Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Meal ideas?

We need some new ideas for dinners around here. I went looking online and there's just so much to weed through...if any of you have good ideas for meals, your own favorites, whatever, please tell me about them!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holly made an easy Indian dish the last day I was there, and I really liked it. Holly, you should tell me how to make that!
Have you ever had Chicken Chimichangas? You shred cooked chicken, add a little shredded cheese, cumin and chili powder, and some canned chilies; put about two tablespoons on a flour tortilla, fold up like a burrito, brush with water and bake at 400 for 12-15 min, or until golden.

Isaiah Eyre said...

Heheheh....you said "weed".

Lynne' said...

Have you made French Onion soup before? I think I've perfected the recipe (for our taste anyway) And it's not expensive to do! Just lots of onions, beef broth, some red wine (I used Merlot) some butter, hard French or baguette bread, and some Monterey Jack or other white cheese (like swiss) to melt over it all. The main thing is to slowly cook the thinly sliced onions in butter (and some salt and pepper to taste) for quite a while. Add the beef broth (and sometimes add beef if you want to!) cook that together and then just add a small douche of the wine right before putting it in the bowls with the bread and cheese to broil in the oven.

Ahh.. so tasty. I've tried different kinds of bread and different kinds of wine and so forth and the Merlot worked really well.. anyway.. this is all just rambling if you've made french onion soup all the time and it's not new!

I don't have any other dinner type things that would be helpful except that I discovered a "secret" ingredient in chili. It was serendipitous. :)

OH! I also have a ton of cooking magazines though that I need to pass on to someone if you want them!

Ryan said...

You have probably done this. Anyway, you soak chicken breast in a really good Italian dressing (like garlic and cheese.) for a few hours. I use the whole bottle.Then you just throw the whole pan with the dressing in the oven and bake it.
Ryan loves this!!!! I think he likes it more then I do . It makes the chicken really moist and we usually make a flavored rice with it. Actually, this is the only way I can get Ryan to eat meat that isn't in something.

Holly said...

Hilary, how do you expect me to remember what I made the last day you were here??? I'm pregnant, remember?

Oooooh! I think I do! It must be a miracle. :)

Really simple, but really yummy! Heat a couple TBS of olive oil in a skillet until very hot. Add a couple of onions, thinly sliced (how many really depends on how much you like onions, but even though two sounds like a lot, it isn't really). Cook for 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and set aside. Add a TBS of olive oil (or more if you think it needs it). Add boneless skinless chicken, cut up, and cook about 10 minutes or until cooked through. Add onions and 1/4-1/2 cup of water and cook until saucy. Serve over pasta (I've done homemade noodles, spaghetti and angel hair. Just not all on the same day). You can substitute butter for half of the olive oil if you wish, I've never done this though.

And in regards to Hilary's recipe, I've discovered that instead of brushing the tortillas with water, it's easier just to turn the faucet to barely on and just dampen the one side of the tortilla before you fill it. I haven't tried it with homemade tortillas though.

I'm not very good with new ideas right now since I've been trying to keep Bryan in The Zone (Dr. Sears' diet), which makes branching out tricky.

Soups, split pea? I've got a great recipe for that. Also a lovely lentil stew (with hamburger).

Anonymous said...

That recipe you gave was the one you made when Nana came 'round for dinner. The one I was talking about was an 'Indian' dish which you served over cous cous. It had a red spice in it; paprika, perhaps?

Holly said...

Haha! Don't tell! It was seasonings from a packet! (Butter Chicken).

Anonymous said...

Are you still interested in meal ideas? I tried a new recipe for lunch today and it was Yummy! Here it is:

TACO CHICKEN NACHOS

2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 8 oz)
4 1/2 tsp. taco seasoning mix
1 tsp. olive oil
3/4 cup sour cream
1 can (4 oz) chopped mild green chilies, drained
1/4 cup minced onion
tortilla chips
1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
chopped tomato
sliced olives
chopped fresh cilantro(optional)

1. Put chicken in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, covered, for 10-20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove from saucepan; cool. Chop chicken.

2. Combine taco seasoning mix and oil in small bowl; mix until smooth paste forms. Stir in sour cream. Add chicken, green chilies and onion; mix lightly.

3. Preheat broiler. Arrange tortilla chips on small ovenproof plates or large platter; cover chips with chicken mixture and cheese. Broil, 4 inches from heat, 2 to 3 minutes or until chicken mixture is hot and cheese is melted. Sprinkle evenly with tomato, olives and cilantro, if desired. Serve hot.

(Since it's a pain to broil anything in our gas oven, I chose to heat up in the oven, on bake, the approximate amount of tortilla chips I thought we would use. We then put chips, chicken mixture and the cheese on individual plates and microwaved each just until the cheese melted. The tomatoes and olives were in serving dishes on the table).

Enjoy!