Quick Meals

[kendra]

Yes I am one of those asses who hates to make anything if it takes longer than 30 min. This is largely because I tend to get home from work late and need to eat at a reasonable hour or my blood sugar is 200 when I wake up, which is lame and sucks and is lame.

ANYWAY. Had a successful "taco" presentation for two nights this week, but I'd like to top that. Any suggestions / favorite quick recipes? :D

[Peter]

My strategy has always been to go grocery shopping on my day off, buy a whole bunch of produce and groceries and so forth, and the same day I'll chop up all the vegetables, blanch what needs it (asparagus, namely) and store it all in containers in the refrigerator. Then whenever I want to cook, I just grab whatever looks good and throw it in the pan or on a sandwich or in an omelette or whatever.

Or I'll make a bigass pot of pasta sauce and freeze half of it, then cook some pasta half way through, drain it, put olive oil on it and put in a container in the fridge. Then all I have to do is put the sauce and half-cooked pasta in a pan, heat it up and it's finished...I dunno. I do a lot of cooking ahead of time so it's just a matter of cooking things through. Like buying chicken breasts and pre-searing them so that all I have to do is put them in the oven for 10 more minutes.

[Cheryl K]

My strategy has always been to go grocery shopping on my day off, buy a whole bunch of produce and groceries and so forth, and the same day I'll chop up all the vegetables, blanch what needs it (asparagus, namely) and store it all in containers in the refrigerator. Then whenever I want to cook, I just grab whatever looks good and throw it in the pan or on a sandwich or in an omelette or whatever.


I do the exact same thing. People may make fun of me for grating cheese when I'm bored, but at least I don't have to do that when I'm hungry.

[cigar store indian]

I wish I wasn't so lazy! That sounds swell. The closest i've come is making a sangwitch the night before work and sticking coffee in the machine, so in the morning i can flip the switch and run.

[Peter]

I do the exact same thing. People may make fun of me for grating cheese when I'm bored, but at least I don't have to do that when I'm hungry.

For harder cheeses (parmesian, assiago, romana, etc), I just throw the cheese in a blender and blend it into a nice a sort of rough powder. It's the easiest way to get it into working consistency, IMO.

cheddar and shit doesn't work like that, tho.

[Cheryl K]

For harder cheeses (parmesian, assiago, romana, etc), I just throw the cheese in a blender and blend it into a nice a sort of rough powder. It's the easiest way to get it into working consistency, IMO.

cheddar and shit doesn't work like that, tho.

That's great, if you have a blender.

[El Loto]

NACHOS!!

Scrambled egg, topped with spinach, topped with salmon.

[Static Split Screen]

stirfries forever! I'm also guilty of buying frozen foods and nuking it. I love Amy's meals.

A lot of the time I have cereal for dinner :(

[Peter]

i guess i should make a more worthwhile contribution here...

alright. make scrambled eggs (or fried, or whatever) and put them on toast with cheddar cheese and butter. sandwich. if you're not TOO lazy, you can add bacon or ham or something.

[Pulsewidth]

Scrambled eggs (sometimes with tomatoes,) fish sticks and green salad in under 15 minutes.
Sometimes I'll add one or two blinchik's (not sure what they're called in english,) filled with caviar.

[Peter]

most of my "quick meals" don't include caviar :ok:

[Cheryl K]

Quesadillas! Assuming you've prepared everything ahead of time (cheese, veggies, cooking any meat) just fill a folded tortilla and each one takes only a minute or so in the pan.

[Barbarian Love Elephant]

microwave pasta + sauce

120 seconds ;)

[Peter]

":lol:" Ronan!

[Narcissistic Nihilist]

microwave pasta + sauce

120 seconds ;)

bag of crisps. 0.8 seconds.

[The Tourist]

can't go wrong with a tasty spag bol. Half an hour max, even if you're adding shit loads of ingredients. I don't really have anything to suggest. I think so long as you have a basic grasp of what goes well together and what tastes shit, then you'll be alright when you're posed with a fridge and cupboard filled with random crap. Unless you're utterly out of everything then there's always something half decent that can be made. Tinned peeled plum tomatoes on toast with salt/pepper/worchester sauce is ace (assuming those'll be the last foodstuffs in your kitchen).

[Intern Kate]

My strategy has always been to go grocery shopping on my day off, buy a whole bunch of produce and groceries and so forth, and the same day I'll chop up all the vegetables, blanch what needs it (asparagus, namely) and store it all in containers in the refrigerator. Then whenever I want to cook, I just grab whatever looks good and throw it in the pan or on a sandwich or in an omelette or whatever.

Or I'll make a bigass pot of pasta sauce and freeze half of it, then cook some pasta half way through, drain it, put olive oil on it and put in a container in the fridge. Then all I have to do is put the sauce and half-cooked pasta in a pan, heat it up and it's finished...I dunno. I do a lot of cooking ahead of time so it's just a matter of cooking things through. Like buying chicken breasts and pre-searing them so that all I have to do is put them in the oven for 10 more minutes.

i try to do things like this if i'm not too lazy. also, i always make huge meals, split them in thirds or half and frequently live on leftovers.

i like to cut up a bunch of sweet potatoes in thin strips to store for making chips. for a snack i throw some into the oven then crisp the outside in a bit of olive oil in a skillet.

[Intern Kate]

i'm enjoying cooking these days! tonight's dinner was a quickie.

i chopped up some sweet potato and boiled it for awhile, then threw in some chopped up zucchini. i drained it, put a touch of olive oil in the pan, threw in a handful of kidney beans with the potato/zucchini concoction, simmered a few moments, and voila! supplemented with cheddar and rye crackers.

[LOST_kitty_k]

Lately I haven't had lots of time during the weekdays to cook so I make something on Sunday that will feed us through the week. This past week we had potato soup, the week before it was Mexican lasagna, next week we will have chili.

If I don't do that I try to prepare things the night before so it's all ready to go. I like making chicken taco salads the best. I've also got stuff I cooked and froze so it just needs to be thawed when I want to use it.

[Needs Wasabi]

I just made some really good fajita wraps. All it takes is some flour tortillas, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and meat.

:D

[Peter]

I made damn near a gallon of chili a few days ago to feed me for the week...heat it up, melt some cheese onto it and put some saltine crackers in it and I'm golden :)

[LOST_kitty_k]

I think corn bread goes better with chili.

[Peter]

i agree with you, but it doesn't keep for an entire week, it goes kinda stale :\

[Pulsewidth]

Cooked shrimp (frozen) in Ragu Classic Alfredo.
Takes about 5-7 minutes (with an additional quick salad.)

[Cheryl K]

My roommate made chili the other night and threw half of it away cause she couldn't find a container to put it in. D: 1) I could have eaten it, 2) I have plastic storage containers. :cry:

I digress.

Premade salads + precooked grilled chicken strips + honey mustard dressing.

[LOST_kitty_k]

i agree with you, but it doesn't keep for an entire week, it goes kinda stale :\ We just made a batch of corn bread muffins that lasted an entire week and were just as good the last day as they were on the first. Maybe it's dependent on what you store them in.

Cheryl, I'd like to slap your roommate.

[Intern Kate]

i'm enjoying cooking these days! tonight's dinner was a quickie.

i chopped up some sweet potato and boiled it for awhile, then threw in some chopped up zucchini. i drained it, put a touch of olive oil in the pan, threw in a handful of kidney beans with the potato/zucchini concoction, simmered a few moments, and voila! supplemented with cheddar and rye crackers.

i made this for Bailey when she was here. she approved.

FYI.

oh man, byyye.

[Static Split Screen]

I want some cornbread.

[Chopstick]

Secret:

Own a rice-cooker.

Add rice to everything.

Add everything to rice.



I usually decide what I'm going to cook based not on what's in the fridge, but on which pots/pans/bowls are clean. Right now I'm feeling pretty lazy, so I think I might just scramble three eggs with cheese and ham and eat some fruit... if it hasn't rotted. If I start feeling any lazier, I'll end up cooking a frozen pizza.

[DrHibbert]

Here's a great new gourmet meal, they just did a big thing on it on like... Oprah or something:

You know how it takes too long to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Buy the stuff where the peanut butter and jelly come together, swirled together in one cannister. This cuts off at least 45 seconds. :yes:

[lisa]

If I don't do that I try to prepare things the night before so it's all ready to go. I like making chicken taco salads the best.
mmm this is always good, but my microwave food skills dont know much about how to make real food like this. what exactly do you put in it? my god i am so lame when it comes to food... need to start eating real food before its too late.

[LOST_kitty_k]

The chicken taco salad is easy. We buy taco bowls at the store and they just have to be baked for about 15 minutes. While that's going on I cut the chicken and lettuce (I usually do this ahead of time). I coat the chicken in coarse black pepper and cook it up on the stove. I mix garlic and herb feta, black olives, and Italian dressing in with the lettuce and put everything in the taco bowl, then cover it in salsa. It's really good and it's a nice light meal since the majority of it is basically a salad. Adding avocado to it is also really good.

[Cheryl K]

Ooh, that looks really yummy. :drool:

[lisa]

mmm yeah that looks great. my aunt made something like that around xmas time and i was like, hmm i need to make this, it cant be that hard. i will follow your instructions and attempt it soon, though no olives for me. and my aunt made it with taco shell pieces in the salad, instead of the bowl as the taco, but yours looks prettier.

[Peter]

Secret:

Own a rice-cooker.

Add rice to everything.

Add everything to rice.

Yep. I make rice and then sautee veggies and some kind of protein (beef, chicken, pork, etc) together, then put it all in a bowl. Yum.

[lisa]

what kinda veggies are good with chicken and rice? i want to start incorporating veggies in but i like such a limited variety, and none of them seem to work well in a stir fry or whatever.

[i]

broccoli? squash? pepperrs? carrots? bean sprouts? spinach? corn? pretty much anything i would've thought.

[Needs Wasabi]

Fettucini with pesto sauce takes about 10 minutes.

:drool:

[lisa]

broccoli? squash? pepperrs? carrots? bean sprouts? spinach? corn? pretty much anything i would've thought.
out of this list i like carrots and corn :\ i want a variety, and preferably stuff that mixes well together.

[Static Split Screen]

kind of hard if you dont like most veggies :darn:

[lisa]

i know, i figure someone must know something that doesnt taste hot/spicey or gross and bland that i just havent tried yet.

celery and carrots are okay because you can dip them. and cucumbers/tomatoes and lettuce for salads and things . but you cant really stir fry that stuff.. anything similarly not gross that would work with carrots and or corn?

[Peter]

what kinda veggies are good with chicken and rice? i want to start incorporating veggies in but i like such a limited variety, and none of them seem to work well in a stir fry or whatever.

asparagus, bell peppers, snow peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms...

[lisa]

i guess peas carrots and corn could work..

[Static Split Screen]

My newest quick meal is just frying up a quorn cutlet in olive oil, then putting a bit of mustard and paprika on it, cutting it up, and putting it over a huge salad. Usually with a peice of fruit w/ nut butter as a side.

[kendra]

i guess peas carrots and corn could work..

Carboholic alert! haha. I hate how the only veggies you get in mixed vegetable sides and stuff is peas, carrots, corn....sigh. I love me some snow peas & squash!!

[elisabeth]

I :heart: artichokes!
Maybe if the veggies/greens were made differently, you'd dig them more Lisa? Most vegetables can be improved upon with the judicious use of fat and it's many consorts – like bacon. I dunno. I love brussels sprouts and beets and broccoli rabe so maybe I'm not a reliable source of veggie information for the veggie unenthused. :darn:

Avocados are green! Who needs dinner if you can eat guacamole. :yes:

[elisabeth]

A quick meal that we like at home is cooked soba noodles in a giant bowl of hot broth topped with chopped leftover steak/tofu/lamb/veggies whatever and a big handful of cilantro and chopped green onions. You add black vinegar, hot chili sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil. It takes about ten minutes. Very filling and warming on a cold day. It's a cheap way to use leftovers.

A lot of times we just make a big salad with whatever we've got and grill something (steak or chicken or lamb or fish or whatever) and chop it up and throw it in there. That's good. Pretty fast, except it takes the grill about 20 minutes to heat up. Broiling works too. We eat this most nights, honestly. We are salad fiends.

[elisabeth]

Omelettes are super fast!
:O

[elisabeth]

So is failing to cook dinner at all and instead eating a bunch of cheese and drinking some wine.

[Intern Kate]

I :heart: artichokes!
Maybe if the veggies/greens were made differently, you'd dig them more Lisa? Most vegetables can be improved upon with the judicious use of fat and it's many consorts – like bacon. I dunno. I love brussels sprouts and beets and broccoli rabe so maybe I'm not a reliable source of veggie information for the veggie unenthused. :darn:

Avocados are green! Who needs dinner if you can eat guacamole. :yes:

heh. i had an avocado for breakfast the other day. and for a few lunches last week i heated up a flour tortilla and stuffed it w/ avocado and blackberry or raspberry jam.

[Static Split Screen]

I have had so many snack meals.

"Hmm cheese! and a bowl of cereal! and some hot chocolate! and some almonds!"

[brainiac]

heh. i had an avocado for breakfast the other day. and for a few lunches last week i heated up a flour tortilla and stuffed it w/ avocado and blackberry or raspberry jam.

Wow, I've never thought of combining avocado and a purely sweet thing, like jam. I guess it's like peanut butter & jelly... avocado's just as oily, at least. Sounds awesome.

I've been having avocado sandwiches for dinner, lately -- avocado, mozzarella, white onion, tomato, cucumber, and red lettuce, with lots of black pepper. On toasted wheat bread. It's especially great with some canned vegetable soup (Amy's) with extra beans mixed in. Very quick to prepare, and refreshing.

[Static Split Screen]

Hmm I could see that working. Intruiging.

[lisa]

Carboholic alert! haha. I hate how the only veggies you get in mixed vegetable sides and stuff is peas, carrots, corn....sigh. I love me some snow peas & squash!!
yes, seriously, its awful. when i was 15 i decided to be a 'vegetarian' because i was obsessed with river phoenix and he was like a vegan huge peta supporter type so i felt bad about eating meat.

being that i dont like veggies much this meant i was eating all carbs and i gained like 15 lbs so fast! it was the worst idea ever, a year later i realized i would end up overweight if i didnt bring protien back in so i started eating chicken again and things balanced out.

for the past few years ive made a point to eat a lot of salad but i still find it hard to enjoy most vegs that can be cooked into a stir fry etc...

elizabeth youre right.. if you put alfredo sauce or something else unhealthy on broccoli or whatever, ill eat it and itll be fine, but i dont really think to buy those things cause i dont really like them in general..

[Intern Kate]

Wow, I've never thought of combining avocado and a purely sweet thing, like jam. I guess it's like peanut butter & jelly... avocado's just as oily, at least. Sounds awesome.

I've been having avocado sandwiches for dinner, lately -- avocado, mozzarella, white onion, tomato, cucumber, and red lettuce, with lots of black pepper. On toasted wheat bread. It's especially great with some canned vegetable soup (Amy's) with extra beans mixed in. Very quick to prepare, and refreshing.

avocado and jam is sweeter than pb and jam. maybe that's obvious. i like to have it mainly in the earlier half of the day.

your sandwich sounds heavenly! i might do red onion, though, personally.

[AvaAdore]

Here's a general quick recipe tha ti like cooking, and i don't cook that much.

I get some white rice, campbell's cream of chicken, and some chicken breasts.

Make about 8 servings of white rice, cook about 10-13 chicken brests, and once those two are near cooked, place the rice and chicken together in a glass cook dish and pour two cans worth of the cream of chicken together and you'll have a fine dish for sure.

[El Loto]

Shallots, sliced peppers, diced cherry tomatoes and sliced courgette. Stir fry in olive oil and a wee bit of balsamic vinegar.

6 slices of halloumi, in the pan with the vegetables.

Toast two pitta breads then spread with humous

half the contents of the pan into the pittas. VOILA!!

Very nice I like.

[kendra]

there are at least 3 ingredients there that i had to look up to see what they were. so no

[kendra]

":D"

[Static Split Screen]

Mmm that sounds good. I love haloumi.

[El Loto]

I made it for tea tonight. Ma, Pa and I munched it all down.

[Lothlorien]

Chop some green onions, half a green pepper, and a carrot (or several baby carrots). Fry the pepper & carrots in a pan with olive oil, parsley flakes, and onion powder. Later, throw in the green onions.

Then, throw in two servings of boiled rice. Mix up with a heavy load of plum sauce. Hurray.

I like to add chunks of chicken or pork, but if you're not into:saw: up animals, it should be fine without it.

[Static Split Screen]

Quorn + curry sauce + rice = yum

[wasp in a jar]

rice = yum.

i love rice.

actually, i am going to make some rice now.