Sunday, August 29, 2010

Menu for the Week: 29 August - 4 September .

Oh my, this week was a lazy one. I actually willingly made the Hamburger Helper. Most of these are carry-overs from last week.

Sunday:
Baked Chicken Strips
Mashed Potatoes
Corn

Monday:
Apple Pork Tenderloin
Oven Roasted Potatoes
Broccoli

Tuesday:
Shrimp and Crab Legs
Rice
Broccoli

Wednesday:
Ranch Chicken Tacos

Thursday:
Cheesy Chicken and Rice "Pot Pie"

Friday:
BBQ Chicken
Green Beans
Baked Potatoes

Saturday:
*New Restaurant Night!*

Monday, August 23, 2010

Menu for the Week: 22 August - 28 August .

Last week, true to his word, Chris made dinner while I had finals. Except there was one day when we went out to dinner. Then I had to make him Chicken Cordon Bleu on Friday because that was our deal. I think I got the short end of that.

On to this week!

Sunday:
Blue Corn Chips with Spinach Dip

Monday:
Chicken and Dumplings

Tuesday:
Shrimp and Crab Legs
Rice
Broccoli

Wednesday:
Apple Pork Loin
Oven Roasted Potatoes
Green Beans

Thursday:
Baked Chicken Strips
Mashed Potatoes
Corn

Friday:
Chicken and Avocado Sandwiches
Broccoli
Chips

Saturday:
Hamburger Helper
I'm praying to every deity I can think of that we end up going out. Chris bought it for his dinner making week last week and never made it. I want it out of my house.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Once More...A Week in Review.

No sense in wasting time; let's get right into it!

Cheesey Chicken and Bean Burritos with Mexican Rice
Pretty delicious, even I was surprised! Chicken breasts were cooked and shredded. I used large, thick tortillas. I layered strips of cheddar cheese down in the center of a tortilla, refried beans went on top of that. Finally I piled chicken on top of the beans and threw on some cumin, chili powder, salt, and white pepper. I topped it all off with a bit of taco sauce and some hot sauce. The burritos were folded up and cooked in a 400* oven until the cheese was melted and the tortillas were nice and toasty. Pioneer Woman has the Mexican Rice recipe. It can be found here (click me!).

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Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Macaroni



First and most complicated...cook the chicken!



Oh, actually it's pretty simple! The chicken was seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley.



I've gone over Alfredo sauce before, just remember...butter, cream (or half and half), black pepper, and A LOT of parmesan. Meanwhile, cook some short-cut pasta, and about halfway through add in some broccoli and cook until both are tender.


Mix everything together, and add more parmesan as needed for taste or to thicken the sauce.


Finally, top the whole thing off with the finished chicken breast. Tasty! Then again, how can alfredo not be delicious?
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Chili!
Call me crazy, but I had never made homemade chili before this week. I should have done this years ago, as I like my chili more tomato-y than chili-y which is somewhat hard to find.


Beef, browned with salt, pepper, onions, and garlic.



I added in a can of beans in chili sauce and a can of diced tomatoes.


Then I just started throwing stuff in the pot. I was a bit lost. Half a can of tomato sauce, a tiny can of tomato paste, cumin, a palmful of chili powder (and then a little more), and some chicken broth to thin it out a bit.


Topped with cheddar and sour cream. Tah-dah!

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"Chicken Bella"


Okay, so this wasn't really Chicken Bella, I don't think. Here is what I do know:
- Chicken breasts were marinated in EVOO, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic. Then they were sauteed on the stove top.
- I deglazed the same pan with chicken broth and white wine, turned the heat to high and let the wine reduce.
- I sliced up some button mushrooms and added them to the wine/chicken broth mixture.
- When the mushrooms were cook I turned the heat down and added some cream and half and half.
- Once that was thoroughly mixed I added lots of shredded parmesan and some chopped up artichokes.
- Finally, I added some chopped up fresh parsley.
Once the sauce was finished I poured it over the chicken breasts and some cooked spaghetti. I loaded up the rest of the plate with Caesar Salad. Too good!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Menu for the Week: 8 August - 14 August .

We are back from vacation, and it is time to get cooking again! As busy as I will be the next few weeks, I'm still really excited to get back in the kitchen.

Sunday:
Cheesy Chicken and Bean Burritos
Mexican Rice
*This never got made before we left.*

Monday:
Chicken Casserole Pockets
Salad
*Um. It works in my head. Pizza crust dough, cheesy rice and chicken casserole, fold it all up together. Should work, yeah?*

Tuesday:
Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Macaroni
Caesar Salad
*Is it obvious that I have 8lbs of chicken breasts in my freezer?*

Wednesday:
Fresh Vegetables
*Finally, some red meat!*

Thursday:
Chili
Baked Potato
Carrots
*Okay, bear with me. I know this is more of a Fall/Wintery meal. I know the heat index in Misawa has been 100+ recently, but I can't help myself.*

Friday:
Pork Tenderloin
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
*You know, I did tell Chris that this week was going to be a grab-n-go week, what with term papers and finals and such. That quick and easy dinner thing has gone out the window, I think.*

Saturday:
Chicken Bella
Pasta
Stuffed Tomatoes
*I don't know that this will actually be Chicken Bella. It will actually most likely be a cross between Chicken Bella and Chicken Piccata...minus the capers. All I know is that I am excited. And that I almost made it through a week without combining lemon and pasta. Almost.*

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Somebody Doesn't Get It.

That somebody would be my husband.

Oh, I'm certain he gets it now. We've had one or two conversations over this trip of ours about my preferred vacation activities. I dislike doing touristy type things. (Though I did buy a Tokyo Starbucks cup...) But that has nothing to do with food.

This does:

We were heading out of the Ueno Zoo yesterday, and Chris wanted to grab lunch. "Okay," I said, "If memory serves there is a Friday's down there." He didn't want Fridays. He wanted something Japanese. "Why?" I asked. "Because we're here."

It was then I realized he didn't get it.

We live in Japan. We have lived in Japan for over a year now. Misawa has no shortage of Japanese food. We will have more than a few chances to partake in any of said Japanese food we haven't tried yet in the next year and a half we are here.

So, I explained that and said that while I am in Tokyo I want to eat all of the food I can't eat while in Misawa. He started to come around. 

It does make sense.

I have all the Japanese food I could want available to me at all times. The restaurants from back home are few and far between, and we just happen to be around them right now.

Hard Rock.
Outback.
The New Sanno's restaurants. 
(...which included a breakfast restaurant. Woohoo! By the way, try going from 16 months of restaurants out in a Japanese city to one in an American hotel. Service wise - it's a trip. I think I'm going to have a panic attack whenever we go back to the States. Servers coming to my table, asking me questions, without prompting from a chime whose button I have pushed to summon them. I just want to eat in peace!)
Chili's.
Burger King. 
(Misawa's BK is closed until September.)

Japanese food is good for my day-to-day life.

Chicken fajitas, bloomin' onions, breakfast buffets, fried pickles, and BK are better suited for vacation.

The end.