Hearty homestyle cookin' without the fuss

I keep mentioning my love for fall cooking, and one of my favourite things to do for a hearty fall meal is to whip up some chicken on the Foreman grill, throw together a couple quick items and make a Sunday Dinner type meal with minimal effort.

Last fall when my dad came to visit me in Winnipeg, I made a great meal for us our first night together. I served grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, and stuffing, with Pilsbury crescent rolls and fruit crumble for dessert (which my old man didn't eat, since he's diabetic and doesn't like sweets.)

The following is a meal for two. Increase for more people :)



You will need:
1 package McCain Purely Potatoes
1 package instant stuffing (personal preferences are Stovetop and Uncle Ben's, but do whatever you prefer.)
1 bag baby carrots
2 package crescent rolls
1 package Et Tu crumble topping
1-2 bag(s) Europe's Best frozen fruit (mixed berries, blueberries, raspberries & peaches work best)
1 tiny tub Hagen Daaz French vanilla ice cream

2 chicken breasts
2 Granny Smith Apples
2-3 stalks celery
1 small onion
dried cranberries (cut up)
walnuts (chopped)

milk
butter
salt
pepper

For dessert: (do this first as it will take an hour or so to bake)
1. Put frozen fruit in a casserole dish
2. Prepare topping as instructed
3. Bake!
(When ready to serve, top with ice cream!)

For dinner:
1. Cut up celery, onion and apple. Pan fry until soft. Pre-heat oven for rolls at the same time.
2. Boil carrots & potatoes while grilling chicken on your Foreman (put chicken on after the water for your veggies boils and you turn it down) ... now is also the time to throw in your rolls.
3. Prepare stuffing -- the storebought stuff usually boils the water, you add the mix and let it sit, similar to minute rice. So, once it's all mixed in, add the cranberries, nuts and celery/onion/apple mixture. Put on the lid and take off heat.
4. Mix up fixings for your mashed -- I add milk, butter, salt and pepper to mine, but you can toss in whatever you like. I sometimes do sour cream if I have, or herb & garlic cream cheese works well.
5. Enjoy!

Seriously, this takes hardly any effort, and even if you're an awful cook, this is Sunday Dinner made idiot-proof. I have served mine here with cranberry sauce, which you can, too, and tastes great with chicken as well as turkey. (I actually made this particular one I took this photo of with turkey I bought in a grocery store in Winnipeg.)