I decided to do a week's view of what I cooked up and see how it went. Honestly, it is much easier for me to update daily since I am not really following a recipe and end up putting my own touch what I am making and tend to forget what I did a week later. Regardless, here are some great fall recipes and new ones at that! Enjoy and happy cooking!
On Monday Night: I had some leftovers and made a taco salad since my husband had class until 9:00pm. It is a difficult night to make dinner since I have to eat alone or wait until he gets home.
Tuesday Night's Menu: Salmon, Rice, and Avocado/Orange Salsa.
I have made this salmon recipe before in previous posts, but what I really want to focus on is the Avocado/Orange Salsa. This is one of the best salsa recipes that I have ever made and that takes a lot for me to say since I cook a lot. You have to make this recipe and all of the ingredients are currently in season and were on sale at my local grocery store.
Avocado-Orange Salsa
1 large orange, cut into segments
1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced
2 Tablespoons of red onion, diced
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 2 limes
1 small jalapeno chili, stemmed, seeded, and chopped finely
Sprinkle of salt
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until juice of limes have been incorporated. This salsa is great cold so if you are not needing to eat right away, put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Baked Salmon:
Full Meal:
Wednesday Night's Menu:
Wednesday was a very rainy and cold day, which was perfect for a roast in the crockpot. I found a chuck roast at the grocery store that was the perfect size for just two and some leftovers. This is the perfect comfort meal for a cold night.
Chuck Roast:
1 pd. chuck roast
Carrots
Celery
Beef Broth
Place chuck roast in a crockpot on high for about 1 hour with beef broth (enough to fill crockpot about halfway). Turn to low and let cook for a good 6-7 hours or until meat is cooked through. Roast carrots and celery in the oven for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees. I drizzled with a little olive oil and salt/pepper before placing in the oven. I also combined them in the crockpot towards the end just to obtain some of the beef flavoring.
I made egg noodles to let the meal sit on and collect all of the beef juices. Amazing!
Chuck Roast:
Egg Noodles:
Full Meal:
On Thursday night, I had a hair appointment and did not get back until about 8:00pm and my husband went to Bible Study so we both had something small that evening.
Friday Night's Menu:
If you have never made cornish hens, you have got to make them. They are so easy and taste like perfection after baking. As a side, I ventured out and made something a little more complex-Butternut Squash Orzo. Enjoy!
Cornish Hens:
2 small Cornish Hens (The ones I purchased were about $4 per cornish hen)
Olive Oil
1 lemon, cut in 4 segments (leave skin on)
Rosemary
Salt & Pepper
Chicken Stock
In a dutch oven, cover the bottom with chicken stock. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a cutting board, take out the cornish hen innards (just like a chicken) and throw out. Stuff each hen with 2 lemon segments. Once both hens are stuffed, place in dutch oven, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary. Cover dutch oven and cook in the oven for 1-1 1/2 hours or until the hen juice runs clear (again, just like cooking a chicken).
Butternut Squash Orzo:
1 butternut squash, seeded and cut in 1/2
1/4 cup white onion, diced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 box orzo
2 Tablespoons butter
Salt & Pepper
In a 9x13 baking dish, cover bottom with water and place your seeded and cut butternut squash in the microwave on high power for 10-12 minutes (or until softened). Scoop out squash for both halves, place in a bowl and throw out skin.
In a non-stick skillet, drizzle with olive oil and cook squash until browned (This will take about 15 minutes). Once browned, place in a small bowl. In the same skillet, cook butter, salt/pepper and onion until onion becomes translucent. Once this happens, add chicken stock, water, and orzo. Cook until orzo is cooked through (about 10 minutes). At the end add squash to the skillet and combine with orzo. The squash will start to melt into the orzo mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Cornish Hens:
Butternut Squash:
Saturday Night's Menu:
My husband and I love pizza, especially with lots of fresh veggies. We decided to make a completely homemade pizza for us last night and it turned out pretty well! I will tell you that it is 10 times easier to buy Pillsbury pizza crust in the store than making this dough recipe so if you are pressed for time, this is not the recipe for you.
Homemade Pizza Dough:
I used the recipe that can be found at this link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/quick-and-easy-pizza-crust/detail.aspx
*The only thing I did differently was I used regular flour instead of bread flour. They can be substituted for each other, but bread flour is the best if you have it in your house.
This is the dough in a bowl that I greased with olive oil so that the dough did not stick after rising.
Ingredients for our pizza included:
1 jar of roasted red pepper marinara sauce
1 green pepper, cut in rings
1/2 red onion, cut in rings
1 cup of green spinach
1 bag of mozzarella cheese
1 red slicing tomato, cut in slices
All cooked and ready to eat!
