Lunch Archives - Authentic Simplicity

Quick & Easy Fish Fingers

January 27, 2013 By Anne Simpson

I don’t have a lot of fish recipes on this blog because, frankly, I didn’t really cook fish until about a year ago or so: Canned tuna and salmon were pretty much the extent of my fish-cooking repertoire. Also, since I didn’t really grow up eating a lot of fish, I hadn’t really developed a taste for it and honestly knew nothing about it.

But for the past year or more, I’ve been slowly learning more and more about fish and how to prepare it, and I’ve realized it’s a busy mama’s secret weapon for quick and easy – but healthy – meals. Fish fillets cook up so quickly no matter which method you choose and offer a lot of great nutritional benefits to boot. Currently, we eat fish once a week, and I’ve enjoyed trying many different recipes and experimenting with different cooking methods.

Typically, I buy the individually quick frozen wild-caught fish fillets because they are the most reasonably priced. I can typically get them for around $4 a pound, and many types of fish are available in this manner (tilapia, cod, whiting and perch, to name a few).

This particular recipe is one of my early experiments, and one that turned out perfectly. It was so simple and so yummy; my kind of recipe! I recommend using stone-ground non-GMO cornmeal for optimum nutrition.

Recipe: Cornmeal Crusted Fish Fingers

Ingredients

1 pound fish fillets (I used perch; probably cod or other fish would work just as well)
1/2 cup milk (any kind)
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 TBSP Old Bay seasoning
1 TBSP olive oil

Instructions

If the fillets are large, cut them into pieces about 1 1/2″ wide.
Pour the milk into a shallow bowl. Stir together the cornmeal and Old Bay in another shallow bowl. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan (like cast iron) over medium heat on the stovetop.
Dip the fish fillets into the milk and then into the cornmeal.
Pan-fry the fillets in the pan over medium heat until the crust is lightly browned and crisped, about 5 minutes on each side (the timing varies with the thickness of the fillets; make sure your fish reaches 140F internally).

How do you like to cook fish?

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Leave a Comment Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: fish

Toasty Salmon Melts

January 13, 2013 By Anne Simpson

I’m always looking for great recipes that make use of canned salmon because it’s an inexpensive way to incorporate more of that healthy wild-caught fish into our diets. I don’t really love canned salmon, to be honest, but along the way I’ve discovered some great ways to cook it that are truly delicious. Our whole family enjoys eating fish, which I love!

I stumbled across this recipe for grilled salmon and cheese when searching for more canned salmon inspiration. I changed it up a little bit and turned it into these hot and toasty open-faced sandwiches that are great for lunch or dinner, served with a green salad and/or some fresh fruit. Easy, quick, and healthy. (There’s a reason my blog used to be called Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy!)

Toasty Salmon Melts

Ingredients

8 slices whole grain sourdough bread
1 14.5oz can salmon, drained
1 D’Anjou pear, grated or finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. dried dill weed
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Set the slices of bread on a stone or cookie sheet.
Remove the skin and bones from the salmon, if desired. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Scoop a generous spoonful of the mixture onto each slice of bread, and spread it to the edges in an even layer.
Bake at 400F for 5-10 minutes, or until bread is toasty and cheese is melty.

You could also eat this fresh and raw, without baking, but please don’t tell me if you do. Blech.

What’s your favorite way to prepare canned salmon?

13 Comments Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: fish, salmon, sandwiches

B2S: Fun Sandwich Ideas

August 23, 2011 By Anne Simpson

Move over, PB&J! As much as we love you, we get, well, a little tired of your goodness. It’s time to spice things up with a little creativity! (Don’t worry; no bento required!)

Waffle Sandwiches - not just for breakfast!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-Ups

Chicken Biscuit Spiral

Flexible Toasty Melts

Pizza Bites

Roast Beef Sliders

1 Comment Filed Under: At Home, Children, Home, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: lunchbox

Pitch a Slider to Dad

June 14, 2011 By Anne Simpson

But first: this is my 300th post, can you believe it?! Wow! I had no idea when I started this blog that I had that much to say.

Secondly: my 2 year blogiversary is coming up this weekend, so stay tuned for a couple of really cool giveaways!

And thirdly: wait. There is no third. On to the sliders then!

Father’s Day is, of course, coming up this weekend, and one way to show Dad he is special (in a good way) is to make him a special meal. Grilling always comes to mind because of the association of guys and grilling, but I am grill-less, so alas, I have no grill recipes for you. Steak is another thing that comes to mind, but we don’t eat that around here very much because it’s expensive. (At least the good steak is, and what’s the point of throwing away money on tough rubbery steak?)

Here, then, is a perfect Dad’s Day meal if you are grill-less and penniless like me: sliders. (Feel free to play up the cheesy baseball references. )

Cue the soundtrack:

Now we’re ready to start. This is not so much a recipe for the perfect slider filling (although I will tell you what I put in mine, and give you some more ideas), as much as it is a trick to make them as easily as possible.

In fact, I’ve started making these once every week or two , because I’ve discovered how quick and easy (and cheap and healthy, yada yada) these are. More reasons why I make them:

They freeze beautifully.
They are easier to keep than a loaf of bread. Nine times out of ten, I end up with a stale hunk of bread after we’ve had a meal or two with the rest of the loaf, but with sliders, I can easily take the portion I need and keep the rest frozen until I need it again.
They look cuter than regular sandwiches.
Instant portion control!
I think we end up using less bread dough in the end by making it into sliders, because I really think it goes farther.
Baking the dough in smaller portions takes less time, both in rising and in actual baking.

In short, it’s a win-win all around. I think my DH secretly feels these are a little bit too girly for him, but when I feel them with something manly like beef, he doesn’t mind. In fact, he’ll polish off several in one sitting (so much for portion control. Oh well, it works for me and that’s the more important thing, since I’m the one who gains the weight in this household.).

I use my artisan bread dough to make my sliders, which should be no surprise to you if you’ve read my blog for any length of time at all. I cannot recommend this bread-making method highly enough for anyone who wants healthy fresh bread, but doesn’t want to invest a great deal of time into it. A few minutes to mix up the dough, then just let it sit on the counter for a few hours (or more – sometimes I let it sit overnight). Keep in the fridge, and for the next two weeks, you have bread dough at the ready for pizza crusts, rolls, flatbreads, and loaves of bread. A loaf of bread still requires quite a bit of resting and baking time, but rolls, pizza crusts, flatbreads - and sliders! – take very little time to rise and bake (less than an hour all told). Find the instructions for artisan bread dough here.

The last batch of artisan dough I made, I was thrilled to be able to use a kitchen scale for the first time to measure out the ingredients. At the FitBloggin’ conference in May, I was given an EatSmart Kitchen Scale , something I have been wanting for a looooooong time! I was SO excited to pull it out for my artisan bread dough, and I was not disappointed with the results.

Well, to be honest, I was disappointed at first, because the dough was more liquidy than I had ever seen it and I was sure it wouldn’t work. Actually, these turned out to be the best tasting bread I’ve made with the artisan recipe yet, so something was working right!

I’m excited to try even more recipes with the scale (I’ve also had great success with gluten-free recipes!), and you’ll hopefully be seeing more metric measurements here in the future (don’t worry, I’ll still give you cups and TBSPs!).

Hopefully, once I’ve got more practice under my belt, I will be able to share with you what I’ve learned about how to use a scale and the metric system in your baking.

But back to the sliders. If you’re not convinced about the merits of artisan bread dough, don’t worry: pretty much any bread or roll recipe will work in the same way. The trick is more in how it’s baked than how it is mixed together and what the exact ingredients are.

Enough already, you say vehemently! OK then, so what is this trick to making sliders?!

Easy. A muffin tin! That’s it. All you have to do is portion out your dough into a muffin pan (fill each cup about halfway), let it rest for 15-20 minutes, then bake it for another 15-20 minutes at 450F.

And voila! Perfect little slider buns. (Awww, so cute!)

Once they’re cooled down a bit, you just remove them from the pan, slice them in half horizontally, and fill them with whatever you desire. Most recently I made roast beef sliders (sure to be a hit with Dad if he’s a beef-eater like my children’s father!), using up some leftover roast beef. I layered the following on the bottom piece of the roll:

thick slice of roast beef
1 TBSP of homemade BBQ sauce (I will have to blog about that one soon!)
a dill pickle “hamburger slice”
half a piece of provolone (or whatever cheese I had at the time)
a piece of lettuce from my garden
a swirl of spicy brown mustard on the “lid”

Of course, you can put in your slider whatever your little heart (or Dad’s heart) desires. Pretty much anything that goes in a sandwich can go in a slider, just in smaller (and cuter) portions. Some suggestions:

pulled pork
shredded beef
chicken salad
tuna salad
lunchmeat and cheese
BLT
crab salad (especially good for a luncheon with guests)
etc.

So, to recap:

Sliders are QUICK because they take less time to rise and bake than traditional loaves of bread. They also defrost more quickly, and are quicker to utilize than bread. They’re great for weeknight meals, or lunchboxes.

Sliders are EASY-er to bake than loaves, at least in my opinion. Free-form artisan loaves can be tricky to shape and bake properly, but with the muffin tin, all you have to do is plop the dough into the tin. It does help, I think, to cut a small slit in the top of each slider before baking, otherwise you get a Hershey-kiss-like effect.

Homemade sliders are so CHEAP! Flour, water, yeast, and salt. Pretty basic!

If you use at least half whole grains, and appropriate fillings (veggies like lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, etc.), they can also be very HEALTHY.

5 Comments Filed Under: Celebrations, Dinner, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: Father's Day

Guest Post: Quesadillas and Bean Dip for Cinco de Mayo

May 5, 2011 By Anne Simpson

Today Amy from A Little Nosh, is sharing her Cinco de Mayo menu with us! But before we get started with that, just a reminder that we have ONE package of GreenLine Green Beans left to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment on my Facebook page!

I live outside of Washington, D.C., a veritable melting pot of cultures. My son goes to a preschool with kids from many different nationalities, backgrounds, religions, and skin colors. I love to see him experiencing the diversity that I didn’t have growing up. I love that my son is exposed to a beautiful cross-section of people. To me, an important part of parenting him includes exposing him to different cultural celebrations.

Cinco de Mayo is a perfect opportunity to discuss Mexican culture, and what better way to start the lesson then with a delicious meal? But first, I needed to find out what exactly Cinco de Mayo is.

Did you know that, contrary to popular belief, it’s NOT the Mexican day of independence? Nor is it a holiday created by the good folks at Corona. It’s actually a celebration of the victory of the Mexicans over the French in 1862. Who knew??

Anyway, we like to keep things pretty simple here at A Little Nosh. Some bean dip and quesadillas are a perfect backdrop for discussing and celebrating this important day in Mexican history.

Bean Dip

Half of a 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper

1. Put black beans in a Magic Bullet or food processor and process, adding water as needed, until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Does it get any easier? Also, I ran out of tortilla chips so I just made my own by cutting tortillas into triangles, spraying with cooking spray, dusting with salt, and baking at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. This works best with corn tortillas.

Chicken Quesadillas

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

1 Tbsp water

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, but into small thin strips

1 cup (or less) Mexican blend cheese

A mixture of red peppers, green peppers, and onions, cut into small thin strips

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp vegetable oil

Medium sized flour tortillas

1. Combine taco seasoning and water, and toss with chicken to coat.

2. While chicken is marinating, heat 1 Tbsp oil in a saute pan and add veggies, cooking until peppers and onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Using a grill or a grill pan, cook chicken 2 minutes on each side, or until cooked all the way through.

4. Heat 1 tsp oil in a nonstick skillet. Place a tortilla in pan, and sprinkle with about 1/4 cup cheese. Add some chicken and veggies and top with more cheese. Place another tortilla on top. Place a lid on the pan and heat quesadillas for about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until tortillas are golden and cheese is melted.

5. Top with salsa, sour cream, more cheese, whatever floats your boat. I like to use a pizza cutter to cut the quesadilla into quarters.

This recipe is meant mainly as a guide, as quesadillas can be personalized in a zillion different ways. Instead of taco seasoning, marinate your chicken in salsa. Instead of peppers and onions, substitute broccoli. Add more cheese, less cheese, more filling, less filling. Experiment and see what you like. You can’t do this wrong.

Enjoy and have a great Cinco de Mayo. And a special thanks to Quick Easy Cheap and Healthy for allowing me to quest post. Happy birthday!

Amy is a mom to a three-year-old who keeps her smiling every day, wife to a handsome, funny, smart husband, and a full-time title insurance underwriter (exciting, huh?). She lives in the Washington, DC suburbs in a tiny condo, with an equally tiny kitchen. She doesn’t have time (or space) for fancy schmancy recipes, so most of what you’ll see on A Little Nosh are very simple and user-friendly recipes.

1 Comment Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: beans, Mexican

Not Your Grandma’s Ham & Pasta Salad

April 27, 2011 By Anne Simpson

Still have a little bit of leftover ham? Or perhaps you froze the leftovers to use another day? In any case, you might want to consider bookmarking this recipe: ham and pasta salad taken to a whole new level.

I’m sure you’ve all had that quintessential Easter leftover dish made of macaroni, ham, peas, and Ranch or mayo-based creamy dressing. It’s not bad, but… it does get a little old. Plus, it’s a no-go if you’re trying to stay away from dairy and eggs like me.

I tried in vain last night to find a ham and pasta salad recipe that did not feature the seemingly ubiquitous mayo or otherwise creamy salad dressing. Then I switched gears and tried to find a vinaigrette version. Fail. Then I looked through my own recipes that I’ve used for other types of pasta salads (chicken, tuna, etc.) and once again none of them seemed to be quite what I needed.

So I made up my own, which is always dangerous. Because ham and some pork products just seem to go so well with certain sweet fruits, and since I had some fruit readily available to me, I decided to go that route. I also serendipitously had a bottle of blackberry balsamic vinegar, which doesn’t happen every day, believe me.

Since I kind of made it on the fly, not really expecting it to be 100% successful, I don’t have a specific recipe for you. I’ll tell you what I used, though, and the measurements as much as I can so that you can recreate your own version with what you have at home.

If you’re ready for a different take on ham and pasta salad, here you go!

I started with half a box of Barilla Plus farfalle noodles, cooked according to package directions. While the noodles were cooking I chopped up some cold ham, probably about 1 cup of diced ham, which I placed in the bottom of a large bowl. To that I added half of a chopped mango. Later on, to my portion I added strawberries and kiwi, which my DH doesn’t eat. To add them to the salad in its entirety, I’d suggest about 1/2 cup chopped strawberries, and 1 chopped kiwi. Add more if you want! In a separate small bowl, I whisked together about 2 TBSP of blackberry balsamic vinegar with approximately 4 TBSP olive oil, plus some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. You’ll probably want to use about 3 TBSP of flavored balsamic vinegar with 6 TBSP olive oil, and don’t be shy about the salt and pepper. The salt is needed to balance out all the sweetness of the fruit. Drain and rinse the noodles and add them to the large bowl. Stir everything together, then drizzle with the vinaigrette. Stir again until it is thoroughly coated. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.

You can do what you want with this recipe. Try different noodles, either different shapes, or different flavors (I made a rice-noodle version for my Certain Little Someone). Try different fruits, like peaches, nectarines, plums or apples. Grapes would be lovely, too! A plain balsamic vinegar should work well if you don’t have any flavored, but you may want to add just a touch of sugar.

This is a very QUICK weeknight recipe. In the summer, I love to whip up pasta salads for busy weeknight dinners. A big plus is that they make a lot of extra, so you can have leftovers or invite friends over.

Pasta salads are very EASY, too. Most people can boil a pot of noodles! And… it can be a one-bowl dinner too!

Another reason I serve pasta salads weekly is because they save money on meat. I use leftover or canned meat (mainly tuna) to save money in my grocery budget, which makes it a great CHEAP choice.

I happen to think this is a very HEALTHY version of pasta salad, because of the noodles made with fiber- and protein- rich ingredients, as well as all the fruits.

2 Comments Filed Under: Dinner, In The Budget, Lunch, On The Table, Waste Not Tagged With: ham, pasta salad

Have a Cupcake: Birthday Celebration Main Dish {Cilantro Chicken Salad}

April 12, 2011 By Anne Simpson

For my MIL and SIL’s birthday celebration, I wanted to have a menu that featured light, fresh foods that tasted like spring, whether or not the weather was cooperating. In fact, I really wanted to have a picnic, but the weather was definitely not cooperating with that dream!

Originally, my idea was to have chicken salad sandwiches, but when my batch of artisan bread dough uncharacteristically failed on me (or I failed it? one cannot exclude that possibility), I had to go to plan B. As often happens, plan B was even better than plan A and I should have just gone straight there in the first place.

This chicken salad actually surpassed all my expectations. I will admit I was a tiny bit apprehensive at the combination of ingredients (even though I was the one who came up with the combination, flinging things from the cupboard into the bowl with hardly a second thought), but my apprehensions were unfounded. After spending a day in the fridge getting to know one another better, those ingredients combined to create some pretty amazing results! Unfortunately, I meticulously wrote down every ingredient and the measurements I used on a scrap piece of paper… and in my efficiency, threw away said scrap piece of paper. *Sigh* This is my best approximation.

Crunchy Chicken Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette

adapted from Taste of Home

Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

zest from 1 lime

1 TBSP dried cilantro (or 1/4 cup fresh)

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

dash paprika

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup olive oil

Salad:

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1/4 cup frozen or canned corn

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

2 TBSP dried cranberries

1 TBSP chopped almonds

1 TBSP sunflower seeds

For each serving:

1/2 cup baby lettuce (any kind or a variety)

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

1 TBSP goat cheese or feta, crumbled (not pictured)

To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the lime juice, zest and spices in a small bowl. Continue whisking and pour olive oil in a slow stream. Whisk until well blended. In a large bowl, combine chicken and vegetables. Pour about 1/2 cup of vinaigrette over the salad and stir until coated. Refrigerate at least several hours or up to 24 hours. Assemble to serve: place lettuce leaves at bottom of bowl; top with tomatoes; scoop about 1/3 cup of chicken salad and place on top of tomatoes; sprinkle goat cheese over all.

If you have leftover or cooked chicken, this is a super QUICK recipe, perfect for a spring or summer weeknight dinner or lunch. It’s also, as you can see, perfect for entertaining as well, and sure to please your guests.

Pouring vinaigrette from a bottle might perhaps be EASY-er… but you have to admit this is pretty easy!

Overall, it’s very CHEAP, although I did have to buy the limes expressly for this salad. I’ve found that Trader Joe’s has the best price for limes, although now that I say that I can’t remember exactly what the price is! {ahem}

Alot of chicken salads have gobs of mayonnaise, or worse, Miracle Whip, but not this one. Instead, it’s chock full of nutritious, wholesome and HEALTHY ingredients and provides a wide range of nutrients, including healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins like vitamin C.

Sharing at The Local Cook’s Salad Recipes Link-Up and…

10 Comments Filed Under: Celebrations, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: chicken, entertaining

Good for What Ails You

September 15, 2010 By Anne Simpson

Note: If you’re joining me from the Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom, Welcome! So glad you stopped by! If you like what you see here in this post, check out my “Fall Fest 2010” celebration with lots of great recipes, tips and other fun things to celebrate autumn.

Cold and flu season have hit our home a little early this year. I’ve been knocked out practically for two days now with some serious head congestion that causes a raging headache. Imagine combining that lovely feeling with the need to keep going, if only to keep up with a very fast almost-two-year-old (who, by the way, had this cold, too, but for far shorter and far less severely!). Yeah, it’s been fun around here.

Consequently, I’ve been craving chicken noodle soup. Last night I sufficed the craving with a can (shameful, I know, but hey, it’s cheap this time of year!) because I didn’t have the energy to make it myself. Today, however, I managed to drag myself into the kitchen to put all the ingredients in the slow cooker … before I went and took a nap! The nice slow cooker took over from there, and a delicious easy dinner was nearly ready at dinner time. All I had to do was add in the noodles, slice some crusty homemade bread and slice some fresh apples, too.

Bookmark this page and keep it handy, because trust me, at some point this fall and winter, you’re going to need it! Chicken noodle soup not only tastes great when you are feeling yucky; it also has healing properties. There’s some debate about exactly why it helps, but the fact remains that it does help, whatever the reason.

Thankfully, it’s blessedly easy, too, so you can, like me, even make it in the middle of a congested fog of the worst sort! Ignore those recipes (for this purpose at least) that call for a whole fryer or boiler chicken and lots of water. That will make some great chicken soup, but it’s too much work when you’re sick. All you really need is some broth, cooked chicken, veggies and noodles. Add a little seasoning and voila! Chicken Noodle Soup!

Let’s start with the broth. You can get it 3 different ways, starting with the cheapest:

*Homemade broth or stock. This is super cheap, made with leftover bones and veggie parts. I make some in the crock pot every couple weeks and store it in a pitcher in my fridge. I either use it within the two weeks or throw it out (doesn’t really matter; didn’t cost much to start with) and make a new batch with the bones and/or veggies I’ve collected in the meantime. This means I {almost} always have chicken broth on hand for recipes like this.

*Bouillion cubes, granules or base. This is certainly not the healthiest option, but it’s my emergency back-up plan. If I don’t have enough homemade stock for whatever recipe I’m using, I’ll supplement with this. If you don’t make a habit of having homemade stock around, this is your cheapest option.

*Canned or packaged ready broth. This is the most expensive option, and may or may not be healthy, depending on the brand. Generally speaking, the healthier it is, the more expensive it is. A lot of these have way too much sodium and most of them have MSG. If convenience wins out for you over nutrition and budget, then this is the option for you.

As for the chicken, I happened to have plenty of leftover cooked chicken thighs from dinner the other night that worked perfectly into my soup. Whenever chicken (either whole chickens or parts) go on sale for less than $1/lb, I buy a large package. Then, when I cook it up for dinner, I cook the entire package and save the extras in the freezer for nights like this. Sometimes I also incorporate the leftover chicken into my weekly menu, in which case there’s nothing left for the freezer, but in either case, it saves time in the end.

You can throw whatever veggies you have into your soup (I saw a recipe today that called for sweet potatoes and broccoli in the chicken noodle soup. Totally not my thing, but it proves my point!), but traditionally, carrots and celery are used. As for seasoning, keep it simple. Chicken noodle soup was not meant to be elaborate (it certainly can be, if you want it to, but it definitely stands alone in simplicity, too.).

As for noodles, my favorite would definitely be egg noodles – they go so well with this soup – but I have used pretty much every kind of pasta in chicken noodle soup. Case in point: today, I had no egg noodles. I was not about to go and buy them, because for one, I was totally not feeling up to that, and for another, that would completely violate all my principles about shopping once a week and using what I have on hand! So instead, I used some farfalle noodles from a package that had previously been opened. I used a total of 4 cups of uncooked pasta, but you can use as little as half that much. I like my soup noodly.

Sooo… here’s how my chicken noodle soup ended up today:

Chicken Noodle Soup for the Cold-Ridden Soul
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 TBSP dried rosemary
1 TBSP dried parsley
4 cups uncooked pasta
salt and pepper to taste

Place the broth, chicken, vegetables and herbs in the slow cooker and stir to mix. Cook on low for at least 4 hours, preferably 6. Before serving, cook noodles separately according to package directions. Drain and add to soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To make it a complete meal, I served it with hearty bread and apple wedges (an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?). Of course, you can serve it on its own for a light meal or a lunch.

Whether it’s QUICK or not completely depends on the ingredients you’re starting with, i.e., if your chicken is already cooked and your broth is already made or not. As it turned out for me today, it was very quick; all I had to do was throw the ingredients in the slow cooker, and then make the noodles closer to dinner time. I would recommend that you remember to turn on the burner when you go to boil water for your noodles. Then dinner will be ready at the time you intended and not half an hour later. Just sayin’.

It’s very EASY, too. Despite the fact that most people eat it from a can (me included on occasion!), chicken noodle soup is really very easy to make from scratch. In fact, it was part of my “home ec” curriculum in high school!

It’s certainly CHEAP, especially with homemade broth and leftover chicken. It can start to get pricey if you have to use store-bought ingredients, so homemade is definitely the way to go.

As we’ve already established, it’s very HEALTHY. Nobody knows why for sure, but certainly chicken noodle soup helps you feel better when you’re under the weather.

Find more soup and stew recipes at:

6 Comments Filed Under: Dinner, Health, Home, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: chicken, soup

Spring Into Fall

September 12, 2010 By Anne Simpson

Cucumber sandwiches may seem an odd choice for a social function this time of year, when it’s almost fall. However, it’s technically still summer, cucumbers are still readily available at farmer’s markets around here, and they’re so delicious, they make great little nibblers no matter the season! Have I convinced you? Well, at any rate, I convinced myself! I made them for a ladies’ event at my church this afternoon, the perfect excuse to pull out a dainty little recipe like this.

These cute little sandwiches are particularly perfect for ladies’ events, at least according to my DH, who considers them “frou-frou” food. I don’t know exactly what “frou-frou” food is, but apparently it is not manly enough for him to even consider consuming, even if he could eat cucumbers. Lucky for him, I wouldn’t even consider putting this on the menu for dinner, but it’s the perfect choice for a “frou-frou” social function: it’s inexpensive but elegant, easy to make, and quite delicious!

I’ve had all kinds of cucumber sandwiches in my life: they vary tremendously depending on the type of bread that’s used and the spread, as well as the way the cucumbers are sliced and/or presented. They’re always tasty little morsels, no matter what, but I’ve settled on the following method because I like it and it works for me! Other people seem to enjoy them too, and I think it’s the flavor in the cream cheese spread, which, incidentally makes a great spread for bagels or wraps, too! For the freshest and most delicious flavor, use fresh herbs, but don’t be afraid to use dried if that’s all you have. I forgot to pick up some fresh dill when making these, so I just use dried and they were still very good.

You can use any bread for this recipe, including strong flavored bread like pumpernickel or rye. I used a freshly baked loaf of artisan bread in the ones I made today, but pretty much anything except store-bought sandwich bread will work.

Frou-Frou Cucumber Sandwiches
1 loaf bread
1 medium cucumber, sliced fairly thin
4 oz cream cheese
2 TBSP plain yogurt
2 TBSP chopped spring onion
1 TBSP fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried)
1 TBSP fresh chopped parsley (or 1 dried)
1/2-1 clove garlic, minced (adjust to taste)

Slice the bread and cut into small shapes (bite-size or a little larger – I used a small biscuit cutter). Soften the cream cheese and blend it well with the yogurt, using an electric mixer. Add onion, garlic and herbs and mix until well blended. If you have time, refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to blend flavors. Assemble the sandwiches by spreading a small amount of the cream cheese spread on each piece of bread (about a teaspoon should do it). Cut the cucumber to fit on the bread and press lightly into the cream cheese spread. Top with a sprig of dill or parsley for an extra-special elegant touch. These are best served right away, so assemble them as close as possible to serving time.

There are a lot of things you can do with the cucumber, depending on the size of your cucumber and the size of your bread pieces. Simple rounds or half moons work well, and my personal favorite is the twist, which you can see here. As you can see in the picture above, I made little bow ties, or “butterflies” as my DH called them (still on the frou-frou kick…). Check out this link for some super innovative and creative cucumber garnishes.

Unless you make the bread from scratch, this recipe comes together very QUICKly. Even if you do make the bread, each separate item in this recipe (bread, cucumber, spread) can be made in your spare time during the days ahead of your planned event. For example, I made the bread one afternoon and sliced it, then one night before I went to bed I mixed up the spread and sliced the cucumbers. I kept the spread and cucumbers in the fridge and then assembled them just before leaving for the gathering.

I love EASY recipes that still look elegant and taste delicious, and this is one of them! You don’t have to be a gourmet chef or know your way around the kitchen blindfolded to be able to make these tasty little nibbles.

It’s very CHEAP, too, IF you buy the cucumber in season and buy the cream cheese on sale. I’ve found that Trader Joe’s has the cheapest regular price ($1.50/8oz) for cream cheese in the area, so if it’s not on sale and I don’t have any on hand, that’s where I buy it. Considering I only used part of the cucumber and part of the cream cheese, and the rest of the ingredients came from my pantry, I would say I spent a dollar or less on the entire platter of appetizers. Pretty cheap!

It’s HEALTHY, too, if the bread is a healthy whole-grain bread. Cream cheese is not high on the list of healthiest foods, but it’s not high on the list of evil foods, either, at least in small quantities like this. The cucumbers and fresh herbs and vegetables certainly add some nutritional benefit as well, so you don’t have to feel guilty about eating a few of these little morsels.

3 Comments Filed Under: Celebrations, Home, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: sandwiches

What’s in YOUR Lunchbox? A Sweet Ending

September 1, 2010 By Anne Simpson

To close out this series, I think it only appropriate that we end with the best part: dessert! Well, at lunch, it’s more of a treat, but still: it’s sweet! No lunch is complete without it.

“Sweet treat” doesn’t have to mean sugary and fatty, like Hostess Cakes or Little Debbie cakes, or even Oreos or Chips Ahoy. It doesn’t mean granola and carrot sticks either. Somewhere between the two is a nice balance, particularly if it’s kept within boundaries: only when the healthy food is eaten, and only a small portion.

Stumped? Don’t be! Let’s brainstorm and get creative about delicious treats that have some measure of nutrition as well (in other words, they don’t cancel out the goodness of that healthy lunch you just packed!) and also some time-saving tips to make it easy.

1. Bar Cookies
Bar cookies are some of the easiest to make: simply mix up the batter, spread it in a 9×13 pan and bake. You don’t have to deal with scooping out the dough to form the cookies, nor do you have to take the time to prepare and bake multiple pans. You can even whip up a quick batch on a weeknight, and portion them out to last for an entire week (depending on how many children you have!).

The biggest key here to keeping it healthy is portion control, which I discuss at length in my post about brownies. Also, some recipes work well with half or more of the oil replaced with applesauce. Many recipes also taste great with the addition of raisins or nuts for added nutrition. Try throwing in a little flax seed (extra fiber, Omega-3s) – no one will be the wiser.

I recently discovered a great recipe for Monkey Bars, with lots and lots of banana in the batter (hence the name). Kids will love the fun name, and they’ll love the taste, too. The banana makes it plenty sweet, and you can choose to add in nuts, raisins or chocolate chips for an extra fun treat. I love that it uses whole wheat flour, and you don’t even notice it. Also it makes a LOT and it’s perfect for freezing so it’s perfect for lunches. Unfortunately, I dont’ have a picture, but here’s the recipe:

Monkey Bars
1 2/3 cup mashed banana (about 5 medium bananas)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup oil (or melted butter)
1/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup raisins/chocolate chips/nuts (I used raisins)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil. Whisk bananas, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk in flour just until it is blended, then gently stir in 1/2 of the raisins (or other substitutes). Spread batter in prepared pan, and sprinkle remaining raisins on top. Bake about 15 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

When the cookies are cool, slice them carefully into 40 pieces, removing the foil as you go. These stay moist and delicious for several days in an air-tight container at room temperature. For longer store, it’s best to freeze them.

For a no-bake bar option, try these Peanut Butter Crispy Bars. They are a LOT healthier than rice crispy treats, but just as easy and just as delicious.

2. Drop Cookies
Drop cookies are the quintessential lunch time treat, but they also are more of a pain. Here’s a sweet trick: mix up the batter, then drop it by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Place the whole sheet in the freezer and when the dough has frozen solid, remove to freezer bags. Store in the freezer until you want to bake them up, then bake as normal. This way, you don’t have to make multiple pans at a time, and you can bake up just as many as you need, so there’s no waste.

Some great semi-healthy drop cookie recipes are:
Banana Cookies (these are super delicious and very addictive!)
Oatmeal Cookies (add raisins or chocolate chips if you like)
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (Yes, whole wheat!)

3. Mix It UP!
It’s so easy to make a trail mix or cereal mix with whatever you have on hand. It makes a great snack because it’s mostly healthy but you can throw in some fun, sweet treats to help end lunch on a sweet note. Any of the following can be mixed together to create all kinds of fun flavors. Trust me; your kids won’t mind the occasionally bizarre combination, especially if you call it something fun like “Mystery Mix” or “Crazy Concoction”.

-nuts
-seeds
-cereal flakes
-puffed rice or wheat
-any dried cereal (especially not-too-sweet kinds like Cheerios or Chex)
-raisins
-dried cranberries
-mini marshmallows
-chocolate chips
-M&Ms
-mini pretzels
-popcorn

4. Homemade Chex Mix
Along the same lines, it’s so easy to make your own chex mix. I will admit it’s not the healthiest food in the world, but I make it all the time for my DH because it’s at least healthier (and cheaper) than buying it at the store, and he loves the stuff. It’s so quick, too: go here to find all kinds of 15-minute recipes for Chex Mix that range from really pretty healthy to… well, not at all! Here’s a great one that has very little sugar but a lot of other healthy ingredients: Breakfast-To-Go Chex Mix. Another great benefit of making it yourself is that you can put whatever you want in it. At the store, you’re stuck with the flavors they have available, but at home, you can customize it to your family’s tastes.

5. Mini Muffins
In my opinion, most muffin recipes make better snacks than breakfasts, despite the fact that most people eat them for breakfast. To be honest, I actually DO make my Certain Little Someone muffins for breakfast, but I make them with very little sugar (one recipe only uses 2 TBSPs) and I always include fruits or vegetables (like zucchini). They make much better snacks, though, if they have a lot of fats and sugars and white flour. And it’s even better if you bake them in a mini-muffin tin. Remember: portion control! Another reason to make them mini-sized: they’ll bake up even faster!

Again, when choosing a muffin recipe, find one with minimal fats or replace unhealthy fats (such as vegetable oil) with healthy fats (like melted butter) or applesauce. Use minimal sugar as well, or better yet, honey. I also like to look for recipes that call for yogurt and whole grains (whole wheat flour, oatmeal, etc.) as well.

6. No-Bake Cookies
These are easy, quick, and often healthy. The typical base is made of peanut butter and honey mixed with some kind of grain such as oatmeal or puffed rice/wheat. Dry cereals and raisins are also often found in the ingredient list. You can find a whole list of no-bake recipes here.

Another slightly indulgent option I recently discovered is Chocolate Covered Corn Flakes. It sounds kind of, well, corny, but it’s actually pretty good! And certain very easy.

7. Edible Playdough
For the youngest – or the not-so-young who still like to play with their food – send along some edible playdough to school. You can find a whole list here, although the majority of them are not exactly healthy. Most of them require peanut butter, so make sure there are no allergy issues in the classroom, or use an alternative nut or sun butter.

8. Pudding
Pudding cups are a very popular snack in kids’ lunchboxes, but almost all store-bought varieties are full of yucky ingredients you don’t want in your child’s lunch. Thankfully, you have two options (besides avoiding pudding altogether):

-Purchase Kozy Shack pudding, which is the only brand I’ve found that makes pudding with real, whole food ingredients. It’s so delicious, too. However, despite the fact that coupons are often available, it’s still pretty expensive, especially compared to its practically inedible counterparts. That leads us to the other option.
-Make it yourself. Honestly, it’s really very easy. I have two different recipes right here on my blog: Chocolate Pudding and Yogurt Pudding. You can step it up a bit by turning either one into a trifle (with leftover cake/muffins/brownies/bar cookies/cookies) or a parfait (with granola and fruit).

9. Small Pieces of Chocolate
When I first started drastically reducing the amount of sugar in my diet, I found that I felt deprived without a small sweet treat at the end of lunch. What did the trick was including just a small piece of chocolate (Hershey’s kiss, mini Reese’s peanut butter cup, Lindt truffle, individual snack-size Hershey candy bars, etc.). It satisfied my craving without totally throwing me off the wagon. Find a small version of your child’s favorite chocolate candy and offer it occasionally as an extra special treat that says “I Love You!”.

Previous Post: Let’s Get Creative Pt 2

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1 Comment Filed Under: At Home, Children, Home, Lunch, On The Table Tagged With: bar cookies, whats in your lunchbox

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