Friday, February 10, 2023

Chicken dish recipe:

In a 9x13 pan, cut 3 chicken breasts in half, add 2 cans green beans on one side and cut up red skin potatoes on the other. Sprinkle a packet of zesty Italian dressing mix over the top. Drizzle a stick of melted butter over it. Cover it with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I don't think that the Italian dressing mix adds much to the final result.

It is important to drain the green beans.

I usually put more than the what the recipe calls for. Whatever I can fit in the pan.

Partially frozen chicken will work, but if you don't cut the chicken in half, it might end up pink in the middle.

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Food Theory: This Lemonade Could Kill You (Panera)

Chicken dish

This is really good…

In a 9x13 pan, cut 3 chicken breasts in half, add 2 cans green beans on one side and cut up red skin potatoes on the other. Sprinkle a packet of zesty Italian dressing mix over the top. Drizzle a stick of melted butter over it. Cover it with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

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Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Easy Recipes?

 I found a really old post I wrote ...


Since I don't like to spend much time cooking, I came up with the following recipes that are easy to make.

Omelet in a Cup

  1. 15 ounce porcelain cup.
  2. 3 eggs, or 183 grams of "Egg Beaters" product, preferably Southwestern Style with Yolk.
  3. 3 tablespoons of "Salsa Cruda." which is chunky salsa with almost no liquid.   i.e. tomatoes, onion, peppers.
  4. A sprinkle of bacon bits (preferably store bought) or diced ham.
  5. Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

I spent the weekend experimenting with how to make an omelet in the microwave, so as to avoid all that messy cooking.   I had a plastic device for making omelets in the microwave, but it didn't work that well.   The results were messy and uneven.

I also wanted to avoid all the oil that restaurants put in their omelets.   I used the "Egg Beaters" product to save on cholesterol.

Getting it to come out exactly right is a tricky process.   The most important rule with any microwave cooking is to not over cook.   I discovered that if I throw all the ingredients into a cup, except the cheese, and microwave the mixture on 10% power for 20 minutes, then I get even cooking and I avoid air pockets that will distort the shape of the omelet .   If you see the eggs bulging at all, then you are either overcooking or cooking at too high of a power.

By following this method, the omelet came out perfect, and a whole lot easier to make than a pan fried omelet.   How much salsa and meat you add to the mixture is entirely up to your tastes, but I added just enough salsa to make the mixture colorful, and just a sprinkle of bacon bits.   The more ingedients you add, the longer the cooking time.

This was really good with ketchup.   The result is a bit like scrambled eggs.

I didn't actually add the cheddar cheese, but if I had, then I would have waited until about 3 minutes before it was done cooking, and then added the cheese on top and microwave until the cheese melts.   If you add the cheese too early then it will become runny.

My one disappointment is that it wasn't that big of a serving.   The "Egg Beaters" product is not very high in calories, and without the extra oil and cheese that restaurants use, it ended up being a low calorie and low carb omelet.   This means that if I want it to be more filling then I need to either increase the amount of my ingredients, or make two omelets.

Best Tomato Soup

  • 1/2 bag of extra wide egg noodles
  • 2 large cans of tomato soup
  • 1 large can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 large can of tomato sauce
  • 1 small can of diced tomatoes with peppers
  • 1 small can of sliced (stewed) tomatoes
  • Up to a large can of water, which is all that I have room for in a 6 quart crock pot.   I would like to experiment with being to add more water so that it is not so thick.   I am looking to into buying an 8 quart crock pot online.  

Combine all the ingredients and cook until the noodles are done.   Don't use too many noodles, otherwise the soup will come out too thick.

The Word's Easiest Chicken Tacos.

Fill a large microwave safe dish with taco shells, either normal length or extra long shells.   Place a single frozen chicken tender (i.e. Tyson) into each taco shell.   For extra long shells put two tenders end to end.   Pour a generous amount of taco sauce over each tender.   Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over each tender.  

Microwave for 2 minutes or until the cheese melts.  

It is really good.

I have had some good results using thick salsa instead of taco sauce.   The kind I buy comes in quart jars and is available at Wal-Mart.


Best Microwave Popcorn

You need a sturdy microwave popcorn bowl like this one.   Add 4 ounces of Orville Redenbacher popcorn and 2 ounces of healthy Canola Oil.   Microwave for 4 minutes.   Add seasoned salt.   This is much better tasting than bag microwave popcorn and better than some movie theater popcorn, both of which can be too dry.   Approximately 700 calories for the entire amount.   About 1/3 of the kernels will not pop.

Friday, August 19, 2022

Arbys

I was hungry, so I decided to go to Arbys drive through with some old coupons. My local Arbys will take expired coupons. I was going to get three Turkey bacon wraps, but they were out of Turkey and the only wrap available was buffalo chicken which I did not want. The cashier told me that the delivery truck failed to arrive. It looked like the lobby may have been closed.

So I used an old couple to get two bacon Swiss chicken sandwiches for $5. The newer coupons are $6 and I think that they have a special at that price anyway. I doubled the order and got 4 sandwiches.

I didn't see anyone at the Arbys except the cashier, who disappeared while my sandwiches were being made. I would be very disappointed if she was the only one working there and she had to make my sandwiches. The service was very slow by fast food standards and there was a long line of cars behind me.

I see this as a sign of the economy not doing well and maybe the restaurant or chain having financial difficulties. It is hard to understand since Arbys is usually busy.

However, I have to give the Arbys chain credit, because I ate one sandwich and it was very tasty. They know how to make good sandwiches.

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Monday, June 27, 2022

10 Things That Are More Popular Than You Ever Realize

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY3nCRKtBHo&t=434s

I find myself wondering why instant coffee isn't more popular?  It was very popular in the '60s and '70s.

I like decaf coffee, but I drink real coffee in the morning.  Having to make two different kinds in the coffee maker is more trouble than it is worth.

Saturday, June 18, 2022

The actual science of the "industrial seed oil" panic

I get frustrated with all the contradictory health information we hear regularly.  This video does a good job of talking about the science and the arguments on both sides.