anyone got quick easy cooking ideas?

[Nikita]

I hate cooking. Loathe it. And with my 5th kid nearly due, I'm desperate to find some ways to avoid spending long stretches in the kitchen, toiling over a hot stove. I have a crockpot/slow cooker. Anyone got any recipes I can use this slow cooker for, so I can throw items in and hey presto it cooks itself? Or any quick-to-prepare recipes, even if they have to be in the oven for a while. Just dont have time to stand at a stove stirring and stirring... with a toddler hovering about and a new baby, that's my idea of a nightmare. Help me keep out of the kitchen!

[momtoo]

kraft has a website/magazine that features quick tps, shortcuts and speedy suppers.

http://www.kraftfoods.com//foodandfamily/#/features/timesavers

goodluck!

[akalori]

I'm not good at cooking either.  My favorite easy dinner is shake n bake porkchops.  All you do is shake the chops in a bag of mix then bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  To make it a meal, I also make mashed potatoes, a vegggie, and applesauce.  Ore Ida makes frozen mashed potatoes that you can buy in the freezer section at the grocery stores.  Just dump it in a bowl add milk and microwave it.  I buy steam in the bag veggies - broccoli is my favorite - again in the mico wave for 5 mins.  Then just open a can of applesauce.  And voila, dinner is ready in 25 minutes from start to finish without any prep.  Clean up is a cinch too because all you only used two serving bowls (mashed potatoes + veggies) and one cookie sheet.  If your kids won't eat pork you might be able to just cook some chicken nuggets alongside the pork chops on the same pan.  Just have to get turn them over once and take them out earlier than the pork.

Lori

[Nikita]

Thanks, they all seem like good ideas. I love mashed potatoes but with a large family who LOVE mash I'd buy 5kg bags of unwashed potatoes and get the kids to peel at least 20. They hate peeling potatoes, and so do I, so we havent had mash or roast potatoes for a while. Now I buy washed chats and we boil them or roast them in jackets, and if anyone didnt like that, TOUGH! But they've been hit. Much easier!! Frozen mash costs quite a bit unfortunately. The bake n shake pork sounds like a very easy meal.

[khatty]

Have you tried 'Chicken Hurry'?  Take chicken parts (legs, wings, backs, breasts, whatever what you want), and coat/toss/smear them in BBQ sauce.  Toss in slow cooker for 8 hours, or in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour and half.  Easy.  I serve with pasta (shells, macaroni, rotini, whatever I have) as the chicken has left over sauce that you can pour over the pasta.  Add frozen veggie and there is a meal.

[nhockaday]

I hate to hear about people microwaving their family's meals. Please avoid it as much as possible. There are some great crock pot cookbooks. Most of the recipes call for you to dump stuff into the pot and cook it for hours.

[kizudo]

I'd highly recommend the book "LIFE'S ON FIRE: Cooking for the Rushed" by Sandi (could be SandY...) Richards

The cookbook is divided into weeks - each week has 5 recipies, and one shopping list that includes EVERYTHING you need.  Each week has several "kitchen time" lengths - all short!  Each week also has a place for you to record your family's rating of the meal.

I suggest photocopying all the shopping lists & putting them in the book jacket - then they're ready regardless of what week you've chosen.

So, all you do is pick a week, compare the shopping list with what you have in your own cupboards and go shop for the remainder.  That way you have what you need - and the unnecessary wasted time of just thinking about what to make is gone!

I LOVE this book!

Also, may I suggest calling up a girlfriend and having a "casserole making day"?  I did that with my mom when I was in my 8th month and again with a girlfriend when she was in her 9th month.  We each picked four casserole recipies that could be frozen, doubled the ingredients and picked up tin casserole dishes at the grocery store.  Then we spent the day together laughing and cutting onions, etc.  At the end of the day we each had several casseroles in our freezers!  Magnificent!

[Jillpea]

One thing I do regularly in my house is home made chicken nuggets. You just cut chicken breast into big cubes, you get a bowl of mayonnaise and a bowl of breadcrumbs (spices added if you wish). Then give the chicken a quick rotate in the mayonnaise to coat it then into the breadcrumbs. Wack them onto a greased oven tray and put in the oven for an hour at about 180oC. Beautiful tender chicken nuggets all kids will eat!!! I will never buy nuggets again after making these. This receipe is from a cook book called 4 Ingredients. There are two versions available an no receipe has, you guessed it, more than 4 ingredients in it to make. Pumpkin and Fetta quiche is another favourite and vegetarian lasagne (although I add more than 4 vegies). The great thing I recon is once you've made something from the book it is in your memory, cause it's so easy to remember only four things. I got the book online at www.4ingredients.com.au

[Nikita]

Thanks everyone, I'll have some reading material for hospital. As for before birth, I've got lots of mince (ground beef), and tortillas, tacos and tomato flavouring. Add frozen mixed vegies and it goes pretty far. And it's really filling!!

[rhonjay]

I always love the soups, you can make up a huge pot and it it for days during the winter months.   tomato, bacon and basil soup:
2 large brown onions
12 rashers bacon
2 cloves garlic
tablespoon butter and oil
fry all this together stop before the bacon goes brown
2 large tins crushed tomatoes
tub tomato paste
1 -2 tins water (tins tomatoes came out of)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
add this to bacon & onions, bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes - you don't have to stir it
add 1 bunch chopped basil, salt & pepper to taste simmer 15 - 20 minutes
add 300ml fresh cream to finish, serve with crusty bread

alternativley you can cook the bacon/onions then stick it all in the slow cooker to simmer away for as long as you want.  just add the cream at the end.

YUM

[rhonjay]

oh, I love the chicken pieces shaken in moroccan spice.  cook in the oven or on the BBQ.  so so tasty.  serve with salads and veg. 

[nhockaday]

That sounds yummy, but what is rashers bacon?

[rhonjay]

oh, that is supposed to say rashers of bacon.  Just the bacon you get from the deli or in the packs.  you decide if you want the short cut or longer stuff.  Maybe its called something different outside Australia

[nhockaday]

We just call it bacon 

[qisdhi mom]

maybe u can try this ---->  http://www.foodnetwork.com/quick-and-easy/index.html     

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