 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Too busy to cook?
By JANET K. KEELER The holidays bring with them so much work. There are gifts to buy, decorations to hang, special cookies to bake. Then the gifts need wrapping, cards need addressing and the oven needs fixing before the cookies can be baked. Social obligations dot the calendar: school pageants, church functions, office parties, neighborhood open houses. It all sounds so exciting the day after Halloween, but come the day after Thanksgiving, the pressure begins to build. Not to make you even more nuts, but here's another thing. While additional duties demand your attention, your family still needs to eat -- every single day. It's quite admirable that you've already made dozens of pinwheels, gingerbread people and snowballs, but what's for dinner tonight? The Rev. Dominic Garramone, host of the PBS cooking show Breaking Bread With Father Dominic, talked about the Christmas frenzy when he was in Tampa last spring on a publicity tour. He said it amuses him that December is the time when people bake bread from scratch. "Why the holidays? The busiest time of the year is when you bake bread?" he said. "What are you doing in July?" He makes sense, but not enough to keep us from biting off more than we can chew. The best way to tackle dinnertime during hectic December is to keep it simple and be prepared. Save the fussy recipes for March when nothing is going on. Meals in minutes? Heck, we need meals in nano-seconds. Here are some ways to keep your family well-fed while you keep other obligations. Plan, a little. As events are scheduled, mark them on the calendar that hangs in your kitchen, study or other communal locale. (No calendar? Copy December from someone else's and post it on the refrigerator.) This way you'll know how many people will be eating at home on what night, and whether you should plan on ordering Chinese or getting a pizza. Note takeout on the calendar. Make friends with frozen foods. Heat up a frozen pizza or a tray of lasagna. Make a salad from bagged lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Easy. (You might want to move the lasagna from the freezer to the fridge in the morning. It will cook quicker if it's not rock solid.) Frozen vegetables are a decent alternative to fresh, especially green beans and spinach. Stock up on them. Frozen meatballs, jarred spaghetti sauce and linguine. Add salad and bread. Dinner in 20 minutes. Survey your pantry. Turn chili into chili dogs; cream of chicken soup into a sauce for sauteed chicken breasts; and diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, chopped olives and artichoke hearts into a chunky pasta sauce. When you shop, look for recipes on the containers of canned and jarred foods. If they look good, buy the ingredients. Warning: Canned and other prepared foods, especially soups, can be high in sodium and/or fat. Look for low-sodium, low-fat versions if that's a concern. Make ahead. If you have a free slot this weekend, make a big pot of soup or stew on the stovetop and roast beef (or chicken or ham) in the oven. Serve the roast beef the night you make it and the soup the next night. Leftover roast beef can be used for French dip sandwiches or thinly sliced over green salads. Freeze the remainder of the soup for later in the month. (Mark and date it.) If you can do this each weekend leading up to Christmas, you'll have four meals a week in the bag! Remember, soups and stews often taste better when the flavors have time to meld. If you've got the oven on to roast meat or poultry, throw in a baking dish of chopped veggies such as eggplant, tomatoes, green and red peppers and fennel that have been doused in olive oil and chopped garlic. Roasted vegetables keep for a week in the fridge and can be used hot or cold to top rice or couscous or on sandwiches. Breakfast for dinner. Omelets, sausage and toast. You can even add frozen pancakes or waffles. We call that a big country breakfast at our house, and no one blinks an eye when it's served for dinner. Drag out the slow cooker. How much more clever can you get than to be cooking dinner while you're at work or shopping? Crock-Pot food can get a little tiresome as a steady diet, but it's better than foraging. One-dish meals. Casseroles are hearty and easy and a good way to get vegetables into the diet. When we are in a rush, vegetables are often the first thing we forgo. Who has time for all that peeling and chopping? Again, make a casserole or two on the weekend and freeze them. They say that April is the cruelest month. December, then, must be the craziest. Maybe you and yours can face the beast a little better with a belly full of good food. Mexican Lasagna
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and stir in the taco seasoning and tomatoes. Line a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with half the tortillas. Spoon the beef mixture into the dish, then top with the remaining tortillas. Spread salsa over the tortillas and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Makes 4-6 servings. Per serving: 193 calories, 7 gm protein 5 gm fat, 622 mg sodium 622 mg, 11 mg cholesterol, 31 gm carbohydrates, 4 gm fiber. Source: www.allrecipes.com. Quicky Chicken and Dumplings
In a large pot over high heat, combine the chicken and enough water to cover and boil for 15-20 minutes. Drain some of the water, reserving 3 cups in the pot. Remove chicken and allow it to cool, then pull it apart into bite size pieces; return to pot. Reduce heat to medium and add the cans of soup. Roll the biscuit dough into tiny balls and add to the soup. Continue simmering over medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until the dough balls are cooked through. Note: Do not allow dough to cook too long or the balls will start to get somewhat hard. Makes 6-8 servings. Per serving: 406 calories, 18 gm protein 23 gm fat, 1,445 mg sodium, 73 mg cholesterol, 32 gm carbohydrates, 1 gm fiber. Source: www.allrecipes.com. Fast Tortellini Soup
In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring the broth to a boil. Add the red pepper flakes and basil to taste, then add the tortellini and cook per package instructions or until tender. Add the beans and cheese and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 5-8 minutes or until beans are tender. Add the corn and allow to heat through, 1-2 minutes. Serve with cheese. Makes 6-8 servings. Nutritional information: 320 calories, 17 gm protein 7 gm fat, 1,924 mg sodium, 11 mg cholesterol, 51 gm carbohydrates, 11 gm fiber. Source: www.about.com. Crock-Pot Roast Beef
Place rump roast in a slow cooker. Pour in condensed cream of mushroom soup and condensed beef broth. Cook on LOW for about 8 hours. Makes 6-8 servings. Nutritional information: 464 calories, 40 gm protein, 31 gm fat, 702 mg sodium, 121 mg cholesterol, 4 gm carbohydrates, 0 fiber. Source: www.allrecipes.com. Old-Fashioned Beef Stew
Coat beef with flour, shaking off excess. In a large nonstick pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef; saute until browned. Place on a plate. Add onions and mushrooms to pot; saute lightly. Add garlic and spices; saute, stirring for about 1 minute. Pour off fat. Return beef to pot; stir in tomato paste, then broth and bay leaf. Add enough water to just cover; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until beef is tender, about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Skim off foam. Add carrots, potatoes, and green beans. Cover partially; simmer for 20 minutes. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water; stir into stew. Increase heat and boil uncovered for 1 minute. Remove bay leaf from stew. Garnish and serve. Serves 6. Source: www.happycookers.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Taste section From the features wire |
