Outdoor kitchen

Well - I wrote this post in July and am just now realizing it is still a draft - I never posted it! Oops! Well, I think it is still worth posting so here's something for you to think about for next summer...

Too hot to cook? Move your kitchen outside! Here is my set-up...

The "frame" I got from the Sears catalog (yes, we still have that in Canada - grin!) - the camping section. I am sure you can get something similar elsewhere - depends what you want to spend. I think mine was about $100 Canadian - but don't quote me!

Microwave on the bottom, single electric burner and Hamilton Beach grill (in an earlier post I referred to it as my mini George Foreman grill, but it isn't!). Keep everything else clear for your work surfaces. I was in Wal-Mart the other day and saw several nice grills similar to mine - and they have single AND double electric burner units too! My husband laughs at my grills (I have a few different sizes, but this little one is one of my favorites). I am just not one of those huge gas grill fans - the small electric ones suit me just fine. They are fairly easy to clean if you spray them liberally with cooking spray. AND - they grill the top and bottom of the food at the same time so you don't have to bother with turning food as it cooks. What's not to like? Oh - and the fat runs off into a little drip pan - it has to be healthy, right?

If you scroll through some of my recent posts - you will see that for almost every dinner used 1 microwave, 1 electric burner and 1 grill. Gee, I wonder why! It's hot - so don't make your house hotter by cooking inside - move it outdoors!

One note: the electric burner I have is fine for a small sauce pan. When I boil corn - I use my real stove inside so I can use a big pan. Remember - I have a 3 year old running around so you never can be too safe...

Before my son was born my DH and I had a weekend in Newport, RI. We toured a few of the "summer cottages" (more like mansions) while there - these are old(? - maybe late 1800's or 1920's - I am soooo bad at details) summer estates of the rich which now offer tours. Anyway - these old houses had the most amazing summer kitchens. First - the heat - of course. Think about this - baking loaves of bread, cookies, cakes, pies, roasts - these people used their ovens all day long, except they weren't nice, insulated ovens. Oh no - they had huge cast iron wood stoves. Hot, hot, hot. So - the kitchens were removed from the main house. Another reason was to keep the kitchen away from the house in case there was a fire. I grew up in an antique house and it too had a summer kitchen. So, maybe in my very small scale, I am just following in the footsteps of those before. Why re-invent the wheel? It worked then, it works now!

Shrimp stir-fry

You might not be able to see it - but there IS a fair amount of shrimp in this stir-fry.

1st - Minute Rice. I am a HUGE fan of jasmine rice, but I was in a rush tonight and a 5 minute rice was sounding pretty good to me. I put the rice on and then fiddled around with the stir-fry and when that was done, so was the rice.

2nd - take a big handful of frozen, pre-cooked shrimp out of the freezer and put that in the strainer under running cold water to defrost. I love healthy convenience foods and this shrimp rates pretty high with me - it is also great on top of green salads... Maybe I do pay a little more for my food, but consider this - it is always cheaper than 1 pre-made frozen dinner and I get alot more usage out of my purchase!

3rd - I put some frozen stir-fry mixed vegetables in a bowl with some freshly chopped mushrooms and a handful of fresh bean sprouts - added about 2 tsp. of water, put saran wrap on top and microwaved them for 1 1/2 minute (this is a single portion - so if you are making more - microwave longer!).

4th - Heat stir-fry oil (or any oil for that matter, but I like flavored stir-fry oils) in my frying pan. Add the shrimp, a handful of unsalted peanuts and the left-over vegetables (green beans and onions) from the other night. After about 2 minutes - to get the shrimp warm - I added the other veggies that I already microwaved. Stir in some Hoison sauce and vegetable stir fry sauce to taste - hoison sauce tends to be sweet, so just a bit. If you aren't used to cooking with sauces - experiment, add slowly and taste as you go along. You can make your dish saltier by adding a bit of soy sauce. Or - a nice citrus flavor is a bit of orange juice. Play! Stir it all together and let simmer for about 1 minute.

All done and pretty tasty considering that it took me all of about 10 minutes total to make!

A side note - I go grocery shopping 2X a week. I usually shop for small portions and don't mind asking the butcher to break down big packages of meat into 1 portion. Also, when I buy mushrooms - I will buy just 6 or so at a time and bean sprouts - just a tiny handful. If you want ginger, you can break a bud off the entire stalk. Buying just a little tiny bit adds so much fresh flavor to your cooking and really only costs about twenty-five cents! However, there are some things that you can't just buy one piece of - like celery - so that is where the pre-packaged frozen veggie mixes come in very handy! I just add my fresh stuff into the mix. Shopping 2X a week is faster for me, gives me time to think about what I want to cook and what I need, and also, I feel that my veggies are fresher! By mid-week I am a bit tired of whatever veggie I got earlier in the week so it's nice to go back to the store for more variety!

Oh! And I am not always in a rush - it is just that my son and I have had lessons all this week and don't get home until 6 pm, which is very late to start dinner, considering we usually eat at 5:30 and he goes to bed at 8. I've been giving him a peanut butter sandwich and apple juice at 4:30 to tide him over!

Tuna tips for hot weather

Tuna sandwich for lunch today... and my big tuna tip for hot weather is to keep a few cans of tuna in the fridge. Usually when you make up tuna you want to eat it right away - so if you keep it in the fridge it is already nice and chilled.

I usually don't have time to chop a bunch of stuff for my tuna - so here is what I do - I use 2 heaping teaspoons of mayo and 1 heaping teaspoon of relish. Toast my bread and spread it with dijon mustard mixed with mayo. Add a slice of American cheese.

And, I am not a huge fan of potatoe chips, but I do like tostido chips with salsa. Last, but not least, I love a dill pickle spear on the side!

Pork Chops

Thin boneless pork chops always make a nice, jiffy meal! Let's see - start the rice 1st - it takes 20 minutes (a mushroom flavored mix). Then, set the pan to boil for the corn. Pre-heat the grill for 5 minutes. Put your corn in to cook (I cook mine for about 8 minutes) and grill your pork chop for a little less time. Rice should be done now. Ta-da - Dinner!

When I put the porkchop on the grill I like to put terraki sauce on it. Mmmm. Oh sure, it is nice to read all these recipes with home-made sauces and marinades, but let's be realistic here... chances are I am missing 1/2 the ingredients, don't have time to "make" a recipe, might buy the ingredients - but then loose the recipes... Ummm - my fridge is full of all kinds of wonderful sauces, glazes, marinades, etc. They come in all kinds of different flavors and take all of 2 seconds to put on your cooking food. Low stress cooking at its finest - and it tastes good too!



















An added bonus - my son's dinner is done at the same time too. I boiled his hot dog in the same pan as the corn. One less pan to clean, right? He loves corn on the cob - I think he ate every single kernal of corn off his cob!

Chicken Salad Lunch

Remember that grilled chicken I had 2 nights ago for dinner? Well, I made the left-overs into this yummy salad this morning. Here is a photo (before I doused it with ranch salad dressing). Anyway, it has been so hot I decided to make a cool lunch early in the day before the heat got to me. It was so nice to just open the fridge at lunch time and have this waiting! I make lots of salads and use what I have on hand - avacado and sliced hard boiled eggs are 2 other favorite things to add to a salad.

Cantelope - I ALWAYS cut it as soon as I bring it home from the store. I cube most of it and then slice a few garnish pieces for my own meals. I cube for my 3 year old son who just loves it! And, if it is all cubed and sliced - I use it! Otherwise it is destined for the trash bin because - I don't use it.

Sausage dinner

I suppose if you see the fish plate - I am eating alone. Just because you are eating alone doesn't mean that you shouldn't take the time to fix yourself a nice meal. This one only took 15 minutes - start to finish!

1. Preheat my grill. While that is pre-heating, chop my green beans, green pepper and onion. My plate would have had a bit more color if I had used my orange pepper instead, but the green one is older, so I want to use it up!

2. Slice the sausage open (mine were honey/garlic), brush the cut side with brown sugar bar-b-que sauce and put it on the grill. At the same time, put the onion and green pepper in the frying pan, in some butter (I cook with lots of butter) and put the cover on it - medium-low heat.

3. After about 2 minutes, stir the veggies, add more butter if needed and add the chopped green beans. Put the cover back on and keep cooking for about another 7 minutes - less if you like your green beans super crispy, but I like mine cooked a bit. That means your veggies have been cooking for about 9 minutes, so your sausage should be done too.

4. Left over noodles from last night - while the other stuff is cooking I mixed in a little milk and butter and put this in the microwave (with a cover) for about 2 minutes.

Everything is done! I spoon the extra butter from the frying pan over my veggies. Also, I have a little grill where the cover closes on top of the food (so the food has grill contact on top and bottom), so I don't need to turn my food. I made a double batch of veggies so I will have those left-over to start my meal with for tomorrow.

My poor green beans!

Green beans looked soooo good at the grocery store today that I picked some up. And, later today, while leafing through Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious issue, I came across a recipe for the green beans, summer squash and cherry tomatoes - well, I used zuchinni instead. Anyway, I am sure the directions are just fine if you are cooking 1 lb of beans, as indicated... but I was just cooking for myself tonight so used a handful and then still went right ahead and steamed the poor things in the microwave for 5 minutes, plus 2 more minutes, plus 30 seconds (5 for the beans, 2 once I added the squash and a final 30 seconds for the tomatoes). And, my poor beans sort-ov shriveled up on me. Oh well, the squash was still good. And, I will try the recipe again, but will remember to adjust the cooking time for a smaller portion (and skip nuking the tomatoes! When I cook for myself I use 1/3 of the squash - it is a good portion for me.

I also grilled a piece of chicken breast on my mini George Foreman grill using honey/garlic bar-b-que sauce. After pre-heating the grill for 5 minutes, it only takes 8 minutes to grill. I eat 1/2 of the chicken, but like having cooked chicken for left-overs for something fast tomorrow. I will have to remember to blog about this little grill later this week.

And, I used a pre-packaged mix for the sour cream/chive noodles.

All in all, not a bad dinner - and on the table within 1/2 an hour from starting!

My fish plate - got to remember to photo FISH on that thing! It is my favorite set of summer dishes (they are plastic) and I use them all the time (unless DH is eating with me because he prefers a "real" plate!).

Update - tonight's finished meal

So, this is what our meal looked like tonight when all was said and done. I tried to add a photo to my last post, but Blogger isn't accepting photos so I will just Picasa it! Ha, just got to outsmart the computer every now and then. And, it tasted every bit as good as it looks! DH and I shared 3 pieces of fish - we each got 1 1/2 piece. He likes a bit of cheese sprinkled on his about 5 minutes before it is finished being baked (the cheese does keep the fish moist, but I usually just like my fish plain with a chutney on the side). 

Summer Veggies

One thing I love about summer is Summer Veggies! I often will prep my veggies early in the morning before I am too tired to be bothered.

Tonight we are having a zuchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and sweet onions. I know that square dish looks likes lots of veggies, but they cook down! The 2nd vegetable will be marinated aspergus.

So, for the 1st veggie dish I just chop everything up and throw it in this square tupperware bowl I have, put the cover on it and put in the fridge. About 9-10 minutes before dinner tonight I will saute the onions in a good amount of butter (a few tablespoons) and once they start getting soft, will add the zucchini (add more butter now if you think it is needed). Let that cook for a few minutes and then add about 2-3 tablespoons of vegetarian mushroom flavored stir fry sauce and the mushrooms until they just start to get soft. Finally, toss the tomatoes in for the last minute. I use just a little stir fry sauce, but not too much - I want to taste the veggies! Altogether, it will be done in about 8 minutes. I do these in a non-stick frying pan that has a big cover - I keep it covered as I cook.

The 2nd veggie we are having tonight is aspergus. I put the aspergus in a ziplock freezer bag with balsamic vinegrette salad dressing and put that in the fridge for the day to marinate. I will grill the aspergus on the grill for about 7 minutes (you need to pre-heat the grill). When they are done I will sprinkle some grated parmesean cheese on top. Because I only use that balsamic vinegrette for marinating veggies - I will use it again. If you marinate meat you absolutely should toss the marinade, but it is perfectly fine to use a marinade multiple times for veggies.

I have an electric burner right next to my grill so I can easily cook both veggies at the same time.

What else for dinner tonight? We are having baked fish with breadcrumbs with a jar of mango chutney on the side, baked garlic bread and couscous. The bread I buy all prepared frozen and will bake it at the same time as the fish (about 15 minutes in the oven at 350). For the fish - spray your baking pan with cooking spray 1st. The couscous - I buy the little boxes of flavored couscous - I think it takes about 15 minutes to make and it goes very nicely with fish.

So, dinner will take no more than - say - 20 - 25 minutes to cook tonight. Tonight I will feed Little Boy about 45 minutes before I plan to eat - then he won't be hungry and fussy when we sit down and eat, but he will still nibble on whatever is on my plate and if he really likes what I am eating he will ask for his own plate. I like him to eat first because he still needs lots of help with his food.

A new blog...

Just what I need - a new blog! You can check my on-going blog over at www.scrappyhappystarfishy.blogspot.com - which is geared more toward quilting.

But, a good portion of my day is consumed by food and cooking, thinking about my grocery shopping list, eating and feeding a toddler. Years ago, my first attempts at cooking were pretty dismal, but then again, that was in the day before cooking magazines for "real" people hit the stands. I have stories about some of my earlier cooking adventures and will share some of those here as I go along.

I've decided to start this blog as a record of some of my favorite recipes and time saving tips. At least it will keep all this information in one handy spot for my own personal reference and I hope that readers will be encouraged to try to fix some fast and healthy (and delicious) dinners!

Before having a baby we would often go out to eat. And, even though I was often disappointed with the food, or it was too much money, or the restaurant too noisy, or the service too slow, or our waitress was too rude... or, or, or - we still kept going out to eat. And, then along came our Little Boy (who just turned 3). Going out to eat with a newborn was still pretty easy, but once he learned how to walk and started being mobile, well, then it became more difficult. Don't get me wrong - I have a perfect little angel (well, most of the time anyway), but he is so much happier at home than in a restaurant.

My husband is a wonderful cook - really he is, and he does do so much cooking! But, he also likes to make pretty much the same thing over and over again. If I want different food, it is up to me to start experimenting in the kitchen.

So, come along with me on a cooking adventure. I will just post as I go along and I hope you enjoy my cooking style!