(Non-)Fast Food

[Kevy Baby]

Make a huge pot of refried beans and have that handy.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Make a huge pot of refried beans and have that handy.

But lock it up securely if you know Kevy is coming over!

[Stan4dSteph]

I like a recipe I got from Weight Watchers called layered Mexican chicken

Ingredients

2 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
30 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cup fat-free sour cream
2 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, or Mexican-style cheese blend (I buy the pre-shredded in the bag kind)
8 oz chopped green chilies, two 4-oz cans
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
12 medium corn tortilla, cut into 2-inch strips
1 cup salsa, mild, medium or hot

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a lasagna pan with cooking spray.

2. Place chicken in medium saucepan and fill with enough cold water just to cover chicken. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes; drain. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into 1-inch pieces.

3. Transfer chicken to a large bowl and add beans, sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, chilies, cumin, and pepper; mix well and set aside.

4. Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared lasagna pan, overlapping pieces to cover surface. Top tortillas with half of chicken mixture, layer with remaining tortillas and then top with remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.

5. Bake until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces. Serve with salsa on the side.

[katiesue]

I've been using recipes from the Hungry Girl cookbook. Most are super easy and she tends to use a lot of the same base ingreidents so you can use the same stuff for multiple recipes. She also has a website

I have freezer safe small pyrex dishes with rubber tops. When I make lasagna or enchelladas I make small individual portions and freeze. Then I can take them out, put in a cold oven, turn on the heat and cook a fresh dinner. I also make extra stuffing at Thanksgiving and freeze in them and then freeze the turkey seperate.

I also got a lot of good information out of the Eat This not That books.

[Morrigoon]

If you get a vacuum sealer, you can enter the cool world of Sous Vide cooking. I don't know any good links for it (my brother is the one who's into sous vide) but a quick search did produce this thorough (if dry) page on the topic.

Basically, you season and vacuum-seal your food, place it in a water bath just a degree above the desired doneness temperature, and because it's sealed in a bag with its own juices and no air, you can cook it at that temperature for an insane amount of time without it drying out or overcooking. Then freeze the cooked food, and when you're ready to eat, pull it out, unseal, and heat it up in a more traditional way (but quicker because it just needs to be warmed up to a pleasing temperature).

[RStar]

Sous Vide cooking sounds interesting, but keeping a steak in a warm water bath for 24 hours is both scary and inconvienant. But I could imagine the texture and juciness would be quite remarkable.

* Note-(I hope everyone keeps in mind I'm on vicodin for my surgery, so anything odd I say and any spelling errors-more than usual- can be chocked up to that)*

[BarTopDancer]

I have this Foodsaver branded vacuum sealer. I bought it at Costco for about $100 (as a Costco bundle it came with a bunch of bags and bag storage/cutter thing). It's about 5 years old now and it works just fine. I couldn't tell the difference between the fancier models and this one. It also seals 'Foodsaver' canisters where I store pasta and dried beans/lentils.

As a side note, I read the reviews from the link and haven't had any of the issues those people are experiencing with the canisters.

[Stan4dSteph]

Since I don't have a Costco, I don't really buy enough in bulk to make a Foodsaver worthwhile, but I can see how it would help save on meat costs. Also, do those canisters help with the notorious CA ant problem?

[SzczerbiakManiac]

All of the FoodSaver canisters have cracked on me. The only plastic container that hasn't is the Quick Marinator.

[cirquelover]

I love my Foodsaver. It allows me to buy in bulk when items are cheap and seal them up into the portion sizes I choose. The new ones are even made to stand up and work, so they take up less space on the counter. I buy the rolls of make your own size bags. I find them more economical than the precut bags.

I just found a cookbook at the library called Don't Panic More Dinner's in the Freezer, it's pretty neat. I assume there is a first one too!

I agree with everyone so far, cook a roast and portion it out or cook an extra chicken. You can also precook hamburger and freze in portions you'll use later.

I've been known to cook an over full of potatos and make twice baked potatos and freeze them for later. Also a kitchen full of french bread pizzas, then freeze for later use.