Good morning, friends - a little cooking humor to get us started today!
Last week was full of cooking classes, and gosh I sure hope they went better than that!
Monday, I worked with a Girl Scout troop to help them earn their “Simple Meals” (cooking) badge. Tuesday, we had our monthly cooking class for homeschool kiddos. And Wednesday, was our regularly scheduled weekly community cooking class. (Both cooking classes are held at a local non-profit I volunteer with, and we have a wonderful team!)
It’s such a rewarding experience to work with people and be a “guide” in the kitchen. That really is how I see it. More so than me teaching someone how to cook, I want to be there to give people ideas and help them be comfortable in the kitchen. In these classes, I want to show how recipes can be approachable and adaptable, and that it may be easier than you think to get dinner on the table. As all guides do, I want to lead people to places they may not have been and get them to want to explore more. (Geez, that’s cheesy. But I’m leaving it.)
I say all of that because it’s also how I feel about this newsletter. My goal is to give you some real dinner ideas and a little insight into how I meal plan each week along with recipes I want to be interesting and attainable. I hope you find it helpful.
Anyways, I’m not sure what made me go all sappy on you today, but here we are. Thanks for sticking with me!
On to this week’s recipe! The One-Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice below is a variation of the One-Pan Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice from several months ago. But this one comes with cheese sauce you can drizzle over the whole thing…like my version of a Pollo con Queso! A Mexican inspired spice mix is rubbed over chicken thighs that are browned in a skillet and then set on top of a tomato-y rice to all cook together. The easy cheese sauce is made on the side for drizzling a little (or a lot) onto each plate.
Serve it with tortillas, or chips, or salad. Really anything goes. (But you’ll probably want chips for the extra sauce…)
MONDAY - Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin and Yellow Rice
My go-to easy meat option is usually a pork tenderloin. There are so many different ways I can change the flavor with the marinade and it cooks in about 20 minutes in the oven. This lemon garlic variation goes wonderfully with my favorite yellow rice. A cucumber salad would be perfect on the side.
TUESDAY - Awards Night Celebration!
The Kiddo got invited to Awards Night at school for having all A’s, all year! We’ll let him pick the restaurant to celebrate. I’m guessing it will be hibachi…
WEDNESDAY - Meatballs, Onions, and Peppers Sheet Pan
I’ve been really into creating different sheet pan meals lately - easy prep and easy clean-up is always a winner! I’m experimenting with making some italian sausage meatballs and cooking them right on a pan with onions and peppers. I think they’ll be good over a creamy orzo or stuffed into hoagie style rolls with cheese.
THURSDAY - Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Roasted Garlic Pasta
A quick saute of chicken cutlets and a roasted garlic cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes is perfect for pasta night. Salad and focaccia bread to round it out.
FRIDAY - Friday Night Pick-Up!
SATURDAY - Dinner at YaYa’s (the in-laws!)
Our planned fire pit for a couple of weeks ago was cancelled because it too windy, so we’ll try again. But if the weather doesn’t co-operate, I’m perfectly happy with bratwursts in a skillet and s’mores in the oven!
SUNDAY - Dinner at Dad’s
Dad will be back from his trip, so we can get back to Sunday night dinner! But I’m betting he’ll be exhausted, so I’ll think of something easy, like grilled pork chops and baked potatoes, or we’ll just do a frozen pizza and look at pictures from his trip.
LUNCHES for this week -
I had two failed attempts at a Honey and Herb Whipped Feta Dip this week. Both came out too runny. But what I did end up with was a really tasty kind of feta dressing, so I’ll pop back over into salad and grain bowl land and drizzle that goodness on everything!
EXTRAS for this week
I’ll make focaccia bread for later this week, and if I can get my act together, I’m going to try to video the process for you! Otherwise, I need to do some get ahead things for a big project at church - need to test out some bakery style muffin liners (blueberry muffins!) to make sure I like them, and then start getting big batches of cookie dough into the freezer.
One-Pan Mexican Chicken and Rice with Cheese Sauce
Makes 4-6 servings.
· 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
· 4 teaspoons Cumin
· 1 teaspoon Paprika
· 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
· ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
· 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
· 2 ½ teaspoons kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand), divided
· ¼ teaspoon ground Black Pepper
· 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)
· About 2 ½ pounds boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs
· 3 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
· 1 medium Onion, diced
· 1 clove Garlic, minced
· 2 cups Jasmine Rice
· 1 can (8 ounces) Tomato Sauce
· 2 ½ cups Chicken Broth
· Sliced Green Onions or Chopped Fresh Cilantro for serving, if desired
In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, two teaspoons of the salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, if using.
In a large bowl, drizzle chicken thighs with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and turn to coat. Sprinkle with seasoning mix and stir well, being sure to get all sides of the chicken thighs coated.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large heavy skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium high heat. Carefully place chicken thighs in skillet and cook for 7-10 minutes on each side. (The chicken should release fairly easily from the pan. If it does not easily release after 7 minutes, cook an additional minute or two and try again.) Once both sides are browned, remove to a plate and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium, add diced onion to skillet, and cook for 5-7 minutes until translucent and cooked through. Reduce heat as necessary to prevent burning. If the spices in the pan still want to burn, add a splash of the broth. Stir in garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Stir in rice and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Carefully pour in tomato sauce and stir to scrape up any bits on the bottom of the skillet. Once most of the sauce is absorbed and the mixture is thick, stir in the chicken broth and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt.
Gently set the chicken thighs back in skillet along with any juices that have accumulated on the place. Once the pan reaches a simmer, cover with the lid and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat but leave the pan covered for another 5 minutes for the rice to absorb any remaining liquid.
Serve with chopped green onion, cilantro, and/or cheese sauce (recipe below), if desired.
Cheese Sauce
· 8 ounces White American Cheese (I prefer the kind from the grocery deli, but the white Velveeta will work also), cut into pieces
· 1 can (4 ounces) Diced Green Chiles, undrained
· ¼ teaspoon Cumin
· 1/8 teaspoon kosher Salt
· ½ cup Milk
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine cheese, chiles, cumin, salt, and milk. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Reduce heat to “warm” until ready to use.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! See you back here next week!
(Don’t forget you can see all of the past newsletters and recipes at the archive link below!)