Eat For A Week, Episode 8: Mac & Cheese with Shrimp

Click to Play

I'd like to thank Peregrine over at the Space Adventure forum for the recipe this one's based on. They got the recipe from someone named Narkalant. Just leave out the shrimp, salt & pepper, and you've got the original version.

I've misplaced the receipt for this one, so I don't recall what I spent. I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $12-13. I do know that I bought pasta, cheese, milk and shrimp.

EQUIPMENT:

large pot (for pasta)
sauce pan (for sauce)
rectangular baking dish (roughly 8"x12" should work)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb cheddar cheese, chopped or shredded (I used 1/2 lb sharp & 1/2 lb medium)
1 lb macaroni noodles
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3/4 lbs shrimp
salt and pepper (to taste)

Preheat the oven to 350°(F).

Add water to large pot and salt well. Put over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add pasta and cook until done. (If you're not sure, check the packaging. There are usually instructions on it.)

In the sauce pan over moderate heat, whisk together the butter, flour and milk until smooth. The original recipe says that sifting the flour in will reduce lumps, but I didn't bother. What I would do differently next time is melt the butter, add the flour and mix until smooth and allow to cook (but not brown), then add the milk and mix again. Once combined, add the cheese. Heat slowly, taking care not to scald, burn, or curdle the cheese mix. Once incorporated, taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper if needed. Add shrimp to the sauce and mix, allowing to warm through.

Add mustard if desired.

Place cooked & drained pasta into the baking dish. Add the cheese sauce and mix. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

All in all it wasn't bad, but there are a few things I'd do differently next time since it was just a little bland for my taste. First, I'd use all sharp cheddar. I'd also reserve a bit of the cheese to sprinkle over the top of the dish before sticking it in the oven. Second, I'd replace the milk (or maybe just half of it if you're concerned about that sort of thing) with sour cream. And finally, I'd use more than 1 tsp of Dijon.

Of course, bacon would also be fantastic in this, I think.

Music for this episode is "violet" by The Hybiscus Journals.

I probably won't get another episode done before the New Year, so happy whatever you celebrate to those who celebrate it/them. When I come back, it's time for adventures with mystery ingredients! Wheee!

Eat For A Week, Update 2: The Challenge!

Click to Play

I have been presented with a challenge!

So there you have it. Once I get episode 8 edited and uploaded - which should hopefully be within the next week - this is the direction I'll be going.

Thanks, guys!

Eat For A Week, Update 1: I'm Not Dead Yet

Click to Play

Just checking in to let you guys know that I haven't decided to quit doing this, I just haven't had time to keep up.

Eat For A Week, Episode 7: Corn Soup

Click to Play

I apologize for the lengthy delay in getting this entry up. The last couple of weeks have just been insane.

After the cholesterol-fest that was episode 6, I've had a number of requests for something vegetarian. I don't currently have many vegetarian recipes in my arsenal, but this is one of them. (And it's one of my favourites.) If you wanted to make it completely vegan, then you'd need to substitute something for the butter in the dumplings. (Vegetable shortening, maybe?)

This is another one I learned from my Trini friend, Federico. Corn soup is a late night street vendor staple in Trinidad during Carnival. I don't know about the rest of the year since the only times I've been were for Carnival.

I've never made this in anything smaller than a 12 qt pot - and it makes a HUGE pot of food - so if your pot is smaller than that, you'll definitely want to adjust measurements accordingly. Fortunately, this stuff freezes really well so you don't have to worry too much about wasting food if you find yourself with more than you can eat in a week.

My bill this time around was about $11. For this I had to purchase potatoes, corn, garlic, onions, yellow split peas, and coconut milk.

EQUIPMENT:

The biggest pot you own.
A mid-sized bowl (for making the dumplings).

INGREDIENTS:

5 lbs potatoes, peeled & chopped into about 1" chunks
4 ears of corn, cleaned and chopped into 1.5-2" chunks *
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 lbs yellow split peas (dry) **
Salt
1 Tbsp garlic & herb seasoning
1 tsp dry ground ginger
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsps black pepper
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped ***
2 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped ***
1 can coconut milk

Dumplings:
1/2 C butter
5-8 heaping tablespoons of flour
2 tsps salt
1/4 C warm watter

HOW TO:

First, fill your pot about 2/3 of the way with water. Salt well. (For a 12 qt pot, I use 2-3 Tbsps salt.) Set pot over high heat and allow to come to a boil. Get this started before dealing with the vegetables since it'll take a while to get going. You'll have plenty of time to clean & chop everything.

Once the water is boiling, add the split peas, garlic/herb seasoning, ginger, pepper, parsley, chives, corn, onions, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally to be sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot. At some point during this hour, make the dumplings.

In a bowl combine butter, salt, about half the flour, and about half of the water. Mix with your hands until a nice dough is formed. You're looking for something about the consistency of a nice soft play-dough. You'll probably need to play with the amounts of flour and water. (I always have to.)

Once the hour is up, add the potatoes (remember to drain them first!) and let it cook for another 10 minutes or so. Yes, things will begin burning to the bottom of the pot now. Just stir regularly, and don't be too vigorous about scraping stuff off the bottom. You don't want to get flakes of burnt food floating through the soup.

After potatoes have had a chance to warm up, start making and adding the dumplings. Just roll into about 2" long oblongs and drop them in. Also add the coconut milk. (You'll probably want to shake the can well before opening just in case the fats have separated out.) Let cook for another 45 minutes, stirring regularly. (About every 5 minutes or so.)

Serve and enjoy!

LEFT-OVERS:

Because of the insane amount of starchy ingredients in this, it will basically solidify in the fridge. Just spoon up some big hunks, add a couple tablespoons of water, microwave on high for about 3 minutes per serving, then mix will to loosen up the soup.


Music for this episode is "When We Get Older (Instrumental)" by The Hybiscus Journals.


* To make this with longer-lasting items, you could use frozen corn cobs. If you do, you'll probably want to get the ones that are already cut into chunks. They'll be a bit larger than what I made, though. You could either leave them as they are or thaw them (to make cutting easier) and chop them in half.
** My usual grocery store doesn't carry yellow split peas, so I frequently make this with the green ones instead. Doesn't taste any different, but it's slightly less appealing visually.
*** If you only have dried herbs, that's fine. Just cut the amount in half. I didn't have chives of any sort on hand this time, so I just left them out.

Eat For A Week, Episode 6: Meat Loaf

Click to Play

I came up with this recipe one night when I just had a craving for meat loaf but didn't know really what went into one other than meat. I went to the store, got some stuff that I thought made sense, and I've been pretty happy with the product. I especially like making this because it doesn't require much attention once it goes into the oven, which means I can easily get other things done while it cooks.

My bill for this one was about $16.50. I had to buy meat, cheese, and eggs,

INGREDIENTS:

3 lbs ground beef
4 slices bread
2 eggs
1/4-1/3lbs cheese cut into about 1/2" pieces (I used sharp cheddar)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
2-3 Tbsp parsley flakes
1-2 Tbsp black pepper
1/3 Cup catsup (or ketchup, whatever.)
6-7 pieces of bacon *

EQUIPMENT:

large mixing bowl
8x12" baking dish
2 cookie cooling racks (optional)
food processor-type gadget (optional)

HOW TO:

First, turn the oven on to 375°. Next grind up the bread into crumbs and place in the bowl. (If you don't have a food processor or the like, just chop it up into about 1/2" or smaller bits.) Add the seasonings and parsley flakes and mix well. Next, add the beef, eggs and catsup and mix until all ingredients are evenly combined. Add the cheese and mix gently until even distributed. Form mixture into a log.

Place the cooling racks into the baking dish. They probably won't fit flat, that's fine. Just let them sit at an angle. Place the meat loaf on the racks, then wrap the loaf with the bacon.

Place on the top rack in the oven. Check after 45 minutes by cutting into the loaf to see if the meat is still red. (I don't mind my beef a little rare, but not for something that'll be in the fridge for a whole week, so I like to be sure this gets cooked thoroughly.) If still pretty rare, stick it back in the oven for about 30 more minutes and check it again. I cooked it an extra 15 minutes, which was probably too much. If I'd just let it rest after the second check it probably would have finished cooking from residual heat just fine. As it was, my meat loaf was a little dry this time.

If your budget allows, some instant mashed potatoes go really nicely with this. Just follow the directions on the packaging. I like to use garlic salt instead of regular salt for some extra flavor.

LEFT-OVERS:

Of course, you could always heat it back up with some more instant taters. I also like to make meat loaf sandwiches.


Music for this episode was Exploration No. 4 by The Hybiscus Journals.


* Optional. If you choose to do this, you might want to lower the amounts of the various salts a bit.

Eat For A Week, Episode 5: Veggie & Sausage Stoup

Click to Play

I needed to find a way to use up the other half of that 10lb bag of taters. My initial thought was to attempt some sort of potato soup, but I kind of strayed from that. What resulted was more of a veggie & sausage stoup. Yes, I stole the word from Rachael Ray, but it fits. It's somewhere between a stew and a soup, so... stoup!

My bill for this one was just under $19. I had to buy veggies (zucchini, celery, corn, garlic, mushrooms & onions), half-and-half, and bacon. I already had an extra package of sausage in the freezer from the potato salad since it had been on sale when I went shopping for that, but I've gone ahead and figured it into my cost for this dish (about $3). So yeah... I actually only spent something like $16 on this trip to the store.

INGREDIENTS:

russet potatoes ~ 5 lbs
1 bunch of celery
4 ears of corn
3 zucchini
6 mushrooms *
2 medium yellow onions
7 cloves of garlic
6 slices thick-cut bacon
1 package sweet Italian sausage **
2 bay leaves
salt
pepper
2 Tbsps dry parsley
1 Tbsp dry thyme
2-3 Tbsps worchestershire sauce
3 dashes allspice
1 pint half-and-half
3 Tbsps flour

EQUIPMENT:

1 huge pot

HOW TO:

Clean all the veggies and chop them (except for the corn) and the bacon into about 1" pieces. Cut the corn off the cob and save the cobs.

Heat large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the bacon. No need for any oil this time. If necessary, adjust heat to avoid burning. When crisp, remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Next, add the sausage and cook until done. (It's not vital to cook the sausage through at this point as they'll have a chance to finish cooking later, so you can cut some time here if you want.) When cooked, remove sausage.

Add potatoes, zucchini, celery, mushrooms and corn (don't forget the cobs!) to the pot, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Add water to cover. Add parsley, thyme, bay leaves, allspice and worchestershire sauce. Return bacon to the pot. When sausage has cooled enough to handle, chop into about 1" pieces and add back to the pot. Turn temperature to high and allow to come to a rolling boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook stirring occasionally until the potatoes are tender (30-45 minutes).

If necessary, skim fat from top of pot periodically. ***

Once potatoes are tender, remove corn cobs and add the half-&-half. Mix well. Remove into a bowl 2-4 cups of the broth. Whisk in flour until no lumps remain, return to the pot and mix well. Let cook 10-15 minutes to get rid of any raw flour flavour. Taste and adjust salt/pepper if needed.

If your budget allows, a tube of ready-to-bake biscuits will go really nicely with this. Just follow the directions on the tube. (I did this part while waiting for the flour to cook out.)


Download "Learning Curve" by The Hybiscus Journals.

* When cleaning mushrooms, just wipe them gently with a damp paper towel rather than running them under water to keep them from getting soggy.
** Sausage blah blah careful of MSG blah blah blah or use turkey/chicken sausage. You could probably leave the sausage and bacon out and still have a pretty tasty dish, though you'll probably want to put a couple Tbsps of olive oil in the pot before adding the veggies.
*** Don't dump the fat down the drain, as that can cause nasty clogs and whatnot. I keep a jar on the stove for fat collecting purposes. When it gets full, it goes out with the trash.

Eat For A Week, Episode 4: Hearty Potato Salad

Click to Play

I'm on an insanely tight budget this week, so I thought I'd go with a hearty potato salad. My grocery bill for this one? Just over $8.00. (I bought potatoes, sausages, and onions.)

INGREDIENTS:

5 lbs russet potatoes, washed *
4-5 sweet Italian sausages **
2 chicken thighs ***
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt (about 4 Tbsp)
pepper
1-2 Cups Miracle Whip ****
1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard
2 Tbsp Hot Dijon Mustard (optional)

EQUIPMENT:

1 huge pot
1 skillet

HOW TO:

Place washed potatoes in large pot. (I leave the skins on.) Cover with water, and add a couple hand-fulls of salt. Place over high heat and let come to a boil. You'll know they're done when a sharp knife pierces them easily. Remove from water and set aside to cool until you can handle them.

I do this next part while the potatoes are boiling. Prick sausage casings with a fork, then cook in skillet over medium-low to medium heat until cooked through. There's no need to add any oil, they'll provide their own fat. When sausages are done, remove from the pan and allow to cool. Add onions and garlic (salt and pepper to taste). After the onions and garlic have become translucent, salt and pepper the chicken and add it to the skillet. When chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the skillet and allow to cool.

Once all ingredients have cooled, chop the potatoes and sausages into 1-2" pieces and place in a large bowl. (Don't worry about cutting the taters too small as they'll break down a bit as you mix things up.) Shred the chicken and add it to the bowl as well. If you didn't get distracted and burn the onions and garlic, go ahead and throw them in too. Add mustard(s) and about a cup of the Miracle Whip and mix well. If it looks too dry, add more Miracle Whip until it reaches desired consistency. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper if needed.

This recipe tastes fine at room temperature, but it only gets better as it sits in the fridge and the flavours develop.

Music for this episode is the track "Indigo" from The Hybiscus Journals' second record, "Chakra Pop".


* It may be cheaper to buy pre-bagged potatoes. For example, I could have purchased 5 lbs of loose taters for about $4, but was able to get a 10 lb bag for the same price.
** If you're sensitive to MSG, be sure to read the label on the sausage you purchase. Many processed meat products - like sausage - often have MSG added as both a preservative and a flavoring. Also, if you prefer a spicy sausage, that's fine, go wild. Also, also, you could use turkey or chicken sausage if you don't do pork.
*** I usually make this with boneless chicken breasts, but I had the thighs that needed to be cooked, so that's what I used. I also don't typically use sausage, but it was on sale and sounded like a good idea.
**** I use Miracle Whip because I prefer it to mayonaise. If you prefer mayo, feel free to use that.

Eat For a Week, Episode 3: Space Chili

Click to Play

I apologize for the delay getting this one up. Things got a little crazy. In fact, I'm actually cooking recipe #4 while finishing up this entry.

Thanks to Mik over at Space Adventure for the inspiration for this recipe! He asked if I'd be posting a chili recipe soon. Oddly enough, I've never actually managed to come up with a chili recipe, since in the past if I wanted chili, I'd just buy a can of the preservative-packed pre-made stuff. I figured that it's about time I had my own recipe. I made this up as I went. That's right, you'll be watching the creation of a recipe here! I know I took a couple of turns that probably aren't terribly traditional, but they seemed like good ideas to me at the time. How will it turn out? Only time will tell!

For this recipe I had to buy ground beef, bacon, onions, bell peppers, carrots, garlic, and canned beans. My grocery bill was just shy of $20. If you include stuff that I bought to top the chili (cheese, sour cream and avocados) then the bill was more like $26.

INGREDIENTS:

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped into 1" pieces
2 lbs ground beef *
2 large onions, chopped **
7 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 15oz cans red kidney beans - drained (reserve liquid) ***
1 15oz can black beans - drained (reserve liquid) ***
1 15oz can pinto beans - drained (reserve liquid) ***
1 15oz can chick peas - drained (reserve liquid) ***
4 dashes allspice
3 dashes onion salt
3 dashes garlic salt
3 dashes celery salt
3 Tbsp cumin
4 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp ground yellow mustard
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 or 2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 C vinegar
3 Tbsp tomato paste

EQUIPMENT:

1 huge pot

HOW TO:

Heat olive oil in pot over medium-high heat.
Add bacon, cook until crispy.
Remove bacon to a paper towel.
If necessary, remove excess fat from the pot until about 2 Tbsp remain.
Add onions and garlic, salt and pepper to taste (be careful of the salt - the bacon fat can be pretty salty), cook until translucent, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pot.
Add beef - season with salt and pepper, and cook until browned.
Taste for seasoning - adjust if necessary.
Add allspice, onion salt, garlic salt, celery salt, cumin, cayenne, mustard and parsley.
Allow to cook for a few minutes while stirring.
Add carrots, bell peppers and tomato paste, stir to incorporate.
Add bacon back to the pot.
Add vinegar.
Add water to cover.
Add bay leaves
Add beans, and some of the reserved bean liquid if necessary to adjust level to cover ingredients.
Allow to come up to a rapid boil then reduce heat to low.
Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender.
Be sure to remove the bay leaves before eating.
Enjoy!

Serve yourself up a big ol' bowl of this hearty chili. Top it with whatever you like. I tend to prefer things like grated cheese, sour cream, and avocado/guacamole. Other options would be diced onion, cilantro, diced peppers and, well, pretty much whatever you think would be tasty.

Want something crunchy with your chili? Try spooning it over a pile of Fritos or other corn chip of your choice. Chili *should* also freeze pretty well. I'll be sure to update here if it doesn't.

WHAT I'D CHANGE NEXT TIME:

Since I was making this recipe up as I filmed this, I went ahead and provided the recipe here as performed, rather than as I intend to do it next time. I so rarely use cayenne pepper that I forgot it actually gets hotter as it cooks. And a little hotter still as the chili sits in the fridge. That first night, the heat was just right for me, but by the end of the week it was a little much. Next time I'd reduce the amount of cayenne to about 3 Tbsp - or maybe a bit less - but I think that's the only change I'd make.

Music for this episode was "green" from The Hybiscus Journals' second record, "Chakra Pop".

* If you don't do red meat, this would probably be pretty tasty with ground turkey or chicken.
** If you enjoy raw onion, feel free to keep some aside to sprinkle atop the finished chili. I don't really do the raw onion thing, so I just put them all in at the beginning.
*** I know some of you are probably thinking, "There're no beans in chili!!!" Yeah, well... I'm on a budget, here. Beans are a great cost effective way to stretch something like this. Same goes for the carrots.

Eat For A Week, Episode 2: Chicken Pelau

Click to Play

First off, I'd like to thank you all for your great feedback on my first episode, whether here, via other forums, or in person. It really means a lot!

This is a recipe for Chicken Pelau that I learned from my friend Federico. The dish comes from the island of Trinidad, is packed full of flavor, and is actually pretty healthy. Granted, I've edited it a bit to suit my taste, and I encourage you to do likewise. My grocery bill for this one was just over $17.

INGREDIENTS:

raw chicken drumsticks (about 10)
1 bunch green onions
1 large yellow onion
1 bunch fresh parsley (about 2 Cups)
1 bunch fresh chives (about 3 Tbsp)
1 head of garlic
1 jabanero (or habanero, if you prefer) pepper *
1 lb frozen peas and carrots
3 Tbsp white vinegar **
1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
2 Tbsp chicken boullion ***
2 Tbsp black pepper
3 Tsp dry ginger
1 Cup uncooked rice
1/4 Cup butter
1/3 Cup ketchup (or catsup... whatever)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
Vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt (to taste)

EQUIPMENT:

A large bowl
A huge pot

HOW TO:

Finely chop onions (yellow and green), garlic, parsley, and jabanero.
In a large bowl, combine chopped ingredients with vinegar, cajun seasoning, boullion, black pepper and ginger.
Remove skin from the drumsticks, then chop the drumsticks in half. (If you don't want to deal with chopping through bone, you can leave them whole or opt to use boneless chicken meat.)
Rinse the chicken well to remove any stray bone shards.
Add chicken to the chopped stuff, mix, and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Heat the large pot over medium-high heat.
Add about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil to the pot.
When oil is hot, add brown sugar and stir until i gets melty. (The sugar will not blend with the oil.)
If it smells like the sugar is starting to burn, remove pot from heat.
Add all the chicken and chopped stuff to the pot then return to heat.
The sugar will seize up a bit when you add the cold ingredients. That's okay, just keep stirring until it has melted again.
Once chicken looks less raw, add enough water to cover ingredients.
Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes. (Reduce heat if it's boiling too rapidly.)

Add butter, catsup, and tomato paste, stir to combine.
Add uncooked rice.
Let simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep rice from burning onto the bottom of the pot.

Add about 1/2 cup of water and the frozen peas and carrots (no need to defrost, just dump 'em in frozen.) Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. This could take anywhere from 10-30 minutes.
Taste for seasoning - add salt if needed.

REHEATING IDEAS:

I'm afraid I haven't come up with anything too fancy for this one... Just put some in a bowl and microwave on high for a few minutes.

BONUS!

With a simple tweak, this actually becomes another dish. Just leave out the rice, add the peas and carrots earlier, and you've got Stew Chicken.

Music for this episode provided by The Hybiscus Journals.



* I'm a wuss when it comes to spicy stuff. If you want to use more peppers go right ahead, but I wouldn't suggest more than 3. Those puppies are HOT! And make sure you wash your hands REALLY well after handling them.
** Doesn't have to be white vinegar, it's just what Federico recommends.
*** If you're sensitive to MSG, you'll want to be sure to check the label on this stuff. Boullion frequently has MSG in it. If you're like me and this evil preservative/seasoning gives you a crippling migraine, you'll want to spend the extra money on the stuff without MSG.

Eat For A Week, Episode 1: Turkey Stew

Click to Play

SHOPPING LIST:

To make this stew, I had to buy potatoes, carrots, onions, turkey meat, flour, and instant stuffing mix. I already had the other ingredients on hand. My grocery bill was $14.11(US). Not too shabby for a weeks worth of food, if I may say so.

INGREDIENTS:

6 russet potatoes
3-4 large carrots (or 5-8 smallish ones)
1 large onion (or 2 med, or 3 small)
3-4 large (or 6-8 small) cloves garlic
Two turkey thighs OR four turkey drumsticks
2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) flour
~2 Tbsp salt
~2 Tbsp pepper
2 large (or 3-4 small) bay leaves
3-4 Tbsp parsley flakes *
3 Tbsp worchestershire sauce *
~ 1/4 Teaspoon (tsp) allspice *
a dash of the following:
garlic salt *
onion salt *
celery salt *
instant stuffing mix
butter (or margarine, if you must)
3-4 Tbsp olive oil (extra virgin if you can afford it)

EQUIPMENT:

large stock pot
sauce pan
baking dish

HOW TO:

Wash and peel the carrots and potatoes
Cut into about 1" chunks
Put in a bowl of water to keep potatoes from turning brown

Peel, and coarsely chop onion(s) and garlic

Place stock pot over medium to medium-high heat
Add olive oil and a pat (about 1 Tbsp) butter
When hot, add turkey meat to pot and brown on both sides
Remove browned turkey
Add onions and garlic to pot along with a little salt and pepper, scraping up brown bits from the bottom as you stir
When onions are translucent, add potatoes and carrots (season again with salt and pepper)
Return turkey meat to the pot
Add water to cover **
Add salt, pepper, bay leaves, parsley, allspice, garlic/onion/celery salt, and worchestershire sauce
Turn heat to high, allow to come to a rolling boil
Once boiling, turn heat to low, cover pot, and let cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste for seasoning - add salt and pepper if needed
Remove turkey from pot, shred with a couple of forks, then return meat to pot (discard bones and skins)
Remove 1-2 cups of broth from the pot, add about 2 Tbsp flour and mix well
Add flour/broth mixture back to pot and stir well
Let cook for about 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally

In sauce pan, prepare instant stuffing according to directions on box
Spread stuffing into an even layer in a baking dish
Set oven to "Broil" and put the stuffing in the oven
This should crisp up in 5-7 minutes, but you'll want to keep an eye on it.
When crisp, remove from oven.

TO SERVE:

Ladle a bowl full of stew, cut out a chunk of stuffing and float it on top of the stew. Bon apetit!

Once the rest of the stew has cooled, transfer it to a large covered bowl for storage in your fridge. Cover the stuffing, and keep it in the fridge too.

REHEATING IDEAS:

Of course, you could just fill a bowl with the stew, add a hunk of the stuffing on top, then stick it in the microwave on high for about 3.5 minutes.

If you run out of stuffing before running out of stew, you could always just go get another box, since they're pretty cheap. Or you could place some bread in the bottom of the bowl before filling with stew and reheating... Kind of like an open faced (and really wet) sandwich.

Of course, you could also always freeze some of the stew for much later consumption.

Feel free to adjust the recipe to suit your own tastes. If I hadn't needed to buy flour, I probably would have picked up some celery and added it with the potatoes and carrots. I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine this would probably also be pretty tasty with chicken.

Thanks again, and we'll see you next time!

* Optional ingredients - if you have 'em, use 'em.
** If your budget allows, feel free to use half water and half chicken/vegetable/turkey stock.

Welcome to Eat For A Week!

Thanks for checking this out. So, what is this thing anyway? I created this blog in order to share the recipes that I've come up with (and that I hope to continue creating) for the single person living on a tight budget.

What does that mean for you? Basically, you'll be able to spend as little money as possible to cook a great meal once, then eat from that meal for several days. If you're not single, does this mean that this stuff doesn't apply to you? Of course not, but just know that if you're cooking for more than one person, the left-overs won't be around as long as if it was just you. I'm currently working on the first installment - a fantastic (at least, I think so) turkey stew.

I guess I should probably list the absolute basics for equipment that you should own and ingredients you should have on hand in order to pull most of these recipes off. (The nice thing about the ingredients is that once you have them, they'll last for a while.)

Cookware:
- a large stock pot (at least 8 quarts)
- a sauce pan (two can be helpful)
- a skillet
- a baking dish
- a couple of good spoons (one slotted, one not)
- a spatula
- a huge bowl to store leftovers

Ingredients:
- salt
- pepper
- bay leaves
- all purpose flour

Thanks again, and I look forward to really getting this thing rolling!