The time is coming for me to restock our stores for the months we plan to spend in the Bahamas. Last year we did just fine. Honestly, we ate out more than I initially thought we would so we had enough and then some. Now, with that said, I feel like I made some mistakes. I planned that we would have 14 recipes that we would eat every two weeks. Mostly I was happy but a few recipes were just meh and a few more time/energy intensive than I wanted. It was very warm most evening so the last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in front of a hot stove/oven for very long. Here’s a run down of what worked and what didn’t.
Chicken white bean and rice one pot—this was a play on chicken and rice with the cream of mushroom and chicken soup casserole I grew up on. It was okay. It didn’t take too much effort but the flavor just wasn’t too exciting. When I provisioned I could only get my hands on fat free cream soups and I am telling you we could taste the difference! I relied on canned chicken for all of these recipes and I don't know if that also affected the outcome or not. Canned chicken by nature isn't the most exciting texture or flavor (read:mostly just tastes like salt).
One Pot Chicken fajita rice soup—this turned out to be quite delicious but soup wasn’t the best solution for such hot climes and I found myself with half a jar of roasted red peppers every two weeks that would inevitably spoil before the next time I made the dish so the food waste aspect was frustrating. Also, why don’t jarred peppers last longer?!
Majurada lentils and rice with crispy onions—this dish remains one of the most delicious vegetarian friendly dishes I’ve ever made. I fantasize about eating this dish. But it did take a fair amount of time to cook. The onions are very very caramelized and it must be done low and slow. I also did not do the crispy onion step. It was still fantastic without it.
Buffalo chicken baked ziti—this was a hit with Josh but too spicy for Fozel. It was supposed to be made similar to a mac and cheese on the stovetop and then baked. After the first time making it, we skipped the baking with no ill effects.
Chana Masala—a solid dish. I’d make it again for sure. The one comment I had is that it’s more of a wintery dish and I did not feel wintery in the Bahamas.
Tuna noodle casserole—glorified mac and cheese with a can of tuna and a can of peas. Always a winner in our house.
Chicken noodle casserole—as far as I could tell, a mediocre variation of a pot pie wannabe and chicken noodle imposter. I think a big lesson I learned is that I just don’t care for those No Yolk egg noodles. The texture is too firm for me and after eating the Reames frozen noodles growing up, that’s all I really want in my chicken noodle dishes. Another thing I think I did that may have affected both this dish is that I used the low fat version of the cream of chicken. Not enough creaminess and not enough salt. Just bland.
Chicken baked ziti—this was okay and was made infinitely better when I could get my hands on some fresh produce. Once we added broccoli and another time peas. Canned peas weren’t too bad in it either. This dish is pretty much ziti noodles with canned chicken, Alfredo, some Parmesan cheese and whatever else I thought to throw in. It always came together quick and made plenty of leftovers for lunches.
Chicken taquitos—this recipe was a conglomeration of about 3 different recipes. It made me feel very like my mom when I cooked this dish because every time it was different and every time we thought, “oooh that’s good! Let’s remember what we put in it” which of course we never did. But it was so easy. Tortilla shells, canned chicken, usually cream cheese and shredded cheese (whichever we had the most of...usually a Mexican blend), often black beans, sometimes some diced onion, a can of corn and sometimes a can of diced green chilies. I rolled the mixture up in the tortillas and then sprayed them with cooking spray in a 9 x 13 and baked until the tops were crispy. We served them with plain Greek yogurt (which we have totally replaced sour cream with forever) and salsa. Major thumbs up every single time.
Pizza—I have a great Greek yogurt and self rising flour recipe for the crust we like and we did canned sauce, pepperoni and sometimes caramelized onion. The dough is healthier than any other I’ve tried and pretty good. Full of protein! Fozel will never turn down pizza.
Refried bean polenta skillet with fried eggs—this simple recipe is an easy protein powerhouse. It used polenta, refried beans, cheese, salsa, eggs and whatever you like to garnish. It’s easy and pretty flavorful. I made my polenta from scratch which is very time consuming so I would either prep that portion the day before or morning of or just buy the quick polenta in a tube (which the recipe actually called for…somehow I thought I was making my life easier by making my own but I was clearly misguided).
Lentil bolognese—this was a bust. I had a hard time getting the lentils the right texture and we just didn’t like the flavor profile even though I futzed with it every time we made it. Several weeks in I tried to swap out the lentils and made it with tvp. It was better but then it just became pasta with a meat like sauce.
Black bean and sweet potato tacos/quesadillas—This ended up being tacos more often than not and we really liked them. This was a versatile recipe that we added to here and there based on our moods. It required dicing sweet potatoes which took some time. You could probably roast the potatoes and get a creamier texture but we sautéed ours on the stovetop. The spices it called for were chili powder and cumin in addition to salt. We added some smoked salt once and oregano and onion powder another. I also sautéed onions and added them in. I think most dishes could benefit from a little more onion.
Hot dogs and macaroni—no brainer winner. Hot dogs keep forever and we just cooked up a veggie on the side. It didn’t make me feel like super mom but everyone was happy.
Lessons learned after last season: sticking with something you’ve made before may be best. Pasta and rice are really wonderful ways to make a meal stretch. You’ll get tired of canned chicken and tuna eventually. I somehow had an insane amount of diced tomatoes leftover in my pantry that we are STILL eating through.
