Snacks!

07 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

by A Dreamer in Chicken, Cuisine, Indian, Quick Prep, Sides, Snacks, Trader Joe's, Turnovers Tags: , , , ,

So, I found myself on my own tonight and was sorely tempted to get take out, but I’m trying to not spend too much money – and I remembered that there were still some heat & eat goodies in the freezer from Christmas. Took a peek and decided it was time for Trader Joe’s Mini Chicken Tikka Samosas!

Box of Trader Joe's mini Chicken Tikka Samosas "chicken, vegetables, and Indian spices wrapped in crisp, flaky pastry"

They fit the bill for the night – very tasty, very easy, and I didn’t have to leave the house. If you’re worried about Indian food being spicy (a normal concern) – no worries here. They do have a slow building heat to them, but not “oh god my face is on fire” spicy. Personally, I think they’re better with some kind of dipping sauce of some ilk – if you’re feeling fancy, you could go with plain yogurt with dill and garlic or something along those lines. Or you could go with what I did, which was a dollop of sour cream on the side.

I ate half the package myself. And the rest is going to get popped in the toaster oven tomorrow for lunch.

20 minutes from turning the oven on to ready to eat. And I threw parchment paper on the cookie sheet, so easy clean up to boot.

Next time you’re at TJ’s, give them a whirl.

New Year, Let’s Eat!

06 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

by A Dreamer in Chicken, Pasta, Quick Prep Tags: , , ,

OK, so there was a time I would have called this a lazy day meal, but no – we’re not lazy.  We’ve all been dealing with a minimum of SIX YEARS of collective trauma, including but certainly not limited to, bad people in charge, a pandemic that won’t go away, an insurrection, and other things I am sure I have simply blocked out.  Oh, and we’re currently missing half of our federal legislature. 

In short, YOU ARE NOT LAZY.  YOU ARE TIRED AND IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE.

So, I want to take a minute to tell you about a nice “Fuck, I’m tired” meal kit I picked up at the grocery store.  It’s Chef Rana’s Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. 

Package of Chef Rana's Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo meal kit

It’s very tasty, AND VERY EASY.  You literally take the fresh(!!) pasta out of the bag and loosen it up and put it in the cooking container (which is included.)  Cut the corner of the sauce pouch, pour over.  Open bag of chicken, place on top.  Put two paper towels over the container and pop it in the microwave for 8-9 minutes, give it a good stir, and it’s done.

Because the prep is so fast, it’s good if you can’t stand for long periods of time, or you could even easily put it together sitting down at your kitchen/dining room table.  I usually make some garlic bread to go with it.  Add a salad or some veggies (frozen peas in butter sauce comes to mind!) and you have a total meal.  If you’re having a “we’re having pasta with a side of pasta” night – it will still work, it is filling and satisfying.  

It runs $15 at my market, but you’re getting 2 pounds of food there.  Still cheaper than MickeyD’s for four.  Or two for that matter. And it has a decent fridge shelf-life, so you don’t have to buy/make it the same day.

I took a snap after it came out of the microwave – but I’d already stirred it and all the chicken sank to the bottom, LOL.  I swear, there is chicken in there!

Square black container with egg noodles and cream sauce

Easiest Chicken Salad

20 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

by A Dreamer in Chicken, Chicken Salad, Salad, Sandwiches Tags: , , ,

It's hard to take an artful photo of a chicken salad sandwich...

It’s hard to take an artful photo of a chicken salad sandwich…

With the weather warming up, it’s time for cold salad sandwiches.  Never been an egg salad person myself, but I loooove my chicken salad.  Mainly because the only way it could be easier is if I got it at the store – and the store bought is never as good.

Chicken Salad!

1-2 pounds of chicken breasts, cooked and diced
Mayonnaise
Grey Poupon Country Dijon Mustard

Optional:
Celery
Onions
Grapes
Apples
Walnuts

Cook up and chop up the chicken.  For the sauce, the proportions are 1 heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise to 1 heaping teaspoon of mustard.  Now – how much of these tablespoons & teaspoons you need depends on how much chicken you have.  I just keep doing one of each until it looks like enough, taste it, then add more mayo or mustard to get it just right.

Combine it all.  There you go.  Really.  You could just eat it like that.  (I have been known to do that on more than one occasion.  Straight from the bowl.)

I like to add in some chopped celery and onions.  My brother prefers it plain.  If you go with grapes and apples, it’s a little harder to make sandwiches out of it, but it’s good.  I think it’s terrific on croissants.

Cooking the chicken takes the most time – but it’s not like you’re standing over the stove the whole time.  The rest, maybe 10 minutes.