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Post by gardencrazy on Jan 29, 2014 19:11:55 GMT -5
Well, I just had pizza for the second time this week. Work has been frantic. I'll probably be working through the weekend. I don't think I can do pizza again this week. I am trying to get my weight down (and pizza doesn't help, although its been plain or veggie lovers), so ordering "to go" generally isn't favorable. What's your favorite meal to make when things are frantic (preferably figure friendly ?)
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Post by kay on Jan 29, 2014 23:23:36 GMT -5
A roast in the crockpot smother in onions, mushrooms, potatoes, and carrots usually feeds me for a week. Oatmeal for breakfast and lunch is provided at work (food quality control officer). Allows me to enjoy my meat and potatoes dinner!
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Post by LinFL on Jan 30, 2014 1:04:09 GMT -5
Yep, the crockpot is a lifesaver when times are frantic. You can load the crock the night before and put it in the fridge. In the morning you just put the crock on the heating element and start it on the way out the door. Whether or not it is figure-friendly depends on what you put into the crock. Embrace leftovers part I: Make extras of foods that reheat well and use them! It takes about the same amount of time to make a big pot of soup or chili, a big pot roast with lots of veggies, or big pan of lasagna as it does to make smaller amounts. Two meatloafs can bake at the same time, etc. Divvy up the leftovers into meal-sized portions, refrigerate and/or freeze. Microwave to reheat, add a salad and/or veggie, maybe some bread - voila! easy healthy meal. If you have freezer space, consider cooking at least two or three of these sorts of entrees in bulk, then freezing them in single-serving containers when you have time off. Then when work unexpectedly gets crazy, you have meals in reserve. Embrace leftovers part II: Use the same basic entree to make more than one kind of meal. Chicken is really versatile this way. Bake a whole chicken or a big package of chicken pieces when you have time. Then you have lots of options for the leftovers. You can reheat the leftovers as-is, but for variety you can reheat leftovers under a sauce. For example, baked chicken with rice on day one becomes a quick chicken cacciatore, chicken marsala, or BBQ chicken on day two. Or you can strip the meat off the leftover cooked chicken and use it in any number of quick recipes - tacos, quesadillas, chicken and yellow rice, quick chicken soups, stir-fry chicken with veggies (just add the chicken at the end to heat it in the sauce), chicken fried rice, chicken salad, etc. Leftover roast beef becomes shepard's pie, beef stroganoff, vegetable beef soup, and of course, roast beef sandwiches. And so forth. Individually frozen fish fillets are great. Transfer them to the fridge in the morning on the way out the door so they can thaw (or thaw them under running cold water) and then they sautee in <10 minutes or bake wrapped in foil in 15-20 minutes. A simple sautee with seasoned butter (or a pat of seasoned butter in the foil), and a squeeze of lemon is makes a delicious entree to serve with rice and steamed veggies. Fully-cleaned shrimp or scallops are also super-fast to cook, but pricey. Although they are no substitute for a real grill, the electric contact grills (like the George Foreman grill) are pretty handy when you are pushed for time. Even including preheating time, you can have chicken breasts, burgers, steak, or pork chops ready in 20-30 minutes...which is about the same amount of time it takes to make rice or noodles including time to boil water. No, these indoor grills won't give you the smoky flavor of an outside grill. But if you get a good model and let it preheat long enough, you can get grill marks and a pretty good texture. Don't rush the preheating, or overload the grill, or you will get meat that is more steamed than grilled. Yuck. This is why people give these kinds of grills a bad rap. If you don't have your own veggies from your garden, don't be afraid of frozen veggies. They are quick to cook and because they are frozen shortly after picking, they often have a higher nutrient content than "fresh" grocery store veggies, which are often probably picked a week or more before you buy them. Basic frozen veggies (no sauces, noodles, etc) are cheap, too. To shake things up, try breakfast for dinner sometime. (This is a favorite with kids, though often not as figure-friendly.) Last but not least, although this is not really cooking, there are figure-friendly frozen meals in the grocery store. They are not nearly as good as home-cooked food, but if you read labels you can get some that are nutritionally much better than pizza or fast food. I try to get items that have an ingredient list full of recognizable foods and not a bunch of chemicals.
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Post by camochef on Jan 31, 2014 8:50:41 GMT -5
If time is an issue, consider a whole chicken in the pressure cooker in less than 30 minutes. Or maybe a few fish fillets in the microwave steamer in less than five minutes. I like steam roasting and steam baking in the ninja 3 in 1 if time isn't an issue. Still takes less time than a conventional oven. Also fills the house with the aromas of fresh baked bread or sensationally seasoned chicken, etc. Homemade ravioli or pot-stickers that have been frozen take very little time to prepare same goes for soups. Burgers take very little time and if you add some yum yum sauce to them they are delicious, especially if you steamed some onions in the microwave. Pasta in clam sauce is another quick meal or mushrooms steamed in the microwave, double delicious if they're stuffed. I also like making panini's in my panini maker. Then too, salads are quick and easy or perhaps a side like leeks with a Dijon vinaigrette prepared in the microwave. Don't overlook eggs, however you prefer them. It goes on and on, of course I prefer taking the time to prepare gourmet meals, but nowadays... Enjoy! Camo
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Post by garrett on Jan 31, 2014 10:09:07 GMT -5
garlic bread and noodles.lol
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2014 11:04:59 GMT -5
A chicken thigh, boned and skinned (an chopped up) with a chopped up carrot and half an onion is a quick starter with some ramien. Go easy on the seasoning packet. Its too fulla salt
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Post by gulfcoastguy on Jan 31, 2014 13:44:17 GMT -5
Omelettes and hash browns are pretty quick.
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Post by w8n4dave on Feb 21, 2014 9:48:17 GMT -5
I have some fresh meat handy every day. No quick Pizza for me! I am on a no processed food diet. So fresh meat and some veggies It doesn't take too long to chop up a steak or Chicken throw it in a pot or pan with veggies , throw some seasonings in there and I usually have rice already made. I make Dave noodles ... Have some boiled potatoes handy so you can fry them up. Try and take one day and make ahead potatoes or Rice that way that much is done. Speaking of witch I am going to do that now. Make potatoes and rice so it is done for the week Crock pots are good but I don't use mine much. I do have a Rice cooker tho! My fav! tool in the kitchen! It even has a steamer so I can stem some veggies whlie the Rice is cooking.
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Post by w8n4dave on Mar 10, 2014 10:45:05 GMT -5
Hey I made some Fish soup yesterday! OMG talk about yummy! It will go to our next sea food feast party! This is what I did. I pint of my canned chunky tomatoes, one small can of Clam juice, 2 carrots thinly sliced , one small onion chopped, I used half of a red pepper, two sections of Garlic minced, 1 stalk of celery sliced, 4 0r 5 small white fish cut into 1 in pieces, 1 lb fresh shrimp, 1 can of minced clams.I also cut up some potatoes I had already had cooked, It was amazing. I browned the veggies 1st, then added the tomatoes , clam juice and veggies and let everything get hot. I then added the shrimp let cook about 5 mins. Then added the fish let cook for another 5 mins and it was sooo good! Yummy!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 11:52:37 GMT -5
Boullabaise to follow shortly
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Post by w8n4dave on Mar 18, 2014 8:22:49 GMT -5
had corned beef potatoes and carrots. I got home late and didn't get to the cabbage Can you say yummmmmy?!
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Post by gardencrazy on Apr 1, 2014 17:57:11 GMT -5
I'm still lurking so keep those ideas coming! Lately it's been soup or stew that I make on the weekend and freeze for later. I also did that with a meatloaf, but cut into slices and frozen 2 slices at a time. Last night it was salad (mixed greens, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, pecans and feta cheese).
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Post by w8n4dave on Apr 2, 2014 9:13:48 GMT -5
Last night Dave had Pizza The dog and I had a steak and some cooked carrots They were pretty carrots red, orange and yellow . Yummy!
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Post by w8n4dave on May 9, 2014 9:41:21 GMT -5
I had roasted a chicken lastnight stuck a sweet potatoe in there, cook up some asparagus! Man that was good! Wonder if the pics are in my drop box? I'll have to send them to Photo Bucket and post a pic This is my Chicken sweet potato and asparagus
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Post by w8n4dave on May 9, 2014 9:50:28 GMT -5
The other day I made some Wraps I made Daves with Flour taco shells, I made mine with Paleo wraps..Man they was good! Paleo Wrap Flour Tortilla Wrap
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Post by tastyofhasty on May 9, 2014 22:04:43 GMT -5
Nachos made with canned beans (and non-GMO corn chips from health food store) ... grated cheddar with chopped tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and salsa ... two minutes in the microwave for the chips, beans, and cheddar, then pile on the fresh veggies and salsa. Same for burritos (I like my homemade spelt tortillas, though, which take some time but I make a pile of them and they'll last quite a while). The main time taken is for chopping the veggies.
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Post by w8n4dave on May 13, 2014 15:19:40 GMT -5
I rotisseried a chicken today Just need a veggie and make a bit more tater salad Or make some more wraps
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Post by gardencrazy on May 15, 2014 15:48:15 GMT -5
A couple nights ago, I made up a big bowl of pasta with (precooked frozen) shrimp, bell pepper, mushrooms, red chili pepper flakes, lots of garlic, parsley (out of the garden. OK, out of the plant that's sitting on the deck waiting to be planted in the garden), olive oil and lemon juice. It turned out well. It took more time to cook the pasta than it did to saute the peppers, mushrooms & garlic. Fast & yummy!
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Post by w8n4dave on May 15, 2014 19:14:12 GMT -5
Sounds good gardencrazy!! Tonight I made Dave mac and cheese and sausage, I made myself a turkey burger with Morel mushrooms yummy! put a bit of cheese in there! Then I made some summer squash I got at the store. I think it's summer squash. Long skinny yellow one! I sliced it and I cooked it with the burger.
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Post by nightmist on May 16, 2014 11:17:08 GMT -5
I think what we have most often when things are crazy is beans and rice. Especially lentils, You can cook those up with rice as a one pot dish, then throw some stir fry on top and away you go.
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Post by w8n4dave on May 16, 2014 21:52:27 GMT -5
Love my beans and Rice! Tonight Hubbs had left overs , I had some steaks and some steamed veggies. Very good if I do say so myself! Sadly I have realized Kroger's meat is Cross contaminated. I cannot eat Cross contaminated food. It will make me very sick. So no Kroger meat for me! Next time I go there I will complain to the management.
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Post by nightmist on Jun 4, 2014 22:18:38 GMT -5
Well tonight's supper was so fast and easy and good I had to share. It was nothing fancy, just catheads with sawmill gravy, and a salad of fresh picked greens with mushrooms and dilly beans cut up over it instead of dressing. Real simple, and it just hit the spot tonight.
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Post by w8n4dave on Jun 6, 2014 7:22:46 GMT -5
night mist what is catheads?? I have heard people say catheads but nit sure what it is? Yesterday I went to Chili's had a Cesar salad without croutons (GF) and I forgot to say w/o dressing and of course it came loaded with dressing. I said ohh well and dug in! I am shocked but happy to say it did not affect me Yay! Usually I don't eat salad dressing because of the corn products and my intolerance. Yay now I know I can eat Cesar salad dressing from Chili's!!
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Post by nightmist on Jun 6, 2014 9:47:09 GMT -5
night mist what is catheads?? I have heard people say catheads but nit sure what it is? Catheads are a variety of buttermilk biscuit. They are the ones my paternal gramma taught me how to make lo these many years ago, when she was thinking that I was a good candidate for someone in my household to learn to cook. They are in between a rolled biscuit and a drop biscuit, you shape them by hand. They are called cathead biscuits because generally speaking they are about that size. These are a nicely textured fluffy biscuit. I thought I had posted how to make them over to Idig, and I was right. I had DD3 watch with pen and paper, and most quantities are estimates, here is a copy: Fill a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup right up to the top with flour, spoon out between an eighth and a quarter cup and replace it with corn starch, resift it to combine the two. If you are useing soft wheat flour you can probably just measure out the flour and move on. Mix in about a teaspoon of baking powder and half as much soda, add a pinch of salt. Cut about a third of a cup of shortening in until it is about half the size of popcorn kernals. Make a hole in the middle and add in about a cup of buttermilk. Thinned yogurt or sour cream work, but buttermilk is best. You may find you need to use a little more or a little less, depending on how your flour drinks it. Mix it all up, it should have a feel that is in between drop dough and cut. Shape it by hand, being a bit sloppy about it. Messing with the dough too much is never good for quick leavened bread. You want to end up with lumps of dough about the size of a small 10 year old's fist. If you have a piece of cast iron big enough for the batch, that is best for baking them on. For a batch this size the big skillet might do, though you might need the small one as well. If you are using a baking sheet you will want to give it just a kiss of grease. Bake them in a hot oven, 450F or thereabouts, for 15 or 20 minutes. This makes 4 or 6 biscuits, and can be doubled or tripled with no problem. These are big biscuits that are good for sopping gravy.
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Post by w8n4dave on Jun 11, 2014 11:03:56 GMT -5
Wow! Sounds wonderful! I am sure my hubbs would love them!
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