Weekend Cooking with Bless: "Can't be Bothered" Baked Chicken and "Not At All Cassoulet" Soup!

Saturday's Dinner: "Can't be Bothered" Baked Chicken, Potato Fries, Broccoli

Yesterday (Saturday), I put a package of four chicken thighs to thaw, intending to make a chicken curry.  However, by dinner time, I couldn't be bothered didn't feel like making chicken curry and so, I decided to bake the chicken, instead!  I lined a baking sheet with foil (easier clean up), put the chicken thighs down and, only then, realized that these were the skinless boneless thighs and would need a little oil.  It would be easier to start with an oiled foil lined tray!  As is was, I sprinkled each piece with salt, dark roasted curry powder and chili powder on each side, topped each piece with a little bit of chopped onions and sliced sweet peppers leftover from the salad daughter made for lunch, drizzled a little bit of oil over them, then, tried to get the oil on both sides of the chicken and had half the onions and sweet peppers fall off, and put them in the oven at 375F.

I debated making rice with it (but, that would require some kind of sauce) and decided oven fries would be better, especially since the potatoes I had bought are threatening to sprout!  Two potatoes were washed and cut up, without peeling, then, sprinkled with salt and chili powder, and placed on another foil lined and oiled baking tray.  I stirred the potatoes around a bit to get coated with the oil, then, spread them out in a single layer and place in the oven, along side the tray of chicken.   I took the opportunity to turn the pieces of chicken over at that time.  

Then, I cut up one of the heads of broccoli I had purchased (as opposed to have grown) and boiled them in a little bit of salted water for a few minutes.  

By which time, the chicken was done and the fries were almost done - I baked the fries for another five minutes or so and then, called daughter to dinner.  She asked me what I made and I said, "Well, I couldn't be bothered to make chicken curry..."  She said, "For someone who couldn't be bothered cooking, you made a feast!"  I wasn't sure if she'd like the baked chicken (she loves my chicken curry), but, she loved it!  She said she'll be asking for this chicken again! And I thought I had better write down what I did, in a blog post, because, otherwise, I'd probably forget!  LOL!  The fries were a hit, too, and she has, just now, requested another batch of fries which are baking as I type this!

There are two more pieces of the baked chicken left for tomorrow's dinner - I will cook more broccoli and perhaps try making the spiralized baked potatoes to go with it. 

Today (Sunday), there was a blog comment by "56 Steps" (Debra), on my Thursday's post and she mentioned making a black bean soup.  Which reminded me that, some time ago (last year, I think), she had mentioned she made a mock cassoulet, with smoked sausage, white beans, and a can of diced tomatoes.  Canned diced tomatoes aren't a regular purchase for me, but, shortly after that, I bought some cans of diced tomatoes.  I had intended to try her mock cassoulet, but, hadn't.  I decided to make it for dinner, today.  I had smoked sausage and I had canned diced tomatoes, but, what I didn't have was white beans!  I guess I could have substituted a can of garbanzo (chick peas), instead, but, I had a can of dark red kidney beans that needed to be used up and so, I went with that!

Sunday's Dinner: "Not at All Cassoulet" Soup!

I described the recipe to my daughter and asked her if she'd eat it if I made it - she promised to try it, because she generally doesn't like tomato based soups and sauces.  But, there was leftover chicken from yesterday if she didn't like it, so, I was not too worried.

Here's what I did:

Dump into a small stock pot -

1/2 store brand smoked sausage cut into small rounds

1 can of red kidney beans, drained and well rinsed

1 can of diced tomatoes in tomato juice

1 can of water (using the empty tomato can)

Small amount of diced onions

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 handful of frozen corn (1/4 -1/3 cup, maybe - didn't measure)

3 small sweet peppers cut up 

2 bay leaves

salt, ground black pepper

Bring to boil and then, simmer, for about 30 minutes.

In the last 5 minutes or so, chop up the 6-7 small leaves of chard picked from the garden on Friday and add for extra color and nutrition!  

I cooked some egg noodles to go with it.  At first, I poured some of the "not quite cassoulet" over the noodles: 

Not Quite Cassoulet Over Noodles

But, then, daughter said it was more like a soup and she thought I should mix the noodles in the "not quite cassoulet" so, I did just that!  And it became Not At All Cassoulet Soup, instead!   I didn't take a picture of the soup as we wanted to eat!  Daughter, who doesn't like tomato based soups, said it was "alright".  I thought it was pretty good and, in fact, might become a new way to hide add vegetables to my diet (I was thinking that canned green beans would be good in it).  

I took some of the soup and two jars of the marmalade over to neighbor S, as well and asked her to give one jar of the marmalade to her mother.

There's a little more left for a quick lunch, one day, during the week.  That is the extent of my meal planning for this week!  LOL.

Today, I am grateful for:

- New recipes and recipe inspirations

- A daughter who is willing to try something new and different (so much better at it than her mother!)

- The oven helping to heat up the house!

- Conversations with friends and family

- My turn to share food with neighbor S!

Today's joyful activity was adapting a new recipe!