Meal time!

I was sitting her sipping on a cup of hot cocoa, and thinking about how I really love to cook.

Husband was given this cute mug as a "thank you" from the previous Secretary of State. (See husband in question lounging in the background =])

Yes, I love to cook. Or, rather, I love the idea of cooking. I'm a fairly adventurous eater. I come from a family of "foodies" and I like to try new things. However, I hate the mess I make when I cook a big meal. Not to mention, by the time I get home from work at 5:15-ish I'm ready to EAT, not spend 2 hours slaving over a hot stove.

SO since I've gotten married, I've been on the hunt for tasty home cooked meals that can be put together and ready in a jiffy. I've found a few that have become staples for us and I'm always looking for more.

I thought I would share some of my favorites. I won't be including pictures, because, let's face it, non-professional food pictures just end up looking really gross! Just take it from me and my not so food-venturous husband, these dishes are super and SUPER SIMPLE!

We'll start with what I fixed tonight.

Baked Chicken (simple enough, right?)
I found this recipe on a Bisquick box, and boy am I glad I gave it a try. It's my go-to when I can't think of what to fix.

Ingredients:
1 tbs butter or margarine
2/3 cup baking mix (I usually have Kroger baking mix on hand at all times)
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cut up whole chicken (I use boneless chicken breasts or tenders instead. Never tried the whole chicken)

Step 1: Heat oven to 425°F. Melt butter in rectangular baking dish.
Step 2: Stir together baking mix, paprika, salt and pepper; coat chicken. Place in dish (dish and butter should be hot). 
Step 3: Bake 35 minutes; turn chicken. Bake about 15 minutes longer or until juice is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

I love how versatile this recipe is. There are only 2 of use so it wouldn't make sense to make a whole chicken, but I like to make the mix, coat a couple of tenders and then store the rest of the mix in an air-tight container for later. 

I served this up with some fried potatoes and green beans. Yum!


Chicken Pot Pie (I made this yesterday. We really like chicken)
This is a recipe I learned from my momma. It's SUPER easy and quick, and you can even freeze it, uncooked, to be saved for later! That's great because pretty much all pie crusts come in packages of 2.


Ingredients:
1 can mixed vegetables (I prefer Veg-All. Mainly, because that's what momma used. She thought it had the most equal parts of all veggies)
1 can cream of chicken soup
I can chicken chunks or 1 1/2-ish cups of fresh chopped chicken (Of course, it's best with fresh chicken, but canned chicken is so convenient!)
1 pre-made deep dish pie crust (found in the freezer section)
1 flat pie crust (these come rolled up and are found in the refrigerated section with the canned biscuits)


Step 1: Preheat oven to 350-ish.
Step 2: Mix all your cans together. If you used fresh chicken, throw that in there too.
Step 3: Pour mixture into deep dish pie crust. Cover with flat pie crust and trim off any over-hang. Make sure to pinch the crust down around the edges to seal it. Also, don't forget to cut a slit in the top to vent. (Husband always asks me why I don't cut a fancy design =])
Step 4: Bake until it looks right. I check on mine every 15 minutes or so. Your chicken is already cooked so you don't have to worry about that cooking through. You're basically just waiting for your crust to brown and the inside to be all hot a bubbly.


This is not an exact science (as you can tell by all the "-ish's"). Find the mix that tastes best to you!


Crock-pot Roast (A departure from chicken)
I have this on the menu for tomorrow. You can use any cut of meat, really. I'm using a pork tenderloin that I picked up this week.

Ingredients:
Meat of choice
1 bottle barbecue sauce 

Put the meat in the crock-pot and cover with barbecue sauce.  Cover. Turn crock-pot on low. I turn mine on before I leave in the morning and try to remember to tell my husband to turn it off when he get's home from work. That usually ends up being about 7 1/2-8 hours. 

One Dish Chicken and Rice Bake (more chicken!) 
One dish...need I say more?! Thanks to Campbell's Kitchen for this gem.


Ingredients:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (does anyone actual weight their chicken?)

Step 1: Stir the soup, water, rice, paprika and black pepper in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with the chicken. Season with additional paprika and black pepper. Cover the baking dish.

Step 2: Bake at 375°F. for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.

I love that these recipes offer me home cooked food while not devoting my entire evening to cooking, and I'm always looking for new things to try. Do you have some tasty go-to dishes? Let me know! I'm trying to beef up my cook book before there is more than just the 2 of us to cook for!