The Rowdy Pea

five minute dinner for under $5

Well since my crockpot recipe project was kind of a flop this winter (not that I wasn't using my crockpot, I just wasn't remembering to blog about it), I decided to redeem myself with a series of quick, easy and cheap dinners. There are a couple of recipes that I have come to rely on for a busy throw-together meal, and I think sharing them here will give me the motivation to find a few more.  And I will invite anyone reading this to add their own favorite "five minute/five dollar" meal in the comments section.  Not that the 5/5 rule is the most important thing, but I do like the snappy sound of it so I will use it as more of a loose guideline.  Anything goes, as long as it's cheap and easy.  So far starters, here is recipe number one for your condsideration.  

Veggies and noodles in spicy peanut sauce

2 packages of ramen noodles (chicken flavor)

1 bag of frozen mixed veggies

1/3 cup hot water

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons vineger ( I use rice vinegar if I have it)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 minced garlic clove (or a shake of garlic powder)

hot pepper seeds or hot sauce to taste

Cook the ramen noodles according to package directions.  Meanwhile, steam the frozen veggies according to their package directions.  Also meanwhile (remember you only have five minutes), combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and warm over low heat, feeling free to taste-and-tweak ingredients to suit your family's preference, of course.  Drain the noodles thoroughly and sprinkle with half of the chicken flavoring (one packet of seasoning for two packages of noodles).  Combine noodles and veggies in a medium serving bowl and top with the peanut sauce, tossing lightly to coat everything.  Voila!

the return of slow cookin' sunday

Oooh, it's been awhile I know. This is a great recipe for a crock pot whole chicken that tastes roasted instead of stewed.  The secret is to set the chicken on top of a layer of whole potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil. 

I poked the potatoes with a fork, which I'm not sure is necessary but I didn't want to risk having the potatoes blow up.  So the layer of tinfoil taters, then a whole chicken dotted with butter and spinkled with seasoning salt.  I filled in some of the remaining space in the pot with about four carrots, cut into quaters, one big onion and a few whole garlic cloves.  Cook on HIGH for four hours, and done.  So delicious!! Like a Sunday supper should be.  I actually took the whole crock out of the crockpot and put it under the broiler for about five minutes after it was done, to brown up the skin. And in case anyone noticed, yeah I know the chicken is upside down to how most people cook it.  What can I say I'm new at this! 

The perfect meal after an afternoon of this:

   

corners of my home: perfectly imperfect christmas scene

Well, this is a far cry from the Victorian Christmas Special I grew up in the midst of, but its the best I can do this year.  We are enjoying having our tree up, especially Ivo who loves to arrange and rearrange the lights and ornaments.  Our collection of Christmas books is growing by the year, which is nice to see.  We all love a good Christmas story (well I do anyway).  That triangle light on the right is made out of baby-food jars and a string of colored lights.  Genius! I can say that because I didn't make it.  It's meant to go on a windowsill, facing out, but Ivo loves to look at it so we put it somewhere he can enjoy it.  That's a cat-scratching post covered in an antique doily-thingy from my mom.  It's not the Ritz but we try our best!   And those adorble hand-knit stockings were made by a family friend for my sister and me when we were little girls. They even have little knit santas peeking out the top so they won't have to sit empty until Christmas Eve.  Oh, and please ignore the heinous verticle blinds. (Lord knows I try to!)

And since it is Sunday, here is my Slow Cookin' recipe of the week.  It's been awhile so I decided to do something simple: Throw one box of prepared wild rice meatballs in the crockpot, cook on high for two hours, add a jar of marinara and a good splash of red wine and cook for another hour or so.  Done!  Serve with french bread, cheese, veggies and dip, and more wine. Doesn't get an easier than that.

Slow-Cookin' Sunday

I used mamamilkers beef stew recipe for my first Slow-Cookin' Sunday post.  Thank you so much to everyone who sent a recipe.  I really never thought about doing breakfast in the crockpot as Taimarie suggested, but I am intrigued and I think I'll give it a whirl. I love the idea of waking up on a Sunday morning to a nice hot breakfast all ready and waiting. And these days spending Saturday night putting fixin's in the crock-pot would seem downright exciting to me.  I must admit I did get a cheap thrill from having dinner "done" before Josh was even out of bed this morning.  And it's starting to smell so delicious in here.

So here's a still life (hehe) of this morning's cooking.  Notice the wine glass at the ready (is it noon yet?)  And here is the recipe as it was sent to me:

throw about 2 lbs of cubed stew meat in the crock pot and coat with 1/4 cup flour and some salt and pepper. Add some diced red potatoes, onions and carrots, a few squirts of worchestershire sauce, 1 1/2 cups of beef broth and a couple bay leaves. Simmer on high for 4-6 hours or low 10-12. Yum!

Easy Peasy. I always feel a little like Jane Jetson when I can walk out of the kitchen with the crockpot cooking dinner, the Breadman baking bread, and the dishes washing themselves. It's a fine line between modern convenience and working myself out of a job though, so I think we'll skip the robot butler for now (although there are days . . . ).

Update: We just finished dinner and it was delish!  Thank you mamamilkers for getting us off to a good start on what I'm sure will be a fun project this winter.  Yum indeed!

   

Play dough, Yay! dough

                           

Here is my favorite play-dough recipe that I thought I would share with you all:

1 cup of salt

2 cups of hot water

2 cups of flour

4 T cream of tartar

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

food coloring and fragrance (optional)

Directions: Mix all ingredients and cook on low heat, stirring until the mixture forms a ball.  I use spices, cooking extracts, or teensy bits of essential oil to fragrance the dough.

Speaking of play dough, this book looks really neat. I think I will have to check the library for it on our next Toddler Time day.

Fall Harvest Recipe Part Deux

Here is the aforementioned recipe for one of my favorite fall cookies.  If there is a yummier way to get your veggies, I haven't found it.  I know there are probably a million ways to tweak this recipe to make it healthier, but I haven't tried any of them.  After experiencing this kind of pumpkin goodness I knew I was ruined for substitutions of the whole-wheat pastry flour, molasses, and applesauce variety.  Of course feel free to healthify these to your liking.  I won't even notice, because I will be licking carmel icing off the inside of the mixing bowl.

Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Icing

I cup butter                                                     a pumpkin picture from last year

1 cup white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

I teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

For icing:

6 tablespoons butter

8 tablespoons milk

1 cup backed brown sugar

2 cups confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

                                                                                  

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a big bowl, cream butter, sugar and pumpkin.  Add the egg and mix well.  In another bowl blend or sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Then add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

To make icing, cook butter, brown sugar and milk until dissolved.  Cool and add confectioner's sugar and vanilla.  Spread on cookies when they are still a little warm. yum!

 

These cookies make a lovely dessert or bedtime snack.  Or mid-morning coffee-break snack, or lunchbox treat, or breakfast. 

(I know, I know . . . but . . . uh . . . yum?)

Fall Harvest Recipe Part 1

Fall is my favorite time of year, and also my favorite time to eat! I was going to write a few sentences extolling the virtues of the fall harvest, but I am sort of in a hurry so I will get right to the point. I wanted to share this delicious recipe with you all.  We ate this soup at my friends Carol and Josh's house a few weeks ago (it's Carols recipe), and we all gobbled it up.  Even Ivo, who has picked up the delightful habit of eating "around" the vegetables in soup.  This soup features pureed vegetables--impossible to eat around!

               

Zucchini Basil Soup:

5 T butter (or olive oil)

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

2 T dried basil (or fresh is great)

2 cubes of broth (vegetarian or chicken)

1 large potatoe, peeled and chopped

2 t salt

6 large zucchini, chopped

      

Saute onion in butter or oil until translucent.  Add dried basil (if fresh wait until end).  Dissolve broth cubes in 2 cups of water and then add.  Next add 3 cups of water, potato and salt; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Add zucchini and cook 5 minutes. 

(Do not overcook zucchini.)  Allow soup to cool and then puree in blender.  I use my hand held smoothie maker thing.  Add up to 2 more cups of water for desired consistency and salt and pepper to taste.  I don't add any water because I like hearty soup.  I serve with pesto to add to when served and sometimes fresh parmesan too. 

            

Thank you for the recipe Carol!! And for the idea of making a Recipe section in my blog.  Coming up on Fall Harvest Recipe Part Deux, my very favorite fall cookie recipe . . . . also featuring a pureed vegetable! As they say on HGTV, "Now that's clever!"