OWC Week 1

Once a week cooking?

When I had less children and more time, I used to do OMC (Once a month cooking).

I would love to do it again, but for now, I am starting up with OWC (Once a week cooking).

We have been eating out too much.

We haven't been eating 'good' food.

We (namely me) have been gaining weight.

I made the decision to take charge and to first start cooking meals for my family again.

Next I will covertly change those meals to low fat, high nutrition meals, but for now I am working on just meals made at home.

This is extremely important considering, I haven't cooked at home in ohhhhhh lets say 4 years? Okay that is an exaggeration, but really it has been a LONG time.  Why you say?

I had a new baby and we were prepping to move to Hawaii.

Moved to Hawaii, across that great big ocean.

Got settled a bit, then moved to a new house.

Got settled a bit, then moved to a new house.

(Do you see a trend here?)

Got settled a bit, then moved to a new house.

Got settled a bit, then moved packed up and move back to the mainland.

I had a new baby....

Got settled a bit, then moved to a new house.

Yes, all within the last 4 years.

Phew, I am tired just reading all of that, and cannot believe we have lived it.

So yes, cooking was on the back burner.

Whatevah!  EXCUSES!!!

So we went shopping yesterday and bought all my supplies.

I made out my meal plans.

And then assembled and cooked the better half of the afternoon.

Including Sunday nights dinner in the Toaster Oven that has a Rotisserie option. (Which I WAY over cooked, because I was dealing with the other dishes and had the heat up too high...oops!  So I took the now special 'Cajun' meat out diced it up, set it aside, while I quickly sauteed red bell peppers, red onions in olive oil, tossed with left over pasta I had from the other dishes of the day and mixed with cream of mushroom soup and the meat). YUMMY!

Here is our plan for the week...

Sunday - Roast in the Rotisserie toaster oven

We just LOVE our little toaster oven and use it for just about everything.  Doing a rotisserie roast is perfect when you are home to enjoy the yummy smells!

This is a family favorite. Just make sure that you have a pan to catch all the yummy drippings (you can make it into a dipping sauce for later if you want).

Ingredients

1 Medium sized roast.

Seasonings

Directions

Easy!  Just rub the roast with your favorite seasonings. Our 2 favorites are Red Baron Barbecue Spice and Porterhouse and Roast Seasoning.  There are many other great options, these are just our favorites. Set the oven to go and let it cook for 3 hours.

Monday - Roasted Sticky Chicken

This is an old tried and true recipe!  I always make this when having a family gathering and we get rave reviews.  It falls off the bone and is just spicy enough to make you salivate but not too spicy to burn the kiddos mouths.

*(not precooked, instead I prepped it Sunday with everything else and had it sitting in the dish pan letting the spices permeate overnight and started it in the oven first thing in the morning).

Ingredients
4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 onions, quartered
2 (4 pound) whole chickens

Directions
1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in roasting pan and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).

3. Remove plastic wrap and cover with tin foil for first 2 hours. Bake for 3 more hours uncovered and drizzle with drippings every 30 min. Bake until a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let the chickens stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Tuesday - Pizza Casserole

Brand NEW recipe and can I just say YUM!  So easy to make, very little prep and was very easy to reheat!

Can I just say my family LOVED this!  SO GOOD!  We are going to LOAD it up with yummy goodness next time and put more toppings inside the casserole instead of just on top.

Ingredients

1 bag of your favorite pasta (we used bow ties)

1 extra large jar of spaghetti or pizza sauce

3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat

1 package pepperonis

1 can of olives (if you choose)

1 package sausage (if you choose)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (120 degree C).

2. Boil pasta until soft.

3. Brown meat in skillet on stove - top. (drain, but don't rinse).

4. Layer ingredients (pasta, meat, sauce, cheese and repeat, then put pepperonis and olives on top).

5. Cook covered with tinfoil for 30 minutes.

6. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve, when ready to serve reheat without tinfoil.

Wednesday - Pot Roast

This is a fabulous meal to make ahead of time or for an all day cooking project. We cooked this all day and then reheated it for our evening dinner. It needed at least 1 hour to reheat in the crock.

Lots of gravy and can be spooned over sourdough toast or over rice to make it extra special.  We served it with Hawaiian sweet rolls.

Ingredients

1 Medium sized roast

1 packet Lipton Onion dried Soup Mix

2 cups of carrots

1 onion

4 red potatoes

2 cans of condensed mushroom soup

1.5 cans of water

Directions

1. Dice potatoes and onions, then place over the roast in the crockpot.

2. Add carrots, mushroom soup, Lipton Onion Soup Mix and water over the top.

3. Cook for 6 hours on highest setting.

4. When served make sure to dice up roast meat.

Thursday - Chicken and Rice Bake

This is a childhood favorite of mine.  Smells fantastic when cooking and is a pleaser for any age.

An added bonus is that it is so great as leftovers and is yummy the first time around!

Ingredients

2 cups of uncooked rice

1/2 bag of frozen corn

4 boneless skinless frozen chicken breasts

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of water (after you empty it of mushroom soup)

1/2 cup French Fried Onions.

Sprinkle of season salt 

Sprinkle of pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Then in an oven safe cooking dish (9x13), spread evenly in the bottom 2 cups of uncooked rice. Place 3-4 frozen skinless/boneless chicken breast over the top of the rice. 1/2 cup French Fried Onions sprinkled in open spaces between chicken breasts. 1/2 cup of frozen corn in open spaces between chicken breasts.  Spoon 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup evenly over the top of all layers. 1 can of water (after you have emptied soup mixture), over entire mixture. Sprinkle salt and pepper to flavor.

2. Cover pan with tinfoil and place in warmed oven for 40 minutes.

3. Slice chicken breast in half to ensure no pink in the middle.

Friday - Teriyaki Meatball Pasta Casserole

We had this for the first time and served it to others and everyone lapped it up!  So yummy with just a little kick of spiciness.

Was great reheated!  Took us back to our Hawaiian days with our Luau's and fun cookouts on the beach.  Aloha!

Ingredients

1 package of your favorite noodles

1 can of pineapple slices 

2 red bell peppers

1 onion

1 package of your favorite precooked meatballs

3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

1/2-1 cup of Teriyaki Sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Boil pasta in large pot with chicken bullion cubes, drain.

3. Dice peppers, pineapples and onions.

4. Then in an oven safe cooking dish (9x13), spread evenly in the bottom the cooked pasta.  Arrange meatballs, diced onions, diced pineapple and diced bell peppers.

5. Pour over the top of all ingredients Teriyaki Sauce.

6. Cover pan with tinfoil and place in warmed oven for 30 minutes (or until bell peppers are soft).

Happy Cooking!

~Sister Pester
P.S. Saturday we had leftovers from each meal :-)