Category Archives: Quick But DELICIOUS

Efficiency, Pressure Cooker, Quick But DELICIOUS

Insta…Yes!

January 10, 2017 Mama Thyme Leave a comment

Ok fine, George was at work for 24 hours and I will admit I was going to have Kraft Mac-n-Cheese for dinner with frozen veggies of Sweetpea’s choice. This was after one of those stereotypical evenings that are supposed to break you down. I dumped Elle’s milk for the next day on the counter, dropped two eggs out of the fridge (I wasn’t even using eggs…how did that even happen?)…and now Elle’s screaming (shrieking?) for more food was starting to really get to me. So it was crisis mode. I needed meat now. Just because I have an instapot pressure cooker does not mean that I have seventeen hours to chop, grind, prep for the perfect dinner. I need dinner NOW!!!!!!

zoey_wanting-to-be-part-of-it-all_santa_tms_dec-2016 — Someone is DETERMINED

Chicken NOW by me

Two large chicken breasts

1/2 – 3/4 cup barbecue sauce (you can make your own if you’d like!)

20 oz can of chopped pineapples with juice (do fresh if you can…I couldn’t today!)

Place chicken in the pot
Pour in BBQ sauce
Dump pineapples, pineapple juice in and stir
Press the poultry function (it will say 15 minutes but it takes another 15 minutes to pressurize up…so it’s not completely instant but while it was cooking bananas, rice, green beans were eaten)
De-pressurize naturally or vent (be careful!)…I vented
Check internal temp of the chicken (yup I threw in frozen chicken this time and it was perfect temperature wise)
If you have a minute more, you can make a sauce out of the pineapple/BBQ sauce mixture that cooked under pressure.
1. Either use the Instapot saute function(with the lid off) or place about 1 cup of the liquid in a stovetop pot. Separately, stir 1-2 Tablespoons of cornstarch in a small cup with another 1/4 cup of the liquid to dissolve the cornstarch. Pour the cornstarch mixture in with the 1 cup you put in the pot (or left in the Instapot) and stir on medium heat. Cook until you have the right consistency. (Add more cornstarch if you want a thicker sauce or add more liquid to thin it). These days I have been serving dinner with rice and veggies as well.

Oh and yes Elle inhaled it.

Quick But DELICIOUS

So Life Happens

October 19, 2014 Mama Thyme 1 Comment

So not every week is aligned perfectly (HA AT ALL). Sometimes I simply don’t want to cook. Sometimes we go to the park or the zoo or well that thing called life happens…

My-in-a-pinch-I’ll-walk-the-dogs-while-it-cooks kind of dinners are as follows:

1. “Chicken Parmigiana”
3 Chicken Breasts (about 1.5 lbs)
Lime or Lemon Juice
Bread Crumbs
Pasta Sauce
Sliced sandwich cheese (like white cheddar or whatever you are feeling)

The recipe boils down to bread chicken, sear, put in pan with cheese and pasta sauce, stick in oven.

I set out 2 plates. I squirt some lemon juice in one plate. I pour some bread crumbs on the second plate. Then I dip a chicken breast in the lemon juice then I plop it down in the bread crumbs on both sides. Sear in a hot pan for 1-2 minutes per side. Repeat for each chicken breast. Put breaded chicken breast (no the breadcrumbs never stay on perfectly but whatever) in 9×9 glass pan (or whatever you have). Put one piece of cheese on each breast. Cover with an adequate amount of pasta sauce. I like Rao’s pasta sauce. I probably use about a half bottle. Cook at 400 for about 30 minutes (I’m a big internal temperature person…so I check the internal temperature according to my chart). By request I also make pasta. And if I have more time I make Bruschetta and a caprese salad.

2. Pork Whatever-It’s-Supposed-To-Be
Thin cut pork chops
Lime or Lemon Juice
Bread crumbs
Wine reduction (if you have time)

Pretty much do the same thing as above minus the oven part. Dip in juice..cover in crumbs. Cook in pan until done on each side. Throw in a bag of microwavable veggie in the microwave. Make a salad if I’m feeling ambitious. I try to focus on veggies at dinner. We usually don’t have a side of rice or quinoa or whatnot. Oh the wine is just … after the pork has cooked…throw in a 1/2 c of red wine and scrape up the flecks of pork/bread crumbs into the wine and maybe add some corn starch if I want it to be thickish.

3. Lasagna
No boil lasagna noodles
ricotta or cottage cheese
pasta sauce
1 lb ground beef

Cook ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Drain out fat. This last time I added in white wine to cook in the beef after removing the fat and added in Portobello mushrooms until they were cooked. Layer pasta sauce, lasagna noodles, beef, cheese repeat. Cook according to directions which were something like 25 minutes at 400.

I like the stick in oven for 30 minutes option after working for max ten minutes.

Breakfast, Make Aheads, Quick But DELICIOUS

Frittata: Who Knew (IT WAS SO EASY!)

September 20, 2014 Mama Thyme 2 Comments

My latest find has been: grab and go breakfasts. When I read the Food Network’s article on “Fun & Fast Frittata Combos” I thought I’d give it a shot. A frittata, I found, boils down to: veggie, protein, cheese, egg. Pretty much in that order.

The Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/potato-and-zucchini-frittata-recipe.html

Since I can’t find the specific recipe online, this is what I did:
0. Prep eggs. Stir 8 eggs in a bowl with about 1/3 c milk. Set aside.
1. Choose a veggie (I chose a bag of spinach…the ENTIRE thing). Saute in oven friendly pot (I used our cast iron pot). Set aside in a bowl.
2. Cook protein. (I chose mild Italian sausage). Cook until done. Turn off the heat.
3. Evenly distribute protein and veggie in pot. Add cheese (I chose Feta).
4. Pour eggs over protein, veggie and cheese.
5. Cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes (or until the eggs are partially set…essentially so that only the top 1/4″ of the egg mixture is the only thing moving when you gently move the pot)
– During this time, turn on your broiler to high.
6. Broil for 5″ from heat for 2-3 minutes or until browned and almost set.

I made this for George when I went on work travel. He had breakfast for the week!

Other combinations:
1. Feta, green onions, asparagus
2. 3 plum tomatoes (seeded and sliced thinly), 1/2 c fresh basil, 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese
3. Kale, 4 oz turkey italian sausage, 1/2 c chopped red pepper, 1 ounce feta cheese
4. Spinach, 2 cloves minced garlic, cooked bacon (or proscuitto) 1/4 c carmelized onions, 1 T chives, 2 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese

Quick But DELICIOUS

It’s a Man’s Job…Or Not

August 24, 2014 Mama Thyme Leave a comment

I will be the first to admit, the grill has been the most intimidating thing in our postage sized backyard (think small and divide by 42). So when George was working his typical late day, I marched out to the grill determined to make dinner (or burn/blow something up). We’ve only had the grill for three years and I’ve never used it. Somehow that became George’s domain and not something I do. Whatever, roles happen in marriage so when he had asked me why I don’t try…I kept thinking…Yeah. Why don’t I? So…

Perhaps, I should step back for a second. Fish: I have traditionally failed at cooking fish (from a salt lick — it said add salt!!, to overly fishy nastiness)…Salmon has been categorized in my brain as…hmmm…FISH. So therefore, again, out of the picture (insert George talking about Omega-3s and how healthy they are…Omega 3 article). So fine. I will make take a detour.

Farm Raised or Wild Caught.
1. Which Salmon Should I Buy
– I chose Sockeye Wild Caught…it’s classified as fishy but with a cedar plank from Whole Foods (or Amazon.com)…it’s positively DELICIOUS (I promise). So if you purchase farm raised, I’d REALLY recommend the plank…it absolves all sorts of (fishy tasting) sins. I tend to think the wild caught, though more pricey, tastes better. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_xleu84BJU…I kind of love Alton Brown)

2. FDA article on Salmon

Wild caught is about $15/lb here. So maybe that’s a bit much. Sometimes I feel farm is better than none at all?

How I did it:
1. Purchase Fish (debone if necessary…which means pulling out little one inch tines with your fingers..lots of hand washing involved…some butchers remove them for you)
2. Soak Cedar Plank in water (the soaking part is key to fire prevention)
3. Put fish skin side down on plank and let it come to room temperature
3a. Chop up veggies, arrange on foil, lightly sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper
3b. Put up baby in a safe place
4. Set up your grill according to directions
5. Put some foil down, put your veggies on the foil on the grill and start
6. Cook until internal temperature is 130-145’F (I live by an internal thermometer…I use the regular one I use for all other meat in the kitchen)
7. Take fish and veggies off grill
8. Let fish set for a few minutes after it comes off the grill
9. Serve with a nice glass of wine

Admittedly, I was nervous about using the grill for the first time so I read: .
At the end of the day, it was surprisingly easy, quick despite my long post.

Wholesome Living: Finding Balance