Looking for a super easy weeknight dinner? This chicken and gravy is super easy to prepare, smells wonderful while it’s cooking, and tastes like you spent all day on it!

What’s a “Weeknight” meal?

If you work outside the home and have a family, week nights can get stressful trying to prepare a nutritious AND delicious meal for the family.

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You come home tired, you just want to sit and relax. A “weeknight” ^[1] meal is quick to prepare, doesn’t take a long time to cook, and is comforting and tastes amazing! This one hits all the those points.

Making the Chicken and Gravy – 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large casserole dish, add the soups, pepper and paprika.

Stir it all to blend.

Place the chicken on top of the soups. Score the skin, then sprinkle the olive oil over the chicken skin, then top with the salt, a little more pepper and sage.

Bake 45 minutes to an hour. The skin should be golden and crisp and the internal temperature of the meat should be between 180 and 200 degrees.

Remove it from the oven and let it rest about five minutes.

Stir the gravy before serving.

Serve with mashed potatoes or stuffing and your favorite steamed veggie or a salad – voilà! It’s dinner!

Want to make it even easier?

Instead of mashed potatoes or stuffing, place some whole potatoes in the oven at the same time as the chicken, directly on the rack. Cook until they are soft and steamy. Use a steam in the bag frozen vegetable and you have dinner with only one pan to wash.

© Copyright 2024 The Lazy Gastronome

Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

It’s National Homemade Bread day! Who can resist the smell of bread baking in the oven. The aroma permeates the entire house triggering salivation and rumbly stomachs. And then comes that warm, satisfying and taste bud bursting flavor of that warm, delectable loaf. Have I got ya now?

Bread has been around for centuries!

The Egyptians harvested a lot grain, presumably to make some loaves. The ruins of Pompeii had showed more than 30 bakeries in the city – the ovens were preserved in the ash. The rest is history!

Many people are afraid of making bread. It’s so easy! Whether it’s yeast or quick breads, nothing tastes better!

Most yeast breads require kneading. When flour combines with water, a sticky substance known as gluten forms. As it is kneaded, the yeast creates a gas that forms tiny little bubbles of CO2 gas throughout the dough and that makes the bread rise. The more you knead, the better the rise.  There are three types of yeast breads; loaves, rolls and donuts.

There are also three types of quick breads; a batter that is poured into the pan, like zucchini bread or cornbread; drop dough that is a thick batter, not unlike cookies (I like to make drop biscuits ^[6]); and finally, there are soft doughs. Cut biscuits are a great example of a soft dough.

All breads use some sort of leavening. In yeast breads, the yeast is the leavening. Quick breads use baking soda or baking powder – and they are not the same. Baking soda is made of bicarbonate of soda and requires an acid and liquid to be activated. Baking powder includes the acid – so its soda with an acid. And, as in the case of sourdough, a bacteria is used for the leavening.

This bread is so easy — It starts with refrigerator bread dough!

Making the Cheese Bread

Spray the inside of a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Open the dough container,

then carefully open the dough so it’s a large sheet.

Brush 1 Tablespoon of the melted butter on the top, then spread 1 cup of the grated cheese across the sheet.

Starting at the short end, roll the dough up like a jelly roll. Carefully lay it, seam side down into the loaf pan.

Lightly cover the pan and let the dough rise in a warm place until it’s nearly double in size. Depending how warm it is, it could take one to three hours.

Brush the top with the remaining butter and then the cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. The top will be brown and the cheese golden. Keep a close watch on it so that it doesn’t burn. If the top gets too brown too quickly, turn the heat down to 350 and give it an extra 15 minutes.

Allow the bread to cool completely before you cut it.

If you don’t wait, the cheese will all ooze out.

Serve it warm! We enjoyed it with Corn and Potato Chowder ^[7].

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

These pizza cups are so easy to make and each one is a full serving! You can make them all the same, or everyone can build their own. And they are so easy and quick to make, you can make them on a weeknight!

Here’s how you do it:

You’ll need a Texas muffin pan. You can use a regular muffin pan, but it’s hard to fit everything inside of them. The Texas muffins are large and easy to fill with delicious toppings! I use silicone because it’s so easy to get the muffin out.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Start with the dough. I used a premade dough from Trader Joe. It has garlic and herbs in it and it’s good without anything on it!! If you feel so inclined, you can make homemade dough ^[12] – but any pizza dough will work.

Prep the muffin cups – if you are using metal, spray a little cooking spray on each cup. You won’t need to do this on silicone cups. Sprinkle half the parmesan evenly in the bottom of each cup.

Roll it into a fat tube and cut it into six even pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball, then pull and push it into a flat piece.

Gently work the dough into each muffin cup, pushing it up the sides.

Brush the edges of dough with some olive oil – you can sprinkle more  parmesan cheese on it too.

Now the fillings.

Put the cheese in first, about 2 to 3 Tablespoon in each cup. It will keep the bottom from getting soggy.

Next put in about 2 Tablespoons of sauce on top of the cheese.

From here you can add any toppings you want – olives, onion, sausage, pepperoni – whatever you like on your pizza.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. The edges will be lightly browned and the insides bubbling.

Remove from the oven and let them cool for five minutes.

Pop them out of the muffin cups and serve – a green salad makes the perfect accompaniment!

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

On a busy night, quick is important. I always keep a box of macaroni and cheese on hand just for a quick, easy meal sometimes (and I do love it on occasion.) But I wanted to do something different. I had everything but tortillas for tacos ^[17] – and then the light went on!

Here’s how you do it:

Start by cooking the macaroni. While it is cooking, begin browning the beef.

In a heavy skillet, crumble the meat and cook on medium high. When it is browned, but not dry, add the taco seasoning package and follow the directions on the envelope.

Prepare the condiments so they are ready when the dish is. I used these four, but you can use anything that sounds good to you – chopped peppers, more cheese, crunched up tortilla chips. Whatever sounds good to you and your family.

Mix the macaroni and cheese according to the box instructions (or if you are like us, the way you like it. We use a lot of butter and just a tad of milk – and fresh ground pepper!) Add the cheddar and heat, stirring, until it’s melted.

Using a straining spoon, take out the beef and add it to the mac & cheese. You can cook the liquid down, but be careful it doesn’t get too thick. It will be too salty.

Stir and serve hot with the toppings.

© Copyright 2022 The Lazy Gastronome

Zucchini and sausage go together like soup and sandwich.

I found out my cholesterol is too high and the plan is to try to bring it down through diet and exercise over the next six months to stave off having to use medication. So I am trying really hard to eat more vegetables, and make them taste fabulous!

This casserole is baked and served over noodles. It’s lower in fat but not flavor and it was delicious and satisfying – and low in the bad fats. Give it a try.

I bet the whole family will love this one.

Here’s How to Do it:

Preheat the oven to 350° –

Rub 3 Tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom of a large casserole dish.

Slice the zucchini and mushrooms ^[22] into thick slices.

Place the zucchini slices in a single layer on the bottom.

Top with the mushrooms and

sprinkle with the remaining olive oil.

Add the sausage and top with the sauce.

Cover the whole thing with the cheese and bake, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes. I put the casserole dish on a baking sheet to keep it from bubbling over in the oven.

The cheese should be bubbly and slightly browned.

While it’s cooking, make the pasta. Serve the casserole over hot pasta. A small salad and garlic bread are the perfect addition to make the meal. And enjoy.

© Copyright 2022 The Lazy Gastronome

I love cooking in enameled cast iron casserole dishes. It cooks evenly and holds in the heat. If you don’t have one, I recommend you get one. You will love it!!

Here are some things that are perfect to use for this recipe!

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