Cooking tips...

[caramelladolce]

So I'm usually running around and cooking is the last thing on my mind. So in a search for help cooking for my family rather than getting fastfood all the time and I came across Walmarts new cooking show with Cheryl Dent. All her meals are quick with shopping lists, and she offers great tips for any future cooking I do...
her site is: see.walmart. com/makeitathome/
Does anyone else have any good sites like this that help when you're in a pinch?

[G'MaDebbie]

Have you tried any of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals?

[mom23boyz]

I wanted to see it but can't get the site!

[Grainlady]

1. "...cooking is the last thing on my mind". A little planning can go a long way to helping. Good nutrition will help in keeping your family healthy, so meals and food preparation should be a priority. Keep in mind, whole foods are Nature's original "fast food" and best for us.

Include your family. Young children can do many tasks in the kitchen (Kids a Cookin' - http://www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu/). When our children were old enough, they were responsible for one meal during the week and hubby one on the weekend. We were all busy and this helped divide the work. They had to serve a meat/meat alternative, grain, fruit, vegetable and dairy. If they forgot to prepare the meal, they had to pay to take us out to eat. They also had to plan the meal ahead of time and add any ingredients they needed to the grocery list. Because I included the family, they all know how to cook and all left home with their own box of recipes and cookbooks to use.

2. Cook once and eat many times. Cook ahead and have user-friendly portions in the freezer to help out on the busiest nights. I can pull mashed potatoes, roast beef, ham, roast turkey, tuna/salmon patties, Sloppy Joes, BBQ Beef, taco meat, meaty spaghetti sauce, soup, homemade breads of all kinds, out of the freezer. I generally thaw frozen food overnight in the refrigerator so all I have to do is minimal preparation.

Here's how I plan my week. You can change the days around, or leave one out completely, when necessary. Every meal includes meat/meat alternative, vegetable/s, fruit/s grain and dairy.

Monday: Big Meal
This includes a large cut of meat that will be used for other meals, portions placed in the freezer, used as meat for sandwiches, casseroles, stir-fry, or base for soup. A good time to use the Crock-Pot.

Tuesday: Leftovers
This meal may or may not look like what it did on Monday. If your family doesn't like leftovers, use them on Wednesday, instead of the day after.

Wednesday: Stir-fry
If you chopped vegetables on Monday or Tuesday for a salad, or other uses, chop enough to be used for today in the stir-fry. If you normally use frozen veggies for stir-fry, add some fresh veggies to hold down cost of the frozen veggies. I cut onions and peppers (from the garden) and freeze them in FoodSaver bags for use in stir-fry. Add a handful of frozen green beans (also from the garden, but they could as easily be purchased), some sliced celery and carrot... I make packets of meat for stir-fry (raw and pre-cooked). I can use these same meats for making other things - wraps, tacos, dinner salads....

Thursday: International
Around here that usually means Mexican - flour tortilla or hard corn shell or something Italian with pasta. I make up 5-pounds of ground beef at a time keep user-friendly containers of taco meat and meaty spaghetti sauce in the freezer. So all I need to do is heat the meat and cook the pasta, which only takes a few minutes. Small containers of frozen chili can be used as the base for a taco salad (similar to Wendy's). Reheat the meat/sauce and cook the pasta, add a tossed salad and fresh fruit and you've got a whole meal.

Friday: Vegetarian
A good day to save on expensive meat and use less-expensive meat alternatives - beans, cheese, eggs, gluten...
If you normally don't have time for a "big" breakfast, this may be a good time for it.

Saturday: Soup and/or Sandwich
Once again, I rely on the freezer food. I keep homemade soup in single-servings in the freezer for easy use. We're always busy on Saturday, so meals tend to be quick and easy. We often eat quesadillas as our "sandwich".

Pizza or Dinner Salad: Homemade
We make a homemade pizza during cooler weather, and when the heat is on, we use fresh veggies from the garden for dinner salads. Both are a good way to use up bits of meat, vegetables, beans....

We add fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruit to nearly every meal as "dessert".

I always keep shredded cheese in the refrigerator - enough for the week. I purchase bulk cheese and grate my own. I use a number of Bisquick Impossible Pie recipes for quick meals.

Here's a number of recipes: http://www.recipegoldmine.com/pieimp/pieimp.html

I cook 5-10 pounds of mashed potatoes at a time and make them into "Freezer Mashed Potatoes, freeze them in dollops (single-serving size), or a plastic container.

Good luck...

[tracyq]

I love Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller as well. It's on Food TV. www.foodtv.com is a great site to get tons of quick recipes. On their site, they even have a Quick and Easy section:http://www.foodnetwork.com/quick-and-easy/index.html

Blessings!
Tracy Q.

[Shelli_wnj]

I love to do freezer cooking. At least once a week, I double a meal, then freeze the leftovers. Then, a few weeks later we will have that meal again from the freezer. Then there is one night a week I don't have to cook! Sometimes I get a "stockpile" of food in there, and if I don't feel like cooking on a particular night, I can just pull out a meal and put it in the oven

[Beemerchef]

I love to do freezer cooking. At least once a week, I double a meal, then freeze the leftovers. Then, a few weeks later we will have that meal again from the freezer. Then there is one night a week I don't have to cook! Sometimes I get a "stockpile" of food in there, and if I don't feel like cooking on a particular night, I can just pull out a meal and put it in the oven

I do it that way too and since I am alone and cook mainly on fire pits I eat the same thing for 4 days at least!!! Not complaining but saves a lot also much energy since my wood is free...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[tigo]

I plan out the menu for the whole month (not as daunting as it sounds - I have basic recipes that I rotate through). That way I can make the shopping list easier, and can pull the meat out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge a few days ahead. It only takes about 15 minutes and you don't have to think about it again for another month.

[tracyq]

Oh! And Aldi's has a great meal planning site if you have one near you. You could use the recipes there even if you don't:

http://www.aldimeals.com/

[Judi Dial]

I have a blackboard on my frig, that's where I list the fresh ingredients that are in danger of going bad...use them ASAP!

Right now, it says "peppers," and we have an abundance of bread, so we had grilled cheese and pepper sandwiches for lunch.

Dinner will be something that has either more grilling pepper (now cooked) or bell pepper (piece in my leftover bin).

We had garlic soup and lemon cabbage for dinner last night, I am likely to take the soup, add some peppers to it,maybe some meatballs (some already made/cooked are in the freezer) for a kind of Albondigas soup (a mexican soup). If i have them, I'll heat some corn tortillas with butter, and we'll have dressed lettuce, as I got some the other day.

I don't preplan our meals. I buy meat/veggies in season or whatever is on sale and I use very little prefab foods.

The one exception on the prefab stuff is Zatarians rice mixes. If I can't think of anything else, I'll fry up a lb of meat, add a box of dirty rice mix, and we've got dinner. But this is not for the faint of heart, if you don't like spicy food, I wouldn't recommend it. We love it, so for us it isn't a problem.

I rarely cook for the freezer, but I will cook all of a package of meat,as it seems to otherwise go bad. I also usually chop 5-8 onions once a week, as I almost always start my cooking with sauteed onions, and I hate chopping them.

Also, I use my "leftover bin" a lot, it's a hard plastic shoe box into which goes all the bits and pieces in bags or small containers. When I look in the frig to find something to make for dinner, it always includes a look-see in the leftover bin. (This is where the chopped onions go too.)

btw, there are only 2 adults in this house, so I dont' have the problem of "picky eaters" etc.

IHTH!

Judi

[Judi Dial]

I always keep shredded cheese in the refrigerator - enough for the week. I purchase bulk cheese and grate my own. I use a number of Bisquick Impossible Pie recipes for quick meals.

Here's a number of recipes: http://www.recipegoldmine.com/pieimp/pieimp.html

So, I looked at the impossible pie recipes, and they use Bisquik, which I know you don't. I'm assuming you have a home made alternative? I HATE the taste of most baking mixes. I do have the make your own groceries book by Hartwig and the Make a Mix books, do you use a recipe from any of those?

TIA --

Judi

[Grainlady]

So, I looked at the impossible pie recipes, and they use Bisquik, which I know you don't. I'm assuming you have a home made alternative? I HATE the taste of most baking mixes. I do have the make your own groceries book by Hartwig and the Make a Mix books, do you use a recipe from any of those?

TIA --

Judi

Hi Judi -

I love "Make Your Own Groceries". I've used that book since the 1980's. It sure saved me some money over the years !

The "Biscuit and Baking Mix" recipe on page 50 is a common recipe and should work well. I just prefer whole grains and avoid shortening. You will find lots of variations of baking mix recipes on line.

I use the recipe below, which I developed a number of years ago as a whole grain version, and it's worked in every recipe I've ever used it as a replacement for Bisquick. I did make the mistake of using coarse grind cornmeal in it one time, and it ended up having a little more "chew" to it than we liked. I mill my own cornmeal, so I can only blame myself (LOL).

Good-For-You Baking Mix

2 c. freshly-milled spelt flour (OR unbleached all-purpose flour)
2 c. freshly-milled white whole wheat flour (or commercial whole wheat flour)
3/4 c. Morning Moo's whey-based milk substitute, dry powder (OR nonfat dry milk powder)
1/2 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 c. cornmeal
3 T. flaxmeal (optional)
3 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. softened butter (I use coconut oil)

In a large container, thoroughly combine all the dry ingredients. Add the fat by using a pastry blender to cut it in until evenly dispersed. Store, tightly covered, in a refrigerator (if using it quickly), or in a freezer. (Grainlady note: I normally make 1/2 a recipe at a time.)
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Good-For-You Biscuits

3 c. Good-For-You Baking Mix
1 c. plain yogurt (may substitute flavored yogurt)

Combine ingredients until moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake in 425°F oven 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 16 biscuits.

You can also pat the dough out onto a floured board and cut the dough for cut biscuits. Helpful hint, pat the dough into a square (1 to 1-1/2-inch thick) and then cut the dough into square biscuits with a pizza cutter. This will prevent "second cuts". Second cuts are when you are done cutting round biscuits and you gather the remaining dough together and use if to cut more biscuits. Second cuts tend to be tough because there has been more gluten developed in the dough from manipulating it again.

[Judi Dial]

Thank you. I don't mill my own flour like you do, but otherwise, I think our food tastes are pretty similar!

Thanks again --

Judi