While the world adjusts to staying home for every meal of the day, I must admit the change has not been too drastic around here. Yes, it’s a change in that we cannot run out to our favorite restaurants and bars on the weekend, but during the week, we’re cooking as usual. Every night.

The biggest adjustment for me has been the planning; or rather, lack thereof. Since we cannot assume what groceries will be available when we shop, we try to gather the basics and cast a wide net for our upcoming meals. What does that look like? Well, we aim for as many fresh veggies as we can, a variety of proteins, a mix of pantry staples, freezable options, and a few “fun” items (unsalted butter for baking, frozen GF egg rolls, and tortilla chips and salsa).

Overall, this time is very different and difficult for everyone. I won’t disagree with you. However, I will encourage you to keep cooking! Who knows what delicious dish you might create tonight?

We have been “planning” dinner a few hours in advance by discussing what’s in the fridge, thinking about the flavors we want, and then determining the best way to make that flavor set come to life on our plates.

Clearly, this level of planning isn’t necessary, but it’s a nice distraction and allows for more interesting meals to evolve. I love a basic “chicken and veggie” combo, but I’m determined to continue to make dinnertime extra delicious - no matter the circumstances around us.

So, what have we been cooking? Take a look, and hopefully find inspiration for your next meal(s), below. 🙂

Sausage and Kale Pasta with Ricotta

Grab your favorite gluten free pasta (we buy Jovial) and you’re almost halfway there to this delicious, and easy meal. I’m learning that it’s important to always have several boxes of pasta in the pantry for times like these because what do we want at night? Comfort. Food. And much of the time that correlates directly to bold-flavor, hearty meals such as this one.

Cook the sausage (we use hot Italian from Wegman’s that’s labeled GF), then add in the chopped kale, cook it down, then toss with the pasta that was cooking in a separate pot on the stove. Once it’s mixed together, add in a happy-level of ricotta cheese. Or, skip it! This dish is dairy-free without the cheese, but it’s extra-joyful and really delicious with it.

Alternatively, you could use chicken sausage or another spicy protein if you prefer. The best part of protein/veggie/pasta night is that it’s completely customizable to what you have in the fridge. This combination, in particular, is one of my favorites.

Crispy Baked Panko Chicken and Salad

There are few dishes as satisfying as one that includes crispy chicken. Of course, we can all acknowledge that fried chicken is the ultimate “crispy chicken,” but let’s be real here: no one is frying chicken regularly in their kitchen. And if you are, then let me know. I will stop by for a bag of it to bring home (#socialdistancing).

So to curb the cravings for fried chicken and keep things a bit healthier, we have taken to coating chicken in gluten free panko and then baking it to crisp-perfection. It’s not the same, but my goodness is it extremely satisfying when you’re extremely hungry. It’s also very versatile! On this particular night, we made the panko chicken (toast your panko in a little olive oil in cast-iron on the stovetop before dredging the chicken) and paired it with a simple green salad. Ta da! A healthy and extra-crispy dinner is served.

For those wondering, we bake our chicken for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. We use Aleia’s gluten free panko because it rocks. And I would strongly recommend this dish for adults and kids alike. Who doesn’t love a more exciting version of chicken fingers? ;)

Chipotle-Lime Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

OK, so you’re not in the mood for crisping panko, waiting for the chicken to bake, and all of that? No problem! Instead, how about just seasoning the chicken with your preferred flavor profile (we went with a chipotle-lime-style for this dish) and cooking it in a little olive oil on the stovetop in a nonstick skillet? Easy as pie and relatively quicker than the baking option. However, you do need to serve something with it and for this time around I’d recommend roasted sweet potatoes. Yum!

Chop the potatoes into small cubes so that they will roast more quickly and season with salt/pepper and perhaps some of the same seasoning as the chicken. This way, everything will be on the same level and your dish will “go together.” We like foods that go together, but I understand if you choose to go with other seasonings. You do you. It’s your dinner!

I fully admit this dinner isn’t beautiful on the plate, but sometimes delicious meals aren’t pretty. That’s normal and totally acceptable. I tried to make it snazzier with sliced avocado, but that didn’t help much. Regardless, this was a very easy, yummy, and pantry-friendly dinner (just buy chicken and sweet potatoes).

Crispy Baked Panko Chicken with Wild Rice and Peas

Oh hey there, panko-crusted chicken! I see you for the second time in one week. I welcome you to the table. I’m a sucker for crispy comfort food and during our first week at home, I needed this delectable dish more than once. To change it up, we served the baked chicken with wild rice and mixed in frozen peas. It was St. Patrick’s Day so we figured something green needed to appear on the plate.

In other news that will surprise no one, I’m already anticipating at least one night of panko chicken this next week as well. Times are tough, my friends! And we all could use a little regularity to our days/dinners. In my case, that’s extra nights of crispy panko chicken. ;)

Sausage and Cauliflower Pasta with Garlic

Are you noticing any trends in our meals yet? Well, not only did we feature crispy chicken twice in the same week, but we also made pasta - twice - during the week! Unheard of! Most of the time we aim for minimal pasta, due to my lack of skill in regard to portion control, but rules seem to be melting away in favor of eating what we love and what makes us feel joyful.

The recipe for most of our pasta dishes follows the meat/veggie/pasta combination and this time around we featured sausage, for spiciness, and roasted cauliflower, for earthy goodness. Roasting vegetables and mixing them with pasta is always an excellent dinnertime option. We learned of this trick years ago and now it’s a go-to for when we’re craving pasta, but need those veggies too.

Once again, feel free to get creative with meals like these; use your choice of protein (turkey sausage, chicken, seafood, or even tofu would work well here) and select a vegetable to roast. Cauliflower will always be one of my favorites as its flavor profile contrasts well to that of whichever protein you select.

Finally, we opted for fusilli-shape pasta because we had it in the cabinet. And because it’s easy to get it on your fork with the other ingredients in the bowl. Easy as that. I just don’t think spaghetti would work as well, but go right ahead. Use whichever pasta shape is currently in your cupboard and get cooking!

Impossible Cheeseburgers with Sautéed Mushrooms and Sweet Potato Fries

In an effort to move away from meat and pasta, we took a left and landed on the idea of alternative cheeseburgers! For this dinner we finally tried the plant-based Impossible Meat and guess what? It was delicious!

The “meat” itself is fairly expensive, but it lives in the freezer so it’s very “shelf-stable” for these times when going out for groceries isn’t an everyday activity. I’d recommend buying a few packs and keeping them frozen until you decide what to make. We moved one pack from the freezer to the fridge a day in advance so that it could defrost.

Yes, that’s two burgers stacked on top of each other.

For cooking the Impossible burgers, we followed the directions on the website, and decided to turn them into “smash burgers” by flattening them considerably while in the pan. Then we topped each burger with American cheese, sautéed mushrooms, and called them perfect.

As you can see from the photo, we skipped a bun, but I’d consider adding one (or at least GF bread) next time. The flavor of the burger was excellent and I am really glad we added toppings - a burger requirement - in my opinion.

We paired the burgers with what else? Fries! Keeping it healthy by baking instead of frying, we turned a couple big sweet potatoes into delightful fries seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, and a little garlic powder. Baked for about thirty minutes at 425 degrees, the fries were a delicious side to our Impossible cheeseburgers.

A “burger and fries” night that was healthier than usual, but just as satisfying and scrumptious. Impossible burgers will definitely be on our menu again.

Veggie-Lover-Pizza and Mushroom-Pepper-Sausage Pizza

This past weekend we celebrated Seth’s birthday! And while we could not go out to one of our favorite restaurants to toast his next year, we could indulge at home with some of his favorite foods. What did he choose? Pizza! Two nights of pizza! Delicious, delicious homemade gluten free pizza.

It was almost entirely homemade. I cannot tell a lie. We did not make the crust. Grateful for the small businesses out there still shipping their wonderful products, we ordered Zeia Foods gluten free pizza crusts earlier in the week anticipating a pizza-filled weekend.

Man oh man, these crusts are awesome. Keep ‘em frozen until ready to use, just top them with your favorites then bake for 17 minutes at 450 degrees. We use a pizza stone in our oven which gets pre-heated along with the oven so the frozen pizza crust (fully topped) goes right onto the very-hot stone when it’s time to bake. Easy! And so ridiculously delicious.

Pizza Details

Veggie-lover-pizza: shredded mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, diced tomatoes, raw sliced onion, broccoli florets, chopped garlic, and crumbled feta. Sprinkled red pepper flakes on top when it came out of the oven.

Mushroom-sausage-pepper-pizza: shredded mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, diced tomatoes, sliced green peppers, and hot Italian sausage (raw).

Zeia Foods gluten free 12’’ seasoned crust used for each pizza. Did I mention they have a 20% off your order promo going right now? Check it out.

The crust crisps beautifully and I’m pretty sure the center of the pie would crisp as well, but I love toppings. The volume of toppings is much higher-than-average which results in a not-perfectly-crisp center. However, that does not bother me in the least. The entire pizza is so delicious and before we even finish eating one (we slice it into eight pieces) I’m planning our next pizza night. :)

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In summary, I hope you found some cooking inspiration from these eight meals for the current #stayhomeandcook mantra (requirement). We are leaning into comfort food, favorite flavors, and not saying “no” to repeats. Times are different, for now, and so we will keep cooking, and continue sharing, in hopes that we make your time at home just a little bit easier. And perhaps a lot more delicious. And maybe even a little fun. :)

Eat well, be safe, and stay healthy.

Mollie and Seth

Stay Home and Cook: Week One