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terribleturnipStep One: embrace the concept that it's totally okay to put all of your effort into one element of the meal and none into the rest. Rotisserie Chicken and you make a vegetable from scratch. Pasta sauce from a jar, pasta from a box, and you make a salad from scratch. Or from a bag -- god, cut yourself a break!
Step Two: embrace the concept that if the pre-made thing basically has the same ingredients you'd use if you were cooking from scratch, you might actually be a masochist if you insist on making it from scratch.
Step Three: feel good about using "helpers" but learn how to judge whether the time savings is worth slowly killing you with more fat, sodium, bullsh*t ingredients.
Step Four: try not to throat punch anyone who says "what you use jarred pasta sauce?" or "rice cooker, who needs a rice cooker, it's not like it's hard to make rice!". Look, Tiffany, I'm having pasta because I'm tired and in need of some comfort and probably had a shitty day at work, so yeah, you know what chopping onions and garlic, opening a can of tomatoes, adding seasonings IS BEYOND ME TONIGHT. And also, you will pry my rice cooker out of my cold dead hands, Jennifer, because I can just dump the rice and water in, turn it on and then take care of some shit and even if I get distracted by something, that cooker will stop on time and keep it warm until I'm ready, so get off my ass already. Ahem, Step Four may be just for me, but seriously, I'm telling you that if a chef uses an expletive deleted rice cooker, you can totally feel okay about using one. And the cheap $29 one from Target is JUST FINE.
Let's start with step three because I'm an anarchist. My pantry is filled with packets of simmer sauce type stuff. Especially Indian, but now they're coming out with all kinds. Because you can just throw rice in the rice cooker (or thaw out some frozen naan, or whatever), put the sauce in a pot, empty a can of rinsed beans into it, or leftover meat or even a chopped raw chicken breast or pork chop, or tofu cubes, and let it heat up while you're getting out of work clothes (is there anyone out there who comes home from work and stays in those clothes? I am not one of those -- it's soft clothes asap for me, but feel free to use the ensuing "while it heats up" time to do whatever.
BUT, you do have to look at the nutritionals, because there's an awful lot of extra sodium and fat going on. Note, I have nothing against fat on its own. But prepared food manufacturers will load their stuff with fat, sometimes saturated fat, as a shortcut for making it flavorful. So, it can really throw your fat intake into stupid-land on a cumulative basis. Let's face it, if I want indulge in saturated fat, I'm going to go to Five Guys or have macaroni and cheese or something that makes that fat worthwhile, rather than just have it thrown into something to make it more palatable. So land on the numbers you find acceptable and try to keep your "helpers" below that amount. I won't buy anything with a sodium number that's higher than 20% per serving. Because let's face it, I'm probably going to eat more than one serving and/or I might be putting salt on a side veg or the rice. So think on that. Same thing with the fat. Nothing against fat or salt inherently, but they are shortcuts to flavor that manufacturers use and I'd rather be eating my fat and salt where it brings joy.
Fewer ingredients tend to be better. Read the list and say to yourself, does that need to be in there, or is that another BS manufacturer short cut. Try to aim for "clean" labels, not because it's trendy, but because the whole point of what you're doing is to eat as healthy as possible, as quickly/labor free as possible. Otherwise you could just eat out, right?
So, I talked above, about the packet shortcuts (they come in jars as well). Beefing them up with beans, meat, tofu. Now, pasta sauce (where again, watch that sodium and expletive that high fructose corn syrup. A little bit of sugar is fine, but HFC means they're likely taking other shortcuts and other ingredient shenanigans) you can just crumble some ground beef, thaw out a couple of sausages in the sauce while it's heating (buy sausages, open the package, wrap each sausage or pair of sausages in plastic wrap, foil and throw in a zip lock bag in the freezer so that you can use one or two at at time - using them as flavor and an addition, rather than making them the main meal) or toss some frozen vegetables in there. Trader Joe's has a bag of frozen grilled zucchini, peppers and zucchini that's killer easy to chop while frozen and toss in a sauce to increase your meal's veg content. Or warm them up and serve the pasta sauce over the veg instead of pasta. Toss some frozen or raw spinach (or power greens, or baby kale) into the sauce and heat it up until they thaw/wilt.
Don't be afraid to use a rotisserie chicken - dinner one night, the leftover meat can be added to sauces, simmer stuff, or simply tossed with frozen veg/leftover rice/easy to cook grain dish. But learn your rotisserie chickens -- most of them are injected with brining solutions to keep them moist and sometimes the sodium is off the chart. A better way - you can just stick a whole chicken in a slow cooker, on low 6-8 hours and while the skin won't be as crispy, it's perfect for eating, adding to meals, enchiladas, etc. (If you can get a good air chilled chicken, then it can go right in the pot as it wasn't soaked in a water bath, so it will most release fat while cooking, so it poaches in its own fat, yummy. If not, put foil balls, a rack, or chopped veg (good ones, that you can eat as well, or just a tired onion or two, cut in halves/quarters) so that it sits above the water that's going to get released. There's nothing wrong with that water, now broth, so feel free to pour it over the leftover chicken to keep it moist, you just don't want the chicken to get water logged.) This will also work in a pressure cooker and instant pot. Season it with salt, pepper, spice mix, whatever.
Speaking of spice mixes, don't be afraid to use seasoning blends! Although, as usual, read the ingredients -- it should just be herbs and spices ideally. I will point you toward Penzey's, where you don't have to read the ingredients. Sure, I have all of the ingredients that make up their blends right there in my cabinet. But on a weeknight, it's a boon to just pull out a blend and use it. Spice blends can elevate those frozen vegetables, liven up that plain old rice or potatoes, make it seem like you did something to that chicken breast or piece of fish that was way more complicated than just sauteeing or baking it. Some of my Penzey's favorites: Bavarian for pork, potatoes, veg; Turkish for beef or lamb, Foxpoint for veg, Ozark for chicken, Cajun and Jerk for anything.
And please, oh, please, don't be afraid of "dump and cook" recipes, or taking shortcuts. I mean, sometimes I look at slow cooker recipes and think, well, hell after all that work and dirtying that many pans, I might as well just stick it in the oven and finish it here in half the time. The point is to get you cooking. Sure, the recipe might be improved if you browned each piece of that beef first before putting it in the slowcooker but you know what? It does not suck if you didn't. Yes, homemade stock is wonderful! But jeebus, Swanson's makes a pretty good low-sodium chicken broth and stock that aren't bad and it's just a can opener or cap twist away. Chop up some raw chicken, toss it with seasoning, put it in your rice cooker or instant pot with the rice and voila, dinner. Pour a jar of decent salsa over chicken, pork or a piece of fish, cover it with foil, toss it in the oven (google how to bake the protein you chose and that's how long and at what temperature. The salsa might insulate it a little so it's okay to give it a couple of extra minutes) and ta-da, dinner.
It may not be instagram-worthy, but it's dinner, you made it and it's way healthier than the alternative.
Step Two: embrace the concept that if the pre-made thing basically has the same ingredients you'd use if you were cooking from scratch, you might actually be a masochist if you insist on making it from scratch.
Step Three: feel good about using "helpers" but learn how to judge whether the time savings is worth slowly killing you with more fat, sodium, bullsh*t ingredients.
Step Four: try not to throat punch anyone who says "what you use jarred pasta sauce?" or "rice cooker, who needs a rice cooker, it's not like it's hard to make rice!". Look, Tiffany, I'm having pasta because I'm tired and in need of some comfort and probably had a shitty day at work, so yeah, you know what chopping onions and garlic, opening a can of tomatoes, adding seasonings IS BEYOND ME TONIGHT. And also, you will pry my rice cooker out of my cold dead hands, Jennifer, because I can just dump the rice and water in, turn it on and then take care of some shit and even if I get distracted by something, that cooker will stop on time and keep it warm until I'm ready, so get off my ass already. Ahem, Step Four may be just for me, but seriously, I'm telling you that if a chef uses an expletive deleted rice cooker, you can totally feel okay about using one. And the cheap $29 one from Target is JUST FINE.
Let's start with step three because I'm an anarchist. My pantry is filled with packets of simmer sauce type stuff. Especially Indian, but now they're coming out with all kinds. Because you can just throw rice in the rice cooker (or thaw out some frozen naan, or whatever), put the sauce in a pot, empty a can of rinsed beans into it, or leftover meat or even a chopped raw chicken breast or pork chop, or tofu cubes, and let it heat up while you're getting out of work clothes (is there anyone out there who comes home from work and stays in those clothes? I am not one of those -- it's soft clothes asap for me, but feel free to use the ensuing "while it heats up" time to do whatever.
BUT, you do have to look at the nutritionals, because there's an awful lot of extra sodium and fat going on. Note, I have nothing against fat on its own. But prepared food manufacturers will load their stuff with fat, sometimes saturated fat, as a shortcut for making it flavorful. So, it can really throw your fat intake into stupid-land on a cumulative basis. Let's face it, if I want indulge in saturated fat, I'm going to go to Five Guys or have macaroni and cheese or something that makes that fat worthwhile, rather than just have it thrown into something to make it more palatable. So land on the numbers you find acceptable and try to keep your "helpers" below that amount. I won't buy anything with a sodium number that's higher than 20% per serving. Because let's face it, I'm probably going to eat more than one serving and/or I might be putting salt on a side veg or the rice. So think on that. Same thing with the fat. Nothing against fat or salt inherently, but they are shortcuts to flavor that manufacturers use and I'd rather be eating my fat and salt where it brings joy.
Fewer ingredients tend to be better. Read the list and say to yourself, does that need to be in there, or is that another BS manufacturer short cut. Try to aim for "clean" labels, not because it's trendy, but because the whole point of what you're doing is to eat as healthy as possible, as quickly/labor free as possible. Otherwise you could just eat out, right?
So, I talked above, about the packet shortcuts (they come in jars as well). Beefing them up with beans, meat, tofu. Now, pasta sauce (where again, watch that sodium and expletive that high fructose corn syrup. A little bit of sugar is fine, but HFC means they're likely taking other shortcuts and other ingredient shenanigans) you can just crumble some ground beef, thaw out a couple of sausages in the sauce while it's heating (buy sausages, open the package, wrap each sausage or pair of sausages in plastic wrap, foil and throw in a zip lock bag in the freezer so that you can use one or two at at time - using them as flavor and an addition, rather than making them the main meal) or toss some frozen vegetables in there. Trader Joe's has a bag of frozen grilled zucchini, peppers and zucchini that's killer easy to chop while frozen and toss in a sauce to increase your meal's veg content. Or warm them up and serve the pasta sauce over the veg instead of pasta. Toss some frozen or raw spinach (or power greens, or baby kale) into the sauce and heat it up until they thaw/wilt.
Don't be afraid to use a rotisserie chicken - dinner one night, the leftover meat can be added to sauces, simmer stuff, or simply tossed with frozen veg/leftover rice/easy to cook grain dish. But learn your rotisserie chickens -- most of them are injected with brining solutions to keep them moist and sometimes the sodium is off the chart. A better way - you can just stick a whole chicken in a slow cooker, on low 6-8 hours and while the skin won't be as crispy, it's perfect for eating, adding to meals, enchiladas, etc. (If you can get a good air chilled chicken, then it can go right in the pot as it wasn't soaked in a water bath, so it will most release fat while cooking, so it poaches in its own fat, yummy. If not, put foil balls, a rack, or chopped veg (good ones, that you can eat as well, or just a tired onion or two, cut in halves/quarters) so that it sits above the water that's going to get released. There's nothing wrong with that water, now broth, so feel free to pour it over the leftover chicken to keep it moist, you just don't want the chicken to get water logged.) This will also work in a pressure cooker and instant pot. Season it with salt, pepper, spice mix, whatever.
Speaking of spice mixes, don't be afraid to use seasoning blends! Although, as usual, read the ingredients -- it should just be herbs and spices ideally. I will point you toward Penzey's, where you don't have to read the ingredients. Sure, I have all of the ingredients that make up their blends right there in my cabinet. But on a weeknight, it's a boon to just pull out a blend and use it. Spice blends can elevate those frozen vegetables, liven up that plain old rice or potatoes, make it seem like you did something to that chicken breast or piece of fish that was way more complicated than just sauteeing or baking it. Some of my Penzey's favorites: Bavarian for pork, potatoes, veg; Turkish for beef or lamb, Foxpoint for veg, Ozark for chicken, Cajun and Jerk for anything.
And please, oh, please, don't be afraid of "dump and cook" recipes, or taking shortcuts. I mean, sometimes I look at slow cooker recipes and think, well, hell after all that work and dirtying that many pans, I might as well just stick it in the oven and finish it here in half the time. The point is to get you cooking. Sure, the recipe might be improved if you browned each piece of that beef first before putting it in the slowcooker but you know what? It does not suck if you didn't. Yes, homemade stock is wonderful! But jeebus, Swanson's makes a pretty good low-sodium chicken broth and stock that aren't bad and it's just a can opener or cap twist away. Chop up some raw chicken, toss it with seasoning, put it in your rice cooker or instant pot with the rice and voila, dinner. Pour a jar of decent salsa over chicken, pork or a piece of fish, cover it with foil, toss it in the oven (google how to bake the protein you chose and that's how long and at what temperature. The salsa might insulate it a little so it's okay to give it a couple of extra minutes) and ta-da, dinner.
It may not be instagram-worthy, but it's dinner, you made it and it's way healthier than the alternative.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-17 05:43 pm (UTC)I have an excellent no-cook pasta sauce - again, food processor - that uses anchovies and tomatoes with a total of only seven ingredients, got the recipe from a Nigella Lawson cook book and it is great. Again, no heat load. I thought I'd posted it but found I either hadn't or didn't tag it under recipes, I'll make it again and post it next month.
And of course there's Spaghetti Carbonara, one of the simpler pasta recipes and perhaps my favorite. Again, I'll make it and post it next month - we're going to Phoenix in a couple of days for my mom's birthday and to do the Ren Fest and I'm not going to do any big cooking between now and then, or at least anything that won't be totally consumed or can't be frozen.