Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Fall Back

I'll admit up front that this post is the result of blatant thievery. Carole mentioned last week that she was thinking about ideas for blog posts, came up with the topic of "ask me anything", and invited people to pose questions they were curious about. In the comments Becky asked "What are the fall back recipes you make over and over again? I wish someone would do a post about this so I could get some new ideas. Cooking dinner must happen daily, and variety is not my superpower. I know this is a boring question, but it is something I struggle with daily."

I perked right up when I read that because I experience the same struggle on a daily basis. I thought if I posted some of my own slightly boring and often overused recipes, maybe you would do the same and we could all have a new variety of dishes to answer the eternal question of "what should I make for dinner?" So apologies to Becky and Carole for stealing this, but I'm desperate and tired of making the same things week after week.

I may make this a regular thing, but here are my first five recipes. I make these (or some simplified version of them) probably at least every other week or so. I chose these to start because they come out near the top of what Ryan calls the work/deliciousness ratio. The ideal recipe requires little work but produces something quite delicious, and I think these recipes qualify.

Chicken Pot Pie - I found this recipe a few months ago, have made it several times, and it is delicious. It's not a lot different than most other chicken pot pies, but the filling is made from scratch and I think the heavy cream in it makes it above average. 

Goop Chicken - We call this Goop Chicken because one of the boys once asked me what was in the goop and the name stuck. When a friend first gave me this recipe I thought it sounded slightly revolting. Italian dressing mix, cream cheese, and cream of mushroom soup? But it was something I could easily throw in the crockpot and everyone in our family liked it. That alone made it a worthy recipe. there have been fights at our house about not getting enough goop, so I almost always make it with three cans of mushroom soup, two packages of Italian dressing mix, and 8 oz. of cream cheese. I don't even care about the chicken (I just put chicken breasts in the crockpot and pour the goop mixture over them), I like goop on rice just fine.

Sausages with Peppers and Onions - This is another recipe that is easy to prepare. Just chop up peppers and onions, sear whatever sausages you like and place on top, and cook in the crockpot. Sometimes I use beer if I've got it, but I've also used water or cider and they work equally well.

Bacon Wrapped Cheesesteak Meatloaf - This recipe may look a little fussy, but I make an easier modified version of it. I season hamburger or ground venison, pat it into a rectangle, put provolone in the middle and roll it up. I usually put a few slices of bacon on the outer top, but rarely wrap the meatloaf in "a lovely bacon jacket".

Loaded Shepherd's Pie - Everyone in my family likes shepherd's pie, but one day Ryan said it needed more flavor. This recipe is proof that most things are made better by adding cheese and bacon. 

So there you have it, five of the fallback, foolproof, recipes I use with ideal work/deliciousness ratios. Please, please let me know about one (or more) of your own fallback recipes in the comments and rescue John and my family from eating the same thing night after night!

16 comments:

  1. I am so thankful for this post!! Planning and cooking meals is my nemesis... and with 3 growing kids, it's sort of a necessity around here. The Goop chicken, especially, looks intriguing. Yay!

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    1. If you make Goop Chicken, I hope you have the same results I did. It was one of the few dishes I made that both of my young children like and nobody complained about. I only had two kids to feed but I'm sure it's even more difficult with three!

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  2. Figuring out what to make for dinner is probably my biggest life headache. My daughter complains that she's bored with just about everything I make, but she never has any new ideas -- and she's a picky eater on top of it (she typically doesn't like anything with sauces or seasonings, which makes things really difficult). My go-to meal is usually pasta and salad, but even that can be problematic. Kiddo likes spaghetti and meatballs, but she doesn't like the red sauce (so she has her pasta with butter or olive oil and meatballs on the side). I've just scored a minor victory in getting her to eat pesto on pasta again, but she won't touch the other yummy things that we adults like to add, like onions and mushrooms and asparagus.

    Chicken pot pie is a favorite of mine. I'll have to see if I can convince her to try it!

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  3. Now I'm hungry, even though I don't eat meat ...

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  4. Thanks so much for these ideas. I struggle with new ideas about what to fix for dinner and I am afraid I am not super creative in the kitchen. These recipes all sound great and I will give many of them a try! Thanks and have a great week.

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  5. Ooo! I am laughing at goop chicken... but it does indeed look good! But that Loaded Shepherd's pie! Mmmmm! That one is going on my list! Thank you!

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  6. If you are going to do this regularly, I will need to hoard my responses - LOL! One of the things that I like to make this time of year is potato soup. My husband loves it, it is easy to make, and it is delicious. We have a burger joint here that has a very diverse menu, and this is their recipe. It's so popular that it ended up on the internet very quickly when they shared it. I don't generally follow the recipe to the letter, but here it is. I like to serve it with garlic bread. The only downside is that it doesn't freeze well, because potatoes. http://www.grouprecipes.com/22378/hueys-potato-soup.html That chicken pot pie looks fabulous, Bonny, I am going to try that for sure.

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  7. Oh, these are GREAT, Bonny! (And I love Ryan's taste/deliciousness ratio.) Y'know . . . I'm thinking that we should all do a post with this topic. Because I could really use a bit of cooking-inspiration these days! XO

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  8. I have that chicken recipe, I think we called it Creamy Italian Chicken but I like the name Goop Chicken much better! I'm glad you got inspired to do a post on this, I'm sure we can all use some new ideas on what to make for dinner.

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  9. Baked chicken. I cut up a lemon and an onion and find sage and thyme from the garden and stuff everything in the chicken, close it up with a toothpick or two through the skin and bake.(1.5hour) I usually also bake acorn squash with this meal. Cut an acorn squash in half, clean out the seeds, salt and pepper. Place cut side down in a pan with about 1/2 inch depth of water and bake in the oven about an hour. I scoop out the cooked squash into a warm bowl and serve with butter.
    Both these items are fairly simple (QUICK) to prep and take roughly the same time (okay the chicken takes longer.) and I can be doing other things, not stirring or watching a pan. Add a green vegetable, fresh (aspargus? or salad?) or canned (green beans) and I call it complete. Of course fresh bread or rolls would be nice too.

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  10. Oh, and second day, take the left over meat off the chicken and make chicken enchiladas. My husband loves both these meals and he can be a picky eater.

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    1. Perfect, two delicious easy meals in one! I haven't baked a chicken in quite a while, but I will be adding these to my menu in the near future. Thank you, Helen!

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  11. I love the goop chicken story. We still call parmesan cheese, shake-y cheese...

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  12. what a great idea for a blog post - and thank you for sharing! We are on a heavy rotation of salads here but it's going to be freezing again tomorrow and something hot from the oven sounds delicious!

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  13. Yes! I like Kym's idea that we should ALL do a post like this! "GOOP CHICKEN"! What a great name! We're on a mission to shed a few pounds here, so I'll just say that I made a really tasty "healthy" shepherd's pie the other day and one of the things that made it lighter was to replace some of the potato with cauliflower for the mashed topping -- it was SO GOOD!

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  14. I'm another who likes the idea of posting favorite recipes on our blogs...so I think I will steal this idea from you (and Carole)/ LOVE the name GOOP Chicken - just the name alone would make it fun for kids I would think@!

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