Notakeout.com

I just came across this website that helps you prepare an entire meal- It has a shopping list, tools and detailed instructions. So if you need extra help this could be great!

Balsamic-Tomato Chicken

This is a recipe that I make often. Whenever I want something flavorful, filling and light I head straight to this. The balsamic mixed with the tomatoes is so good. I have made it with rice and brown rice instead of the couscous lately, because David decided that he doesn't like couscous. Picky guy! Anyway, try it. It's worth it.


Balsamic Chicken from Ellie Krieger

Chicken Pot Pie

The first time I made this was for our first married Valentines Day together. I originally used Ina Garten's recipe, which is delicious, but very involved. I made a variation using inspiration from Rachael Ray.

what you need:

2 medium carrots, sliced
1 cup onion, diced
1 large stalk of celery, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 russet potato, chopped into small chunks
1-2 chicken breasts, chopped
2-3 tablespoons flour
2 cups of milk
1-2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 package store bought puff pastry
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon pepper


Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet heat the oil. Add carrots, onions and celery. Also add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken. Saute until chicken is white. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and chicken and stir it in to allow the flour to cook for a few minutes. Add the milk and chicken stock (one cup first, then add more if it's too thick) into the vegetable and chicken mixture. Ideally you want the gravy to look like...pot pie gravy. Thick but not too thick.

You can make individual pot pies in little ceramic dishes or one large one in a pie dish. I like a bottom and top layer, but you can just do a top layer if you prefer. Cut the pastry to fit into the dish and fill with the chicken and vegetable mixture. Top with pastry if desired. I bake mine for 10ish minutes if I do individual pies, or probably 15-20 minutes if it's one large one. Keep any eye on the top crust; you want it golden brown.

When I make this much I do two individual ceramics that are a decent size and we both don't eat it all. So it can serve 2-4 depending on how hungry you are.

Cake Doughnuts

Last Sunday morning, cake doughnuts sounded really good so I decided to try to make them. I found this recipe and they turned out amazing. I made a glaze from melted butter, powdered sugar, a splash of milk and vanilla.

Potato Gratin

A gratin is basically a baked dish you can create with any vegetable (tomato, zuchinni, eggplant). I made this dish for our anniversary as our side. It's easy and so good.

Yukon gold potatoes, about 4 large ones
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (i fresh grate mine)
1 cup cheddar cheese (i used sharp, but white cheddar would be gorgeous)


Heat the cream and milk in a large dish. Slice the potatoes so they are very thin and all around the same size. Add the herbs, salt, pepper + nutmeg into the cream. Simmer until the liquid is very hot. Put the potatoes in the cream and cook for 5 minutes. Butter a baking dish and then pour the potatoes and cream mixture into the dish. Top with cheese. Bake for 40 minutes at 350.

Puffy German Pancakes

This is a recipe I grew up with. It's one of the easiest breakfasts! The best part is that you blend everything and just dump it in a pan, so there's no hassle of flipping individual pancakes. You just bake, cut and serve.

Preheat oven to 400
Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a 9 x 13 baking pan and put it in the oven

In a blender put:
4 eggs
2/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (i use kosher)
2/3 cup milk
Blend and pour over the melted butter in the 9 x 13

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes
Then turn down the oven to 350 and bake for about 15 more minutes. Check it periodically. You want the sides to be puffy and the center to be firm. That's how you'll know it's done.

Tomato Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 carrots peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 pounds tomatoes on the vine- peeled
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves
3 cups chicken broth or stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

I boiled my tomatoes in hot water for about 1-2 minutes, then took them out of the boiling water to cool. I peeled all of them so that the skins don't get into the soup. Then I chopped them up.

Saute carrots, onion, salt and pepper in the olive oil for about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes. Cook for 3 minutes. Add sugar, tomato paste, basil and stock. Simmer on low for 40 minutes. You want the tomatoes to be very tender. Ideally you'd want to use a hand blender at this point to blend up the soup. I don't have one so I just ladled small portions into my regular blender and blitzed it up. You have to be careful with blending hot things because the heat and pressure can blow the top off of the blender (so I held a kitchen towel over the top of the whole blender while blending. You can also use a food processor. Once it's blended as thin as you like it, reheat it and eat!

I served the soup with a drizzle of cream on top, because the soup is already so rich.