Eggplant Two Ways

I love eggplants for some reason, both the look of them in my garden or on the counter and the taste. They were on sale a couple of days ago so I bought two. I grilled some slices over the barbecue for dinner one night, just slicing, brushing with oil and chopped garlic, and grilling until soft. Yesterday I realized that what I had left wasn't going to fit into dinner plans for the next few nights so I decided to cook and freeze slices dipped in bread crumbs and fried, the first step to making egglant parmesan. I'd read that they freeze okay like this so we'll find out later.

But I have to admit I snuck a few slices for dinner after cooking them last night and they were delicious! I sliced them into 1/2" slices, sprinkled with salt and put them on a cookie rack over the sink for half an hour. Rinsed the salt off and dried them. Then dipped each slice in flour, then egg beaten with a little water, then seasoned bread crumbs. Fried them in oil until browned and soft in the middle and drained them on paper towels. I flash froze them on a cookie sheet and put them in to a freezer bag for another day when I can fit them into the menu.

Note that you could spray the slices with olive oil and bake rather than fry, if you wanted to lighten up the recipe.

Chicken Quesadillas

I frequently end up with bits and pieces of leftover chicken. I will sometimes freeze this after dicing it and it works great in various casseroles, creamed chicken, chicken pot pies, etc. Tonight I needed something that could be ready quickly after swim team practice for my eldest. i had barbecued some marinated chicken breasts for dinner on Sunday, had made chicken salad sandwiches one day, and used the leftovers tonight in Chicken Quesadillas. I diced up the chicken and mixed it with some chili powder and garlic and added a bit of leftover broth for moisture and then microwaved it in a covered dish for a few minutes. I put two flour tortillas on a cookie sheet and divided the chicken between the two and spread them out. Sprinkled some grated Cheddar cheese on top and put another tortilla on top of each, then baked at 450 for 5 minutes or so, until they were lightly browned. I cut them into wedges and served with some sour cream and salsa.

Taco Meat Pies

Easy Taco Meat Pies. Hamburger was on sale the other day so I boiled up 5 pounds. Put four 1-pound bags of it in the freezer for later and left 1 pound (about 2.5 cups) in the frig for dinner another night. I needed an easy dinner so I browsed through a few cookbooks and perused the other contents of the frig. Here's what I created. Put the boiled hamburger in a sauce pan with some taco meat seasoning and water. (There are plenty of "make your own" mixes or use a packet or use 1/4 cup from the big mixes from the warehouse.) Simmer this together until the meat is not too saucy. Take a can of refrigerator biscuits roll each biscuit into a 1/4" thick circle. Put a few tablespoons of the taco meat onto the rolled out biscuits and top with some shredded Cheddar cheese. Fold each biscuit in half over the meat mixture to form a half circle and pinch the ends together with a fork. Bake at 400 for 8 minutes or so. Aside from dinner, the girls each took one for lunch the next day.