Many of the blogs that I read, the authors enjoy posting their weekly menus and/or new recipes that they are trying out. While I greatly enjoy reading these menus and salivating over many of them, it can be frustrating at times.
As a newlywed, cooking can be a trying and nerve-wracking time. We want to impress our spouses with our amazing cooking abilities and yet, in all honesty, really have no clue what to cook! I'm enjoying learning how to cook and especially how to budget meals and such. But, it's a definite "trial and error" experience. When I read these amazing meal plans, I often wonder how they do it all. I wish someone would post stuff with a family of just 2, so I could see how other people handle cooking for only 2.
It's hard.
Growing up in a large family makes it a tad difficult to know for sure how much feeds just a couple. :) Many a times thus far in our marriage, I've made a meal, with two dishes (like a main and a side) and we eat it for DAYS!! We get tired of eating it so I make another meal. I feel like this is so wasteful and doesn't really help our budget out all that much. Yet, I'm not sure what to do. I want us to eat healthy and well, but it's just so much food! I haven't gotten to the point of being able to halve a recipe -- I probably should. But, when I'm in the middle of making a dish, it's easy to make it all thinking, "We can have this for leftovers, thus making my life easier tomorrow". And then, we have to eat leftovers.
Another area that I find challenging is knowing what things would be good together. One time, I saw two different recipes that both sounded fabulous. I made them one night, and it was an AWFUL combination for the same meal! I just haven't learned how to imagine individual tastes and then how they'd be mingled collectively. For example, I made this fabulous risotto the other night as our main meal. It was meatless (and still great like that) but if I had wanted to add a meat with it ... I dunno. We both sat there, wondering what kind of meat would go well with it, and totally came up empty! Chicken? Yah? But what kind? Steak? Perhaps, but how will we grill them in a grill-free apartment?
So, all you amazing cooks (and meal planners out there), what would you pair with this risotto? Any thoughts on how to cook for just 2 and still get a well-balanced diet without having a lifetime supply of leftovers?
Here's the risotto recipe. Let me know what you think after reading it. :)
Creamy Parmesan Risotto with Asparagus (Made in a rice cooker)
8 oz asparagus, peeled, cut into 1” pieces
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup finely chopped onion or shallot
2/3 cup finely chopped carrot
2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
6 cups water, chicken or veggie stock (may mix)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Lightly coat the steamer tray with cooking spray. Place asparagus in tray and set aside. (can do while rice is cooking)
Place butter and oil in cooking bowl. Cover, turn on, and wait one minute. Stir in chopped onion and carrot. Cover and cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat completely. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Stir in wine. Cover. Cook 2-3 minutes, until the wine is completely absorbed. Add water or stock; stir. Cover and cook for 25 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times during cooking.
Place asparagus filled steaming tray on cooking bowl and cover. Cook until the rice cooker switches to Warm, about 5 minutes longer. When rice cooker switches to warm, stir in heavy cream, Parmesan and white pepper. Replace steaming tray over cooking bowl and let stand on Warm for 5-10 minutes. Stir the steamed asparagus into risotto. Serve hot.
8 comments:
I remember the same things -- cooking a meal and eating it 4 days in a row! UGH! I'm not sure I have any great advice except keep experimenting! As for an accompaniment to a risotto, hmmm... I'd need some protein if I were eating that meal. But, I'd probably feel the same way about meat. I'd definately serve the risotto with a salad, and then I might consider making a low-sugar pudding (with milk and eggs) for dessert to get in the protein.
Yep, it can be hard. I've definitely had my share of tons of leftovers (hmmm...just in the last few weeks :)), been frustrated with what to put together etc.
I think you need a Lean Machine for grilling - tastes great, cooks right on your countertop, and cleans up easily. Perfect for apartments. Bed, Bath, & Beyond has them for not a whole lot.
As far as cooking for two, you might try a magazine or cookbook geared towards two. I would definitely start cutting large recipes in half - you still may have leftovers for another meal. You could also freeze leftovers if it's a recipe that freezes well.
The risotto looks yummy! I probably would pair it with a simple grilled or baked chicken. I think chicken pairs nicely with cream, white wine dishes. It is also great with asparagus. You definitely could do a salad - again simple with maybe salt, pepper, oil and vinegar dressing.
I'm sure you are doing a great job don't be too hard on yourself! You are blessing your husband and nourishing your family. It won't always be perfect or even good (don't even ask Andrew about a few things I've served) :) but hang in there. It will get easier!
Sorry for the book. :)
I would echo Alaina on the chicken. One thing that I have found really good is soaking a chicken breast in salt water for a few hours before cooking. It really makes the chicken great.
The indoor grill is a must. You can get one cheap at Wal-mart. They make all sizes. For you all I would get a medium size so that you can grill for at least 4 people. When it is just you and KC you can throw on some veggies with the meat. This is also great.
For salads you don't have to do the "traditional" salad. I have been using a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers. I just slice up the tomatoes into bite sized pieces and then cut up the cucumber. I sprinkle with onion salt and then drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar. This can be made ahead of time and left to sit to combine flavors. This can be done with other veggies also.
Another thing that I found helpful is to buy smaller quantities of meat or split up my meat into freezer bags when I get home. This limits the amount that you get out of the freezer and then you don't feel compelled to use it up.
Betty Crocker has a cookbook out called Cooking for Two. There are many such other cookbooks. It might be worth investing in some of these. You might be able to get some good deals on Half.com
Keep going. Some day you will wonder why this was ever a problem.
Looks like a great recipe! You could just have a vegetarian night and pair it with a salad and some yummy bread. Or chicken would work good since it has white wine and chicken stock. Maybe some chicken sausage?
I pair things that don't end up going well, too. Like the last time I took someone a meal, it was awful. But, I had already gone to all the work, so I gave it to them anyway. They things tasted great separately, but not together.
I remember having the same problem you did about too much food. Even now, with only 2.5 eaters, it's still hard. I try to halve the recipe or only plan on making enough to eat leftovers just ONCE. Because, like you said, it is nice and economical to have some leftovers. And some food just tastes better the second day anyway. Another idea is to freeze half of it. Like, buy those tin containers at WalMart and put half the lasagna in that. It will be great to pull it out of the freezer on a day that you know you're going to be working late.
Keep having fun in the kitchen! And keep sharing recipes. It's great to see what you've enjoyed. :)
About grilling indoors, don't you have a grill pan? I like grill pans way better than the George Foreman. I thought the GF was hard to clean and took up a lot of space. But I love my grill pan.
Well, I didn't even know what risotto was until I read your recipe! I imagine what I ate growing up was much simpler than what you ate growing up.
Anyway, I absolutely LOVE the recipe site allrecipes.com. I have pretty much learned to cook from that site (not that I claim to be a great cook - I still have lots to learn). They have all kinds of categories for recipes and you can automatically change the serving size which is handy. However, the most indispensible thing to me are the reviews of each recipe. People give all kinds of ways to tweak and adjust. It's like having a whole room of cooks around. And it's absolutely free!
Oh, I agree with everyone else that you should really get an indoor grill. We LOVE our George Foreman. I used to bake chicken in the oven to put in a casserole and it would take forever. Now my chicken is done in 9 minutes!
Hi Megan,
I just had to comment on this one.
Definitely chicken w/ the risotto if you need a meat (I make chicken w/ risotto a lot!)
And freezing half a recipe works well for me too. Sometimes its hard to decide if you should freeze it before or after cooking but my experience is that there are a lot of recipes that work well frozen. In the winter time I even make a big pot of chili and freeze half.
Last but not least, I have to echo Sarah's comment about Allrecipes.com. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the reviews and have learned not to even try something if it's less than 4 stars. I've used the website all along but had picked many similar recipes. Then, last year, I got sick of the same old thing and looked for something completely different. I have found some terrific Asian recipes on there- Thai, Burmese, Chinese! Plus, it has a feature that allows me to put in an ingredient that I need to use up and find recipes that use that ingredient. I rarely use my cookbooks anymore because I can find things I like on there. Often I'll even look up something based on an ingredient and then ask Brock to pick the recipe (then, if he doesn't like it, well...he picked it!) I LOVE it and have recommended it to many people!
I have found the perfect solution to the "leftover for two" question. No microwave.
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