The key I've found, in my month of cooking, is to do little things while cooking to make it more fun. For instance, I'll crank up the music (which I'm sure my neighbors despise,) sing along at the top of my lungs (something I'm sure they despise even more), and pour a glass of wine or pop the top off of a beer.
Here are a couple of quick eats that come courtesy of my Mama.
EASY SUMMER PASTA SALAD
Ingredients
-1 Box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (make up according to directions & allow to cool)
-1 box of frozen peas (microwave according to directions)
-1 large tomato (chopped into bite sized chunks)
-1/2 red onion chopped (red adds some nice color, but a regular onion will work too)
-1/2 bottle of favorite low fat dressing (I used Poppyseed)
Directions
-Prepare Mac&Cheese and the peas according to package instructions. Allow to cool
-Chop tomato and onion (good to do while water is boiling for Mac&Cheese)
-Once Mac&Cheese has cooled, add chopped tomato and onion. Mix.
-Add salad dressing. Mix.
Bonus
-It's easy and inexpensive
-Makes3-4 servings (great as a leftover).
-For a "healthier" option use wheat Mac&Cheese
MILK CHOCOLATE-BANANA SMOOTHIE
Ingredients
-1 package of Nestle Breakfast Essentials "Rich Milk Chocolate" package
-3/4 cup fat-free milk
-1/2 sliced banana (calls for frozen, but trust me when I say it's impossible to slice!)
-1/2 cup ice cubes
Directions
-Place milk, banana, Nestle milk chocolate package, and ice in blender
-cover
-blend until smooth
Bonus
-A great accompanying item is toast with peanut butter, banana (there's still 1/2 left over), and honey
-Don't make while roommates are still asleep at 9am on a Saturday morning (blending the ice is louder than you'd think!)
COUSCOUS AND CHICKEN
This little number was made up on the spot by yours truly (although I can't claim any originality)
Ingredients
-1 package of Near East (or other preferred brand) of couscous mix
-1 chicken breast
Directions
-Follow directions on couscous box to prepare
-Grill or fry up chicken
-Add additional spices to couscous if desired (I added basil, pesto, salt, pepper, and ground cumin)
-Ate chicken with some hot sauce to a little kick
CHINESE LEMON CHICKEN
Ingredients
-1 package of NOH Chinese Lemon Chicken Sauce Mix
-1/2 cup of water
-1 lb. of chicken
-1/4 cup of flour
-2 tablespoons of cooking oil (optional)
-Salt
-Pepper
Directions
-Combine contents of package with 1/2 cup of water in sauce pan. Blend well and set aside.
-Salt and pepper chicken pieces
-Roll chicken in flour and fry until done
-Bring sauce mix to a boil, stirring constantly (sauce should thicken before pouring over chicken)
-Pour over chicken and serve
Bonus
-Can eat chicken by itself or in a salad (I served on a bed of spinach, with some leftover couscous from yesterday, and used the leftover sauce as the dressing).
-Yesterday I overcooked the chicken, and learned today, at work, that a good way to tell whether chicken is cooked is to cut into it with a knife while it's still cooking (if pink/white on the inside, keep cooking)
Yesterday FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011 I had an enormous salad at lunch from Civic, which is right up the street from where I work. I didn't think it was possible but somewhere between the avocado, turkey, chick peas, roasted red peppers, almonds, carrots, feta cheese, peas, and dressing, I amassed a monster salad that cost $10.00 and felt like it could have weighed about ten pounds. Needless to say since I paid for it, I felt obliged to eat every single bite (a decision that I sincerely regretted that afternoon since I felt so full that I felt as if I was going to burst while running around the office). When dinner time came, and went, I was still full, but around 10pm I got somewhat of a pang for hunger. After rummaging through my meager stash of snacks I happened upon a recipe for chai tea (my absolute favorite) that sounded too good to pass.
CHAI TEA
Ingredients
-2 tbsp of Rishi Tea-Organic Masala Chai
-1 cup of water
-1 cup of milk
-3 tbsp of sugar (I prefer Splenda)
Directions
-Mix chai tea, water, and milk in saucepan
-Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes
-Remove from heat, and stir in sugar
-Strain into a mug or pitcher and enjoy
Bonus
-Make sure to take into account how many people will be consuming this when you are preparing the drink. For whatever reason I must have imagined that I was sharing the tea with some friends because I added about fourteen packets of splenda, which is actually less than three tablespoons. Long story short it was a very sweet drink, which I didn't mind considering that I like things on the sweeter side, but have a feeling that was not the healthiest choice.
RED AND WHITE TORTELLINI
Ingredients
-2 packages of refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini (mom advised to boil dry tortellini first, but I didn't see this side note until I had already sat down to eat, and it still turned out fine)
-28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
-1 cup water
12 oz. jar Alfredo four cheese sauce
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Directions
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
-In 3 quart glass baking dish, mix tortellini, spaghetti sauce, and water
-Make sure all tortellini is coated with sauce
-Drop Alfredo cheese sauce by spoonfuls over casserole
-Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese
-Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour
-Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, until tortellini is tender
Bonus
-Add 1 package of frozen meatballs for a more hearty dish
SKYLINE/CINCINNATI CHILI
Ingredients
-1lb. ground beef or turkey
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 can kidney beans
-1 package of spaghetti
Directions
-Follow sloppy jo instructions to prepare ground beef (or turkey--if you're like me, ground turkey was being recalled so opted for the safer option)
-Spaghetti (this is what makes this chili recipe different from traditional chili with rice)
Bonus
-Delicious, but difficult to warm up creatively
A great way to use the leftovers in a way that you're not sick of chili is to convert it into tortilla soup. I had kept the spaghetti noodles separate from the chili, so converted to soup once the noodles ran out. Although, I suppose you could use the noodles too. Just heat up and then sprinkle with crunched tortilla chips. Also, switch up the shredded mozzarella cheese for cheddar.
Since not everyone's Mama might send them recipe ideas (though I hope they do!), a fantastic website is http://www.kraftrecipes.com/home.aspx. Matt and I made a delicious jambalaya while he was visiting my home in Ohio, and one of the first recipes I braved on my own was a Southwestern Bean Salad (one quick tip: if you wait to add dressing until you've served the salad on your plate, you can store the left-overs much longer in the refrigerator). Also, worst case scenario: you can never go wrong with microwaveable soup and/or microwaveable meals because despite your best ambitions to become the next Julia Child, most nights you're not going to want to do anything other than sit on the sofa for the next two hours and watch tv after getting home from work. Late night softball games have taught me the importance of keeping an emergency stash of microwaveable meals in the pantry. Despite what males say, beer is not in and of itself a meal. Although, the way some of them power through multiple bottles couple make one think differently.
Here is one example of the quick, delicious, and affordable recipe options. Yesterday night, SATURDAY, JULY 30 I made the QUICK TACO SALAD RECIPE (you can view the actual recipe here yourself: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/quick-taco-salad-95057.aspx)
Ingredients
-1 package of sloppy joe seasoning
-1 small can of tomato paste
-1 onion
-grated cheese (I used kraft 2% cheddar)
-tortilla chips (to crumble on top)
-salsa (since I'm still developing my palate for spicy hot food, I went with mild)
-1 lb. of ground turkey or beef
-1 package of lettuce
-1/4 cup of water
-low fat ranch dressing
Directions (fairly straight forward):
-to prepare the meat I actually followed the instructions on the sloppy joe seasoning packet (brown grounded turkey-other option is to use grounded beef- then add seasoning mix, tomato paste, and water) with the additional suggestion form kraftrecipes.com to brown the meat with 1 chopped onion.
-let meat simmer for 10 minutes
-once meat is ready prepare plates by layering lettuce, meat, salsa, cheese, tortilla chips, and dressing
Bonus
-Make sure to use a spatula when browning the meat. Having never tackled meat before I just assumed that the meat came ground up. Considering that this is NOT the case I was puzzled as to how to get the meat actually ground up. Hint: a spatula is much easier than a wooden spoon (don't make the same mistake that I did).
-Also, put heat on low when simmering (otherwise the sauce and meat will actually boil...and you don't want to have to clean up that mess...trust me)
I have been discovering lately that a problem with a lot of these recipes that I have been preparing is that the majority make four servings. The good news is that I have plenty of leftovers, which is great because the last thing I feel like doing after work is running to the grocery store to buy ingredients. The bad news is meals can get boring when I'm eating the same thing for three days in a row. My goal this past week was to think of creative ways to use the leftover meat from my taco salad. Ultimately, it was not as difficult as I originally imagined and was able to yield another meal from taco salad, but also made traditional tacos, and fajitas (courtesy of Katie Rodgers who lent me her fajita maker--an great investment if you are interested.)
These two ingredients yielded the following:
