For bone in chicken thighs I suggest a sheet pan dinner. There are tons of recipes out there but you can also easily create your own. Idea of course is most of dinner on one sheet pan.
Here’s the basic plan.
Wash chicken and keep or remove the skin.
Wash and chop some veggies to roast with the chicken.
Put it all on a large baking sheet. Add a few T of olive oil and toss over chicken and veggies. Put together a spice blend (I might use smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, parsley- whatever flavors you like) sprinkle on chicken/veggies and toss.
Bake at 400 till cooked and roasted, probably around 40ish minutes.
Serve with rice, quinoa, couscous - whatever you like! There are LOTS of sheet pan recipes out there and chicken legs or thighs are ideal to use.
We enjoy cauliflower rice (especially now that there are so many frozen options). But probably I’d not like the “oatmeal” recipe. i’d prefer to have a savory breakfast if using cauliflower. I do applaud the willingness to try something different.
@sushiritto - What are your thoughts on pumpkin seeds? I see them in the chart I linked above and realize I’ve not tried them recently. They seem to have a lot of protein, and unlike most nuts and seeds I could probably get them from local sources.
Yes… you can order pumpkin seeds (or almost anything) online. I can also purchase them in our local stores. I just have a preference, where possible, to eat foods that are at least somewhat locally sourced** That’s easy to do for meat and dairy and summer fruits/veggies. Other foods not so much. I watch for opportunities to try new local-ish foods, more efficient for shipping etc.
** for example - I do eat plenty of almonds at a little bit of almond milk. But I do have concerns about the environmental impact. If all Americans started consuming more almonds it would be difficult to sustain.
Have any of the non-vegetarian folks here switched up old favorites to have less meat / more veggies?
Today my example is a minor switch. We made a crockpot pot roast, which used to be mostly rump roast with a few potatoes and carrots. In recent years my husband and I have crockpot with 3 inserts and use the 6 qt to includes more potatoes, We also include celery (sauteed with the onion) and a lot more carrots. That enables us to stretch the meat dish for more meals. It’s still a nutritional splurge, but it’s a favorite in our house… just perfect after a day of snow shoveling.
Great article above on environmental issues with almond milk. I personally have never been a fan, as the protein content of almond milk is so low compared to soy milk, and was aware of issues with water use in growing California almonds. Though I adore almonds in every other way.
Colorado_mom, that is my essential method of cooking, pick a normal recipe and then add many, many more vegetables. I like how you did that with the carrots above. Two of the easiest additions are frozen peas and bagged spinach, as they take no prep time. I would use both in fried rice and one or the other in many pasta dishes.
@Colorado_mom During the past year with more cooking at home we have gotten into making a lot of curries. They are really good and when you use curry paste since you can make the meal as spicy (or not spicy) as you like. I make most curries with chicken and then add all the veggies that I have on hand. It is an easy one pot meal that I can put together quickly after our 5 mile walk each night. This has been a good way for me to get H to eat more vegetables!
@great_lakes_mom - I had not thought about the water issues with growing almonds. I agree on the low protein content of almond milk. I keep some in the pantry for times when we are out of milk but not ready for more groceries. Looking at the WalmartToGo site, it looks like we could just as easily get shelf stable soy milk. I also appreciate the hint about frozen peas and bagged spinach. We have lots of time while retired (especially during covid!), but some nights we still like to make last minute decisions about the evening meal.
@showmom858 - Love the idea to make curries. Perhaps that is how I should use the tofu that I purchased on a whim (sale item on a Whole Foods order). Can you recommend a good curry paste?
@Colorado_mom I use the curry paste by Mae Ploy. I normally just order it from Amazon. I have the Panang, red, yellow and green curry paste. Other things I like when I make curry are the light coconut milk and fish sauce which adds to the flavor of the dish. I don’t cook with tofu, but I’m sure you can use it in curry. If we are doing a meatless curry then I just add lots of veggies.
I’ll drink whatever milk that doesn’t have lot of ingredients that I have no clue what they are. I have fat free regular milk and almond milk in my fridge right now. And I’ll buy oat milk too.
All I care about is that it’s just a couple or few ingredients. The almond milk is almonds and water. Two ingredients. No added sugar etc.
I’m not looking to milk for my protein intake. I’ve got eggs, meat, fish and poultry for protein. Today’s egg/veggie scramble had sardines in it.
We had a related lighthearted discussion at dinner tonight… is wine a single ingredient food? Me - “it’s just grapes”. Hubby (a chemistry geek) - “It starts out as grapes, but then yeast converts the sugar into alcohol” I didn’t even bother to ask about vodka
