5 dinners for 1

As I prepare to fly away leaving guiltily my eldest daughter to her summer job, I try to make sure that she eats well despite my absence and her demanding schedule. I have therefore made up a shopping list, which accommodates five meals for one person. She needs only visit the grocery store once on a Sunday. Then she will wash the cabbage and shred it, wash and separate the broccolis in florets, peel and cut the carrots in sticks, wash and dry the spinach. Finally she will make the tomato sauce. She will store each vegetable in separate plastic bags, in the refrigerator. The Sunday handling following the supermarket trip insures that the dinners will be ready faster and effortlessly. I have kept preparation time to a minimum, generally about 15 minutes. The longest baking time, 30 minutes concerns the chicken, and then the chicken broth, an additional 30 minutes on the stove, which is used in the pot sticker recipe. The recipes from Tuesday to Thursday are sequentially related. The leftover from the baked chicken are used in the stir-fry. The stir-fry leftovers are coarsely chopped in the food processor and used in the pot stickers along with the chicken broth. Flavors are brought by the addition of herbs and spices. The pyramid requirements and the attempt to limit meat intakes are respected: protein is brought by the consumption of chicken and fish in small portions and not every night. The fruit eaten daily as a dessert and the smoothies for breakfast will help achieve the proper balance. And the budget is great: 50$ for five days worth of meal.

Menus
Monday: Steamed Fish in baked Parchment (January 12th blog) without the dill with stir-fry spinach (June 4th blog)
Tuesday: Half Baked Chicken (January 1st blog) without the yam, sage and rosemary. Cabbage slaw (new).
Wednesday: Chicken Stir fry (new)
Thursday: Pot Stickers (new)
Friday: Pasta with tomato sauce and broccoli (new)

Shopping List
1 small flounder fillet
½ half organic chicken
1 lbs (500g) spinach
1 bunch of carrots
1 small head of cabbage
6 tomatoes
1 bunch broccoli
1 bunch green onion
1 onion
½ lbs small potatoes
A bunch of fresh coriander leaves
Garlic head
Ginger root
Sesame oil
Soy Sauce
Wonton wrappers
Whole-wheat spaghettis
Thyme
Laurel leaves in a jar
Red Pepper Flakes
1 pound strawberries*
1 pound blueberries*
1 pound cherries
2 peaches
1 plain yoghurt
Low-fat Mayonnaise
Parmesan flakes
1 Watermelon*
Cranberry juice*
Milk
Butter**
Goat cheese**
Whole-wheat bread**
Flax seeds*
*Morning Smoothie
**Breakfast item

Recipes

Cole Slaw
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
½ cabbage
1 carrot shredded
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
¼ (60ml) cup plain yoghurt

Material:
Food processor
Salad Bowl

Use the shredder feature of the food processor to transform the cabbage and carrot in slaw.
Mix in the salad bowl the mayonnaise and yoghurt. Add salt and pepper. Add the slaw and toss until well coated.

Chicken Stir-fry
Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Leftover chicken meat from the baked chicken
1 clove garlic peeled and minced
1-inch piece of ginger peeled and minced
A few broccoli florets
A few carrot sticks
A few spinach leaves
Half of the cabbage
Soy sauce

Material:
Wok
Wood spoon
Knife
Spoon

Peel the garlic clove and cut it finely. Run the tip of a spoon the length of the ginger root: it will peel away its skin. Cut in small pieces
Place the wok on the medium range of the gas stove. Pour the sesame oil in. After a minute, when the oil is warm sauté the ginger and garlic. Add the carrot sticks. 4 minutes, add the broccoli florets. Another three minutes after, add the chopped cabbage. Pour a tablespoon of soy sauce and add the chicken pieces. Lower the gas and cover for another three minutes.
Serves 1
Place the leftover in a food processor and pulse until you have smaller but recognizable pieces of everything. Add a tablespoon of sesame oil. Store in a container in the refrigerator.

Pot Stickers
Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
Stir-fry leftover
Wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon coriander leaves cleaned and minced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup (250ml) chicken stock

Material:
Bowl of water
Tablespoon
Nonstick frying pan

Remove the stir-fry leftover from the refrigerator. Add the minced coriander leaves and the red pepper flakes. Mix.
Place 15 wrappers on the counter top. Have the bowl of water handy. Spoon out 1 mount of the mixture in the middle of each wrapper. Wet the borders of a wrapper and fold it around its content, forming pleats. Repeat until you run out of wrappers.
Pour the sesame oil in the frying pan and the frying pan over the medium range of the stove. When the oil is warm place the pot stickers in the pan. When they are fried (about 5 minutes) pour enough chicken stock to cover the pot stickers without turning them. Place a cover on top for two minutes.
Serve 1 in a soup bowl

Basic Tomato sauce
Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cooking: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
6 tomatoes
1 large onion peeled and sliced
3 carrots peeled and slices
1 peeled inch-thick slice of ginger root
2 stems of thyme, 1 laurel leave
Salt and Pepper

Material:
Heavy-bottom saucepan
Paring knife
Blender

Pour water in the heavy-bottom saucepan and set on the medium range of the gas stove. When the water boils, drop the tomatoes. When the water boils again, retrieve the tomatoes. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle remove the skin. Cut them in quarter and remove the seeds. Reserve the quartered tomatoes.
Put the same saucepan on the low setting of the gas stove. Add oil. After one minute, add the onion slices and the carrots. Cook for five minutes. Tie the thyme and laurel leave with a piece of kitchen rope to form a bouquet garni. Pour the tomatoes in the saucepan and add the bouquet garni and the ginger. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for twenty minutes.
To obtain a smooth sauce, mix in the blender.
Divide the sauce in 3 parts. Keep one for the following recipe and store 2 small containers in the freezer for another usage.

Spaghetti with broccoli

Ingredients:
Remaining broccoli florets,
¼ of the spaghetti package
Reserved basic tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Parmesan flakes

Material:
1 large stockpot
Strainer

Pour 2 cups water and the salt in the stockpot. Place the pot over the medium range of the gas stove. Bring to a boil and add the spaghettis. Cook according to the package instruction. About 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the broccoli florets.
Strain the spaghettis and broccoli florets. Put back in the stockpot. Add the reserved tomato sauce. Place the stockpot back on to the medium range of the stove, stirring constantly. When the sauce bubbles, it is ready.
Serve with a pepper grinder near by, some olive oil and flakes of Parmesan cheese.