Cooking with the Fat Guy...

If you know me or have been reading a while, you will know that I like to cook. I like to eat also, but I discovered while I was in college that I really like to cook. I credit a guy named Billy Smith in Ruston, LA. My first 2 years of college were at Louisiana Tech. The local church paired up college students that were away from home with a local family to hang out with and be a sort of local support base. Billy and Kellie were my "adopted" parents. They were both great cooks, but Billy's style seemed to work well with me. Throw it in the pot and see what happens. A laid back approach to making stuff that just tastes good, but is not overly fancy.

To be honest, not everything works. Some things are easier than others. Some things I like to cook take a while, and some can be slapped together in a few minutes. Since Shelly and I both work full time and have 2 kids (4 & almost 6 months), weeknight meals are quick, mainly one pot or one pan affairs, made with simple ingredients, with an easy side dish thrown together. Most take less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Rachel Ray has nothing on me...

Since I've been asked a few times, I figured I'd put a few recipes and quick tips together in blog format. I'll put a tag at the bottom so this post can be referred back to later. Unfortunately, most of the recipes don't have names as I've made them up.

Basics: We seem to use sweet (yellow) onions, green onions, and bell peppers often. Chopping these things is sort of a pain in the butt and takes a few minutes. I usually chop up 4 or 5 onions at a time and put them zip-loc freezer bags. Then you just pull out the bag and break a few out for whatever you are cooking. Same thing for green onions and bell peppers. We don't like green bell peppers, so we mix red / yellow / orange together.

A tip on chicken breasts. I can't take credit for this one, but it is the starting point for most chicken dishes. I think it is sort of making chicken cutlets, so in recipes below, this is what I'm talking about when I mention chicken cutlets... Take each boneless chicken breast and trim the excess fatty stuff off of it. Put it in a zip-loc bag and pound the big end of the breast to about the same thickness as the rest of the breast. I then cut each breast into 2 or 3 pieces to make them a manageable size. I find that this almost doubles the surface area of the breast, allowing for more seasonings / coatings, and it also helps it to cook faster.

Easy chicken recipe 1: Take 2 or 3 breasts worth of cutlets, coat lightly with either ranch dressing or honey mustard dressing, then coat with Italian style bread crumbs. Put a little cooking spray on a foil lined baking sheet, spread out the chicken, and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so. This is similar to Shake & Bake, but with a twist. Change it up a little bit and use corn flakes, crushed up Chex cereal, different dressings, etc. If you decide to use either Frosted Flakes or Fruity Pebbles, let me know how it turns out.

More Chicken: mix some Italian bread crumbs and some shredded Parmesan cheese (maybe a half cup of each? - I don't measure) and some salt & pepper in a zip-loc. Moisten 2 or 3 breasts worth of cutlets and toss in the bag to coat. Heat some olive oil in a skillet(not too much, just enough to coat the bottom enough to cook the chicken) and pan fry until browned. You can also bake this as above if you wanted to.

More Chicken (Shelly really likes this one): Cube about 3 chicken breasts. Brown in a little olive oil in a large non-stick high-sided skillet (with a lid). I sometimes add a little onion and bell pepper (see above). Once it is about cooked, add a little Marsala wine (or any wine), a package of fresh, sliced mushrooms, and a can of diced tomatoes (don't drain), mix up, put the lid on, and let it go for a few minutes. When everything else is about done, break up some angel hair pasta and lay it over the top of everything else and cover with the lid. After steaming for about 5 minutes, stir it all up and cover it for another 5 minutes until it is done.

Beef Enchiladas: Brown a pound of ground meat with some chopped onion and drain (use extra lean meat and you don't have to drain). Add about 3/4 cup (1/2 a can?) of enchilada sauce and 1 cup of grated cheese. Spoon onto flour tortillas, roll the tortillas and place them into a greased 9x13 baking dish (I usually get 8-10, depending on how full I get them). Cover with the remaining enchilada sauce and another cup of cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 350. A can of pinto beans and some chips and you are in business.

Taco Soup: Brown 2 pounds of meat with a chopped up onion and some salt & pepper (chili meat is great for this). Add a package of taco seasoning, a package of dry ranch dressing mix, a couple of cans of beans (I use pinto & black beans), a package of frozen corn kernels, and 2 cans of tomatoes (diced, stewed, it doesn't matter), and 1.5-2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover & simmer. Like all soups, it tastes good on day 1, better on day 2.

Pasta... We keep several packages of the Buitoni pasta in our freezer. This is the tortellini and raviolli that is in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Simmer a jar of spaghetti sauce while the pasta is boiling, and you literally have a 15 minute dinner. We prefer the Bertolli sauces, specifically either the Vodka Sauce or the Fire Roasted Tomato w/ Cabernet Sauvignon

These are just a few of the things in regular rotation for dinners at our house. They aren't necessarily low fat, but I'm sure you could adjust to make them healthier if you wanted to. Cooking is fun, so don't get too caught up with the recipe. Throw it in a pan or pot and see what happens. If it sucks, pull out a frozen pizza and laugh about how terrible it is. If it works, write it on a note card and put it in your recipe box (what I usually do). When I make it again, I usually change it a little. Sometimes it is better, sometimes I mess it up.

If you have anything good you wouldn't mind passing along, drop me a line and share with me.