Anyone Can Cook

Homemade Club Sandwich and French Fries. YUM. 

 Pork Pie. A family legend.

 Balsamic Chicken and Cucumber Pasta Salad to come….

Sorry I have taken such a hiatus from posting recipes here, but I got a new job! Anyway, last night we headed to WinCo to get groceries after like two months of living off a bag of frozen chicken breasts. By the time we got home, at 8:30 p.m., I was too tired and sluggish to make anything. Thankfully, my husband volunteered, and even told me he had purchased the groceries needed to make a specific dish. Isn’t he sweet!?

 He whipped up this beautiful pasta salad in like 15 minutes!

Prep Time: 10 minutes, Total Time: 15 minutes, Makes: 4 servingsIngredients:

2 cups of chopped ham.

2 cups cheese (blocked).

1 bag of spinach.

1/2 box spiral noodles.

Caesar Dressing (to taste).

Olives (optional).

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 chicken breasts, defrosted

1 tsp. Garlic Salt/Powder

Instructions:

Boil water for pasta (add salt and olive oil).

Add pasta to boiling water.

Cut up cheese and ham. Add to mix.

Add bag of spinach.

Drain noodles and add to mix.

Toss in Caesar dressing.

Want an EASY dinner that takes a minimal amount of effort, but looks like you slaved in the kitchen for hours! You should try our “go-to” pasta recipe. It’s so easy you could make it in your sleep!

Prep Time: 10 minutes, Total Time: 30 minutes, Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:

2-4 cups of pasta (you really can use ANY kind, I never use spaghetti/fettucini because I don’t like them).

1/2 jar of White Sauce (again, doesn’t matter)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 chicken breasts, defrosted

1 tsp. Garlic Salt/Powder

Instructions:

Boil water for pasta (add salt and olive oil).

Add past to boiling water.

Defrost chicken and cut into 1″x1″ pieces.

Add about 1 tbsp. to skillet on medium heat.

Add chicken and coat with Garlic salt.

Cook until golden brown on both sides.

Combine pasta, sauce, chicken and cheese.

Looking for an alternative to tacos that is quick and easy, but still captures the taste? Taco pie is the answer! Easy to make, easy to serve and easy for leftovers!

Prep Time: 20 minutes, Total Time: 50 minutes, Makes: 5-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion (or less)

1 envelope taco seasoning

3/4 cup Bisquick baking mix

1 1/4 cup milk

3 eggs

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 head lettuce

1 tomato, diced (optional)

1/3 cup olives (optional)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease square baking pan or pie pan.

Cook & stir ground beef & onion until brown.

Stir in seasoning.

Spoon into pan/plate.

Beat Bisquick, milk and eggs with whisk.

Pour over meat.

Bake until knife inserted comes out clean- about 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and cook for 2 additional minutes.

Top with lettuce, tomatoes, olives and sour cream, if desired.

My very favorite meal of all time (the one I request on each and every birthday) is Finger Lickin’ Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Caesar salad and Fruit salad. It’s nothing special, but my very favorite part of the meal is the rice. It mystifies my husband that I love this rice so much because it’s really nothing special, but it tastes great, it’s easy to make and you often find the ingredients already sitting in your fridge.

Prep time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 30 minutes, Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups Long Grain Rice (NO instant rice!) 
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 tsp. butter salt & pepper to taste 

Instructions:
Cook rice.
Chop vegetables.
Melt butter in skillet and add rice, vegetables, salt and pepper.
Cook on low for 10 minutes.

While on a wonderful dinner/shopping date to the Cheesecake Factory with my husband this weekend, I stumbled upon what I think might be sheer FOOD GENIUS! I am determined to try and re-create this recipe at home.

Here was the description on the menu:

PAN SEARED PORK TENDERLOIN
Covered with Pancetta, Fontina Cheese, Roasted Red Peppers and a Mushroom, Garlic Wine Sauce with a Touch of Cream. Served with Pasta.

I substituted the Pasta for mashed potatoes because 1) I’m not a huge pasta fan, and 2) Cheesecake Factory’s mashed potatoes are BOMB. I am seriously considering writing them a letter and letting them know the mashed potatoes suit the dish FAR better than pasta, and they should make a switch. Also, they should then name the dish after me. And let me have it for free everytime I come.

Anyway, the pork tenderloin was delicious, topped with delicious bacon-like pancetta and slathered in cheese! The garlic sauce was very flavorful but not over–garlicy, which is easy to do. I couldn’t even eat half of the dish, so I have leftovers for lunch today too!

If you’re headed to the Cheesecake Factory anytime soon, this dish comes highly recommended. Stay tuned for my attempt.

Holiday food can be grueling on your stomach. Everything is so rich, so sweet, so fattening! If you need something light and fresh to get you started on your New Year’s Resolutions and out of your over-eating rut, we’ve got a light and easy recipe for you!

Easy Garlic Chicken Caesar Salad

Prep time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 20 minutes, Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:

1 bag Romain lettuce (or bag of salad mix)

1 cup Croutons

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

Caesar dressing (add to taste)

1 tsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1 tbsp. garlic powder

Instructions:

Divide lettuce between two plates.

Add cheese & croutons.

Defrost chicken breasts.

Add 1 tsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil to a skillet, turn burner to medium heat.

Cut defrosted chicken breasts into 1″ x 1″ pieces and add to skillet.

Sprinkle garlic powder on chicken pieces in skillet and cook on medium-high for 10 minutes until golden brown and slightly crisp.

Add chicken to salad, spread dressing and toss.

A great debate has been going on in our household as of late. The great canister debate, in fact. We managed to furnish our entire apartment with giftcards to Macy*s and Target, and we still have a copious amount of cash stored up on those giftcards. Too many gift cards, and no room to put anything.

Our tiny kitchen:

One of the items I have been considering purchasing with our leftover money (and while the crazy sales go on) are canisters. 

I was raised in the camp that says canisters are for flour, sugar and some other miscellaneous substance. Perhaps granola. They are quite useful and pretty to boot. I am also under the belief that they should be wide mouthed enough for you to fit your measuring cup into. Or a sifter into the flour.

My husband could care less about canisters.

That is, until I proposed that we buy these:

Apparently I missed the memo that he has some sort of moral opposition to polka dots. This came as quite a shock to me, who has a very strong affinity for the dot look. These come in black and red, our kitchen colors (+ Tiffany blue), are wide mouthed enough to accommodate a measuring cup and are just plain freaking adorable.

I also like these:

And they would go quite nicely in the kitchen as well. We have a collection of vintage French advertising hung on the walls and scattered about the living room/kitchen, so these would blend in nicely. He doesn’t mind these ones, but my main concern is their narrowness. The smallest one is only about 4.5-5 inches wide. That won’t do!

I kind of like these too:

But I’m afraid finding cute canisters is the least of my problems. Where do I put them in my tiny kitchen!? So, I need your help.

Do you have a favorite kind of canister? Any suggestions for ones that would work in my kitchen?

Also, where (in my kitchen) would you put them? How do you solve kitchen space dilemmas?

Need a quick and easy recipe for a LIGHT dessert after eating all those Christmas cookies? I made these last week and they were SO simple to put together! They are delicious and bite size so you don’t feel quite so bad about indulging in more than one. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 1 hour, Total Time: 1 hour 15 min, Makes: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

½ cup powdered sugar, small bowl set aside to cover baked cookies in

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ¼ cups flour

¾ cup finely chopped almonds

¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 ºF

Mix butter, ½ cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.

Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes until set but not brown.

Remove from cookie sheet and place on cooling racks.

Roll warm cookies in small bowl of powdered sugar.

The popular Disney children’s movie, Ratatouille (one of my favorites), is a charming look at the idea that “anyone can cook.” Even a rat! Though my inspiration to find recipes I could manage was probably motivated more by the fact that I got married than the movie itself, I was inspired to start this blog to add recipes that would be simple, but also make you feel like you have prepared a gourmet meal! I hope you will join me on my journey to find easy yet impressive meals and perhaps share some of your favorite recipes along the way!

As Chef Gusteau says, “Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell.” So let’s get cooking!