Category: One Pot Meals

Homemade Salmon Stew

Few things go better with a cool, rainy night than stew of some kind. Salmon stew is one that we haven’t made for a while – so that is what we landed on.

There are just a few simple ingredients – milk, butter, potatoes, corn and of course canned salmon. Speaking of canned salmon, have I just been out of the loop or has canned salmon gone up in price, tremendously? I think it was like $4.50 a can.

I didn’t get pictures throughout the process, but I’ll just walk you through it. You’ll want to start by prepping your potatoes and onions. When choosing your potatoes – you need to decide if you want a starchy potato (it will make the stew a little thicker), like a russet or a waxy potato (it will hold his shape more), like a red potato. I, personally, prefer a more starchy potato – but, to get rid of the red potatoes we had – we used those in this stew.

In order to amp up the fragrance and flavor of the onions, they were sauteed in 1tbsp of the butter and set aside, while the cubed potatoes were being boiled. This is also a good time to pick the bones and skin out of your salmon.

Once the potatoes were nearly done, they were drained and added back into the pot – along with the remaining ingredients. At this point, in order to keep the milk from scorching, you’ll want to ensure that you’re not on high heat and that you’re stirring constantly.

Once the stew has been brought up to a boil, without scorching your milk, you’ll want to turn the heat off, cover the pot and let it sit for about 30 minutes. This will finish cooking the potatoes and ensure that everything is perfectly warmed through.

Serve with saltines or oyster crackers and a little hot sauce, if you like!

Homemade Salmon Stew

2 cans salmon (remove any bones and skin)
2 cans corn, drained
3-4 medium potatoes (Russet potatoes are best, as they are more startchy)
1 small onion, chopped
5 tbsp butter
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2/3 gallon of milk

  • Dice potatoes
  • Cut up onions
  • Boil potatoes until nearly done
  • Saute onions in 1 tbsp butter, set aside
  • Drain potatoes and return to pot
  • Add remaining ingredients to potatoes, bring to a boil – over medium heat – stir constantly so the milk doesn’t scorch
  • Turn off heat, cover and allow to sit for about 30 minutes
by Michelle

My Take on Philly Cheese Steak

There used to be a Philly cheese steak place that I really enjoyed. But, it’s been closed for years. I’ve never been to Philly – but, I’m told this place made cheesesteak as authentic as I could get, locally. I still think about those sandwiches. Now that I’m thinking about it, I need to find another local place that sells delicious cheesesteak, in the meanwhile – I decided to try my hand at making it at home.

In my house, we don’t all always get to sit down at the table together – so I like to cook things that can be eaten in shifts. This recipe fits the bill.

I kept it pretty simple – just steak, onions and bell peppers. I seasoned it with McCormick’s Montreal Steak seasoning and a little salt.

I started by prepping my vegetables – I used 3 onions and 3 bell peppers. The vegetables will cook down quite a bit.

I used a thinly sliced beef sirloin tip steak. I cut the steaks into strips (cutting across the grain to keep the meet tender). The steak was seasoned with 1 tbsp of the steak seasoning and I let it sit, while I cooked the vegetables.

I used my cast iron wok to cook this (yes, it is for more than stir fry!), as it offered ample space for the volume of food that I was cooking and the cast iron gives such a great sear to whatever you cook! To ready the wok, I heated it over high heat and added some avocado oil.

I started the onions first – I added about a tsp of the Montreal Steak Seasoning to the onions.

I cooked the onions until they were nicely browned, then I added in the bell peppers.

I cooked the vegetables until they were good and done. Look at that color!! This is why I do love a cast iron skillet (or, in this case, a wok). Do note that the vegetables cook down quite a bit – this is why I used 3 onions and 3 bell peppers!

I removed the vegetables from the wok and set to the side. I added a little more of the avocado oil spray to the wok and threw in the beef.

Since this beef is sliced thin, it doesn’t take long to cook it through.

Once the beef was done, I added the vegetables back into the wok and seasoned it all with a little bit of salt. And let the vegetables and beef meld together for a bit.

Once the mixture was done, I served it up on a hoagie roll with some sliced white American cheese. I think recipes are sometimes hit or miss – this one was a hit. And, I love that it is so super easy to make!

Philly Cheese Steak

1 1/4 pounds thinly sliced sirloin tip steak
3 onions, sliced
3 bell peppers, sliced
1 tbsp McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning (plus 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
Avocado Oil Spray
White American cheese slices

  • Prep onions and bell peppers by slicing, set aside
  • Cut the steak into strips
  • Season steak with the steak seasoning, set aside
  • In a hot pan, spray some avocado oil spray
  • Add onions and 1 tsp of the steak seasoning – cook until the onions start to brown
  • Add in the bell peppers and continue to cook the vegetables until they are soft
  • Remove the vegetables and set aside
  • Add a little more avocado oil spray
  • Put the steak in the heated pan and cook through
  • Add the vegetables back into the pan and toss everything together, add salt if desired
  • Allow everything to cook together for about 10 minutes
  • Serve on hoagie rolls, topped with white
by Michelle

Smoked Sausage and Potato Hash

What do you do when you forget to put something in the refrigerator to thaw for dinner? Often times, for me, I look to make something using a rope of smoked sausage – such was the case this evening.

I like to have a rope of smoked sausage on hand for evenings just like this. I’ve used it to make a delicious sausage, broccoli and red pepper pasta using this sausage. I thought of doing another pasta, but decided that I’d do a potato hash, instead.

I started by dicing 5-6 red potatoes.

In addition to the potatoes, I sliced the sausage and 2 onions.

I sprayed the hot wok (I used my wok because it is big and cast iron) with avocado oil, and added in the onions and the seasonings. After cooking a few minutes, I also added in the garlic.

After the onions have started to soften, add in the potatoes and sausage – add one at a time, allowing each to get a little brown (if you use a hot cast iron skillet or wok, this will be easy!).

After the potatoes and sausage get a little brown, pour in the water – stir through and cover. Stir occasionally to keep the potatoes from sticking.

Once the potatoes have softened, you’re good to go!

Smoked Sausage and Potato Hash

1 rope of smoked sausage, sliced
5-6 red potatoes, diced
2 onions, sliced thin
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp Cavender’s Greek Seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
Avocado oil spray

  • Dice potatoes
  • Slice smoked sausage
  • Slice onions
  • Add avocado oil to a large skillet or wok
  • Add in onions and seasonings and cook until the onions start to soften
  • Add in the garlic and cook for 3-5 min
  • Add in the potatoes and, finally, the sausage
  • After allowing the sausage and vegetables to get a little brown, add in the cup of water
  • Cover skillet and cook until potatoes are done (stir occasionally)

by Michelle

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

First things first, I promise that there wasn’t an intentional abandonment of this blog – but, you know, life sometimes gets in the way. But, I’m back!!

This afternoon, after working on some redecorating in the morning (and not getting breakfast, unless you count coffee) – I decided that I wanted some sausage gravy and biscuits for brunch. I decided to keep it simple and just use canned biscuits – let’s be honest, the sausage gravy is really the star anyway!

So, canned biscuits in the oven and onto the gravy.

I started by browning a 1 pound chub of Jimmy Dean’s breakfast sausage (don’t drain). To the sausage, I added in 3/4 cup of flour (1/4 at a time) and let the flour start to cook with the sausage – when you don’t see any raw flour, add the next 1/4 cup, until you’ve put the full 3/4 cup in.

The next part is to add in 3 cups of milk and stir everything through. Once it starts to thicken, reduce the flame to simmer. Keep stirring as it thickens.

Finally, because we like our gravy to have lots of black pepper, I added in 1 whole tsp of black pepper, along with 3/4 tsp of salt.

This recipe comes together pretty quickly, so make sure you time it right with your biscuits.

It’s so simple, that I’m not writing up a recipe – but you should be able to make it easily enough from the information here!

by Michelle

Chicken and Arborio Rice Skillet

We know a couple things about me and my cooking – I like rice, I like chicken and I love a one pot / skillet meal! I love the simplicity of it (not to mention the easy clean up!).

This recipe uses just a few ingredients: chicken, arborio rice, onion, garlic and a few seasonings. I intended to also add in mushrooms, but – sadly – my mushrooms had started to go bad.

The first thing you’ll want to do is to spray your chicken breasts with avocado oil (you could use canola oil or other oil, if you like) and sprinkle on some salt, pepper and umami seasoning. These seasonings are in addition to what is mentioned in the recipe, below. You’ll just want to season to your liking.

In a hot pan (I used a large non-stick skillet, but a large cast iron pan would work too), add in your seasoned chicken breasts. Allow them to cook for 3-5 minutes, or until you get a good sear on the chicken – then flip the chicken breasts and sear the other side. Then, remove from the pan.

There may be some residual oil in the pan, but if not, spray in a little avocado oil and add in your onions. Cook for a few minutes, until the onion starts to soften.

Then add in your garlic and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

To the onion and garlic, add in your arborio rice. Certainly, you can use another rice if you like – but, the arborio rice is so starchy and it makes the dish very creamy (without any cream added). If I were to use another rice, I would probably add a bit of cream, personally. Stir the rice around and let it toast a bit with the onions and garlic.

Then add in the chicken stock, salt, pepper and umami seasoning. You’ll want to bring it up to a boil, then reduce the heat.

Finally, add the chicken back into the skillet – cover and cook for approximately 35 minutes (or until your chicken is done – 165 degrees – and the rice has absorbed most of the stock).

This skillet dish is super creamy. It seems so decadent, even though you don’t add any cream to it!

Chicken and Arborio Rice Skillet

We ate this with some delicious brussel sprouts

2-4 Chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
4 cups chicken stock
1 onion, rough chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt (+ an extra dash for the chicken)
1 tsp pepper (+ an extra dash for the chicken)
1/2 tbsp Umami seasoning (+ and extra dash for the chicken)
Avocado oil spray

  • Chop onions, set aside
  • Spray chicken breasts with avocado oil
  • Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and umami seasoning
  • In a hot skillet, sear the chicken on both sides (about 3-5 minutes each side) and then remove from the pan
  • Add in onions and let them start to soften
  • Add in the garlic and let it cook
  • Add in the rice and stir to toast the rice a bit
  • Add in the chicken stock, salt, pepper and umami seasoning and mix through – let come to boil
  • Add the chicken breasts back into the pan
  • Cover and cook for 35 minutes (until your chicken is 165 degrees and rice has absorbed most of the liquid)
by Michelle