Colorado Springs.

I'm reading Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  It is fantastic and I'm moving slowly through it because I'm marking pages and highlighting passages.  Highly recommend. 

Things I didn't do include grade papers or clean the bathrooms. 

(Sort of) Homemade Chicken Stock

Recipe challenge, week eleven.

This may or may not be considered a recipe and there may or may not be several of you who are gasping in horror at the idea of buying a grocery store rotisserie chicken.  But I hate cooking chicken. When I want chicken, I buy a rotisserie one.  If I'm making an actual recipe, I do cook chicken, but prepared chicken is much easier for salads and we eat chicken salads at least once a week. It actually doesn't really cost more to buy prepared food in this case.  I don't have the desire to cook a whole chicken.  And hey, whatever chemicals they must use taste good.

So when I use half of the chicken, or even all of the chicken, I put whatever is left into the 6 qt. crockpot.

(and I did cut that string off the legs after I took the picture)

Then I add...

2 teaspoons of salt and 1 (unpictured) teaspoon of pepper.  You can add more after cooking.

You don't need to chop.  Just wash and cut it all up enough to fit in the crockpot.  I did peel the garlic and smash it. 

Fill to the top with water.  Notice the celery leaves (where all the flavor hides) and then the onions are still in giant chunks. 

Cook all day on low (oh the blurriness...)

I don't have a picture of what the stock looks like after it cooked, but you will just want to strain out all the vegetables and chicken. The chicken that's left is still good to eat, but I usually don't. Then, I let the stoneware cool and put it in the fridge overnight.  That way I can skim off the fat in the morning and separate the stock into freezer bags.  I get about 4 freezer bags from the 6 quart crockpot.  Lay them flat in the freezer until they're frozen solid and then they'll be good to pull out for any recipe calling for chicken stock. I let one thaw in the fridge for a day before I use it.  

Again, I don't know how much of a recipe this really is because I don't measure it and you can add or subtract anything you'd like to change the flavor.  Extra spices (onion powder, poultry seasoning, celery salt, etc), extra veggies (leeks, turnips, parsley...I didn't have any parsley this day).  It's a fantastic way to clean out the produce drawer.  I started making it because I hate remembering to buy and then lugging home cans of chicken broth from the store. 

You could also, obviously, use a raw chicken.

(This recipe is pretty similar but I didn't find it until after I'd been making my own version.)