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Dinner: impossible – 10 things to do with a rotisserie chicken.

November 7, 2014 / By Courtney / 10 Comments

It’s time for another Dinner: Impossible post, yippee! In case you are behind, so far we’ve talked about taking some time to plan and working on a Sunday or Monday recipe that can stretch. This week? Well, it’s all about the rotisserie chicken.

Look, now that the lazy days of summer cooking are behind us (sob), I thought it would be great to generate a list of generally quick and healthy ways to use up that go-to oh so easy pick up item from the store. Working gals (aren’t we all!)especially, I hope these short cuts can help you! Check out my 10 things to do with a rotisserie chicken.

1. These chicken and avocado stuffed pitas look pretty darn good. Healthy and quick, love it.

2. Dinner is done in one dish in this easy chicken enchilada skillet. Ole!

3. I can’t stress how easy this one is. Cibatta + chicken + pesto + parm. All toasted up to a warm perfection.

4. Chicken tostadas. The ultimate quick dinner.

5. Cheesy chicken pot pie comes together in 3 easy layers: frozen vegetables, chicken, and quick biscuits. We love this one.

6. My magic combo, ahem: a rotisserie chicken shredded up then mixed with olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Where you go from there is up to you: tacos, salad, simply in a bowl with chopped tomato and avocado. Delicious.

7.What a great idea, totally plays off my pesto pasta. I’d skip the hassle of homemade pesto, but love their idea of sliced rotisserie chicken on top!

8. Garlic parmesan chicken noodles. Oh yeah.

9. These baked chicken taquitos comes together so easily during the week.

10. Torn bread, chicken, cheese, spinach. Totally making this one soon.

So, what do you think…what are your favorites? I hope this is helpful for you.
C

Smells like 10.

November 5, 2014 / By Courtney / 8 Comments

Oh my. Does this Czechoslovakian Soup recipe bring back memories. I love when a smell jolts you back a few decades to the happy and carefree time of being 10, when the only worries in the world were Friday spelling tests and who to play with at recess. I’d get off the bus, run home, and be oh so happy when this smell (and my sisters) greeted me at the door. It’s unlike any other.

What can I say? Even at 10 I. liked. to. eat. Give me the beef bones, the short ribs, the softened carrots, the perfectly browned dumplings on the side. I wanted it all.

This passed down recipe came from one of my mom’s friends, and it’s as authentic as they come. The coolest part of this recipe, at least to me, is using all the beef bones. I love all that stuff – the meatier and bonier, the better. You throw them all in a big tray with some spices and veggies and roast away until softened and tender. After that all that flavor is scraped along with the other ingredients to simmer away the day in a big pot. As far as rich and flavorful soups go, aside from the roasting and the simmering there isn’t all that much to this one. It comes together beautifully and will last all week.

That is, if you don’t eat it all right away.

Czechoslovakian Soup

2014-11-04 10:09:03

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Ingredients

2 lbs beef bones
2 lbs short ribs
1 cup onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
8 cups water
1 head cabbage, chopped
1 lbs canned tomatoes, diced
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp tabasco
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
3 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS sugar
1 1lbs can sauerkraut

Instructions

Place beef bones, onion, carrots, garlic, and bay leaf in roasting pan. Top with short ribs. Sprinkle with thyme and paprika and roast uncovered at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.
Transfer meat and vegetables into a large pot, scarping the browned meat bits from bottom.
Add water, cabbage, tomatoes, salt and tabasco and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer 1 1/2 hours.
Skim off the fat from the surface.
Add parsley, lemon juice, sugar, and sauerkraut. Cook uncovered another hour.
Remove beef bones and short ribs from pot. Once cooled, remove meat and return to the pot. Discard the bones.
Simmer low until dinner, adjusting the seasonings as needed.

Adapted from Mary Nelson

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Holiday Gift Guide: for the grandparents.

November 3, 2014 / By Courtney / 3 Comments

Yippee – it’s holiday season here at ALFS! We kicked off our gift guide series with some recommendations from Minted, and now it’s time to shop for our lovely grandparents! Here are a few fun ideas:

1. For out of town grandparents, what a touching gift! You can customize different states to show exactly where their hearts are located – right where their (great) grandkids live.

2. Grandmas love pretty flowers! How darling is this canvas?

3. Apples to Apples Junior, what a fun gift for a young child to give his grandparents! Perfect for game and pizza night in together.

4. They’ve got babysitting nailed, now it’s time to figure out how to babysit them. How about How to Babysit a Grandpa? There is a grandma one as well!

5. Grandmas + rose. It’s like peanut butter and jelly.She’ll love this Rosebud Lip Balm.

6. These brag books from Pinhole Press are amazing. Perfect thing to slip into Grandma’s purse so she can show off, rightfully so, at her next get together.

7. A customized cutting board is a great option for grandma and grandpa.

Happy shopping friends! Any other good gift ideas for grandparents?

*The fine print: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you use these links to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make your purchase but please know that when you do, it supports my blog and for that I thank you.

C’s picks.

November 2, 2014 / By Courtney / 2 Comments

I hope everyone had a perfectly spooky and festive Halloween weekend. Now that it has officially passed, you know what that means… it’s all about the holidays! Yippee!

If you couldn’t tell, I could not be more excited. And I’m offering you a little help to stay organized. How darling are these holiday printables? One is to help you with your gift planning, and the other with your holiday meal planning. All you have to do it download it here. Think of it as a little gift from ALFS to you. I so hope you find it useful!

Ok – now it’s time for just 20 minutes to plan our kitchen line up for the week. Who’s with me? Here is ours, if it helps:

These chillier temps have me wanting to roast, baste, and braise huge hunks of meat. Going to get a nice slab of ribs in the oven today. It will pretty much make M’s week. Twice baked potatoes and a big salad, on the side.

Monday let’s get a pot of soup going for the week. This french lentil soup could not be more delicious. Bonus that it’ll keep ya slim and trim.

I still have dreams of this dish so let’s get it going for Tuesday night.

Wednesday night let’s go with a quick dinner – rolled up chicken taquitos. Major short cut here: you can use a store bought rotisserie chicken!

Thursday will be a leftover night as we’ll have plenty of food from the chicken tikki masala and the french lentil soup.

And finally, let’s end the week with our old standby pizza.

That’s my line up – what are you making?
C

P.S. Today is the last day to enter our big Minted giveaway…Click here to enter! Winner announced tomorrow.