Sunday Cooking: Easy come, easy go

For posterity's sake, I am noting that I skipped Sunday Cooking last week. Not just the post, the actual cooking. I had plans all weekend and only a small window of opportunity to cook, and when I asked Hubby what he would like me to whip up quickly, he asked for another round of the bacon-wrapped chicken thighs from the week before. I wasn't in the mood for more of that, but I made them anyway.

I cannot express how much of a mistake this was. For both of us.

I won't go into details, this last week definitely taught me that it takes almost nothing for the foodstyle habits to come undone. They are mostly definitely not second-nature like I presumed they were, and junk food still holds a strong allure that I have to actively overcome.

So back it was to Sunday Cooking this week!

First up was a Miracle Mac and Cheese recipe I found on Budget Bytes this week. I used whole wheat elbows, skim milk and low-fat sharp cheddar cheese. So, so easy, and it tasted great. It reheats okay too.




Next I made a Green Pasta Sauce that Sheila from Ephemera sent me. I hope it's okay to re-print the recipe here, Sheila; it's so good I definitely want to share it.

++++++

Sheila's Green Pasta Sauce
(For the WW people: 5 PP per serving, makes 4 servings)

3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of olive oil (3 PP values)
1 bunch of chard, kale or beet greens
1 bunch of spinach or watercress
1 250 ml tub of skim ricotta cheese (16 PP values)
Nutmeg
Salt, pepper

Sauté the chopped up garlic in the olive oil. Wash, then remove the stems and roughage from the chard, etc. Chop up (makes a lot, about 12 cups!) and then gradually stir into the garlic/olive oil until it’s all reduced (down to a much smaller amount). Add a bit of water if it seems dry. Add nutmeg (a few good shakes), salt and pepper to taste.

Put into a blender with the ricotta and puree until smooth, or puree with a hand blender. Serve immediately (for 4 people) or freeze.

Great with any kind of whole wheat pasta. Add chicken or prawns and lots of veggies and you have a delicious meal!

++++++



After cooking the spinach and kale, with seasoning added.



The finished product. I used a hand blender in a big bowl since I don't have a stand-up blender anymore (never used it).

I have several bags of whole wheat pasta that I have been buying over my last few shopping trips, and this will be great with those. Hubby loved the flavor and was eating it with a spoon before I stopped him. :)

For lunches, I cut up watermelon and strawberries, and bought some roast beef for sandwiches. I haven't posted any bento boxes in a while, but here is one from a couple of weeks ago.


This was the bacon-wrapped chicken, roasted carrots, blue-cheese coleslaw, and a cut-up granola bar. Delicious, but too many days of it was not a good idea.

The last thing I made this weekend was shredded pork. I got the recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything app. I was browsing through it on my iPhone, and was amazed at how easy it sounded. I usually make shredded pork BBQ-style in the crockpot, but it requires a LOT of barbecue sauce, and then it can't be eaten as anything else. This version can be used in tacos or BBQ or anything I feel like having.

It was super-easy, and even better I didn't have to print out the recipe; I opened the app up on my iPad and just read it from the screen!



I did not follow the last sentence about using pork shoulder; I couldn't find one at any of the 3 grocery stores I went to, so I did it with a 2-pound loin roast. Then I quartered a large onion, added plenty of minced garlic, salt, black pepper, 2 bay leaves, and a good seasoning of Northwoods.




The whole recipe is this:
1. Cut up pork into 1-inch cubes, add all the seasonings, onion and garlic into a Dutch oven. Cover with water and heat until it boils. Turn down to simmer so it still bubbles, and let cook for 1 hour until the pork is tender.
(I let it go longer because I had the leaner roast. I did taste-test it at that time, and added a little more kosher salt and some Worchestershire.)
2. When pork is tender, let cool. Remove pieces from liquid, and shred it with your fingers.

That was the whole thing!

I think we are back on track this week. Fingers crossed!
Next up: catching up on all my blogs. I think my Shelley had a birthday last week. Woohoo!

And how were YOU last week?