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So, you know what I hate? When you see a magazine or something when your out that advertises recipes that have “all the ingredients already in your pantry!” Inevitably, I am one of the 1% of people that don’t stock creme fraiche, or fresh tarragon, or something else. You know, I’m not going to go out and spend $40 to stock my pantry with things to make something that I’m not even sure will taste good. Grr.

Now, I saw one of those little 5×7 paper magazines at the checkout last week, you know the ones… “Thanksgiving,” “Best Loved Foods,” “One Pot Meals,” etc. Anyway, this one was for slow cookers. I pink puffy heart my Crockpot. Seriously. So I was intrigued. Having been bested far too many times by deceptive covers, I flipped through it before deciding to spend Matt’s hard earned $4 on it…but it actually looked good!

I came home and ripped out all the recipes that looked worth my time. So, tonight, I’m making Chicken Mediterranean. And (gasp), I really did have EVERYTHING in my kitchen already!

Chicken Mediterranean

• 3 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. white wine (optional. I optioned to include 2/3 c. pinot grigio, but that is just me)
• 1 1/2 c. fat free, low sodium chicken stock
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 c. chopped sun dried tomatoes

Cut the chicken breasts in half. Heat oil in skillet and brown chicken in skillet on all sides. Transfer chicken to slow cooker.

Add garlic, wine, chicken broth and basil to skillet and bring to a boil. Pour over chicken and scatter tomatoes on top. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Recipe taken from here, but comes from the Union Square Cafe cookbook.

2 pounds red new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into eights (my potatoes were big, so they were cut into 16s)
3 medium garlic cloves peeled and halved
1 fresh rosemary sprig
3 parsley sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
1 tsp of black peppercorns
1 Tbs plus 1 1/4 tsps kosher salt
Pinch of dried red pepper flakes
6oz slab bacon, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I used a package of thick cut bacon- I can never find slab bacon around here)
6 scallions, beards removed , outer layer peeled, and thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 Tbs coarsely chopped parsley
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with 6 cups water. Add garlic, rosemary, parsley sprigs, thyme, peppercorns, 1 Tbs salt and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Set the saucepan aside to cool, leaving the potatoes in the cooking liquid.

Lay the bacon on a rack over a baking sheet and roast until crisp, about 20 minutes. Drain and when cool enough to handle crumble. I actually used my Pampered Chef chopper on this and it was perfectly minced up. I love that thing.

Reserve 1/4 cup of potato cooking liquid, then drain the potatoes. In a large bowl combine potatoes, bacon and scallions.  I pulled out my sprigs of rosemary and thyme and also the peppercorns, but you could probably leave the peppercorns in if you wanted to.

Combine the reserved cooking liquid, olive oil, vinegar, parsley, remaining salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a glass jar. Cover tightly and vigorously shake or whisk until emulsified. Pour sauce over potatoes and toss.

Serve at room temperature.

Number of Servings: 6

4 medium apples
6 oz. pork sausage
1/2 c. cooked brown rice
1/3 c. minced onion
1 tbsp. Stonewall Kitchen chicken & pork seasoning
1 tbs. olive oil
3/4 c. apple juice
dash ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Slice tops off apples and a thin slice from bottom to allow it to stand up flat. Core apples using a small spoon or melon baller but do not pierce bottom of the apple. Leave 1/4 in. of an apple shell. Save the flesh!

Cook sausage and onions until sausage is browned and broken up well. Drain fat and then put sausage and onion into a bowl and mix withs pices, oil, pepper, and 1/2 c. of the apple flesh.

Fill the four apples with the mixture and place into a square baking dish. Pour apple juice into the baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. When serving, drizzle with the cooking liquid.

Got this one from Parents magazine!

3 c. cooked white beans with cooking liquid
2 tomatoes, chopped, total 2 c. (or 2 c. diced canned)
1.5 c. water
1 c. ditalini or other small pasta
2 c. arugula
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
grated parmesan cheese

Bring beans, tomatoes and water to boiling in a large saucepan and then add pasta. Simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked. Remove from heat and add arugula, vinegar and fresh ground pepper to taste, serve topped with cheese.

Yes, you read that right. I’m committing the crime of putting a pork tenderloin into my crockpot.

In July. And again, it wasn’t on my meal plan.

I know. Cut me some slack. I am cooking…I’m just taking the scenic route through this meal plan for some reason.  Like I mentioned earlier this week, I’m trying really hard to clean out my freezers before my half of Bessie arrives in pieces (God, I’m morbid) in September or October. I had a huge package of four pork tenderloins from my wholesale club shopping that I wanted to use some of. I just can’t resist a sale…

Moving on…I’m certainly not lighting my oven in July. Even *I* am not that crazy. I will, however, put my crockpot on. This is another pantry recipe, using things I already have in house. I figure if all the ingredients taste good separately, they will together.

…right? Okay! Inspired by this.

1 pkg pork tenderloin (usually two tenderloins), trimmed
1/2 c. beef stock
1/2 c. water
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 “DIY on-the-fly” onion and garlic rub (granulated onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper – yeah, I didn’t measure. But I rhymed, does that count?)
2/3 c. red wine of your choice (I used a homemade cabernet from a friend)
3 tbsp. lite soy sauce
cooking spray

Heat crockpot to the 6 hour setting. Pour in stock, water, and whisk in onion soup mix while crockpot begins to heat.

Trim tenderloins and then coat with rub. spray liberally with cooking spray before placing into a pan on medium high heat until browned on all sides. Remove to crockpot immediately.

Deglaze pan with wine and soy sauce. Remove from heat, and pour over pork in the crockpot. Cook for 6 hours.

Depending on your preference, you may want to thicken the au jus, which should be served with the pork.

So I’m still trying to clean out my freezer and my stand freezer of red meat before I get my half-a-cow in September/October. Since I am aware that it’s July and disgustingly hot, combined with the fact that I’ve never found a pot roast recipe that has knocked my socks off (and how does one ‘knock’ socks off, anyway?), I figured two birds with one stone. Look, I’m full of quirk today.

So, here goes. Bonus for all items coming from my pantry stock.

1 pot roast (i’m not going to get into the cut of beef argument here, just get what you normally use, 4-6 lb is a good range for this recipe)
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 cans reduced fat cream of mushroom condensed soup
1.5 c. low sodium beef stock
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated garlic
salt & pepper to taste

Heat up the crockpot (you’ll want 8 hours on low or 4-5 on high) and dump in your soup mix, canned soup, beef stock, and any drippings from the beef container that there might be. Whisk thoroughly and let sit while crockpot begins to heat through.

Two turns of olive oil a big non stick pan set to medium high heat goes next. While the pan and oil are heating, mix flour, granulated garlic and salt and pepper in a pie plate and then coat your roast with it. Shake off excess and when pan is hot, brown roast on all sides before discarding leftover flour mixture and putting the roast into the crockpot.

That’s it. Really. The roast will make it’s own gravy in the crockpot and the flour coating will help it thicken as it cooks. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could totally put sliced mushrooms in and it would be tasty- I just didn’t have any around.

1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns, split
Shredded cheddar cheese, relish and chopped onion, optional
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce, onion and spices.
Place hot dogs in a 3-qt. slow cooker; top with beef mixture. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until heated through. Serve on buns with cheese, relish and onion if desired.

Okay. I know, it doesn’t sound amazing, but I was intrigued.

…and I was not disappointed. YUM! I’m kind of in love with the trend of a cold salad on a hot pizza right now.

adapted from Cooking Light

1 whole wheat Boboli pizza crust
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 apricots, each pitted and cut into 8 wedges
2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 cup arugula
1 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto
1 ounce shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 550°. Preheat the pizza stone for 30 minutes.

Combine 1 tablespoon oil, thyme, pepper, apricots, shallots, and  teaspoon salt; toss gently.

Top Boboli with goat cheese and apricot mixture. Bake 5 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cut pizza into 8 slices; sprinkle with parsley and chives.

Toss arugula with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil; arrange arugula over apricot mixture. Top with prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

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I’ve done the same menu for a few years and it was well received. That said, even though I’m not cooking this year as I prepare to go on vacation AND clean out the freezer of more wintery foods, here’s what I would have tried this year (in honor of trying to eat a bit more healthy). Lots of flavor for only 200 calories!

Have a margarita (or two) for me!

Breakfast Tostada (from Cooking Light)

1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large egg whites
2 large eggs
4 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup bottled salsa
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large microwave-safe dish, stirring with a whisk. Microwave at HIGH for 3 minutes; stir. Microwave an additional 1 minute or until done. Arrange 1 tortilla on each of 4 microwave-safe plates; divide egg mixture evenly among the corn tortillas. Layer each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese, 1/4 cup beans, and 1 tablespoon green onions. Microwave each tostada at HIGH for 30 seconds. Top each tostada with 2 tablespoons salsa and 1 tablespoon sour cream. Serve immediately.

adapted from Mizz Ray. Pretty darn good for less than 300 calories!

8 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise, halved again, and chopped
1 onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
One 14.5-ounce can low sodium, low fat chicken broth
1 russet potato(about 12 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 can Carnation evaporated skim milk
One 1-pound bag frozen corn, thawed
2 1/2 tbsp stonewall kitchen chicken & pork seasoning

Heat a deep skillet or a wide 4- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions and butter and seasoning to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add the broth and potato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the evaporated milk and corn and cook, stirring, until heated through.

Using a blender or food processor, puree 1 cup chowder until smooth. Stir the puree back into the chowder along with the browned kielbasa and season to taste with salt and pepper as needed.

Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 299.2

Total Fat: 8.0 g
Cholesterol: 38.1 mg
Sodium: 602.2 mg
Total Carbs: 41.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
Protein: 19.7 g