Recipes and More

Hey, everyone!

As far as recipes go, I'm a big fan of Allrecipes.com. I can always find something good there by just searching for whatever I'm in the mood for (like "chicken" or "soup"). Another great feature is being able to search by ingredients. You can use the "advanced search" and type whatever ingredients you happen to have lying around. Hit search and then recipes will pop up that use those ingredients. This can in handy when you didn't plan ahead and are just trying to throw something together. I've also been trying to eat more vegetables, so I tend to buy random things at the store and then search Allrecipes for what I can do with them.

When you choose a recipe on Allrecipes.com, make sure you browse the comments. People like to make improvements to the recipes and they will tell you what they changed in the comments. You shouldn't have to look far because the most popular ones get reused and thus usually end up on top. So just by browsing the first few, you should know what changes to make.

As far as a "staple" dish, there's one I've been making for a long time. Take some chicken breasts, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a bag of mixed vegetables and throw them in a crockpot. Fill the soup can half way with water and put that in too with some seasoning. I don't have exact measurements because I've made it so much that I just eyeball it. But it's simple and tastes good. Serve over rice.

Another crockpot recipe that I recently found and really like are Meatloaf Burgers. They are delicious.

If you're looking for something really quick, I've found some mac and cheese and a bag of frozen veggies make a quick, easy, semi-healthy meal. I highly recommend the frozen bags you just zap in the microwave. Pile your plate with a 1 to 1 ratio of mac-and-cheese and veggies, and you're good to go.

Salted and cubed avocado and tomato on toast makes a great lunch or breakfast.

If you want something more elaborate I have a potato soup recipe that is another I've made so much I just eyeball it. I usually make it with a really big pot, so depending on how much you want to make will depend on how much ingredients you get. Fill your pot about 3/4 the way with chicken broth. Add seasoning. Start the water boiling and add cubed potatoes (peeling off). With a food processor, finely mince equal parts ham (or bacon), carrots, and celery. The idea is that these become part of the broth more than actual bite-pieces of the soup. Add those to the pot and let the whole thing boil until the potatoes are fork-soft. Once done, add instant potato flakes to thicken the broth to your desire consistency. If you want cheese, I would recommend adding it to the soup as it is served. 

That's about all I can think of. Hope that is helpful, and I look forward to hearing about other yummy recipes!