thought of the day
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What's for dinner?
I like to eat well. In theory, this could take a lot of time, but I find that by focusing on incredibly simple meals with a few ingredients — many of which can be stored for months — my husband or I can make dinner in less than 15 minutes of hands-on time per night. The key is stocking up on frozen meats (pre-marinated if you wish) and pantry staples and sauces during once a month trips to a grocery store. Then you supplement with quick stops for fresh produce (or have such things delivered). Mix and match what’s in your kitchen and voila! A healthy dinner is served — usually in 2 pots or less. Some recent winners:
* Teriyaki pork tenderloin with asparagus and mushroom risotto. Ingredients: pre-marinated frozen pork tenderloin, asparagus, box of flavored risotto, can of mushrooms.
* Salmon with soy-maple glaze, green beans and brown rice. Ingredients: frozen salmon topped with soy sauce and maple syrup, green beans and boil-in-the-bag brown rice.
* BBQ pork chops with peaches and toasted pine nut couscous. Ingredients: frozen pork chops topped with BBQ sauce and cooked with cut up peaches, box of flavored couscous.
* Angel hair pasta with mushroom-marinara sauce and salad. Ingredients: pasta (cooks in 3 minutes!), jar of sauce, extra mushrooms cut up and thrown in, plus salad-in-a-bag.
* Red-pepper pizza with salad. Ingredients: frozen pizza, red pepper cut up and baked on top, salad-in-a-bag.
* Baked chicken with apples and leeks. Ingredients: chicken, apples, leeks. Shocking! Bonus points for soup starter of lobster bisque. Ingredients: can of lobster bisque soup.
Breakfast is cereal, milk and coffee, with fresh fruit thrown in depending on what’s in season. Everyone is on their own for lunch but I buy frozen Healthy Choice type meals for myself. Snacks: string cheese, almonds, dried apricots, Wasa crackers with peanut butter. Dessert is dark chocolate, pudding or ice cream. Throw in some red wine and things start to feel pretty decadent!
