Crock pot picadillo, crock pot corn chowder, lemon-butter garlic shrimp, slow cooker manicotti and lemon chicken orzo soup
I think this is the most relaxed December I can remember. We didn't make any trips to the mall, and there were no frantic shopping days in the city. We've still managed to put on a lot of miles this month, but there's been a lot more visiting and time with friends and family.
I continue to love the slow cooker, both for its convenience, and the saucy goodness it produces. This week I also tried a couple of stovetop dishes from the "Yum and Yummer" cookbook by Greta Podleski. If you're looking for a gift idea for someone who enjoys food, it's a good one!
Sidebar: I bought a lightbox this week (unfortunately, I was in Henry's because my camera stopped working and I had to send it away for a 4-6 week repair), but here's hoping that my food photos are vastly improved. So far, I am happy with it - at least I think the Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup looks especially yummy! :) I will not miss trying to shoot dinner at lunchtime in order to take advantage of what little gray daylight there may be...
On the menu last week December 16 - 22, 2018:
Sunday Crock Pot Picadillo with brown rice and coleslaw
This has been on my "must try" list for a long time, but for some reason I just never got around to making it until today. It did not disappoint. Next time, I would cut back on the salt (I would try 1 tsp instead of 2), but it was still good and different. I would make this again for sure, and Gina is right when she says it would be good in tortillas.
Monday leftovers / eat out / take out
We had a lot of Crock Pot Picadillo left over, so that's what we had for supper tonight.
I may have mentioned I love soup... Dad really enjoys corn chowder and I haven't made it in a while, so tonight was the night. The bacon and cheese make this rich and tasty.
Wednesday Lemon-Butter Garlic Shrimp with broccoli, linguine and green salad
We really enjoyed this. We haven't had shrimp in months, so it was a very nice change. I usually buy cooked shrimp, but tonight I used peeled uncooked shrimp as the recipe called for, and it was great - not rubbery, and sweet. The pasta, broccoli and salad made lovely accompaniments. Mom wrote, "Supper last night was delicious. After pureeing, Dad did pretty good. Enjoyed everything. I added milk to both the shrimp and the broccoli. Added some pasta to the shrimp for Dad." I used PC Organic chopped broccoli and Dad said it had a lot more flavour than broccoli usually does. I will be buying that again.
Thursday Slow Cooker Spinach and Ricotta Manicotti with green salad
Last week I was looking through some recipe clippings (I have hundreds!) and came across this one. I have not tried making manicotti in the slow cooker before, but I would definitely make this again. I added some cooked ground beef to the sauce before putting the manicotti in the slow cooker, and I also added a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes (or you could use two jars of passata). I wanted to make sure that there was ample sauce for the ground beef since the recipe didn't call for that. I had more than enough ricotta filling for ten manicotti, so I just kept going until I had used all of the filling. In addition to the extra can of tomatoes, I added half again as much pesto, garlic powder and garlic. I didn't have any frozen spinach, so I cooked some fresh until it wilted and then cut it up using some scissors.
Dad said that this was delicious and he could have eaten seconds easily. The pasta was a great consistency for Dad, and the rest of us liked it, too (even the teenage boy.) There were enough leftovers for lunch, and Dad had it again today by request. He especially enjoyed the ricotta.
Friday Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup with fresh buns
In spite of a plan for tonight's supper, I forgot to take the chicken thighs out of the freezer to thaw last night. Although I know I can defrost them in the microwave, I don't really like to do that. That called for a last minute menu change, and since we had some leftover rotisserie chicken, I decided to make this soup. My son wasn't home tonight, and it seemed like a good time to make this as he doesn't like lemon very much. The lemon and parsley give it a really fresh flavour. Dad wrote, "Very nice. I had two bowls."
Saturday leftovers / eat out / take out
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