My house is a mess. It is an intentional mess. We have begun demolition of the master bedroom furniture, carpets and curtains. There is stuff everywhere! We have moved into the guest bedroom with some of the old furniture. I have to find homes for all our clothes around the house so that we can take apart the wardrobes and begin sanding, filling and painting the walls. It is a mammoth task with only 4 weeks until the new furniture turns up. Factor in work, school and the usual daily tasks and the end of the month is creeping ever so closer! I know it will be worth it when it's all done, but the inbetween stage with stuff all over the house causes me to have stress!
Dinner times need to be quick and easy, something I can just throw in the oven, slow cooker, or make on the stove top in about 30 minutes.
When I was a child, my father was in the Air Force. From time to time he would go on assignments away from home. These would usually be for only a few days, perhaps even overnight, so my mother would make me something special, something that I loved and my father was not so keen on.
My Mum was practically a vegetarian all her life, she would eat a small slither of turkey at Christmas, the odd bit of bacon, and salmon or tuna. When I was a child, I had no idea my Mum did not like meat. She told me years later that it was just easier to make a dish for us all and she would just have very little to no meat from whatever dish she had prepared.
She had a table top cooker like this one.
My Mum's cooker was red, and I only remember her making Chicken Cacciatore in it. She would throw all the ingredients in there and let it simmer and bubble until dinner time. I would peer in and look at the lovely tomato sauce cooking, not being able to wait until dinner time! I do the dish on my stove top and it is ready in 30 minutes! I hope you enjoy it.
Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
2 1/2 lb chicken breasts (1 per person)
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
Carton of chopped tomatoes
Can or bottle of tomato sauce/passata
1/4 cup dry white wine
Method
Coat the chicken in the flour.
Heat oil in a pan, add chicken and cook until light brown, turning occasionally. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add onion, pepper and garlic to the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the chicken back to the pan. Add seasonings, chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce and wine. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Turn the chicken occasionally during the cooking time.
Serve on it's own, with bread or over rice.
Tasty and oh so easy!
