Menu Monday, January 21, 2013 (Korma)

Mmmmm.... wintery weather and crispy cool temperatures just beg for warm spicy food, don't you think? It's been awhile since I've participated in Menu Plan Monday, but was inspired this week(Just a little late getting my post in on MONDAY... on the east coast, anyway). :)

Tonight I made a recipe based on my dad's Chicken Korma recipe (he was taught to make it by his room-mate in Bible College who was a native East Indian). This version has a few shortcuts and substitutions, but I thought it turned out fairly decent, and so did everyone else in the family, apparently, as all the bowls were scraped clean! :)

Quick Chicken Korma

Chop 1 onion and saute over medium heat. While it is cooking,
Chop 1 pepper in medium to fine dice (I used orange) and add it to the pot. While those are cooking,
Slice 4 large carrots into fairly thin slices and add those to the pot.

Cook these three ingredients until they are fairly soft(10-15 minutes?), then
Add 3-4 minced garlic cloves.

After about 2-3 minutes stir in the following spices (These are measurements to start with, but please adjust to taste~ I plan to play with them a little more myself, because they weren't quite "perfect" tonight, while still being quite delicious)
3 tsp cumin
2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cloves
(2-3 tsp curry powder is optional, I didn't use it this time around... wasn't feeling curry-ish)

Stir the veggies and the spices over medium heat for 3-5 minutes then add your chicken.
I tend to made an open space in the middle of my saute' pan, leaving the veggies around the sides, and cook the chicken there in the middle. 
I used 3 chicken breasts, cubed into about 1 inch pieces. We could have used a little more meat, but this is a good way to s-t-r-e-t-c-h that grocery budget! :)

When the chicken is reasonably cooked (about 5 minutes),
Toss in 1.5 to 2.5 cups whole cashews. Stir for a bit then

Add 2 cans purred tomato (I just whip diced tomatoes in the blender) and
4 cups broth (use your choice... I have been using Knorr's Concentrated vegetable broth)

Let this mixture come to a boil, then simmer for at least 1/2 hour (While you make your rice). It's even better if it can simmer for 1-2 hours to let the flavors meld.

If the sauce is a little too "soupy" it's great to add some freshly grated coconut. I grated in about 1/4 of a fresh coconut this time around (Yay for husbands who pick up ingredients like that! and it was a good one this time, too!)

Serve over rice.

For the rest of the week:

Lentil stew/soup
"Leftover Pasta"
Deli Meat/Cheese wraps
Sausage and Potato Frittata
Saturday is "Boys Fend For Themselves"~ Eldest and I will be eating at Rein's New York Deli on our way home from a Feis

What's cooking at your house? Feel free to comment here, post your menu plan, or browse for inspiration over at Menu Plan Monday. I'm also posting on "Try a New Recipe Tuesday" so head on over there for some more inspiration!

Blessings~

Week Before Christmas Menu Planning (Easy/Pleasy)

My~ I've taken a wee bit of a hiatus from all things bloggy this early December~ Working more "offline" and trying to get things in order for Christmas and "Vacation" with the daddy at home (yay!). I also am having "Storage" issues on my computer, so picture taking and uploading is at a bit of a minimum at the moment.

Now that you've heard some of the "why" you haven't seen me here (Although, I will admit that I have been on facebook a fair amount...), I'll get to my semi-menu-planning for this week. The theme this week is primarily "Easy... please!" Thanks, orgjunkie for hosting the linky!

Monday~ today we had a "make-it-up-as-we-go" sort of soup~ Started out wanting to make a potato/sausage soup, ended up with more of a brothy/tomato-base~ very potato/veggie with sausage (Of the breakfast link variety! That was what I was wanting... YUM!), and a little bit of rice thrown in for good measure. The verdict was thumbs up all around the table. :) Very much a warm up your insides sort of soup~ perfect for our snowy, sludgy day.
Goes great on slices of french bread, or with the bread torn to pieces and dropped in to sop up the liquid~

Tuesday~ Well.... I made a pretty huge pot of that soup, so we're bringing to our friends' home to share with them before heading out to DD's BFF's High School Christmas Concert. It was amazing last year, and we're looking forward to it this year!

Wednesday~ planning on wrapped sandwiches/salad for a quick bite before I take the kids to the last youth group meeting for 2012.

Thursday~ need something fairly easy, light but filled with protein before heading out to the last dance class of 2012~ I'm thinking Quiche is in! :) That is a family favorite!

Friday~ Haven't had much time to discuss with DH... too much overtime, not enough home time, but it's his first night of vacation for the rest of the year, so he might want to do something special. If not, we'll cozy in with some baked mac & cheese and salad.

What does your menu look like this week?

Blessings~

Left-over Indian dishes? PIZZA!!!!

Well...... it's been a LONG time since I've joined in with Menu Planning Monday, but figured the first Monday of the year might be a good time to start! :)  Pretty basic "plans"

• Monday~ Chicken Tikka Masala and Mutter Paneer Pizzas (They were Delish!) 

The basic concept it to make my favorite pizza crust (I'll copy the recipe here) This recipe makes enough to fill two large rectangular bar pans from Pampered chef(I suppose it would work for two round pizza stones, too, but I don't have any of those, so we eat rectangular pizza!)

• 4 1/2 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp sugar(I used Florida's Naturals)
• 2 cups warm water
• 5 cups whole wheat flour OR 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups white wheat flour, and 1 cup cornmeal (This is our current favorite crust combo)
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbs olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Set the timer for 10 minutes.
Mix the flour and salt in a medium sized bowl, while the yeast is "activating".
When the timer goes off, the yeast mixture should be "creamy", if it is,
Add the yeast mixture and the oil to the dried ingredients, and beat until smooth.
Split in half (I save one half in an airtight container or ziplock baggie for another night)
Let the dough "relax" for 5 minutes, so that it will be easier to roll out.

For both pizzas I just used the 1/4-1/2 cup or so of left-over tikka masala (on one) and the mutter paneer on the other. Chunked up the chicken and cheese on their respective doughs, added a few spoons of Raita (A yogurt sauce that generally comes with the Biryani that I'll be using tomorrow), and sprinkled with some of the left-over white rice.
I LOVE Left-over  Ethnic food pizza!

• Tuesday~ might see another pizza~ Chicken Biryani style (Yup~ love using up those New Year's Eve Indian food leftovers! Oooooh... or maybe I'll turn the biryani into a crust for a quiche! That might be interesting!~ If I remember, I'll let you know what I decided to do. :D
• Wednesday~ Looking at a creamy spinach casserole
• Thursday~ Soup (Possibly Broccoli Apple? It is certainly a favorite around here, and I understand that the weather will be getting a little chilly, so it's not a bad idea!) 
• Friday~ Feeling like a turkey/pumpkin chili, using leftover (Frozen) turkey from Thanksgiving~ Stylin' 22nd Anniversary dinner, hey? That's what happens when it's AWANA night! I expect we'll do something else on Saturday. :)

So there you have it, my basic plans~  Don't forget to visit Menu Planning Monday for lots of other great ideas!

Blessings~

Menu Plan Monday 2 weeks worth of ideas(some links)

Menu Plan Monday~

Last week I just didn't get around to posting, so here is what we did:
Monday: Plumb ran out of time, hence no post... I used Ramen Noodles (No spice packet) to make a sort of eggy/veggie saucy one pot dish. Hey, the cupboards were a little bare, so I worked with what we had... ;)
Tuesday: Veal Stew from a recipe I created with my daughter when she was almost 2 :)
Wednesday: a Chicken and Rice dish based on This Recipe from RecipeShoeBox I did modify it a little~ crushed/pureed canned tomatoes, Brown Rice, I skipped the cilantro (One child can't stand it... ;(  , and I added some chopped black olives. It was Yum!
Thursday: Veal Stew Leftovers
Friday: Speedy Quesadilla's (PB&J for my Middlest who doesn't "do" melted cheese)

Now, on to this week! Sorry that I didn't have a chance to do more linking and/or including recipes~ BUSY weekend, and start to the week!

Monday~ Chicken Soup From the Wilson's Farm Cookbook (love the recipes in this book!)
Tuesday~ More Chicken Soup.... DH made a HUGE pot, with a whole box of Alphabet Noodles! :)
Wednesday~ If I'm ambitious, I'll make pasties (Just to give you an idea....look here ), if not probably meatloaf or Salisbury Steak
Thursday~ Stew or Soup, but I'm still choosing which what (picked up new cookbooks at the library book sale last week, and I haven't had a chance to check them out yet!)
Friday~ Pizza

If you need more inspiration this week, be sure to go visit Menu Plan Monday!
Blessings~