Hi Honeys
How are you today? All well I hope? Today's been a lovely, sunny day so Hubby's been out cutting the grass and I ventured further than I have in weeks - to the edge of our patio to peg out some laundry 😊
Not so far at all then I suppose but it felt like a real journey to me. I was outside, not just looking out through the kitchen window as I have been doing till now, and I had the wind blowing through my (getting longer by the day) hair.
Can you imagine how long the queues will be at hairdressers and barbers when lock down is over honeys? I'm starting to feel a little like Cousin It from the Addams Family already 😊 Who would ever have thought that a trip to the hairdresser for a quick snip and tidy up would become such a dreamt of, longed for even, event? 😃
Life in lock down has been an eye opener in all kinds of ways. It's changed how we all live, with the compulsory "stay home" orders proving to be a real challenge for most (though not for this hermit.) Staying home for everyone, of course, has meant separation from family and friends who are not part of your immediate household so I'm sure there will be a great deal of happiness and maybe some parties when this has all passed and people are able to be together again.💕
I think one of the more lasting changes, after covid-19, will be found in our kitchens. The difficulties we've all had in being able to buy even the most basic, essential items, has meant, at least in our household, that we've had to be a little more inventive in meal planning. Which neatly brings us to today's post...
This was definitely a culinary experiment honeys 😊 Even before Covid-19 and the stressful adventures in grocery shopping it's caused, Hubby and I have been trying to live a more sustainable life. Essentially, just trying to buy less, use what we already have and cut down on waste.
The present lock down, and the scramble for grocery delivery slots, have certainly made us appreciate the food we have at hand more, as well as making us more creative in cooking with it.
Among our latest attempts to buy less, were these silicone baking sheets. They've completely replaced the aluminium foil, and some of the parchment paper (though not the loaf tin liners) I've always used to line cookie sheets and baking trays.
When they arrived, I set about using these silicone baking mats for everything and nothing, not a thing stuck to them. All we do after use is to wash and dry them, they're then put away in my kitchen trolley till they're needed again. Where have they been all my life!
So, one long, very boring afternoon, looking for ideas for dinner, I reached for one of our rectangular, oven proof dishes. the ones I use to make lasagne... then, and this is where the "I'm bored" bit came in😊 I had a thought.
I wonder what would happen if I lined one of our roasting tins with one of the new silicone mats and made a tray bake? Then, well, why not go grab a cuppa (and maybe a cookie) and I'll share what happened. See you after the page break honeys x
Welcome back 😊 Do you have your cuppa? Me too 🍵 Let's take a look at that kitchen experiment then...
Easiest Ever, Use What You Have, Garlic Chicken Tray Bake
Ingredients:
400g pack of diced chicken breast
200g of mixed, frozen bell peppers (around half a pack)
50g (approx) of frozen sweetcorn
50g (approx) frozen garden peas
12 (approx) tiny potatoes
Olive oil
Italian herbs
Garlic powder (both from the spice rail)
Directions:
This really isn't a recipe honeys, not as such. That's why it's so much fun 😊 I'd already decided to make chicken for dinner and had taken a pack of diced chicken out of the freezer already, now, what to do with it?
1. First I switched on the oven, setting the temperature to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. I then fetched a large bowl and in went the diced chicken breast pieces...
2. Next, I added around half a pack of frozen, mixed bell peppers. I then drizzled lots of lovely olive oil over the top, followed by generous sprinkles of Italian Herbs and powdered garlic from the spice rail.
By this point I was wishing we had some fresh basil (I so love basil) but we didn't so I took a moment to give myself a telling off and to remind myself to be grateful for what we do have and then fetched two wooden spoons to mix it all together till everything was coated in the olive oil, herbs and garlic.
I used spoons because I just don't do sticky, icky hands honeys.
3. Something was still missing though, so I had a rummage around the kitchen cupboards and back into the freezer again, looking for inspiration, and added to the bowl some frozen garden peas, frozen sweetcorn and a large tin of tiny potatoes.
Tinned potatoes??? I have no idea where they came from. None. They're not something we'd usually have, but there they were. They were sitting near the top of the "tins cupboard" and the expiry date was 2022, so since I was in a "try it and see what happens" kind of mood I grabbed the tin.
Once opened, the tiny, whole potatoes were placed into a sieve and held under the running cold water for a minute or so. This done, they joined the peas and sweetcorn in the bowl with the chicken and other ingredients.
4. I then added more olive oil, Italian herbs and garlic powder to the bowl - can there ever be too much of these? Not in this house honeys😋 Wooden spoons were again used to make sure everything was coated in the olive oil, garlic and herbs yumminess and the whole bowl was emptied into the roasting tin, on top of the silicone sheet...
5. The roasting dish went into the oven, on the middle shelf, to cook. Since this is after all an experiment, I used the time and temperature I'd normally use when cooking this frozen, diced chicken (one of our freezer staples) - so I set a timer for 25 minutes.
6. When the timer went off I went back through to the kitchen to be hit by the most amazing smell of all together fabulous-ness 😋 I pierced a few of the chicken pieces (being very careful not to damage the silicone mat) to make sure they were cooked all the way through, if fully cooked any "juices" from the chicken will run clear, and they did.
I used my now washed (does everyone else like to wash up as they go when cooking? or I am just weird?) wooden spoons to turn over the chicken, potatoes and peppers and vegetables. There was lots of yummy infused olive oil in the bottom of the mat, so I made sure everything was coated (it seemed like such a shame to waste it) and then served onto plates.
Hubby loved his dinner so much he asked me to make it again 💖 To think it was made using bits and bobs from the freezer and cupboard too!
About those tinned potatoes. I really wasn't expecting very much of them, in fact I thought Hubby would comment on them, but he didn't and seemed to think I had just used some baby potatoes, but they were actually lovely. I didn't expect that at all 😊
Over to you then honeys, have you been having fun with experiments in the kitchen? Why not share any yummy discoveries in the comments section below? I love trying out new recipes 💖
Till next time dear ones, stay safe and well, sending mountains of (safe, virtual) hugs always x
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