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Cooking for Two--Using a Saucepan!
Cami (twenty, third child, engaged to Joseph) wanted to cook food for a new mom, so she and I set out to cook for two adults—and one two year old. We had a blast! It was especially good for Cami to see how fast you can cook for two (since she has never cooked for less than six, and usually closer to ten!).
We were both amazed how quickly it went—twelve entrees and/or sides made, froze, and cleaned up in a little over two hours. (We had never used the “sauce pans” in our pots and pans set to speak of except for a couple of boiled eggs for salad, etc. a time or two—and we were both in awe at how quickly water begins to boil in a little pan! One of my friends called when we were cooking, and I exclaimed, “I’m cooking in a saucepan!” over and over again—then my sauce pan promptly boiled over. I mean, those babies are fast! Someday when it’s just me and Ray, I’ll pull those sauce pans back out and have fun boiling something fast again! Check out our "menu" and "recipes" below!
- Monterey Chicken Tenders---one of our quick-as-a-flash chicken breast recipes. Get the boneless, skinless tenders, and tenderize/season as desired. (We have a sprinkled seasoning we use.) Stick in fridge while you do something else for a while to let them marinate. Grill them on the grill or broil under the broiler until just done. (Do not overcook.) Cool. Wrap each piece with a cooked bacon slice or two, then wrap with a slice of Monterey-jack cheese (or spinkle shredded on them in the pan you will be freezing them/baking them). Freeze. Thaw. Heat.*
- Parmesan Pasta—we made our “white spaghetti and shrimp” pasta without the shrimp that we make at Christmas time when we watch the movie White Christmas. (Not sure how it started, but it’s a tradition now to have shrimp alfredo and watch White Christmas as a family in early December.) Anyway, it is a simple pasta dish in which we boil the noodles, drain, gently fold in pieces of cream cheese until melted, add garlic, pepper, and half and half until it’s yummy!
- Potato Casseroles—one of my all time favorite freezer recipes with hash browns, cottage cheese, Velveeta, and half and half. I hate cottage cheese, but love this dish, so don’t worry about your kids not liking it because of the cottage cheese. (I even have a rhyme, “I do not like that cottage cheese, I will not eat it if you please; I will not eat it in the trees; I will not eat it on my knees, etc. etc.—well, you get the idea.) For recipe (in bulk—I just improvised for a couple of small pans for this little family), go to www.homeschoolblogger.com/relationalhomeschool/586099/
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole—again, we went simple on this—used canned enchilada sauce—mixed the sauce w/ precooked chicken breasts (we just zapped a few pounds of chicken breast in the micro and cubed the chicken) then layered the meat mixture, torn up flour tortillas, and mixed orange cheeses (fiesta or Mexican mix). Put salsa and sour cream with it to add later.
- Spanish Rice—rice cooker to the rescue! We precooked long grain rice in the rice cooker, then mixed taco seasoning mix, salsa, small amount of tomato sauce, onion, and stirred this mixture into the pre-cooked rice.
- BBQ Chicken Thighs—simple! We baked chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on) with bbq sauce on them until they were cooked. Then we drained them (vital as they are oily), and grilled them with bbq sauce added again at the time of grilling.
- Loaded Baked Potatoes—Simple for two! We baked a few potatoes, opened them, and loaded them with shredded cheese and bacon. (We didn’t add sour cream since they would be reheated.)
- Soft beef tacos—we made taco meat and added all of the trimmings for them to have on hand.
- Parsleyed Potatoes—boiled (in that cute little sauce pan!) red potatoes that we cleaned and cut ribbons of peeling off the middle, then tossed hot potatoes with butter and parlsey. (This was for a non-freezer meal that they would eat within a day or two. I have never frozen this.)
- Sloppy joes—one of my favorite freezer entrees! Check out the entire recipe (for a crowd) at my blog www.homeschoolblogger.com/relationalhomeschool/586106/
- Mashed Potatoes—again, we used that darling little saucepan and ended up with two meals of mashed potatoes for two adults (and a two year old)! Amazing!! I have started freezing mashed potatoes (experimenting, anyway). When I began freezer cooking eighteen years ago this summer, there were lists of taboo items—potatoes (except twice baked and dishes using hash browns), mayo, Miracle Whip, sour cream, noodles (except lasagna), spaghetti, etc. etc. I did some trial and error back then and did find that when I made stew with potatoes and carrots already in it or veggie soup with potatoes, the potatoes would disintegrate. To this day, I freeze both of those as “starters”—all of the beef, gravy, and seasonings for stew and some juice, beef, and seasonings for the soup. However, the 30 Day Gourmet (www.30daygourmet.com/) has convinced me to try some formerly-taboo frozen foods, so I am experimenting again. Haven’t quite perfected this mashed potato thing, but you can check out what we’re trying now at my www.homeschoolblogger.com/relationalhomeschool/586108/
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Posted by Julie