With the closure of all our favorite restaurants, it’s time to cook at home! I wanted to share some favorites to feed a family or to save in the freezer. It’s important to continue to stock your kitchen with healthy foods and not just panic buy the prepackaged freezer meals. Making big batches that you can freeze makes eating a home-cooked meal easy.
Most of these meals are great for throwing together any healthy veggies you have on hand. Just because it only calls for carrots and celery doesn’t mean that it doesn’t taste great with some radishes, beans, peas, onion or any of your go-to favorites.
Banana Bread
For a great breakfast or anytime snack, use 6 bananas (mashed) 4 eggs, 2 ½ cup flour, 2 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 cup shortening, 1 tsp salt.
Mix sugar and shortening to beaten eggs, add banana, add flour and remaining dry ingredients, then bake at 350. This recipe makes 2 loaves but I like making a tray of muffins for easy snacks.
Fresh Tuna Salad
For the perfect lunch you’ll need 18 ounce (three 5-ounce) cans of tuna in water, drained well, 1/4 cup celery, diced, 1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped, 1/2 ripe avocado, cut into small chunks, 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped, 2/3 cup mayonnaise (can also sub with Greek yogurt), 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper.
Drain the tuna, chop the veggies, and combine it all together! This salad lasts for days in the fridge and can work as a dip for crackers, topping on toast, and sandwich, or in a tortilla or lettuce wrap.
Easy Vegetable Fried Rice
All you need is 1 small onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1 Tablespoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon ginger powder, crushed red peppers, about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 eggs, and cooked rice. You can also add diced meat or shrimp if making this as a main dish. If you don’t have garlic and ginger powder, use the real thing or leave it out and substitute with some salt and pepper! I also like using hard-boiled eggs instead of scrambled.
Just mix all your vegetables up in a skillet with oil and sauté until they are soft. Add your egg (to cook if not using hard-boiled) then add the rice, seasoning, and soy sauce.
Grandma’s El Dorado Casserole
In a skillet, brown 1 lb ground beef, 1 tablespoon minced onions, ½ teaspoon garlic salt, and 1 15oz can tomato sauce. In a separate bowl, cream 1 cup sliced olives, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup cottage cheese, and 1 can whole green chilies.
In a large casserole dish, layer tortilla chips (also works with tortillas), meat, then cream cheese mixture. Top with shredded cheese and bake 350˚ for 30 min.
Chicken Tapenade
This is a really great chicken dish to serve with rice or a fresh salad. You’ll need Chicken (thighs and drumsticks – as much as you want to make), Cherry tomato halves, and store-bought Olive tapenade.
Cook chicken in a casserole dish at 350 until done, cover with tomato and olive mix, bake 350 until heated.
