meal prep – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

9-8: Mushroom Beef Patties

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses November 29, 2021December 30, 2021all-purpose flour, beef, black pepper, burgers, butter, chopped, cornstarch, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, garnish, green onions, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, lunch, meal prep, melted, mushrooms, new book, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, sliced, untested, yellow onions

I’ve done quite a few recipes lately that include mushrooms, and now we’re doing one that expressly features them: 9-8: Mushroom Beef Patties. Simply Delicious also has several “patty” recipes, and now here’s one with mushrooms. I know–really pushing the culinary envelope here with both mushrooms AND beef patties.

I had mentioned in my last Group 09 entry (9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs) that I believed that I had run out of recipes for this section. HOWEVER, after I obtained the NEW book, I was able to squeeze out at least one more for you. There’s still another one hanging out in the queue (9-11: Stuffed Peppers), so we’re not quite done with it yet.

7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses January 11, 2021January 12, 2021Asian, black pepper, blanched, boneless, broccoli, cashews, Chinese, chopped, corn, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, ginger, grated, ham, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, meal prep, pork, pork chops, pork shoulder, salt, sautéed, sliced, snow peas, soy sauce, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables, winter

Looking for a way to use up some winter vegetables? Maybe your veggie box is heavy with leeks and broccoli these days–if so, maybe give 7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek a try. It’s got big “we have Chinese food at home” energy.

If malls were still a thing, you could probably find something similar at a generic Chinese/pan-Asian restaurant in the half-empty food court.

If you want to round out your combo plate for the full experience, you could make some 8-25: Stir-Fried Beef or 11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp to go with it. Maybe throw in some 6-39: Chicken Pot Stickers or 1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls on the side?

8-13: Japanese Beef Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses October 12, 2020October 12, 2020Asian, bamboo shoots, beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, beef tenderloin, braised, canola oil, casserole, celery, chard, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, frozen, Japanese, Japanese soy sauce, julienned, kale, lunch, meal prep, mushrooms, salt, sautéed, sesame oil, sherry, shoyu, sirloin, soy sauce, spinach, stir-fry, untested, vegetable oil, white pepper, yellow onions

Usually, I give Simply Delicious a hard time for their attempts at “cultural cuisine”–I had gone into 8-13: Japanese Beef Casserole with the same expectations. I even cooked the recipe with that thought in mind–that this was just another lame attempt at something “exotic” for the 1980s housewife crowd to try to excite their disaffected family about. I mean, read that description below and try to imagine how that would go in real life.

However, while researching for the write-up (the last part of this multi-step process), I found some interesting “similar” recipes. I’m still not sure if I’m right or wrong about this one.

Here’s my thoughts on the two things this recipe could be (given my new findings):

They might be trying to attempt nikujaga (Japanese “beef stew”), but it’s missing potatoes which are a crucial (and easy to obtain) part of that dish.
They’re attempting some sort of pan-Asian sautéed beef/Asian veggies dish that you’d be more likely to find in a dead mall’s food court and just calling it Japanese casserole.

I’m guessing it’s the latter, but if you’d like to decide for yourself, keep reading.

Oh, and that dead mall link above? That’s another one of our projects…

13-15: Vegetarian Lasagna

Jamie Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses September 22, 2020September 22, 2020basil, black olives, blender, canola oil, cheese, chili sauce, chopped, cottage cheese, dinner, dried herbs, Feta, food processor, frozen, herbs and spices, lasagna, layers, lunch, meal prep, melted, Mozzarella, olive oil, pasta/noodles, peeled, Ricotta, sautéed, shredded, spinach, tomatoes, twice-baked, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

We’ve covered lasagna dishes on this site before, and 13-15: Vegetarian Lasagna introduces yet another variation of the traditional dish by eschewing tomatoes completely. This version is similar to the Stouffer’s Vegetable Lasagna that my aunt used to bring to dinners all the time as a “homemade dish”. This has no tomato sauce, instead going for cheese and spinach layered between lasagna noodles.

There’s also onions and olives in there as well (I LOVE olives), as well as…chili sauce? I’m not sure why they thought chili sauce was a good addition to this recipe, but at least you can adjust it based on preference.

7-31: Lime Cayenne Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses May 26, 2020June 16, 2020black pepper, boneless, cayenne pepper, chopped, cilantro, citrus, deglazed, diced, dinner, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, garnish, grated, green onions, grill pan, grilled, Hutton house, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, meal prep, oranges, parsley, pork, pork chops, relish, revisited, salsa, salt, Southwestern, summer, supreme, tomatoes, vegetable oil, zested

In these trying times (are you tired of hearing that yet?), it’s important to make the food you have go as far as you can, and to reduce the amount of food being wasted. Even before “the Rona“, I’ve been spending many a Saturday (or Sunday) meal-prepping for the upcoming week, which has brought down our grocery bills (and our waistlines, but apparently not as quickly).

7-31: Lime Cayenne Pork Chops was part of a “pork chop” meal-prep week, prepared in tandem with 7-53: Cider-Braised Pork Chops and served with some mixed roasted potatoes courtesy of the CSA box. It’s “meat and potatoes”, but maybe with a healthier twist?

My mom apparently made this back in November 1993, and it was “good” and “easy”. I’m not sure who ranked it as such (since she doesn’t eat pork), but we’ll go with that recommendation.

7-53: Cider-Braised Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses April 29, 2020May 26, 2020apple cider, autumn, boiled, boneless, braised, butter, chopped, cider, deglazed, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, fall, herb salt, inexpensive, lunch, meal prep, parsley, pearl onions, pork chops, salt, sautéed, untested

I’m working through a HUGE backlog right now, so you’re currently getting recipes that I cooked last fall–case in point, 7-53: Cider-Braised Pork Chops. This is more of a fall/autumn-type recipe (when fresh cider is in season), but don’t let that hold you back from your cider-braised, pork-scented dreams.

There’s a TON of pork chop recipes in this book–I feel like every time I think I’ve got them all, another one pops up. If you like pork chops, check out 7-28: Pork Chops with Rosemary, 7-9: Hunter’s Style Pork Chops, or 7-26: Maple-Glazed Pork Chops for just a few examples.

12-24: Cannelloni with Chicken

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses March 14, 2020March 14, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, boiled, breasts, butter, cannelloni, cheese, cheese sauce, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, cottage cheese, creamy, cubed, dinner, dried herbs, dry vermouth, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, food processor, frozen, grated, lunch, marinated, meal prep, melted, milk, nutmeg, Parmesan, pasta shells, pasta/noodles, salt, spinach, strained, strainers, stuffed, thyme, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Meal-prepping is trendy now, but it’s always been a good idea if you want to save money and calories. 12-24: Cannelloni with Chicken works well if you want to make it on a Sunday, split it up into a few containers, and reheat it throughout the week. At least, that’s how we ate it.

Even Simply Delicious advises you can make this meal ahead of time, although their suggestion is for entertaining guests. This recipe/concept is pretty versatile–it’s good fresh or as leftovers.

9-17: Ham-Wrapped Meat Loaf

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses January 16, 2018October 18, 2020allspice, bacon, beef, black pepper, bread crumbs, chopped, cornstarch, deglazed, diced, dinner, dried spices, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gravy, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, half-and-half, ham, herbs and spices, lunch, meal prep, meatloaf, milk, panade, panko, parsley, pork, red onions, salt, sliced, smoked ham, sour cream, tomatoes, untested, white bread

A good friend from high school once had the genius idea to open a meatloaf based restaurant, based on his family’s famous meatloaf recipe. If he ever got the place off the ground, I’d expect he’d add a dish similar to 9-17: Ham-Wrapped Meat Loaf to his menu. I think it’d be weird to have a fast casual restaurant that is based around meatloaf. What would you call it? Meat Loaf Market? Meatloaf-ology?

Wrapping a meatloaf in bacon or ham is a tried and true way to make any ordinary blob of ground meat taste more interesting.

1-6: Surprise Sandwich Loaf

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 15, 2018October 14, 2020appetizers, basil, black pepper, bread series, breads, butter, Cheddar, cheese, chives, Colby Jack, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, egg-free, grated, ham, heirloom tomatoes, inexpensive, Italian, Jarlsberg, loaf pan, lunch, meal prep, melted, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, party food, Pepper Jack, pepperoni, picnic, Provolone, salami, salt, sandwiches, sliced, smoked ham, snacks, Swiss, toasted, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, white bread, whole wheat bread, yellow mustard

Trying to put some new posts out there for you–here’s 1-6: Surprise Sandwich Loaf, which was made with a loaf baked from the dough I used for 20-12: Basic Rolls. I made this to break up into portions and take to work with me for lunch one week. It was delicious when first made, but with most things lost its appeal as the week went on.

I love toasted sandwiches. One of my high school jobs was at a Quizno’s, at which I came up with personal sandwich masterpieces which would be impossible to recreate had I been nothing but a customer. However, while I appreciate the efficiency of an entire toasted sandwich loaf, this particular execution leaves something to be desired.