The dinner process

A lot of people do not realize that making a good dinner is not all that hard. It is a little time consuming, but it is not hard. I dare say it is not all that time consuming either if you plan ahead. That is probably where I fall short – planning ahead. My innate laziness sets in and I just fall short every time. It does not matter what my best intentions are, it happens – a lot.

Unfortunately, I have to admit that my digestive track does not always appreciate my lack of planning. It also does not like my husband’s complaining about his desire to be spontaneous and compensate. He does not like the mundane as much as he tries to admit that he does. He puts up a good face, but he does not. He wants variety and exciting. He also wants structured and trusting. He wants the best of both worlds. Some of us fail to comply.

This week, however, with not knowing anyone and having no where to go really. The follies of living in a new place and being trapped inside when it is pushing nearly 100˚F outside every day leads to boredom on many levels. I also did not feel well most of last week. I am not sure if it was a stomach bug or something I ate or both. Either way, the fact that it drug on for several days (and even still to some degree) is a wake up call that I needed to clean up my diet some more. I needed it. My body was telling me to do it. 

So this week as per a blog post a couple of days ago, this week’s dinners will be as clean as possible to help aid in the healing of my digestive track as much as possible this week. To see if we can help get it back on track. No pun intended.

To recap, this week we are having for dinner: 

• Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake
• Tangy Chicken Thighs
• Honey Dijon Chicken
• Chicken and Ham Tetrazzini
• Taco Salad

There will be leftovers two night’s this week. 
Since there was some prep work to get done for the week’s meals, I did some of that Sunday evening. Sunday night we had a Simple Chicken Fried Rice dinner that used up some left over rice in the fridge. 

Sunday evening I made the Homemade Chicken Broth as part of the preparation for the week’s meals. Most of this was so that I could have chicken broth to use to make the Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup. Both of these items are staples in the recipes and I needed to make sure I had them ready to go. 

Please keep in mind that making chicken broth is not difficult. It is more time consuming that difficult. It is not even time consuming in that it requires your attention in the kitchen. If you have the right tools you do not need to pay it very much attention at all. I made the mistake of doubling my recipe and not compensating for the size of the pan properly. Here at the apartment, I only have a very limited selection of tools to work with. I will, however, be on the hunt for certain things in a new pot for doing this once we move into our new house as I will be doing this more regularly. 

Most people would make chicken broth in their crock pot. This is perfectly acceptable. I did it in a stock pot on the stove top. Again, this is perfectly acceptable. 

My preference, however, would have been to do it in a pan with a strainer/colander inside it. The stock pot that I used has one, however the bottom of it sits up too high. It acts more like a steamer than a strainer. I will have to consider options like what I want. I want to be able to pull the meat and vegetables up out of the broth and leave it in the pot and drain the meat and vegetables over the broth. I do not want to waste time skimming the meat and vegetables out of the broth. I want to pick it up and go. Often times the meat is so cooked at this point that it falls off the bones and it falls apart completely. You are then picking little pieces of meat and little pieces of bone out of the broth. It is tedious and time consuming. I do not want to do that. Let me take you back to the beginning of this post where I admitted to being lazy. I confess that I am a lazy cook on many levels. This is no different. So I want a pot that I can just pick up all the meat, vegetables, and spices and put them out of the broth and strain them right there able the broth. 

When I made the Chicken Broth yesterday, I had to boil the vegetables and chicken right in the stock pot. I did not have any other choice. Even with this, my water level was only about 1″ from the top of the pot. If I started boiling with any considerable strength, I was going to be boiling over the top of the pot. I was not happy with this, but I was just going to have to watch the pot, keep it mostly uncovered until it cooked down a bit, and keep it at a lower temperature. This meant I was also going to have to cook for a longer time because of the lower temperature. There was fear of burning it to the bottom of the pot as well. I just went with it. It was the best I could do. 

Once I had boiled the chicken and vegetables for about 3.5 hours, I was able to then pour the broth through a strainer/colander and collect the vegetables and chicken. I used 15 chicken legs. I was what I had. It called for bony chicken pieces. I wanted chicken quarters, but I could only find chicken legs in the organic cage free antibiotic steroid free chicken. It was a bit more expensive but I did find some that was not horribly priced at Walmart of all places. 

I then spent time deboning the chicken legs. I wanted the meat for other recipes later in the week. I needed the meat for the Cream of Chicken Soup as well. It was in this process that I separated everything out and used the strainer/colander that came with my stock pot. I put the colander in the stock pot and put it back on the stove. I had my large Rubbermaid container for my meat. I had everything collected in a large bowl. As I was pulling stuff out of the bowl to debone the chicken, I put the vegetables and spices (peppercorns, bay leaves, etc) back in the colander in the stock pot on the stove. I put all pieces of bone and skin into the colander in the stock pot on the stove. All pieces of chicken went into my Rubbermaid container. Once I had done all 15 chicken legs I had a fair amount of chicken meat to work with. I have no idea of the “cups” that it yielded, it just filled a good portion of my large container. I was happy with it. 

Once I had my bones, vegetables, and large spice pieces in the colander, I flattened them on the bottom of the colander. I then poured all the broth back into the stock pot through the colander. I topped the pot off with water until the bones were just covered. It only took about 1-1.5 cups of water so not much. I covered it and put it back on to boil for another hour. I had to keep turning down the heat as it kept boiling up over the top of my pan. My one complaint about this pan and why I will be looking for another one soon. Once I got the right temperature, however, it was able to be left and boil for roughly an hour. The vegetables were mushy and I was content to be done. 

I had a very rich broth at this point. It was very lean. I only skimmed about 1/2 cup off of it once it cooled a bit. Once I put it in the fridge and let it sit over night, there was not enough to skim off the top so I left it. It congealed quite a bit but it was a nice rich broth. 

It yielded 15 cups of broth. This broth is MSG free. Onion free. Garlic free. Most importantly, it is 100% pork free. There is no question as to what is in this broth because I put it there. 

Today, I set about turning that broth into the Cream of Chicken Soup I would need for recipes this week. 

Before anyone goes into a panic, this is really easy to make. It is also really quick to make. You can make it right on the spot if you need it. You just need to keep the supplies on hand and you are good to go. You do not need to have “diced chicken” in your soup, it just gives it a little extra something. If your dish is already containing chicken, however, you do not need it. If you are making it with Homemade Chicken Broth, you are going to have a richer chicken flavor to your Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup. 

I prefer, however, to make mine in larger batches so I always have some on hand and it only takes a few minutes to make it in large batches. It takes about 15-20 minutes to make on the spot as you are making a recipe for dinner. It takes about 30-60 minutes to make a large batch depending on how much prep work you have to do and just how large of batch you are doing. It does not take very long. The actual cook time is roughly 15-20 minutes even for the large batch. It is only long enough to melt the butter, bring it to a boil, and then thicken the soup. It really does not take long. It is NOT hard. The hardest part on a large batch is NOT burning it to the bottom of the pan. 

The soup is so good, however. It is so simple to get a tasty alternative to processed “garbage” from the can. When I compare what I pull out of the freezer to what comes out of the can, it makes me unhappy. I had one of each one week because I still had a can of the soup left that I had paid almost $4 for the can. Compared to this homemade soup it looked dirty and it smelled gross. It changed my mind then that it was worth the little extra time it takes to make the soup and I have made it ever since. 

If you want me to show you how, I will. 

And now that I had my soup made, I had to prepare the stuff for what we were actually having for dinner: Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

The ingredient list is fairly simple:

• stuffing mix
• cream of chicken soup
• milk
• cubed cooked chicken
• pepper
• deli ham
• shredded swiss cheese
• shredded cheddar cheese

Many of you are probably thinking, “How can she make Chicken Cordon Bleu? Isn’t she allergic to pork?” That is a reasonable question. Just remember that most recipes have acceptable alternatives to them if you are willing to look hard enough.

Like I said in a previous post, I will be using turkey bacon to replace the ham in the Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake. I will use it in any recipe this week that calls for “ham.”

Do not be afraid to make substitutions. Sometimes they require trial and error, but it does not mean that they cannot be made. Just try it. Try it again if you need to.

Part of the preparation for the Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake is the topping on the casserole – the stuffing mix. It is loaded with stuff that I cannot have. I have yet to find one that I can do more than moderately tolerate. Mom makes her stuffing at Thanksgiving. That helps, but it is not always perfect because as I have found in this week’s preparation, I have to be careful with the spice combinations that go into the stuffing.

I needed a Bread Stuffing that would be a light, quick and easy alternative to the mixes suggested in the recipe. These mixes are usually highly flavorful and I needed to make sure I replaced the flavor or I was going to have a dully flavored casserole. I opted for the Bread Stuffing recipe at Betty Crocker. Honestly, I just picked one at random from the variety of recipes I found. It looked easy enough.

What I liked most about the recipe, however, is that in its simplicity, I could control the contents. Its ingredient list was really simple:

• butter
• celery
• onion
• soft bread cubes
• thyme
• salt
• sage
• pepper

Since I was trying to keep this allergy, migraine, and reflux trigger free I was going to eliminate the onions. Honestly, people swear that you cannot cook without them. I can assure you that you can. Just leave them out.

For some people celery can be a trigger for migraines. I have found that celery salt and celery extract is more of a problem here than anything. It is a natural form of MSG. So be cautious when using celery but do not take it out if it does not bother you or other people you “normally” cook for. Since I live in the same area as my sister and it is likely that I might cook for her from time to time, I am opting to forego onions entirely in the basic things so that I know that I will have certain things that are “safe” for her to eat on those occasions. Since I do get reflux from eating too many onions it is not a problem for me.

When eliminating onions, you will eliminate some flavor. You can compensate by increasing another spice in the dish, or including another in its place. Do not think your food has to be bland simply because you eliminate the onions. You do not.

My final ingredient list for the bread stuffing looked more like this:

• butter kosher
• celery
• onion 
• soft bread cubes kosher sour dough and kosher artisan pane italian bread
• thyme
• salt kosher sea salt
• sage
• pepper freshly ground

I find the Kosher breads that I used for this at Aldi. A lot of question was raised why I would pay extra for kosher products. The observation was made that they are so expensive. Honestly, they are. In some ways. In other ways, they are not always more expensive. You can purchase kosher products that are competitively priced right off the store shelves and I ask, why wouldn’t I purchase it?

In this case, the butter cost me no more than any other butter. I buy it at Aldi and it is actually cheaper than any other store around. I buy it all the time and it does not phase me price wise. It is normal. The same holds true for the milk and the aged cheddar cheese.

I prefer the kosher sea salt. I use it for everything. I buy different granule sizes for different things as necessary. I very rarely find a need to use anything but kosher sea salt. Salt for me personally lasts so long because I am not a huge salt user anyway that the price difference is negligible.

In this case, the bread might have been a little bit more expensive, but it was artisan bread to begin with it would have cost me more. The price at Aldi is manageable and it is not so high that I cannot handle it for something special. Have you checked the price of “cleaner” and “healthier” stuffing mixes, lately?

The best part? I have 2 half loaves left over to make french toast with in the morning. It is not all about that one recipe that you intend to make. Sometimes it is about “what else” can you do with the ingredients you purchase.

So please do not hesitate to spend a tad more if it makes the difference in your well being. It was something that I had to really swallow with a horse-pill a few times. The horse-pills being yet another round of antibiotics as I was sick again. Over and over again. Since I decided to clean it up and just bear the costs and save where I could in other places, my health has improved. To me, that is worth its weight in gold.

So from my Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake ingredient list:

• Bread Stuffing
• Cream of Chicken Soup
• milk
• cubed cooked chicken from chicken broth
• pepper
• deli ham turkey bacon
• shredded swiss cheese kosher
• shredded cheddar cheese kosher

All that was left was to get the cheeses shredded and cube the chicken. Since I already made the soup earlier this morning it was not a problem. I had already prepped the bread stuffing as well. All I needed to do was get everything else put together. 

What I neglected to do with this recipe was pay attention to just how big the recipe was. It yields 2 casseroles that are 13×9. I thought it did one casserole. I thought I would just split it into 2 pans that were 8×8 and stick one in the freezer for next week. Nope. It ended up doing FOUR 8×8 pans. Thank goodness I had 3 foil pans that size. The problem is that I had to make room in the already full freezer that I had not anticipated on. That is not a bad thing, it just was a little something I had not anticipated on. 

I can say that after a little bit of extra work, I am grateful I tried it. It was not hard. It was not that much extra work. It was a little extra work here at the apartment simply because I am not working with a full kitchen of tools and certainly not the tools I would enjoy using. I mean, I have 3 stove top pans to use. That is all. I have very limited counter space. I do not have a nice tall kitchen faucet. I have an oven that really stinks and I am missing my extra fridge and freezer space. I am also missing my gas stove and oven. However, I was able to make it work. I even made it all fit. It might not have been perfect. It worked.

The end results, however, were worth it. That casserole even though we had tried it before this time it was absolutely delicious. Those few changes did make a huge difference in the over all taste and outcome. In the end they might have been for me, but everyone benefits. EVERYONE!