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Silversoul
Rhizome


Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 23,576
Loc: The Barricades
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Quick, healthy meals?
#7600277 - 11/05/07 08:50 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I don't usually take the time to cook a real meal, so I tend to buy lots of prepackaged microwavable dinners. I'd like to actually cook more often, but have trouble finding things that can be made quickly and easily without having to shop for many ingredients. Any suggestions/recipes?
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Galvie_Flu



Registered: 06/30/02
Posts: 6,632
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Silversoul]
#7600360 - 11/05/07 09:12 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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ht
Edited by shaos (04/10/11 02:38 PM)
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mushbaby
woodswalker




Registered: 09/30/06
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Galvie_Flu]
#7601622 - 11/06/07 08:28 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Try buying yourself one of those little grills.
It is so easy and tasty. Boneless grilled chicken breast, throw some lemon pepper, garlic and Mrs. Dash on it. Steam some broccoli or other vegetables you like and you'll be done in about 15 mins.
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robbyberto
Water Boy


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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: mushbaby]
#7602102 - 11/06/07 11:06 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Any specific model? I'm interested in this also.
-------------------- “People say having kids is life changing, well that doesn’t necessarily mean a good thing, does it? I could take one of my legs off. That would change my life.” -Karl Pilkington
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tiny_rabid_birds
Nocturnal



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Posts: 15,653
Loc: estados unidos
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: robbyberto]
#7602429 - 11/06/07 12:19 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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you can just get a small george forman. i've got one and i do pretty much exactly what mushbaby said. rub a chicken breast down with some seasoning mix from the store, stick it in the forman for like 5-10 minutes (i'm not sure the exact time, i just poke to test the firmness). if you've got some lettuce/tomatoes handy, slice some up and make a sandwich.
if you like rice, get some brown rice, stick it in a jar with the appropriate amount of water overnight, and cook it while your chicken is going. soaking brown rice beforehand cuts the cooking time down a lot, and it's way way healthy. chop up some peppers or onions to add flavor. doesn't take very long at all.
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snoot
look alive ∞



Registered: 01/30/05
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fettuccini + butter + garlic + basil + thyme + shrimp + tomatoes =
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∞ I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. - Simone de Beauvoir -
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snoot
look alive ∞



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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: snoot]
#7602687 - 11/06/07 01:26 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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maybe throw some spinach in there, 10 minutes and delicious, and some white wine too deglaze the shirmps.
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∞ I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. - Simone de Beauvoir -
Edited by snoot (11/06/07 01:27 PM)
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mushbaby
woodswalker




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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: snoot]
#7602902 - 11/06/07 02:18 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Snoot that sounds yummy! I love the fresh herbs.
TRB maybe try throwing some cilantro in that brown rice too. It's kind of an acquired taste but I love it.
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snoot
look alive ∞



Registered: 01/30/05
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: mushbaby]
#7602971 - 11/06/07 02:35 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
mushbaby said: Snoot that sounds yummy! I love the fresh herbs.
TRB maybe try throwing some cilantro in that brown rice too. It's kind of an acquired taste but I love it.
you can add fresh cannabis herbs!
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∞ I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. - Simone de Beauvoir -
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mushbaby
woodswalker




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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: snoot]
#7603060 - 11/06/07 02:54 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I prefer my cannabis torched. But thanks.
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skydog
Coffee & Blunts



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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: mushbaby]
#7603430 - 11/06/07 04:27 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Can't really go wrong with chicken, rice, asparagus.
Chicken breast: http://www.tyson.com/Recipes/Product/ViewProduct.aspx?id=73
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-Cut the chicken up in cubes, get going in a skillet over medium heat -Chop the asparagus and garlic, add to skillet -Add some curry paste or some kind of stir fry sauce (I got some of this Szechuan Spicy sauce)
=Meanwhile, put the rice in the microwave for 90 seconds
-Stir fry that shit for about 5 minutes  -Put the rice in a bowl, add the chicken and asparagus, top with some sesame seeds
-Enjoy
This is pretty quick, tasty, and healthy. Good luck
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adrug

Registered: 02/04/03
Posts: 15,800
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Silversoul]
#7603871 - 11/06/07 05:55 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Here's my advice. The next time you go grocery shopping and have extra money burning a hole in your pocket, spend it on as many spices and flavorings as you can. Make sure you have all the necessities. Once you're all stocked up on that stuff, all you need to do is decide what to make and pick up the perishables.
I used to hate cooking too but then I realized it was because every time I wanted to cook something, I'd have to run to the store and buy like 12 different things. I was missing essential kitchen items like spices, oils, flour, baking powder, cornstarch, yeast, rice, etc. But if you go out and buy that stuff, eventually cooking doesn't seem like such an out of the way chore. And, cooking for yourself generally turns out to be cheaper in the long run. Even if you're buying your Swanson dinners on sale.
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playwithguns
Sporophore

Registered: 10/20/04
Posts: 223
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: adrug]
#7604333 - 11/06/07 07:58 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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A foreman grill is nice. I used to make a lot of chicken on it. A nice boneless chicken breast, melt some cheese over it and add a little salsa. Mmm mmm good stuff. Foremans are quick for burgers and small steak too.
-------------------- My Garden
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tiny_rabid_birds
Nocturnal



Registered: 11/08/05
Posts: 15,653
Loc: estados unidos
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Quote:
playwithguns said: Foremans are quick for burgers and small steak too.
oh yeah. a thin slice of beef will be done literally in 2 minutes or less (assuming the foreman is preheated).
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: adrug]
#7605117 - 11/06/07 10:34 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
adrug said: Here's my advice. The next time you go grocery shopping and have extra money burning a hole in your pocket, spend it on as many spices and flavorings as you can. Make sure you have all the necessities. Once you're all stocked up on that stuff, all you need to do is decide what to make and pick up the perishables.
Best advice here, hands down!
Id also like to say, once you have all the ingredients and a more open mind towards cooking, find the time to ENJOY cooking. I find the process of meal preperation one of the most enjoyable parts of my day.
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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Veritas

Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Silversoul]
#7606180 - 11/07/07 10:07 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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A general suggestion for cutting down on meal prep. time: make extra! It does not take more time to make 4 servings of a particular recipe, and you can either refrigerate or freeze the servings in single portions. Leftovers FTW!
If you devote a little extra weekend time to chopping/shredding your veggies so that they are ready to cook, this will encourage you to prepare them for each meal during the week. Invest in a few packages of breathable veggie bags...they really work to keep your veggies fresh for at least an extra week.
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geokills
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Veritas]
#7607013 - 11/07/07 01:32 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Right on! The freezer is an invaluable resource when it comes to quick and healthy meals. As I'm sure many people on this board have canning jars, it isn't difficult when making that homemade pasta sauce - to make a couple of extra quarts, can it, and freeze it for future use. Then all you have to do for a quick meal is boil up the pasta (which can be kept in your well stocked pantry for a very long time), warm up your homemade sauce, and dump some cheese on top if that's your thing, before you go diggin' right in.

For other quick and healthy meals - I would suggest sandwiches as a staple. A loaf of bread (depending on the type of bread you use) will stick around for some time. If you demand crusty artisan breads that tend to dry out faster, you can either keep them in a plastic bag in the fridge and toast them to rejuvenate the crust when you're ready to eat, or make a really quick stop by the store on the way home from school or work to pick up your favorite fresh roll.

Cured meats will keep for quite a while, though they may not be as healthy as fresh meats so here comes that freezer again! If you intend to let the stuff sit in stasis for an extended period of time, invest in a foodsaver bag sealing system. Then the next time you're making your once a week trip to the market, pick up that large value pack of chicken breasts, individually seal 'em up and throw them in the freeze. When you're ready to eat, run the bag under hot water to thaw, cook it up in no time, and slice it up for your sandwich or what have you. To really save time, you can add a marinade in with your meat before you freeze it - properly label and you'll have higher quality, tastier, and cheaper frozen meal at your fingertips.

When you buy vegetables, I've not used Veritas' suggestion of breathable storage bags but those do sound like a total winner. Alternately, I wrap my more-perishable veggies such as lettuce, cilantro, and green onions, loosely in paper towels and then place them in a plastic bag that is ballooned with air and kept in the crisper drawer. Tomatoes will last for quite a while in the firdge (though the cold will snap some of their sweetness). Green beans, sugar snap pea pods, fruits such as apples and kiwi will also last a considerable time in the fridge with no additional treatment. Onions and garlic will last for quite a while just sittin' in a cool place on your countertop.

I've found, the process snowballs the more you take it upon yourself to grasp the reigns of your meal creation process. It will be a bit more daunting in the beginning when you don't have any of the simple spices or canned goods that can help finish a more complex dish. So make a habit of cruisin' that shelf-stable aisle in the market and pickin' up specials on various beans, chilis, flour, rice, coconut milk, curry spice, honey, also things like frozen corn or peas, even if you don't need those items today. They will last, and you'll be happy when you realize that you have 90% of the ingredients for your desired meal already on hand and ready to use. As adrug noted, once you've come this far, it's not such a burden to make those quick trips to the market to pick up just a few select perishables to round out a meal fit for a king!
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-------------------- ┼ ··∙ long live the shroomery ∙·· ┼ ...╬π╥ ╥π╬...
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SheerTerror
ST


Registered: 11/28/03
Posts: 2,348
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Silversoul]
#7607460 - 11/07/07 03:37 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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yeah i buy alot of frozen organic meals, Amy's pockets,ect
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Irijes
Dankwoman



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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: SheerTerror]
#7607514 - 11/07/07 03:51 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
SheerTerror said: yeah i buy alot of frozen organic meals, Amy's pockets,ect
I love, love Amy's frozen organic meals! I used to take them to work all the time. Amy's is the best lasagna I have ever eaten, even better than homemade.
-------------------- "Apparently there is a great discovery or insight which our culture is deliberately designed to supress, distort and ignore. That is that Nature is some kind of minded entity. That Nature is not simply the random flight of atoms through electromagnetic fields. Nature is not the empty, despiritualized lumpen matter that we inherit from modern physics. But it is instead a kind of intelligence, a kind of mind." -Terence McKenna
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SheerTerror
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Irijes]
#7607668 - 11/07/07 04:27 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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hell yeah! i love everything they make, i stock up.




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Farfignewton
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Re: Quick, healthy meals? [Re: Silversoul]
#11522354 - 11/24/09 09:10 PM (14 years, 2 months ago) |
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Epic Pasta.
It takes no more than 30 minutes, and it freezes well.
5-10 Garlic Cloves: Depending on how much garlic you like. 2 Yellow Onions Basil ( Fresh ) or Oregano ( Dried ): I enjoy Basil when I can get it. Two Cans of Tomatoes: Preferably Whole. Olive Oil: 3-4 Table Spoons 1lbs Lean Ground Beef Salt: To taste. Hot Pepper Flakes: To taste. Pasta Noodles of your Choice: Spaghetti works great.
1. Skin and chop your onion up into small pieces ( bout' the size of pennies ), just make sure they're all the same size to ensure even cooking.
2. Skin and chop your garlic, and mince finely.
3. Put 3-4 table spoons of olive oil in a 4 quart pot; this'll be your primary pot. Get the pan hot on medium heat. Once it's warmed up, throw in all of your onion. Cook until it's transparent, at this point throw in your garlic.
4. During the time they're cooking, lower the heat so that they don't burn, don't forget to stir occasionally. Meanwhile get a bowl out and open up the tomato cans, pouring all of the liquid they're packed in, inside of the bowl. Cut the tomatoes over the bowl to make sure it catches all of the liquid. Cut up all of the tomatoes into bit-sized pieces, be sure that you don't include the hard stem part up-top, but cut as close to it as possible.
5. Once the onion, garlic, and olive are done cooking ( when they're all cooked by their transparent/brown colour, takes bout' 12-15 minutes or so ), add all of the tomatoes and tomato juice, and bring it up to a light simmer and start reducing it a little bit.
6. During this time, get a pan out that's big enough to put in your 1lbs of lean ground beef. Place it in the pan and cook it through. There will be a lot of oil and grease coming from the meat as it cooks down, if you like you can remove it, if not, leave it in for some flavour.
7. During this time the meat and the sauce are done; take out your basil that comes in those small personal packs of one bunch ea., and pick them off the stem, right where the leafy part meets the stem. Discard the stems and stack all of the leaves ontop of one another, with the biggest leave on the bottom, then roll them up like a joint nice and tight. Run your knife through the joint of basil leaves, making small ribbons. Leave like this, or cut up more.
8. Add the meat to the pasta sauce, along side the basil. Stir together, and put a lid on it to retain heat, and leave it on a light simmer. During this time, you can put on another pot and fill it full of water, and turn it on high heat till it boils. Add two tables spoons of salt, and two of olive oil, and then whatever pasta noodles you like. Cook until they're the desired texture, stain the noodles and water through a colander and once done put the noodles back into the pot they were cooked in.
9. Get a ladle of pasta sauce and add it into the pasta, coating all of the noodles evenly. Do a taste test of the pasta sauce and add as much salt as desired, along with hot pepper flakes.
10. Serve with garlic bread, and sprinkled parmesan cheese .
Double the recipe for bulk. Freezes well with or without the ground beef.
Enjoy ).
-------------------- "Sparkling Green Tea Ginger Ale is twelve fluid ounces of wet-dreams in a can!"
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