Do you have a "repertoire" of meals you cook for your family?

[Anonymous]

Agree with the Pp on the chicken breasts. I freeze them individually now since DH and I usually split one, with 10 month old DS having a few nibbles of mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people eat so much chicken?
Signed, not a vegetarian.

Low fat, easy, tasty? Get mine from an Amish farm. We eat a lot of beef too, from my family farm. I like food I can visit while it is alive.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I certainly have a repertoire of meals. I don't plan ahead of time...its more like at 5 I open the fridge and say, hmmm...we have frozen ground beef and a few tomatoes, guess its Chili night! So here is my short list:

Chili
omelette/scrambled eggs
stir fry
sausage and white beans
"chicken nuggets" (pan fried chicken breast pieces) and roasted potatoes
pasta and meatballs
"tapas" night - gather all the bits and pieces of left overs, nuke 'em, and put them on the table and everyone chooses a bit of whatever they like

With all the meals the veggies and protein can vary by what I have on hand, aside from the sausage and white beans. But that one is a family favorite so I make it every couple of weeks. Its fabulous paired with kale chips.

[Anonymous]

don't leave us hanging, pp please post your sausage and white bean recipe!

[Anonymous]

Hamburgers and pasta on alternating evenings. Bad - right?? Ah well - it works for us when we're not eating pizza and Chinese.

[Anonymous]

I have a picky eater, so I've been showing photos from my cooking magazines to him every month or so to get some ideas of what he may actually eat, and I keep a list of those to try every week or two so I can add more dishes to my dinner repertoire.

I also adjust seasonally - I only do pasta, chili, soups, etc. in colder months. Which does make warmer months more of a challenge since DC is not a big fan of salads, veggies, or grain salads. But momma needs to be happy too!

[Anonymous]

The sausage and white bean is really easy. I tried to rip off the dish from Jaleo, but I have never been able to replicate it. So take some cooked white beans (I always soak and cook, but I'm sure canned would be great) and toss them in a hot pan with some olive oil. Let them sit there and sizzle and get a little brown - don't keep them moving. When they have some crunchy brown bits they are ready, and you can toss in some lemon juice, salt, and pepper and a little more high quality olive oil on top. Meanwhile, cook some sausages, whatever kind you like, either on the stove top or roasted. Serve the sausages on top of a pile of beans. Another fav with the sausages: roast them in the oven for 45 min at 375 on top of a bed of tomatoes, garlic, and some onions with some olive oil. It makes a lovely one dish, no mess meal, or serve it on rice or pasta.

[Anonymous]

PP again - on the white beans, if it seems bland to you toss some parmesean with the beans just before they are done, before adding the lemon juice. And I've made them when I had no lemons and just left out the juice...but I like white beans pretty much any way.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I am now totally thinking of my white beans...I'm dieting and am starving. If you use dried beans, after soaking them cook them with a few sprigs of rosemary in the cooking water before going on the the next steps. So yummy. I make the whole 1 pound bag, and then I have extra cooked white beans to toss in salads to take to work for lunch, etc.

[Anonymous]

^^ I do your beans and sausage thing too. stolen from Jaleo. Never tried lemon juice-great idea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spaghetti
Pesto chicken with sun dried tomatoes
White Enchiladas
Meatloaf
Baked ziti
Tacos
Fajitas (usually chicken)
Chicken dill orzo
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Chili
Chorizo stew
Lentils and sausage
Grilled flank steak

We usually do take out at least once during the week, and we never cook on Friday or Saturday nights.

Made this today, PP. It was great and ridiculously easy! Definitely adding it to the rotation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The sausage and white bean is really easy. I tried to rip off the dish from Jaleo, but I have never been able to replicate it. So take some cooked white beans (I always soak and cook, but I'm sure canned would be great) and toss them in a hot pan with some olive oil. Let them sit there and sizzle and get a little brown - don't keep them moving. When they have some crunchy brown bits they are ready, and you can toss in some lemon juice, salt, and pepper and a little more high quality olive oil on top. Meanwhile, cook some sausages, whatever kind you like, either on the stove top or roasted. Serve the sausages on top of a pile of beans. Another fav with the sausages: roast them in the oven for 45 min at 375 on top of a bed of tomatoes, garlic, and some onions with some olive oil. It makes a lovely one dish, no mess meal, or serve it on rice or pasta.

Mmmm, this sounds delicious. Do you ever cook the beans in the sausage fat? Never roasted a sausage before, will have to try that!

[Anonymous]

PP, oh yes, I've cooked the beans in sausage fat. Its good! The other variation that my family really likes is to make it with bacon rather than sausage - cook the bacon in the till really crispy, put it aside, leave some bacon fat in the pan, cook the beans in it, then crumble the bacon over the beans.

We've been trying to eat more beans, and pork fat seems to be the key.

[Anonymous]

Pork fat is the key to everything.

[Anonymous]

love this once a week or so, so easy

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chicken-with-white-beans-and-tomatoes-00000000049733/index.html