Kitchen Creativity

A much warmer (46 degrees), sunny day than we've had for awhile. I'm enjoying the sunshine. Hubby even ventured out today to find the car wash, with no luck. Both automatic car washes in town are broken. And it was still a little too cool to get splashed washing the car with the wand thingy. We're taking a shopping trip out of town Thursday, so we'll try to wash it then.

Hubby asked me mid-morning what we were having for lunch and actually cheered when I told him it would be leftovers. What a supportive guy he is! I made chicken and dumplings for lunch yesterday that turned out really yummy (it was a new recipe), and we finished it up today. While we were eating, he commented that he hoped this recipe became part of our regular routine.

I am really enjoying being home fulltime and having the time to cook. I cooked while we were working, but it was quick easy meals. With our staggered schedules, there wasn't all that much time between my getting off work at 5 and time for us to head to bed before that early morning alarm clock. So, like so many busy families, quick and easy had to be enough. I enjoyed being able to cook on the weekends, depending on how busy our schedule was.

Late last week I was planning on doing a pork roast for lunch the next day. I knew I would need to get it started about the same time I was having breakfast in order to get it cooked through. I made a comment to hubby to please help me remember to get it started. Good thing one of us was thinking! He asked why I didn't just bake it then (the afternoon before I'd planned on serving it) and just warm it up for lunch. Genius! I had the time to relax and enjoy the prep work, then we had a wonderful aroma in the house for four hours.

Tomorrow I'm going to figure out a chicken pot pie for lunch. I know what I want to include, but I'm pretty much going to make it up as I go along.....maybe basing some of the herbs off what worked so well in the chicken and dumplings. I have some potatoes and carrots, so I can cut them up in small cubes and use them. There's some diced celery in the freezer that will work well. I had a package of three chicken breasts; two of the three went into the dumplings, the other one will be cut up in bite-sized pieces for the pot pie.

I get frustrated with people who think they can't prepare healthy food on a small budget. If you take your time shopping, watching carefully where you shop as well as what's on special, it can be done. Hit the less expensive stores like Aldi's. Utilize your local food pantry if there is one. Check out the dollar stores. Watch the sales and in-store specials. Stock up on canned or frozen vegetables when they're on sale. Use your imagination. Invest a gallon or two of gas to drive a bit for good grocery deals. Realize that, if you insist on pasta, whole wheat pasta isn't much more expensive than regular pasta......and serve it mixed in with fresh veggies sauteed in a little olive oil instead of heavy spaghetti sauce. Roast your fresh veggies for a yummy taste treat.

I've been trying to stock up my pantry staples in the past couple of months. In cooking those quick meals, I'd used up things like herbs and spices without replacing them. Because I was no longer baking cookies for the kids, I'd let myself run out of baking soda and baking powder. I have those staples again and am finding myself pleasantly surprised at all the things I can concoct for us now.

One of my next projects is re-learning bread baking. I feel the urge to be able to make us a decent loaf of bread in case we run out between trips to the not-so-expensive grocery store. Wish me luck!