Knitter in the Kitchen

On Sunday evenings, Hubby and I cook a big batch of food that will last us for four nights. This means that we don’t have any leftovers to bring for lunch, because the leftovers are reserved for dinner. So for years, my lunches have consisted of a sandwich, chips, and sometimes cookies. Not exactly the most nutritious combination, especially given my sandwich and chip selections (such as peanut butter and jelly with Lay’s Classic Potato Chips). And I doubt that cookies could be considered wholesome.

Recently, I decided to start packing better food. I am tired of sandwiches, plus I think eating so much junk is catching up with me. So my new plan is that on weekends, I’ll also cook a second batch of food just for lunches. This was my first week of doing so, and I made Chickpea Potato Curry, Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic, and rice.

The Chickpea Potato Curry was new to me and was yummy. The prep was minimal, and once the veggies were chopped everything went into one pan for about 30 minutes of simmering. Which is pretty darn easy, and it yielded five lunches for me and two for Hubby. Not bad, right? The broccoli side dish is from the March 2007 issue of Cooking Light and is a standard rotation for us. Really simple and tasty.

I’ve already found several new recipes I want to try for lunches, and once we head into summer, I’ll probably do some salads. What do you usually eat for weekday lunches?

I go through phases with my cooking and baking. Sometimes I’m enthusiastic about trying new recipes, and other times I’m content to stick with the tried and true favorites. Lately, I’ve been in an experimental mood and actually made two new dishes in one day (which has got to be a record for me). One was a Tuna Noodle Casserole from the January/February 2010 issue of Cooking Light.

I had never eaten tuna casserole before, and was hoping this might be a simple, hearty meal. I incorporated a few mods as suggested in the recipe reviews, and they worked well, but unfortunately this is not repeatable dish. Hubby and I learned that we don’t like tuna casserole — it’s just too heavy.

I also made the Chipotle Bean Burritos from the same issue of Cooking Light, and these turned out quite well!

We used pico de gallo instead of salsa, bagged lettuce instead of the chopped tomatoes and lettuce, and cilantro instead of green onions. The cilantro made a huge difference - it really brightened up the flavors! This recipe is definitely a keeper. On a side note, the magazine recommended organic beans because they are lower in sodium. I did a quick comparison at the supermarket, and was surprised to find that it was indeed true.

It’s been a long time since I’ve tried a new recipe. I’ve had my eye on this one ever since Kate posted it, and I finally got around to making it today. It did not disappoint — it was super tasty and easy, like chili. Next time I will probably make a double batch.

My mods:
::Used a 15oz can of cannellini beans because my supermarket did not carry 19 oz cans.
::Used hot Italian turkey sausage instead of sweet. Decreased amount to about 10 oz (about half the package) to compensate for less beans.
::Tripled garlic because we love garlic.

This yummy and easy recipe came from a colleague, who brought these sandwiches to a potluck a few months ago. When I made them over the weekend, I scaled down the recipe to use two cans of chicken, and there was enough (and then some) to stuff six large croissants. For a potluck, mini croissants would probably work best.

3 cans (12.5 ounces each) cooked chicken, drained (I bought the 6-pack of Costco Kirkland Canned Chicken Breast)
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used bottled)
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon curry powder or to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix and refrigerate above ingredients. Before serving inside croissants, add:
1 1/2 cups red grapes, sliced in half (I omitted these completely)
1/2 cup toasted almonds (I used sliced almonds from the baking aisle and didn’t bother toasting them)
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Enjoy!

I learned recently that Hubby loves chili. I have only eaten it once in my life — just a few bites at a potluck last year — and I can’t even remember how it tasted. So I was searching for a “good,” simple chili recipe without exactly knowing the definiton of “good.” Luckily, I came across Smitten Kitchen’s post on a Red Bean Chili recipe adapted from Real Simple magazine. Kate raved about it as well, so I decided to give it a try.

It was fabulous. Hubby really liked the flavor, and I thought it was very good too (even though I’m not a huge chili fan in general). Best of all, it was super easy! Now I just need to find two things: a less expensive source of chili powder (because the 1/3 cup used almost my entire jar from McCormicks), and a great cornbread recipe to go along with the chili!