10.30.2012

{Food for Thought} My Idea of Quick Cooking

It's no secret that I love to cook. Or maybe that I love to eat. Or both—which is fine, because they're equally true. Food is my friend! And then my enemy when I eye the nice little contemporary glass scale my husband stashed in our bathroom. It was actually meant to be a baby scale. I asked the husband to buy a baby scale so we could keep track of the quad's weights as they grow, so he ordered one and it arrived on our door step a few days later. But I was pretty confused when instead of a baby scale, we get a regular scale.

Granted it was all nice and shiny, but it sure as hell wasn't for weighing babies. He explained we'd weigh ourselves then stand on the scale with a baby and subtract the difference. Then I explained to him, in very clear terms with a few very clear expletives, that we would in no way be standing on that scale on a daily basis and see our sad poundage pop up on the digital display like a condoning reminder that I shouldn't have eaten cake for breakfast. Nor would I be partaking in some mathematical quiz every time I want to find out how much each of my four babies weighs.

Nevertheless, the husband then apologetically ordered an actual baby scale and now the aforementioned "adult scale" resides in our bathroom. And I may have stood on it this morning.

We're no longer friends.

Now where was I...oh yeah, welcome to a new category on my blog! "Food for Thought" is a quick-hit picture-postin' list of various basic dinners I've come up with lately, most of which are on the fly and take about 20 minutes from start to finish. I've always loved cooking but I tend to cook more Rachael Ray-style, if you will, and I have no shame in taking shortcuts to achieve a delicious and convenient end result.

Basically, it's simply to share what I've been making in the kitchen and hopefully inspire others out there who lead busy lives and don't have time to cook complicated things. Here goes!


Tacos
They're easy to make and they can suffice for any meal. I've been on a "taco kick" lately and have been making all kinds, from breakfast tacos to chicken fajita tacos. These particular quick tacos involved ground beef cooked with a packet of taco seasoning, corn tortillas, garlic cilantro salsa, cilantro lime rice (make your own by steaming white rice and mixing with 1/8 cup of lime juice and a healthy handful of freshly chopped cilantro), cheese and black beans. Dinner (or breakfast?) is served!



Apple Cider Sausage Skillet
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes and I've been making it since I was, like, six. Seriously. I've blogged about it before and you can find the recipe here



Popcorn shrimp
When all else fails, store bought popcorn shrimp can come to the rescue. It's easy to, ahem, pop into the oven and keeps well in the freezer. I also stash some cocktail sauce in my fridge for occasions such as these. I didn't totally phone it in though. I sauteed some zucchini and squash in a pan with a little real butter, chili powder, garlic powder, sea salt and pepper. Then I prepared a box of organic white cheddar mac & cheese to the instructions, adding a couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes and Lawry's seasoning salt. 


Stir-fry
It can be made so many ways and it's super easy to make your own faux fry! For this rendition, I used microwave steamable brown rice. I cut up two chicken breasts and cooked them in a pan with some chili powder, sea salt and pepper then added some teryaki sauce to coat and turned up the heat to get the sauce carmelized just a tiny bit. Then I lowered the heat back down and mixed in freshly steamed, chopped broccoli, my rice and a little more teryaki sauce. I heated it through then served in bowls topped with peanuts for crunch. Yum!

Happy eating! 

4 comments:

  1. ALL these dishes look delicious!!! You have ALWAYS been a good cook!! I'm going to try that stir fry!

    Remember when you prepared a menu list for me after Louis Dean had that heart attack? We still use it....

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  2. Hi Amber! I am a friend of Mike's from when we were kiddos (in fact...he was my first boyfriend...I was not his first girlfriend...he liked to play the field in 3rd grade :)). I found your blog through him on FB and have been keeping up. I have a foodie blog that sounds like something you might like. I love guest posts from other bloggers...let me know if you're ever up for it. (A quick and simple meal from a mom of quads would be excellent!). http://www.mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com/ or my family blog http://www.shullfamily.blogspot.com/

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  3. Love this! We are totally foodies and miss the days of having the luxury of time to cook dinner. Shortcuts are awesome if we get a nice meal on the table a few nights a week!

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  4. Your apple cider sausage skillet is great,being nosey when I first found your blog saw the recipie tried it and Love it:)
    Never thought of adding lime juice to rice for tacos,will have to try that.
    Thanks:)

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