For the chili mac I add fresh shredded cheddar, a little tomato paste to punch up the tomato flavor, some no-salt-added canned tomatoes and lots of my own chili powder to Chili Cheese Hamburger Helper. I also sautéed some bell peppers and onions, tossing them into the mix when everything was cooked through.

I also love fancying up Jiffy Cornbread, which you can usually get for under 50¢ a package at the grocery store. I follow the instructions on the box, but add a few tablespoons of honey (you can eyeball it), frozen corn and some Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic.

Again, it’s nothing special, but who says every meal has to be special? Sometimes simple really hits the spot.

If you’re just learning to cook, write this recipe down. If you’re trying to impress a dinner party full of friends or a date, write this down. It’s brilliant.

Okay, it’s not brilliant, but it’s easy and seriously, everybody loves it. Chicken cacciatore is one of the first fancypants recipes I ever made and one of the things that convinced me that I might actually be good at this cooking thing.

So remember the baby bottles of wine I told you about? The ones that cost about $1 apiece at my local grocery store? Well, they’re back, this time with a yummy cabernet sauvignon.

You can use any red wine, and if you’re really into wine (I’m not), go ahead and buy a fancier bottle. But this will do the trick nicely, I promise you.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 14oz of stewed or diced tomatoes. (I prefer no-salt added so I can have more control over the seasoning)
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (Classico Florentine’s my favorite)
  
• 4lb chicken parts. (Bone-in breasts are great, but if you’re looking for cheap this works great with drumsticks or thighs)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced (use whatever veggies you like. Carrots are great in this dish too)
• 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• Generous amounts of Italian Herbs, salt and pepper to taste. (I will never tell you how much to spice something. Just remember that the flavor will intensify as the sauce reduces, so beware of over-salting)
• 1 mini bottle of cabernet sauvignon
• 1 tube of prepared polenta. My favorite is San Gennaro, and many grocery stores carry this. Scared of polenta? Serve this over noodles…chicken.
  

Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the bottom of a high-walled sauté pan and turn the heat on medium. Give the oil a minute or two to heat up, then add the raw onion, garlic and vegetables. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. Place the chicken parts skin-down in the pan amongst the veggies and cook until the skin is browned. If you’re using drumsticks, brown them all around.

Pour the little bottle of wine over the chicken and sauté for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle generously with Italian herbs…

QUICK TIP: Basil’s hard to screw up. Oregano’s easy to screw up. When in doubt, be generous with basil and take it slow with the oregano. Too much oregano will make your sauce bitter. If that happens, try adding some tomato paste to your sauce. The sweetness of the tomato will help balance it out. Also, salt’s about the easiest thing to screw up, and most shortcut dishes (because they start with canned veg or sauce) don’t require any extra salt. [Follow the cut for the rest of the recipe]

Anyway, back to the recipe. Turn the heat to low and cover your pan, leaving the lid a bit off-kilter to allow for some steam to escape. After 15 minutes, check, stir everything and flip your chicken. Repeat this once. When you repeat this a third time, remove the lid entirely. Your chicken should be cooked enough by now to start tasting your sauce. Season as needed. After another 15 minutes, the sauce should be plenty thick, super flavorful and the chicken will be cooked through.

If it’s not? Remove the chicken and turn the heat on high, stirring often, which will encourage the sauce to reduce.

So about the polenta… Slice your polenta into 1/4″ thick slices. If you’ve got a grill pan, oil it and heat it up. If not, just use a regular frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Grill or sauté until browned, then flip it over. A few slices creates a great bed for this dish and it’s so much more fun than regular pasta!

CONFESSION: To say my husband’s a little timid about cooking is an understatement. Still, occasionally he’s willing to tackle dinner, as long as he has VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. This is the email I sent him to make this delicious beef stew. You really can’t go wrong with this recipe, just season to taste (I season generously with garlic salt, pepper and random herbs).

1. Clean carrots (peel if you want, it’s not necessary if they’re clean), cut into large chunks. All of them (yummm, carrots)
2. Clean potatoes, cut into large chunks (quarters). About half as many potatoes as carrots is a good margin (yummm, carrots)
3. Cut mushrooms in half if button, chunks if portobella
4. Peel and cut two red onions in quarters
5. Mince one full clove of elephant garlic (you can cut it in pieces and run it through the garlic press)
6. Use the Penzey’s beef roast seasoning. Read the directions and add 2x  the recommended amount of spice.
7. Up to you if you want to chop the meat into cubes. It can go in as one big slab and will break apart well enough.
8. Place potatoes and carrots and half of onions and garlic at bottom of crock pot with a sprinkling of the spices.
9. Add beef
10. Add the rest of the beef broth in the carton in the fridge (1 cup) and 1 can cream of mushroom soup and 1 can cream of celery
    
11. Add seasoning
12. Add mushrooms and second half of onions and garlic.
13. Heat on low ‘til I come home.

About 8 hours later we had awesome stew!! Because of the cream soups, this version isn’t a very rich gravy but it’s tasty and  full of flavor. Super easy!