Whether you wear petticoats and pearls or sneakers and yoga pants, chances are you don't think you have enough time in the day to get to work, get to the gym, hang out with your friends or family, watch a little TiVo, and, on top of all that, actually make real food to eat. To be blunt, you're wrong.
I know, I know! Half of the girls at my favorite Friday night club just threw their hands up in the air and stomped their feet. But the greatest disservice done to the modern single female (or male) is the widespread publicity of the hour-long cooking show.
Bean Bag Sofa
Simple Says Who?
I went to the library two days ago to look for books with "simple recipes." My requirement was that it had to have:
I came up with just one book out of hundreds that seemed to fit my criteria, a book called No-Fuss Dinners: Deliciously Simple Recipes for Cooking After Work by Caroline Marson (photos by Peter Cassidy). Let me just say, Caroline and Peter had their stuff together. Every recipe has a picture, and Caroline put together a list at the beginning of the book of what you should have in your pantry.
But something is still a little off. Who actually has a scallion at their house (or has seen one, for that matter)? Have you ever even bought fresh mint sprigs? Do you stock creme fraiche in your fridge?
Almost every recipe calls for some crazy ingredient, most of which you will throw away after you make that one dish. And what about breakfast and lunch? Are we supposed to drink Slim-Stuff drinks every day and starve ourselves until dinner? Please tell me you don't believe that. I sure as heck don't.
So kudos to Marson and Cassidy but for most of us, by the time we get home from work, take off our high heels and neck ties, and sit down on the sofa, we're more ready to reach for the remote than to go rustle up some creme fraiche.
Marson does offer one brilliant tidbit of advice: You can do a lot of your preparation ahead of time. For example, cheese, peppers, and onions make eggs an omelet. They turn breakfast poultry into a meal. But oh my lord, who wants to wake up at 7 AM to make breakfast and start chopping onions? "Not I," said the little red hen!
Back to Basics
So here is my list of things you should keep in your fridge or pantry, many of which you can prepare when you buy them so you're not fumbling around for a knife at 7 AM and accidently stabbing yourself:
Peppers - I like red and green ones, and you can store them in the same Tupperware® container. Core them and rinse out the seeds, then chop them up into single-serving sizes (about 8 chunks per pepper). I recommend not dicing them until you're actually cooking them because they keep better that way. Even though I know people say you can freeze them, just don't do it. It makes them soggy and weird when you thaw them out.
Onions - Green, red or yellow, I love onions! Each type has its own unique flavor and is particularly useful in certain dishes. Green onions can be chopped into little pieces and stored that way, and you can slice the red or yellow ones so you have rings handy. Be careful not to buy these in bulk unless you're feeding a family of six because they go bad after a week once you begin cutting on them. I store mine in Ziploc® baggies in the crisper drawer.
Say Cheese! - Real cheese. Don't you dare pass those individually wrapped pieces of "processed plastic" off on your family and friends! Maybe to a guy who you really want to get rid of but don't have the cajones to dump. But nobody who has tasted real cheese wants to go back to yellow rubber. My personal favorites (which are also sort of good for you) are feta, parmesan (in a wedge, not a canister), goat cheese, extra sharp cheddar, and aged Swiss. The stronger the flavor, the less you need to use so it's healthier and tastier at the same time. Store cheese in freezer baggies in the fridge remembering to get as much air out of the baggy as possible before you zip it up.
Eggs - A necessary ingredient in almost anything you bake, eggs are a tasty little dish all on their own or with some peppers, onions, cheese, and a little rosemary tossed in. The reason I love eggs is that they're just so darn easy to make. You don't have to think about it, you just crack the shell and dump them in the pan, or you can get all fancy-shmancy with them and beat them or make Eggy in a Basket or boil them for a handy snack.
Bread - Yes, I know, it has carbs. But if you're cooking for yourself and not going out and eating a zillion grams of greasy McBurgers every day, the 70-120 calories and 2 grams of fat in these little slices aren't going to hurt you at all. Reach for some whole wheat or whole grain bread. It will cost you a few more pennies, but you'll feel fuller than if you eat the white flour junk. If you don't like little flakes of crunchy things on your bread, opt for the whole wheat they make at the local bakery or grocery store bakery. It isn't as healthy for you, but the taste makes up for the few extra calories, and they mark the date that it was made on the package so you know it is fresh.
Healthy Butter - And this probably means no butter at all. Don't get me wrong, I love butter so much I almost hate to say this...almost. The only reason I say don't get real butter is that I actually looked at the nutrition facts on the back of my butter today and unholy cow! Something like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter light has literally half the calories and fat that real, unsalted butter has. Tear. Sniffle. Okay, I'm over it. I can have twice as much of the tasty fake stuff or eat bread with more fat and calories and not suffer an ounce from the switch.
Pam - Yes, the cooking spray. Have you ever looked on the back of a can of Pam? It reads like the Broncos standings during the second half of last year: 0, 0, 0, 0... This stuff is fantastic and has pretty much nothing in it. Please don't suggest that olive oil is better for you than Crisco, or even that Smart Omega stuff. I have bottles of all three of those kinds of oil sitting in front of me right this second and they all have 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon! That's more fat than a Hershey's® chocolate bar! Even the extra virgin stuff! So opt for Pam and save your calories and fat for stuff that actually tastes yummy.
Spices - You may think they're expensive, and yes, they are. But think about this: It is highly unlikely you'll get through one of those little jars of spices in less than six months. If you're restocking one or two spices a month, you're only spending about on stuff to make your food really yummy. I recommend:
Sauces and Dressings - Keep these simple and read the back of them, especially the grams of sugar. Mustard and apple cider vinegar are good on almost anything, and instead of a high-fat, high-calorie dressing, you can sprinkle on a little of the vinegar, which has a whole lot of zeroes in it.
Frequent Forays
There are a few things that you will want to buy every few days, just so they are as fresh as possible when you're eating them. These include:
Milk - Duh, right? But give up the whole milk and even 2% milk. They don't do anything special for you, and if you're not getting enough calcium have some freshly sliced parmesan, whole wheat bread, or spinach...yup. Spinach.
Meat:
Fish - My favorite, I always buy fish on sale. I can get two servings out of one package of "fresh" salmon, tilapia or trout, which means two really incredibly tasty dinners for the price of one.
Chicken - You might be more of a chicken type, and while I don't recommend freezing fish, freezing chicken doesn't seem to have any adverse effects on it. But make sure you don't forget your chicken in your freezer for months at a time.
Beef - I am also a huge fan of beef, which is super easy to cook. I always opt for very lean beef - 98 or 99 percent fat-free - and marinate it in a peppercorn sauce before throwing it on the George Foreman for a few minutes.
Greens:
Spinach - This is super healthy for you and gets rid of toxins while loading you up with vitamins and minerals. If you buy spinach fresh in the produce aisle, don't forget to wash it thoroughly, or you may get a mouthful of dirt. Spinach is going to do more for you than lettuce because it has tons more fiber and protein, but if you just can't get over your childhood fear of it, a good arugula is an acceptable substitute.
Lettuce - As for lettuce, don't even think about Iceberg. It does nothing for you except occasionally clean out your intestines in the least comfortable way possible. Romaine, arugula (which I adore), or most types of leaf lettuce are acceptable. Spinach and lettuce in particular seem to have remarkably short shelf lives, even in the crisper drawer stuffed in a freezer bag with all the air pushed out, so you'll want to pick up fresh bundles or bags of it every three days or so.
The Fun Stuff
All those bits and pieces above are good core items. You can put of them together and have a meal with almost zero fuss, but who wants a piece of chicken on plain spinach? Dare I quote the little red hen again?
So while you're at the grocery store, pick up some fun things, but watch out because they tend to be a bit pricier than the staples. Some things you might want to include this week are:
Pine nuts - use sparingly because they're fairly high in fat and calories
Almonds - great for a little snack between meals
Fruit - pair a pear, apple, or banana with a few almonds and you'll forget you ever knew what "hunger pains" were
Avocado - not my choice, but I hear they're great on sandwiches
Raisins - another one to be careful with because they have hello-high sugar content, but holy cow are they fabulous on a salad (Craisins probably do just as well), or you can do berries, peaches, or orange wedges to the same effect
Tea - iced or hot, the best way to break your need for sugary soda is by replacing it, just be careful not to sugar yourself up too much with every mug or glass full
100 Calorie Snack Packs - okay, yes, this looks like a sell-out item, but if you're just dying for little cookies, even after you've had your Granny Smith and a handful of almonds, these are the way to go
Instant Taters - yes, I know, you're going, "What? Why?" Well, simply put they are way easier to make than real mashed taters, and though they have quite a bit of sodium and carbohydrates, they have pretty much no fat, no sugar, and not too many calories
Oatmeal - in a canister, not in packets; the quick cook kind takes the same amount of time as the packets but has about 50,000 fewer grams of sugar than the packets, and if you add a little salt, some cinnamon or berries to it you'll never miss the sugar and dried fake fruit chunks
I know, still no sign of a recipe. Don't worry - there's another article coming right up!
Cheers!
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Oct 21, 2011 08:33:40
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