Another No Recipe Cooking Weekend

We all know one of those planning kinds of people. You know the ones, they sit down with a notebook and a cup of coffee, their calendar and some coupons and plan an entire week's, or more, worth of menus, and actually stick to it. I am NOT that person. Oh I tried, and tried, and tried. I failed. I threw away uncooked vegetables that went bad because I didn't stick to my plan. I just did that in fact, this morning, tossing weepy organic arugula and green beans that I forgot to use for meals during the week. Darn me. I HATE when that happens. I regretfully had to toss an unopened package of beautifully prepared chili lime grilled chicken breast strips because I got lazy and didn't make dinner a few times. I just can't plan ahead! 

A few basics in the pantry and you can make a whole
takeout menu full of recipes for pennies.

Unless.......... it's a manageable amount of food- like say, six bone in chicken breasts. I had a package in the fridge that needed to be cooked or meet a freezing fate in the freezer, so I decided it's time to make some Planned Leftovers. Easy- line a baking sheet with foils, and arrange the chicken breasts on top. Season them liberally. I used the last teaspoon of some Fines Herbes from Penzey's, some garlic salt, Montreal Steak seasoning (I use this for everything), a sprinkle of smoked paprika and some tomato basil seasoning I found on the shelf and rubbed all over the chicken. I popped the chicken breasts into a 350 degree oven and roasted them for about an hour, then I let cool, popped in the fridge, and when cold, pulled the chicken off the bone and saved for some easy meals over the weekend, and I was soooo glad I did. I think I'm going to do this again- on purpose!

Dessert is a snap when you start with a mix

Having had a fairly stressful work week, the weekend was my relax time, my time to do nothing. Cooking wasn't even on my radar. I was whiny, sad that I am missing out on the Italian American Festival and the American Cheese Society's Festival of Cheese- and come on!! Who want to miss these events? One of my Foodie Resolutions was to attend more food events in 2016- and so far it's been a tough one to meet. Not for the last of wanting, however, I have had to miss out on several awesome tastings, cooking classes, and a few other events and I'm not too happy about it. So I had a teeny meeny pity party over missing out. Cooking just wasn't in my game plan this weekend. Thankfully, that roasted chicken will come into play a couple times this weekend.

Faced with certain starvation and a fridge with some pretty tasty ingredients contained therein I opted for the easy way out- a salad. Rescued from the veggie drawer, a mostly full bag of organic baby spinach formed the foundation of my salad. I wish I'd also had some fresh basil leaves but i was forced to make do. A couple of very ripe and juicy Roma tomatoes get cut up into bite size chunks and tossed in the bowl. Half a ball of fresh mozzarella, cubed, goes in next, followed with a generous handful of cut up leftover roast chicken breast. Whip up a quick vinaigrette with some olive oil, Dijon mustard and Balsamic vinegar and toss the whole thing together with some crunchy Italian bread croutons. I didn't have any croutons and I missed that crunch. It was a great light dinner I'd definitely make again.

Sunday was a lazy day. Neither the chef nor I wanted to cook again.....and we still had veggies and chicken to use. Sounds like a crazy stir fry of some sort, with rice, was in order.

Out of boredom, I thought I'd check the pantry and maybe whip up some kind of dessert. I spied some good recipe basics on the shelf and decided a cake of some kind would be easy to pull off. Simple to throw together, mix up a one layer yellow cake mix as the package directs. Pour into 8x8 pan. Grab a can of pie filling of choice- I used red raspberry, and spoon it randomly onto the cake batter, swirling a bit. Sprinkle with a topping if you like- I had some leftover pecan brittle from the Naughtiest Bacon so I used that. Chopped nuts, coconut, a streusel recipe- all would be great. Popped into the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes and it was perfect. No frosting needed, a little whipped topping or vanilla ice cream would have been great. 

This quick dessert is a great dish to use and experiment. Use your favorite cake flavors and different pie fillings, or fresh fruit, leftover fried apples, whatever!

No Recipe Cooking- I Have Four Pork Chops. Now What?

Lord knows I have been there. Shopping at the teeny small town grocery store for the last four years I have seen the same cuts of meat over and over and over and over and over and over and..... until I just can't stand to look at another package of hamburger, chicken breast, pot roast. Pork chops. But hey, I love pork chops, and I just so happen to have a freezer full right now. Two whole boneless pork loins were gifted to me and after butchering them myself and cutting them into whatever sizes and cuts I wanted I ended up with a nice stash of meat, including a few pork chops.

So tonight I am looking at four boneless pork chops. What am I going to make with these guys that is easy, creative, and uses what I have on hand so I don't need to go yet again to the teeny tiny grocery store and wander the seven aisles wishing it was a mega-city-supermarket? I've got a lot of basics in the pantry so what's it going to be? Stir fry? Dragon noodles? Baked with barbeque sauce? Grilled? Mushroom sauce? Hmmmmm.

I also happen to have a humongous bag of dinner rolls. The plan is to divide up into packs of four and freeze, but tonight they are fresh and just waiting to be used. My mind suddenly gets focused.....on using those rolls......on finding the meat mallet.......and panko........and heat.......and I have one egg left...... I'm golden!

My brain comes up with Spicy Tenderloin Sliders and in minutes they are underway. Let's go through it.

I didn't need many ingredients for this- my pork chops, some panko, an egg, a dinner roll for each chop and some cooking oil. I happened to have Habanero Onion Panko from FireFood, and you really ought to get some and play with it in the kitchen- amazing stuff and a great way to get used to hotter peppers without scalding your lower jaw off. The habanero in the panko brings a nice kick of heat that goes away really quickly. It's not scalding like eating a pepper- not at all. You can use plain panko if you prefer, or regular breadcrumbs or even mix a little habanero panko with plain to ease the heat- totally up to you. You'll need a cup or so of crumbs.

Everything in their line of spicy foods is delicious!!

It took me a while to find the meat mallet in my Drawer of Doom in the kitchen- aka the utensil drawer. I almost abandoned this idea but I finally found it. Trim your chops of excess fat and place between layers of heavy plastic wrap. Pound them out so they're between a quarter and a half an inch thick. No need to make them HUGE. These are sliders and I like my tenderloin to have some bite to it. Season with salt and pepper or a meat rub/seasoning you like, dip in the egg (which you have beaten in a shallow bowl) then coat with the panko, really pressing it in the meat. Place on a baking sheet that has a little oil spread around in there. You could use cooking spray but I like the crunchy texture the oil gives- kind of like frying even though we're not.

Pop them in the oven at 425 degrees for 35 minutes and they will be a perfect crispy golden brown when they come out, I promise. Split a couple dinner rolls per person and top each with a chop and the condiments of your choice- I went classic with onions, mustard and sliced pickle. Go with easy sides like chips or a salad you grabbed at the deli and dinner is on the table in a flash. No recipe !!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."