Meats:
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pound chicken thighs and drumsticks
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 pounds large shrimp
½ pound flank steak
½ pound Italian sausage
½ pound sliced bacon
Dairy:
Real butter, (not margarine)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 ounces sour cream
Frozen Food:
1 small package of snow peas
1 large package of frozen broccoli florets
1 small package frozen green peas
Small package of frozen cheese tortellini
Fresh Produce:
1 bunch green onions
3 yellow onions
1 bunch parsley
6 red potatoes
4 russet potatoes
3 carrots (or 1 small bag of baby carrots)
8 ounces mushrooms
1 pound green beans (buy frozen if not available)
1 head of garlic or one jar crushed organic garlic
2 lemons
1 bag of cabbage mix for coleslaw
1 small head of romaine lettuce
1 small bunch of cherry tomatoes
1 papaya or mango
Canned Food:
2 quarts low sodium organic chicken broth
1 can (15 ounces) low sodium organic chicken broth
1 small can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 small can sliced pineapple (or fresh, if it’s in season)
Dry Food and Staples:
Olive oil
Risotto or Arborio rice
2 cups of Navy beans
1 pound linguine
Salad croutons
Whole wheat English muffins
Spices and Condiments:
Salt and pepper, tarragon, thyme
Sugar
Honey
Salad dressing, any flavor
Mayonnaise
Mustard
White table wine, 750 ml bottle
Dry red wine, 750 ml bottle
This is a real meat and potatoes meal for meat lovers. If you or someone in your family doesn’t like the taste of mushrooms, they can be omitted, and the sauce will still taste fine. Alternatively, cook the mushrooms in a separate pan. Mix half the sauce into the mushrooms and serve half the sauce without mushrooms.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb flank steak
Seasoned salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons real butter (not margarine)
2 green onions, chopped
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
1 cup dry red wine
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed.
2 tablespoons real butter
¼ cup sour cream
1 head of romaine lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Croutons
Salad dressing of your choice
Preparation:
Chop the romaine and toss with the tomatoes.
Boil the potatoes and 2 cloves of garlic in salted water for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender.
While the potatoes boil, sprinkle salt and pepper on the flank steak.
Cook the flank steak in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter, 3 minutes on each side.
Remove from heat to a platter and cover with foil.
Brown the onions, 1 clove of garlic, and mushrooms in the same pan.
Add the red wine and bring to a boil.
Stir the liquid as it cooks, and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
Add the meat drippings from the platter, and continue to cook the sauce until it thickens and reduces to a syrupy consistency, about 10 minutes.
While the sauce is cooking, drain the potatoes.
Smash the potatoes with a potato masher, and add the butter and sour cream. Add a touch of milk if you like thinner potatoes.
Place the potatoes in a large pie plate or low pasta dish.
Slice the flank steak against the grain, and lay the slices over the potatoes.
Pour the sauce over the potatoes and meat.
Serve immediately while piping hot.
Place the croutons on the salad and serve with the meat and potatoes.
Wine pairing: a full bodied red such as Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin or Seven Deadly Zins.
Craving a trip to a tropical island? Put on some Hawaiian music and have this for dinner. Add a sliced mango or papaya for dessert, and you have a healthy, filling meal.
Ingredients:
½ cup of teriyaki sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small can of sliced pineapple (or fresh pineapple, if it’s in season)
4 whole wheat English muffins
1 bag of cabbage for coleslaw
½ cup of mayonnaise
¼ cup of mustard
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of salt
1 papaya or mango if they are in season.
Preparation:
Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, celery seed, pepper, and salt for the coleslaw dressing.
To make it thinner, add pineapple juice from the can 1 tablespoon at a time. If you use fresh pineapple, thin the dressing with milk.
Chop 2 slices of pineapple into tiny chunks.
Stir into the coleslaw cabbage. Add the dressing and stir.
If you like more dressing on your coleslaw, make a double batch of dressing.
Refrigerate until dinner is ready.
Wash and dry the chicken. Brush with teriyaki sauce.
Heat the indoor grill.
Toast the English muffins.
Grill the chicken until well done.
Drain the pineapple if using canned, and reserve the juice.
Grill 4 pineapple slices until brown grill lines appear.
Place the chicken and pineapple on the English muffins.
Serve with the coleslaw.
Slice the mango and papaya and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes. Serve cold for dessert.
Ingredients:
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon
1 tablespoon honey
3 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of white table wine
1 pound linguini, uncooked
1 small package of frozen peas
Preparation:
Cook the chicken in olive oil until brown.
Add the juice of half the lemon, the honey, the broth, and the wine in the pan.
Bring to a boil and add the linguine.
Add ½ teaspoon of lemon zest to the pan.
Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the linguine has absorbed the liquid.
Add the peas and heat through.
Drain off any excess liquid before serving.
Ingredients:
2 cups Navy beans
2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 pound of chicken thighs and drumsticks
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced (or ½ a small bag of baby carrots)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 cup white table wine
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 can (15 ounce) diced tomatoes
1 cup of low sodium chicken broth
½ pound of Italian sausage, hot or mild
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Preparation:
Soak the Navy beans overnight in water. Rinse and drain in the morning.
Cook the bacon until crisp. Brown the chicken in the bacon grease.
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker.
Cook on LOW for 7 hours.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
16-oz. jar Alfredo sauce, any kind
4 cups frozen broccoli florets
Small package frozen cheese tortellini
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
Place the cubed chicken, onions, and garlic in the crock pot.
Cover with Alfredo sauce.
Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.
Add the broccoli and tortellini to the crockpot and cook on HIGH one more hour.
(You may also choose to boil the tortellini and heat up the broccoli, then just mix it into the crock pot to have the meal ready to serve quicker.)
Serve with a dusting of Parmesan cheese on top.
This little one pot meal proves that one pot cooking doesn't have to be boring or tasteless. Definitely choose a light white for this close to gourmet shrimp and risotto dish, such as a Pinot Grigio or a Reisling.
Ingredients
2 cups uncooked risotto(also called arborio rice)
1 cup of white table wine
3 cups of low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of butter
2 pounds of large shrimp or prawns, deveined
2 cups of fresh green beans (frozen, if fresh is unavailable, or use snow peas)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed, or 1 tablespoon of crushed organic garlic from a jar.
1 fresh lemon
Fresh ground pepper
Preparation
Cook the risotto according to package instructions, replacing the water with wine and broth. Here is my article about how to cook risotto.
While the risotto is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Cook and stir the shrimp in the butter until it is pink and done.
Add the green beans to the pan and continue to cook and stir.
Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze the lemon juice over the shrimp and green beans.
Put the risotto in a large bowl.
Spoon the shrimp and green beans on top of the risotto.
Grind fresh black pepper over the top.
Garnish with lemon wedges from the remaining half lemon.
Wine pairing for this meal would be a light white wine such as Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins
1 can (15 ounces) low sodium organic chicken broth
½ cup of white table wine
2 teaspoons tarragon
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6 red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 small package of frozen snow peas
¼ cup of fresh parsley leaves
How to make Tarragon Chicken with Potatoes
Heat the oil in a skillet.
Cook the onions in the oil about 1 minute.
Add the chicken, cook another two minutes or until browned.
Add the rest of the ingredients, simmer over medium heat about 10-15 minutes.
Serve the dish with parsley as a garnish.
If you like this recipe, you may like this cookbook.
.
and have this for dinner. Add a sliced mango or papaya for dessert, and you have a healthy, filling meal.
.
to the pan.
.
(also called arborio rice)
.