let's talk about cooking :)

redshoegirl · January 2011

I feel like lately I'm in a cooking rut. I have maybe 9-10 "go to" dinners that we tend to cycle through regularly - they're tasty, fairly healthy and not overly time consuming, so that's what we eat most of the time. And now I'm getting bored. Stick out tongue

I want to shake things up, but I hate trawling for hours through recipe websites like allrecipes.com looking for new dishes (I generally only use them if I'm looking for something specific - e.g., "hmm, I want a pasta with chicken in it" vs "I want a new dish and have no idea what").

So hit me with your go-to dishes! Bonus points if they meet the holy trinity of cooking in my house: healthy, relatively inexpensive and easy to make. Stick out tongue

KShiz · January 2011

Wink

Since we canceled cable a few months back, there's been a lot of PBS on. One of the shows that I love is Americas Test Kitchen, they put out the magazine Cooks Illustrated (not sure if you get it 'round your neck of the woods). They try out a recipe in a bunch of different ways to make it as easy as possible and show you what mistakes they make so you don't make the same.

Anyhoodle, they revamped all of their recipes in a book called "Americas Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook", it's not "diet-y" in any way shape or form, they just say, Hey, if you like this chicken parm, here's how you can make it w/ less cheese and cut out x # of fat & calories. The recipes very rarely have ingredients that you've never heard of or that are hard to find.

The best part about it is that the recipes are so easy to follow, it actually makes it seem like I know how to cook

I'd recommend

Oh, and you can also get online access to some of their recipes @ americastestkitchen.com, but I think it's like $14.95/ year for full access.

Married2MrWright · January 2011

I'm not really a recipe person, but here are some of our go-to meals. If any appeal to you I'd be glad to let you know how we prepare them! The majority only take 20-30 minutes from start-to-finish.

1) Baked, BBQ chicken thighs, smashed garlic potatoes, steamed broccoli

2) Garlic beef over rice with asparagus

3) Spaghetti sauce with ground turkey and turkey kielbasa over pasta (I add zucchuni, crook neck squash and mushrooms to up the veggie content)

4) Grilled pork loin with sauteed spinach and quinoa or couscous

5) Fetuccini (spinach pasta) alfredo with grilled chicken or shrimp and broccoli or asparagus

6) Baked turkey cutlets or grilled ground turkey patties with baked sweet potato oven fries and steamed green beans

7) Pot roast with garlic smashed potatoes and roasted beets, wilted collard greens

8) Chicken noodle or tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches or quesadillas

9) Three bean chili

10) Mushroom and cheese fritttata with spinach salad

I've been testing out the website www.plantoeat.com to see if will help me with meal planning. What I like about it is that you can enter your own recipes or those you find online and it will generate a grocery list for you!

mrspresley · January 2011

yeah I feel the same way too. unfortunately i do not cook a ton, maybe 1-2x per week.

most of my blog is sweet stuff but there are some savory dishes in there too and the ones that are there are generally pretty good. a lot of those are the "staples" that i make all the time. you can use the tags on my sidebar to find those - i thought i had a "good eats" tag but i only have a "freeze well - good eats" tag.

I recently came across this recipe that i really want to try soon! it looks easy and very good

mrs.winter · January 2011

My mom just gave me this one..I've cooked it once and liked it.

Herbed Chicken with Apples & Cranberries

4 or more boneless/skinless chicken breasts

? t salt

? t thyme

? t pepper

1 T Canola Oil

4 med apples pealed, cored and cut into ? inch wedges (5 cups)

1/3 cup cranberries ( I use dried cranberries)

2 T brown sugar

1 T lemon juice

? T cinnamon

In a small bowl mix salt, thyme, pepper and sprinkle over chicken breast.

In large frying pan, place oil and heat to med high temp and add chicken. Cook about 5 mins of each side or until chicken is browned Remove chicken to a platter and set aside. In same frying pan add apples and cook stirring 2 mins. Sprinkle with cranberries, brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon over apples stirring to mix. Arrange browned chicken over apple mixture. Reduce until chicken is tender. Serve by arranging chicken on platter and surround with apple mixture.

Makes 4 servings

inamra · January 2011

I like this one for easy, inexpensive, and fairly healthy (and yummy!):

https://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeId=24702&fbid=008wroMkfxK

MrsZiz · January 2011

Here's our meal plan this week and a few from last week:

Beef tacos (quick and easy)

Roast in the crockpot with onions, carrots, potatoes and celery

Ribs with rice and a veggie (crockpot again)

Sloppy joes with oven fries

Asian stir fry (veggies only)

Greek chicken pitas

Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans

Other go to's: Spaghetti, stuffed shells (so easy and so good!), Autumn pork with apples and onions in the crockpot.

That's all we have on the list so far this week... we go to the store buy enough for all of it and then if we end of having leftovers or not cooking it all, it goes on the list for the next week.

redshoegirl · January 2011

Thanks all! I'm bookmarking this so I can keep referring to it. Big Smile

Want a personalized experience?

let's talk about cooking :)

Re: let's talk about cooking :)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards