This Week's Dinners

This week has been about quick and easy dinners - mostly because last weekend we did not have a lot of time to spend cooking/preparing meals for the week.

We usually try to prepare 2 meals on Sunday - meals with enough leftovers so that from Monday-Friday, we just need to reheat. This past week's challenge was to figure out 2 meals that were quick and easy to prepare Sunday morning since we had plans for Sunday evening.

Our first choice: the Orzo, Crab, Artichoke, Sun-Dried Tomato Salad that we really enjoy and make every 3-4 months. It's easy to cook the orzo while reading the Sunday paper, and the orzo is the only part that requires 'cooking.' Blending the dressing ingredients is quick & easy. Chopping jarred artichokes & sun-dried tomatoes is quick & easy. We usually get 3 dinners out of this meal.Our second meal: Ham with Biscuits and Green Beans. Remember at Easter SP bought a huge ham at Costco and we divided it up? This is one of the 2 hunks of ham we put in the freezer.Ham is easy. Thaw it, place it in a glass baking dish, put the meat thermometer in, bake at 325 until it reaches 140 degrees. A glaze isn't necessary, but we wanted one so Sunday we mixed together the same glaze we used at Easter time and put the container in the refrigerator.

On Monday, I put the ham in the oven around 5:30; it was done around 6:55. I brushed glaze on it every 15 minutes until the glaze was used up.

While the ham baked, I washed and trimmed the ends off green beans and put them in a casserole dish to await cooking in the microwave. The biscuits were a 'cheat' - we used Pillsbury frozen biscuits. I put them in the oven around 6:30 since normally they take about 20 minutes at 375. I also took the butter out ahead of time so it would soften and be easy to spread on the biscuits.I sat at the table and read some magazines while the ham baked. After it was done, I took it out, tented it with foil, and let it rest. I turned the oven up to 375 to finish baking the biscuits.When he got home, SP sliced the ham and microwaved the green beans. There was enough ham for 2 more meals. SP had bought enough green beans for 2 meals. We also had lots of CSA greens & potatoes for side dishes.