Leftover Madness turned Lunchtime Delicacy

So you are sitting in your house after just finishing your morning chores, you're tired and hungry and don't want to have to make a big deal for lunch. You could always make a cold cut sandwich, again, but thats so boring and lackluster. It's time to mix it up and have a delicious lunch that is super easy to make, and the best way to do that is to look at the other meals you didn't finish in the fridge.

I had sliced tomatoes sitting in a plastic container from a BLT made over the weekend, some extra Farfalle noodles from my moms Mac N' Cheese, and a few extra chicken breasts from the previous week. As I stood there, I thought, how can I use these seemingly unrelated items and make a meal out of them? Then it hit me, a fall pasta with grilled chicken! A simple, light, meal that won't take more than thirty minutes to prepare and will fill me up until dinner time.

To start, preheat the grill to 300-350 degrees. If your chicken breast has the rib meat attached, go ahead and pull that off. You now have chicken tenders for another meal later in the week! Now, drizzle the chicken in EVOO and sprinkle about a tablespoon of basil and a teaspoon of garlic powder over the top. Allow the meat to sit while the grill preheats to allow the oil to begin to penetrate the breast. Once your grill heats to 300 degrees, place the chicken on the grill, basil side up. with the grill on its Medium-Low setting, allow the chicken to cook on that first side for fifteen minutes. It is important to allow most of the cooking to be done on that first side to allow the basil and garlic flavor to infuse with the meat. After fifteen minutes, gently flip the breast over and allow for ten more minutes of cooking time. After the ten minutes, flip the breast one more time, and gently press down with your spatula. If the juice is flowing clear at this time, remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for about 2 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, there is a lot to get done! At this point you will want to get your Magic Bullet System out, or a basic food processor will work. Put your sliced tomato in along with about a quarter cup of
EVOO, two tablespoons of butter, a teaspoon of garlic salt, and a dash of basil. Blend this all together until you achieve a smooth consistency. Pour the sauce into a medium sized wok, add a quarter cup of water to help thin the sauce a bit, and heat over medium heat until the sauce begins to simmer. Stir the sauce often to keep a "skin" from forming on the top. Once the sauce is heated through, add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste and stir together. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and begin to stir in to coat the pasta thoroughly. Once the pasta is totally coated in the sauce, cover and turn the heat down to low to allow it to simmer, stirring occasionally. The pasta will heat and cook until the chicken is done.

Once the chicken is done place a small "lunch sized" portion of pasta on the plate along with the grilled chicken breast. Since this is lunch, you don't have to worry about serving anything else with this meal; however, if you decide to make this for dinner, serve with a side salad with a light vinaigrette dressing and a chilled glass of Chardonnay.

What you need

1 Sliced tomato

EVOO [Extra Virgin Olive Oil]

Basil

Garlic Powder

Butter

Cooked Pasta [Spaghetti style noodles not recommended]

Chicken

Salt and Pepper

Flappy Jacks

Have you ever had a craving so bad you would do anything to settle it? Has that craving ever been for fluffy, buttery, pancakes but you're out of Bisquick or Jiffy mix? No worries, scratch made flapjacks are super easy to make!

Start out with three quarters a cup of milk and add two tablespoons of white vinegar. Allow that to "sour" for five minutes. This is a perfect substitute for buttermilk, I never use the full half gallon you have to buy at the store. While that is souring, combine a cup of all purpose flour in a large bowl with two tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of baking powder.

After the milk has sat for five minutes, add one egg and two tablespoons of melted butter and whisk together. Slowly mix in the milk mixture to the dry mixture until all the lumps are out and the it is well mixed.

Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Pour about a quarter cups worth into the skillet at a time. Cook the pancakes on the first side until the top begins to bubble. Flip the pancakes quickly, but with care, and cook the under side until golden brown.

When plating the pancakes, put a piece of butter between each cake to help with the delicious butter flavor! Drizzle some maple syrup over the top and serve with a cold glass of milk!

What you need

1 cup AP flour

Sugar

Salt

Baking powder

Milk

White vinegar

1 Egg

Butter

Maple Syrup

Tomato Soup Thats Mmmm, mmmmm Better Than Campbell's

So there are a TON of tomato soup recipes out there that call for a lot of unhealthy things like cream, butter, and over salted chicken stocks. Its just too much! I prefer my tomato soup to be simple and about the tomato, what a concept right?!? I truly believe that my tomato soup is better than any soup out on the market, granted that's my opinion, but now you can try it to!



I start with canned tomatoes, they are already diced and you don't have to deal with all that mess! Empty the canned, diced tomatoes into a blender, I use a Magic Bullet because, well, its awesome!
Puree the tomatoes until they are smooth and, well, pureed... In the Magic Bullet it should only be about ten seconds or so. Once they are pureed, put the mixture into a small sauce pan over medium heat.

When the soup is on the stove, grab the holy trinity of herbs; basil, oregano, and thyme. Put a few dashes of each herb into the soup and allow it to simmer together. While the soup is simmering add a few pinches of salt and pepper to taste. The soup shouldn't need to simmer more than five minutes to be heated all the way through.

Once the soup is fully heated, pour it into your favorite soup bowl and enjoy! [Hopefully with some of my Grilled Cheese Dippers!]

What you Need

Canned, diced tomatoes

Blender [Magic Bullet if you're cool]

Herb Trinity [basil, oregano, thyme]

Salt N' Pepper