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We all like to eat. Or at the very least we all need to to survive, and we'd rather eat decent chow instead of nasty tasting stuff, but cooking can be a drag and juggling fresh ingredients an issue. Especially those of us still enjoying the freedom of our bachelor years or those of us stuck on a tight budget. Or you're just out of time and want to throw some decent grub together fast.

Example:

I'll admit I planned for this one, but every thing is frozen and the cook time's about fifteen minutes which I think we can all handle.
1 bag PF Chang's Home Menu Shrimp Lo Mein
1 bag pre peeled, pre cooked, large frozen shrimp
1 bag frozen chinese stir fry veggies

I noodled with mine a little bit, added some teriyaki, a little white cooking wine, etc but this would taste just fine with only the Sauce PF Chang's provides. Plenty of protein and veggies, and it makes enough for about three to four good sized servings with the additional ingredients.




Dakka what are your best improv/quick meals?

The other night I did some frozen chips and frozen fish fingers. I call the dish fish fingers and chips.

Bah, I cook a mean meal, here's the overview:

Monkfish or Halibut, Seabass and Salmon the one I have more often due to costs. I have green beans carrots and boiled potatoes drowned in butter alongside, I prefer my fish untainted but you could add dill or something.

I then have Tomato soup well before and dunk gouda and sesame seed baguette.

For desert I make a mean chocolate lava cake, it's a chocolate sponge that's very rich in dark chocolate with a goey centre of dark chocolate, toppped with vanilla pod ice cream, the thing is like £6 to make.

 Glorioski wrote:
The other night I did some frozen chips and frozen fish fingers. I call the dish fish fingers and chips.

I like to do the same, only with burgers. I call it "Hamburgers et des frites du congélateur".

I uni I was crowned the 'master of the omelettte', seriously though, I don't brag about my self at all (my innate self-loathing keeps that in check) but the one thing I am a little boastful of is that I cook a mean omelette.

Largest I've cooked was a dozen-egg, chorizo, (bell) pepper, mushroom, bacon and cheese monster that fed 4 people (with a couple of slices of bread and butter on the side), so for me being creative usually involves an omelette.

Although recently I discovered a 'one pan breakfast' via Instructables that's very adaptable
http://www.instructables.com/id/One-Skillet-Breakfast-1/
made it with bacon and chorizo, bliss!

Ingredients;
- 2 chicken breasts, bone-in & w/skin.
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can of tomoato soup
- 1 medium green pepper, chopped into decent sized bites
- 1 medium onion, chopped into decent sized bites
- 1 + 1/2 cups of rice

Lay your two chicken breasts onto a baking sheet & season them w/salt & pepper, chop up your veggies and mix the two cans of soup together in a seperate bowl. Add veggies & soup mix onto baking sheet, then slap it in the oven until chicken is cooked. Cook up the rice in a seperate pot.
Lay a bed of rice onto your plate, then add chicken and layer the sauce & veggies over top.

Pink Chicken = damn tasty!

The sauce & rice also make excellent left overs for later and/or quick snacking!

One of my fave, semi-improv dinners is "Emeril's very garlicky shrimp alfredo"

I have Emeril's Fast meals cook books, and the "gaahlicky shrimp" recipe takes round 15 minutes to make, most of which is pan heating and assembling ingredients prior to actual cooking. This recipe is normally fairly, well garlic tasting, with also a good kick from his creole seasoning.

As i cooked that, i made a pot of linguine or spaghetti noodles, with creamy alfredo sauce (from a jar).


It was brilliant, to say the least. The creaminess of the alfredo sauce toned down just enough of the garlic and spice's kick and created a nice flavor collection's

Tuna Sandwich, Hotsuace Style.
Tuna mixed with Jalepenos, Carlic and MAyo,
Pepper jack cheese
Butters bread.
Toast on each side like a grilled cheese.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Pb, Banana, butter bread, toast like grilled cheese.

Though I've been buying Knorr pasta dishes to use as meals because they're like the perfect portion size for a bigger guy

Legion, or omlette pro? Good thing you don't have to spell it to cook good

But twelve eggs, you mad? Or an octopus human fusion?

Last Friday I was looking for something to cook, and I realized I happened to have Swiss cheese, Chicken breast, Ham, and bread crumbs lying around. I turned it into a rather badass Chicken Cordon Bleu.

I also came up with a really tasty recipe for a pork steak glaze: Soy sauce, apricot preserves, and that chili garlic sauce stuff. Yum!

I usually have chicken or beef, eggs, vegetables, maybe some fruit or something. I don't really plan ahead so I couldn't tell ya what's next. Sometimes I have a 12 egg omelete because I like eggs and it's easy; also, I'm not that creative.

I like making what I call Rice Gloop. You make rice using water in a pot as the directions tell you, but you add 20% more water then is called for. The rice ceases to be individual kernals(or whatever you call them) and becomes a thick pudding like substance.

It makes a good base for other foods. Put your chicken over it, a sauce of your choice, etc...

Its a real nice breakfast too. Put some brown sugar or maple syrup on it(the real stuff, not that fake crap that tastes like plastic)


Like many recipies, this was an accident that turned out quite nicely.

Pro tip, put your cookies in the microwave for 30seconds on low then have some ice cream on top.

Makes cheap cookies taste good.

 Grey Templar wrote:
I like making what I call Rice Gloop. You make rice using water in a pot as the directions tell you, but you add 20% more water then is called for. The rice ceases to be individual kernals(or whatever you call them) and becomes a thick pudding like substance.

Sounds like a more plain version of... rice pudding


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, my roommate has the ability to craft amazing chili out of literally anything lying around.

I enjoy cooking burgers and quite literally dumping stuff off the spice rack onto them

One of my standbys for lunches during the week is to get ground beef (the usual 1lb-1.2lb pack), and use it to simultaneously cook up both my super pasta sauce and some Bulgarian-style meatballs, as they're about my wife's favorite thing.

For the pasta sauce I use a base of:
~20-24oz jar of a decent pre-made sauce from the supermarket; maybe Newman's or Classico. Nothing too expensive (like $2-$2.50); just not bargain-basement Ragu.
Also an 8oz can of plain or Italian-seasoned tomato sauce

Start by chopping:
Half a green bell pepper
Half a red bell pepper
Half a sweet vidalia onion
Several calamata olives (de-pit, first)
Finely mince a few garlic gloves to taste (you can use jarred minced garlic if you're lazy).
Start those simmering on medium heat in a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. Add some Basil, Oregano, salt, black and red pepper.
Dice a few ounces of kielbasa and brown them in a pan while the veggies are simmering.
Once the veggies have been going a couple of minutes, add the small can of tomato sauce
Once the kielbasa is nicely browned/starting to blacken, add it to the sauce, and use the pan to brown up about 1/3 of the ground beef.
Add the beef once it's browned. You may want to drain the beef first, depending on how high--percentage of fat you bought. If you got 85% or 90% lean, you may just keep the fat to add a little more flavor.
Add the pre-made nice sauce to the pot of fresh stuff you've got going. Add a teaspoon each of oregano, basil, red and black pepper, and a bit of salt to taste.
Turn the heat down to low if you haven't already.
Pour ~1-2 ounces of red wine into the big sauce jar and close the lid again. Shake it vigorously to get the rest of the sauce loose from the sides/bottom of the jar, then pour that and the wine into the sauce.
Stir the whole thing periodically and let it simmer for at least 15 or 20 min; an hour or so is better to develop the flavor. Makes enough sauce for dinner over pasta and several lunches.

I use the rest of the meat for meatballs.
Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl:
The remaining 2/3 of the ground beef
1 large egg (for binding)
1-2 ounces red wine
Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl (or just a big measuring cup):
1/2 cup italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1oz fresh chopped basil or cilantro, or a tablespoon of dried
A couple of finely-minched garlic cloves
A couple of ounces finely-minced shallots
Tablespoon of cumin
Teaspoon of red pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste

Pour the dry mix onto the wet ingredients, mix thoroughly by hand and shape into 1oz meatballs. Flatten into small patties, and fry in the pan over medium heat. Flip once they brown on one side. They're like little spicy oniony garlicky hamburgers, with herbs. The Bulgarian name is kufteta, although they usually use a mix of pork and beef, and don't include the red pepper.

Super lazy way to consume the above- take a slice or two of fresh Italian or French bread, put a couple of meatballs on, and spoon sauce over. This is a nice quick way to eat when you're done cooking the above.