What to have for dinner, whether I’m cooking for someone else is, is always a struggle.  I don’t think we’re alone in this.  I place very high value on home-cooked food as I feel restaurant food is incredibly unhealthy.  If there is a healthy restaurant near us, I have yet to find it.  We do eat pizza one night per week and eat out a second night per week, but we try to have home-cooked meals the other five nights per week.  We stay home and scrounge at lunch the vast majority of the time.

Anyway, I have a accumulated a few recipes that I like and use frequently.  Most of them are available online.  Here are my favorites!

1.) Chicken Soup with Rice, Pioneer Woman

– Use olive oil instead of butter except for the roux.  It still tastes great.

– Rather than cooking rice separately, just add it to the pot at the same time as the chicken.  It cooks nicely, and you’ll save yourself a pot.  I usually add a little extra water.

– Rather than using bouillon cubes and water, I use two quarts of low sodium chicken stock.

– Skip the food coloring.  It’s completely unnecessary.

– I double or triple the amount of green pepper and celery just to make it a bit healthier.

2.) Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Wrap, Pioneer Woman

– Instead of grilling the chicken, I cook it on my cast-iron skillet

– H does not like goat cheese, so I set that I aside and just add it to some of the wraps

3.) Salmon and Leeks baked in Parchment, Martha Stewart

– I’m not sure what chervil is, but I have always used parsley, preferably flat-leaf.

– I like my salmon just cooked through, and so I cook for 20 minutes, not 10 or 15