quick prep recipes

[Airenn]

I make a pineapple chicken bake that I love. It's fairly sweet so keep that in mind. (I love sweet things!)


Oven to 375
Brush chicken breasts with butter and put in the pan
Top with a little bit of salt/pepper

Mix: Crushed Pineapple, Brown sugar, 2 tblespoons of mustard, 2 tblespoons of bbq sauce


You can substitute the bbq sauce for worsteshire/lemon juice and soy sauce mix. I just don't have those laying around so I use bbq sauce.

Mix those up and layer on top of the chicken, Bake for 30 minutes.


I serve it with scallop potatoes (easy mix that takes 15 minutes on the stove) and french cut green beans.


Love it.<3

[zoobernut]

I haven't met any kids that are ok with being put down for more than a couple minutes if they can't sit up yet. (unless they are asleep). It isn't just about if they are able to be put down it is also about if they will let you. When a lot of babies are that young and they are not self entertaining at all they will not let you put them down even if it is in a device that keeps them sitting up or something.

There are some kids that are ok with that but others are not.

Edit: We have one of those bumpy chairs (the rubber ones that sit on the floor) and my son loves sitting in it as long as I am sitting on the floor next to him with toys to play with. Sometimes we can get away with putting him in an umbrella stroller in the kitchen while we cook and just pushing it around with our feet every once in a while or shaking a toy for him.

[Darkslitter]

toast 2 slices of bread
Throw on 2 pieces of American cheese
put in microwave for 10 seconds.

[Ksandra]

I haven't met any kids that are ok with being put down for more than a couple minutes if they can't sit up yet. (unless they are asleep). It isn't just about if they are able to be put down it is also about if they will let you. When a lot of babies are that young and they are not self entertaining at all they will not let you put them down even if it is in a device that keeps them sitting up or something.

There are some kids that are ok with that but others are not.

^ we have one of those bouncers she likes, but it's really hit or miss on how long she's willing to stay in there. plus, she just started teething which has made her fussier.

I make a pineapple chicken bake that I love. It's fairly sweet so keep that in mind. (I love sweet things!)


Oven to 375
Brush chicken breasts with butter and put in the pan
Top with a little bit of salt/pepper

Mix: Crushed Pineapple, Brown sugar, 2 tblespoons of mustard, 2 tblespoons of bbq sauce


You can substitute the bbq sauce for worsteshire/lemon juice and soy sauce mix. I just don't have those laying around so I use bbq sauce.

Mix those up and layer on top of the chicken, Bake for 30 minutes.


I serve it with scallop potatoes (easy mix that takes 15 minutes on the stove) and french cut green beans.


Love it.<3

this seems pretty fast, thanks!

toast 2 slices of bread
Throw on 2 pieces of American cheese
put in microwave for 10 seconds.

/thread

[Kumbai]

Here are some recipe videos on Youtube. There's a lot of stuff on there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/foodwishes - a bit of everything, he's really great for variation.
http://www.youtube.com/user/lauravitaleskitchen - mainly italian food, but has a lot of other stuff. She's irritating at first but it'll soon become a hobby to mimic her introductions.

Enjoy!

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Just don't do any flambé cooking and you'll be fine.

[quannum]

microwave bacon
bread in toaster while a pan is heating up
bacon grease -> hot pan -> scramble eggs

heating up the pan takes the longest.

---
you have a slow cooker? throw a 3-6 pound pork shoulder in there, throw it on warm for 8 hours, make some bbq sauce and mix it with the shredded pork

lotsa cook time, no prep time.

[Marootsoobutsu]

Flat iron steak: season with salt and pepper, maybe garlic if you like it. Heat a skillet to medium-low to medium, set a timer for 5 minutes. Flip it, set a timer for 4 minutes. Put a pat of butter and a little parsley for the last 30 seconds. No need to watch it, and it's better than most steak house you'll get. At least here, it's not that expensive (I can frequently get it for $3-4/lb). Total prep time: about 2 minutes.

You can also marinate it in terriyaki after the kid goes down to sleep, cook it the same way, then slice it and serve over rice with some pre-cut veggies you just steam. The pre-cut adds a bit to the price, but cuts prep time from about 10 minutes to about 30 seconds.

Baby red potatoes: Line a cookie sheet, rinse 'em/scrub 'em (longest part), cut 'em in half, drizzle about 1 tbsp olive oil them for every pound you're cooking, coat with salt, pepper, minced garlic, and rosemary. Total prep time there's about 2-4 minutes, depending on how fast you can clean/cut. Put 'em in an oven at 450 for 30 minutes for 2 lbs. Not a meal, but a relatively quick side that is simple to make and absolutely delicious. If you're going on a budget, quartering regular reds works okay, at about 1/3 the cost of baby reds for a little more work.

They all go together well, and it's nice that they really aren't all being done at once. I did this kind of thing a *LOT* when I was home with my youngest-- she couldn't stand being put down at all for about 6 months.

Cooking in stages, getting as much of the prep-work as I could get done the night before when she was sleeping... things like that helped a lot. Prep for 5 --> play with the kid for 15 --> prep for 5 --> play with the kid for 10 --> eat. Heck, get your husband to wash the potatoes the night before, or chop veggies. Or do it yourself, or together... whatever works for you guys. The more of the work you can spread out, the less exhausting it becomes, and the more breaks you can kinda get from the li'l tyrant.

[Sera]

http://www.mealsmatter.org/RecipesAn...ick/index.aspx

http://www.mealsmatter.org/RecipesAn...ick/index.aspx

also whoever said rice cooker, yes.

also don't they make baby backpacks now? you can wear em on your chest or your back, and just carry the baby around but have your hands free. if she just wants to stay close to ya, that might work long enough to let you throw some ingredients into a pan and stir it around

[Ganondorf]

I'm a big fan of lazy, 1-pot rice dishes. Dice up some chicken (like 1-inch cubes or so), peppers, onion, garlic. Season (salt, cayenne, cumin, oregano) Throw it all in a small pot with some oil and cook until the chicken is a little brown. Dump in a cup of rice, 2 cups water or stock, bring to a boil, lid, drop the heat to low and let it cook for 20 mins. At most you're looking at 10-15 mins prep to pot at worst, less if your knife skills are at least average. Even less if you just use salsa. It's nothing spectacular, but hey, you spent 10 minutes making it. I'm sure you could get more creative with it than that. Seafood/frozen shrimp and pre-packaged sausage maybe? Poor-man's paella?

I'm not a huge fan of precooking and chilling food for future use, but I did one over the weekend that turned out pretty awesome. Got some chicken parts on sale (breasts with bones and skin still on, a few legs). Them and threw them in a pot of water with onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, pepper corns; just cut the veggies into chunks, it's stock, it doesn't need to be pretty. Let it cook for a few hours. Shredded the chicken, drained the stock and froze it. You can reuse the chicken and stock for whatever, or just combine them into soup again. Obviously this takes some time, but if you do it on the weekend, you have pre-made ingredients throughout the week. Could save you 20-30+ mins of work each night.

With the shredded chicken, I greased up a casserole dish and layered it with soft tortillas, cheese and fresh salsa (finely chopped tomato, onion, jalapeno, cucumber, cilantro, salt, corn; again, make a bunch on the weekend and refrigerate, it actually lasts pretty well) or just use your favorite jarred salsa. Bake, I think I did 375 for 50 mins or so. It's like a quesadilla casserole. Healthy? Fuck no, but it was damn good.

Haven't used the stock yet, but I'm thinking roasted tomato soup sometime this week, which I've done a few times. Halve/quarter some tomatoes and throw in a baking dish with some whole garlic, quartered onion and olive oil (and salt) and just throw it in the oven for and hour or so. The garlic/onions i pick out and chop them up reallly fine. I like the soup chunky so i just mash the tomatoes up with a potato masher. You could use a food processor/blender too, which will be faster. And if the skins bother you (i don't mind them), you could blanch and peel them before roasting i guess, but that obviously would add tons of time, and I've never done it personally. Throw everything in a pot with the stock and just let it simmer. Season it however you like. Salt and a little cayenne are good. I like making it kinda sweet so i chop up lots of fresh basil and put some olive oil directly in the pot. Don't boil it, you're just looking to heat everything together. All together you're looking at maybe 20 minutes, maybe less if you take some shortcuts. You could just use a stick blender and have everything done in 5 minutes after the tomatoes come out of the oven.

Slow cookers? If you have time in the morning just rub a pork shoulder with some brown sugar and spices and call it a day. It'll be done by dinner. Shred it with a fork, dump on some BBQ sauce, and pit it on a roll. It takes like 10 minutes and is probably the best thing ever. I'll guarantee a BJ, minimum.

[vagus]

Congrats on the baby!

Slow cooker and a cheap large piece of Pork Butt. Pulled Pork is easy to make. If you have a rice cooker, cook rice and toss in a some veggies to steam and some meat to steam as well. Cheap and fast.

[Pirian]

Real real easy and fantastic meal:

Italian Pan-Fried Chicken on a bed of Couscous with an Asparagus Cream sauce

Spoiler: show

INGREDIENTS: (don't be intimidated by the length of the list, it's mostly spices)
About 3 medium to large chicken breasts - I prefer to cut these into strips to have a better coating of spices
1 cup dry couscous - I recommend this brand/flavor for this dish:

Spoiler: show

1 can cream of asparagus soup
2/3 cup Milk - I use whole, but whatever kind you regularly use works.
3 TB of good Olive Oil
*1 TB Olive Oil <This is for the couscous if using plain couscous>
1 TB dried Basil
1 TB dried Parsley
1 TB dried Oregano
1 tsp Garlic powder (if you prefer to use minced garlic or fresh garlic kudos, I use fresh and mince it myself)
*1 tsp Garlic powder <This is for the couscous if using plain couscous>
1 tsp Onion powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground White Pepper - I love this stuff, but people don't often have it for some reason, so it isn't necessary if you don't.
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper




COOKING:
Everything here is usually done at/during the same time, but I'll write it out for each part so it isn't confusing:

Start preparing the couscous according to your directions. This usually means:
1) Set 1.5 cups water to boil in a covered small pot with the optional garlic and olive oil if using plain couscous.
2) Add the couscous once the water is boiling.
3) Give the couscous a good few stirs and recover the pot
4) Reduce heat to the LOWEST possible setting, and let stand for 2-3 minutes.
5) Fluff the couscous with a fork to see if all the water is absorbed, and remove from heat if so, and if not then return to the hot eye and repeat from step 4 until done.

Sauce:
1) Empty contents of the can of Cream of Asparagus into a small pot
2) Add the 2/3 cup of Milk to pot
3) Cook on MEDIUM heat stirring often. I usually do this part while sauteing the chicken.
4) Reduce the heat to LOW once the sauce starts a medium boil.

Chicken
1) Take your chicken breast and leave whole if desired, or cut into 1" strips(recommended), and place in a bowl with ALL the spices, garlic and olive oil
2) Mix thoroughly
3) Empty all contents of bowl into a large pan and cook over medium heat. Careful not to use too high of a heat to spoil the delicate olive oil, but you need it high enough to get a good sear on the chicken.



ASSEMBLY:
1) Spread out a healthy portion of couscous for a single person on a plate.
2) Adequately cover the couscous with chicken strips.
3) Pour a ladle full of the asparagus cream sauce over the entire portion.
4) Eat that motherfucker.

This looks like a lot, but that's because I like being precise. Most of it is being made at the same time and it usually takes me 10 minutes to make. 15 if the chicken is frozen beforehand. If the chicken is frozen then I'll put it in hot water for 5 minutes to thaw slightly and then cut it up. I actually prefer cutting the chicken up while it is only slightly thawed because it is easier to cut into concentric pieces (OCD like a bitch), and honestly it is just easier to cut in general.

I actually started making this dish with homemade cream of asparagus soup, but that is time consuming and the canned shit works well enough.

[Sera]

You could also cook a lot of something. Freeze it and then just heat it up.

[vagus]

You could also cook a lot of something. Freeze it and then just heat it up.

Indeed. Extra pasta sauce.

[Guyverarmor]

You could also cook a lot of something. Freeze it and then just heat it up.

We pretty much did that for the first year after my son was born. Also, if you are willing to do this as well...prep it the night before, put it in the fridge. Day off
Just throw it in the oven, or in the pans on the stove. I picked up this habit after my son was born, and still do it today. Save bunch of time. Get off at 5pm, get home around 5:10, put the pans/oven on, and throw the food in. No dishes to clean up other than your plates you used and pot/pans since food was made the night before.

Also, I second the shredded pork. Bought a 10lb pork butt, slow cooked for 8hrs while at work, come hom, took 5 min to shred and made 2 days worth of food for me and the wife.

[SamanosukeShiva]

agreed with rice cooker, it's versatile and cheap as hell.

[Airenn]

Also, I buy those lasagnas that take like an hour in the oven. For times when I just don't feel like cooking and a decently normal/healthy meal.


Something else I make is beanie weenies and sweet corn bread. I can write that out later if you're interested. Not healthy at all but whatever, reminds me of being a kid.

[Ksandra]

ty for the tips guys. going grocery shopping this weekend so I'll try a few things.

on a side note: ya my husband is filipino, have no worries, we have a rice cooker lol.

on the baby carrier (I have one), you'd have to try one to see it, but it's really not good to wear your baby and cook on the stove lol. She sticks pretty far out infront with her legs hanging. That's just asking for her toes to get burned on accident.

[Deadgye]

If you have a grill doing stuff like steak/hamburgers/chicken doesn't usually take up most of your time. You just go out every few minutes to turn stuff over and then come back in. Prep work is usually just letting it marinate in a bag for a few hours or overnight in the fridge, or using a dry rub on steak shortly before throwing it on the grill.