Meal Planning ft. Alexandra Hieronymus

Is meal planning not your jam? Are you tired of throwing away unused food? Culinary artist Ally Hieronymus (@amhieronymous) shares tips and tricks on how to make meal planning super easy, delicious, and fun. She also shares some of her most favorite recipes. Here are the recipes mentioned for reference: Chicken & Dumplings  Adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food  1 whole rotisserie chicken, meat taken off the bone, shredded  4 cups chicken stock or water  Salt and pepper  1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold  butter  1 onion, diced  3 carrots, diced  1 stalk celery, diced  2 medium potatoes, diced  1 1/4 teaspoons dried thyme  1 2/3 cups plus 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour  1 cup partially defrosted frozen peas  2 teaspoons baking powder  3/4 cup whole milk  Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, potato, and thyme. Cook, stirring, until onion is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup flour; cook 30 seconds. Gradually stir in broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in chicken & peas. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 1 2/3 cups flour, baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Cut in remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Stir in milk until dough holds together. Drop 8 heaping spoonfuls of dough on top of chicken mixture. Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 12 minutes.   Beef Stroganoff  Approx 2lbs cubed stew meat  salt and pepper  1 24 oz box mushrooms, sliced  1 32 fl oz box beef stock 8 oz condensed mushroom soup (my favorite is from Trader Joe's) 1 cup of red wine (wine you would drink)   Season meat with salt and pepper Brown meat in heavy bottomed pot like Dutch oven  Remove meat Cook mushrooms  Remove from pot  Set aside  Make roux with 4 TBSP butter and 4 TBSP flour, cook to med brown color  Add stock, soup, wine. Whisk until smooth  Crockpot preparation  Add browned meat and cooked mushrooms into crockpot insert  Add stock mixture  Cook in crockpot for 8 hrs on low  When the meat falls apart, it's ready!  Serve over buttered egg noodles    Chili  2 pounds of ground beef  1 tsp smoked paprika 1/4 tsp chipotle powder  2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed  1 28 oz can diced tomatoes  Salt and pepper  1 cup frozen sweet corn    Optional:  Frozen diced butternut squash  Frozen spinach  In heavy bottomed pot, brown the beef. Once browned, season with paprika, chipotle, salt and pepper.  Add beans, tomatoes. Cover and let simmer 20 mins.  10 mins before serving, add corn and other add in's.  Serve over rice or put in a tortilla for a burrito    Apple Cider Cake Mix Donuts  1 white cake mix  1 tsp cinnamon  1 egg  1 cup or 2 pouches of applesauce  1/4 cup melted butter  1/4 cup milk (or apple cider or water)    Mix all ingredients together  Bake at 350F in greased donut pan  5-7 minutes or until donut springs backs to touch  On wire rack with sheet pan, brush each donut with melted butter, both sides  Coat with cinnamon sugar topping  Cinnamon Sugar Topping  1 stick of melted butter  1 cup granulated sugar  2 TBSP cinnamon  Baked Oatmeal  4 cups rolled oats (3 cups rolled 1 cup steel cut)  1 1/2 cup milk (sub almond milk, coconut milk, etc) 6 eggs  1 cup sugar  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt   Add mix ins:  Chopped nuts  Dried fruit like raisins or chopped dates  Frozen berries (layer the batter and berries so it doesn't turn grey)  2-3 mashed bananas  1 cup pumpkin purée  2 chopped apples  Greased 13x9 brownie pan  Mix together all ingredients  Add mix ins  Bake at 350 for 35-40 mins or until firm