<p>I think it sounds delicious with apples. I’ll try it tomorrow.</p>
<p>worrywort- I first had it at the house of a friend. It is her recipe. She did not give the fruit amount. When she made it she used peaches and frozen blueberries. I think she said she used 4 large peaches and a handful of berries. She did not precook the fruit. When I made it with peaches I did put them briefly in boiling water to help remove the skins.
Last night I used 5 mid sized apples. I cored and spiral sliced them using apple peeling device that someone gave me. I used a square pan last night since my stuffed shells were in my mid sized rectangle pan.
I think the amount of fruit is personal preference. I also did not put sugar in the fruit and we found it sweet enough. I did sprinkle some raw sugar on top last night just to try to lessen the clove mistake.</p>
<p>With the Shepherd pie do you use instant mashed potatoes or the real thing?</p>
<p>A halfway decent cheater meal
I have passed this off to my family on a few occasions.
Purchase a whole premade chicken from the grocery store. I am picky about my chicken. I find some of them seem like the meat is slimy and not cooked enough. Or has a funny flavor like the one from Costco. I put the precooked chicken in a roasting pan. Reheat in the oven to rewarm and to crisp the skin up. I make instant mashed potatoes and chicken gravy from the packet. Add a salad and they think you cooked for hours.
My husband and kids did not realize the chicken was not baked totally by me.My only complaint with this meal is that when I have more then one kid home I need two chickens since husband and the kids all want the breast meat and I am the only one who will eat the legs.</p>
<p>On the topic of canned soup…I’m a fan. It’s great to use only fresh vegetables, no shortcuts, yada yada, but I’m also a fan of women/cooks cutting themselves some slack. We have so much to worry about! There are no mom police looking over your shoulder to criticize you for opening a can of soup.</p>
<p>This recipe for glazed pork chops or chicken is right off the can. It’s good and super quick:</p>
<p>Brown 4-6 pork chops or chicken breasts in butter or oil. Add a can of condensed French onion soup and two tablespoons of brown sugar. Simmer 5 minutes or until the chops are done. Remove meat and keep warm. Mix half a cup of water with two tablespoons cornstarch. Stir this into the sauce, bring to a boil, and pour the thickened sauce over the meat. Serve this over any kind of noodles, rice, or pilaf.</p>
<p>Certain vegetables don’t suffer from freezing. Frozen spinach is excellent. Frozen mashed butternut squash is another great find. You can’t tell the difference from fresh.</p>
<p>Thanks, mom! I’ll experiment. Does anyone have an easy recipe for bananas? Seems I already had several ripe ones in the house when I bought another bunch today. (I keep forgetting we’re empty nesters again after boys were home for the summer.) I’ve got a yummy banana bread recipe but it’s a fair amount of work. Quick and easy solution anyone?</p>
<p>I only use instant mashed potatoes if I’m making a quick meal for only a couple of people. Since generally, I make huges meals and serve whoever stops by, I almost always use real mashed potatoes. Don’t make the mashed potatoes really soft though. Very little milk and/or butter. I’m sure instant would work though.</p>
<p>Too bad we can’t share meals. Everybody in my family eats dark meat and I have to find another use for the white when I bake a whole chicken or turkey. I’ve also used the cheater chicken meal. Usually served with corn since it reminds me of tv dinners that I used to like as a child.</p>
<p>Frozen brussel sprouts are much better than fresh. I tried the fresh ones and nobody liked them. If you boil them until soft and then put cheese on top until it melts, they will all eat it.</p>
<p>Bananas: when I buy too many, I fry them. Kids love them. Husband won’t eat them.</p>
<p>For ripe bananas; I wrap them in aluminum foil and freeze. That way when I have the time or inclination to make banana bread, I have ripe bananas on hand.</p>
<p>This is another easy crockpot recipe which takes about 5 minutes to prepare
3-4 lb chicken
half an onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried basil</p>
<p>after washing chicken, sprinkle cavity with salt and pepper
put onion and celery inside cavity
place chicken in crockpot and sprinkle with basil
cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-6 hours</p>
<p>Creamy Chicken Apple Chili</p>
<p>2 lb chicken tenders<br>
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 onion chopped
2 apples cut in pieces(can leave skins on)
4 tblsp butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup milk
2 cup monterey jack cheese
2 cans of pinto, or cannelini beans rinsed
olive oil</p>
<p>Cut chicken into 2 inch pieces, saute in 2 tblsp olive oil add chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. cook 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl
In same dutch oven add olive oil, saute apples and onions. 6 minutes remove add to chicken mixture
In same pan, add butter to melt, whisk in flour for 1 minute. Then add chicken stock and milk cook 3 minutes. add the ckiken apple mixture and beans bring to simmer then add the cheese. Stir serve with cornbread or tortilla chips</p>
<p>I made this tonight and it is easier than it looks. Can problably adapt this for a crockpot.</p>
<p>Bumping again- I’m determined!</p>
<p>Yet another one here that wishes a Trader Joes can come to town before I die…but I don’t think Danny Wegman would ever allow it…</p>
<p>Today is my annual “raid the neighbors’ veggie stands, make my big pan of Rat and watch the Bills lose their Opening Day game” day. Rat is for Ratatouille, and hey… the Bills are actually WINNING!</p>
<p>Cut up in 1-inch or so chunks and place in a large roasting pan -</p>
<p>one eggplant
one zucchini
one yellow squash
one red onion (two if they are small)
one green pepper
one yellow pepper
one red pepper
five or six tomatoes</p>
<p>mix a marinade using 1/2c olive oil, 1/4c balsamic vinegar, two tablespoons of dijon mustard, a couple of tablespoons chopped garlic, a couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh basil, and any other seasoning you might have around (oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc. - my husband likes cayenne but I make him put it on his own). Stir marinade in the vegetables and cook at 400 degrees for 45 minuntes to an hour.</p>
<p>I use some right away and freeze some - great by itself or over pasta for a quick meal, use crusty bread to soak up the juice…</p>
<p>Hey Rachacha, I made ratatouille last night - yum! My recipe is a little different, but similar to yours. I think yours will taste better over pasta than mine (yours has more liquid), so maybe I’ll give it a try.</p>
<p>OOPS - the temp should be 425 for the Rat instead of 400…</p>
<p>I really like this thread…and I love the crock pot for busy nights. Just figured out how to make eggplant parmagiana in the crockpot…</p>
<p>3 boxes Trader Joes’ Eggplant Cutlets (frozen, near pizzas)
sauce (homemade, or pick it up at Trader Joes)
Mozzarella Cheese.</p>
<p>Spray crock pot with olive oil, coat bottom with sauce. Layer eggplant, cheese, more sauce until crock pot it full. Do not use as much sauce as when you are baking it in the oven. Cook on low for about 4 to 6 hours, or on high for 2 to 4…really great tasting, a big hit when I took it to an end of summer party—I needed a vegatarian dish so I used Trader Joe’s sauce (mine has meat in it).</p>
<p>3bm, I loathe frozen brussel sprouts, but cook them fresh all the time. Does anyone in your house like chicken salad? That might be a good use for your leftover breast meat.</p>
<p>We’re having grilled butterflied lamb tonight. It’s marinating in garlic and fresh herbs now. We’ll throw it on the grill, turn it a few times. Super easy!</p>
<p>This thread is too long for me to read all at once so apologies if this has been said before…</p>
<p>Pork tenderloins are great in the crockpot. All I do is spray the bottom of the pot, put in the tenderloins, season with salt & pepper, spread mustard and worschester all over them, and cook on low all day. Meat falls apart. Make extras and you and chop them up with bbq sauce and make sandwiches on buns another night.</p>
<p>This is so easy that my never-cooked-alone daughter made it in her temporary apartment this summer!</p>
<p>I never thought of freezing ripe bananas - i’m definitely trying that.</p>
<p>I made the stuffed shells yesterday-threw it all together before church. But I will say that it is more time consuming when cooking for picky eaters. I made half with Italian sausage, spinach and cheese, and the other half with ground beef and cheese. (Some ricotta would be good, too.)</p>
<p>I spied some frozen salad shrimp in the freezer (husband had bought them in a buy 1, get 2 free promotion)…I made shrimp quesadillas last night…flour tortillas, the shrimp, cheese left over from the stuffed shells dish. And then, of course, I used the left over ground beef from the alternate stuffed shell filling to make alternate quesadillas for the daughter who won’t eat shrimp. Anyway, they were good (also added grilled onions for the three of us who will eat them.)</p>
<p>I also made the chicken/potatoes/onion/carrots in onion soup mix dish, to put in the oven tonight.</p>
<p>Back to the frozen ripe bananas – they make a great snack. They take on a creamy, rich consistency that’s almost like ice cream. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, freeze, and eat…well, like a banana.</p>
<p>Has anyone bought those “as seen on TV” bags that are supposed to keep your produce fresh for longer? (I guess they let gasses escape.) Son was funny yesterday in explaining how they work, “After I explain this to you, you’ll wonder how I managed to get such a bad grade in AP Biology.”</p>
<p>I haven’t tried the green bags, but mentioned them to biochem major D. She doesn’t think they’ll work because of the “bad science” behind them. She explained what she meant by that, however, her non-science mother can’t repeat a word of it.</p>