Cook once per Week? Month?

[Kathleen]

Addie and DL - Definitely!

Kathleen, that looks like a great recipe. Adding some sausage can only make it better!

I think you could also come up with one pot dishes using rice instead of pasta, giving you another series of meals. Look for rice casseroles.

Did someone pay you to suggest sausage? I found this recipe using a similar concept and rice! I bet the basics would lend itself to several other ideas!

GG & PF - Let me know if you find an awesome recipe!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

One Pot Wonder Chicken Lo Mein - The Wholesome Dish

She has several recipes for one pot dishes. I grabbed as many as I could.

 

[Andy M.]

...Did someone pay you to suggest sausage? ...

No one paid me. It's a guy thing. Recipes are better with meat in them.

 

[FrankZ]

No one paid me. It's a guy thing. Recipes are better with meat in them.

And I don't even owe a favor.

 

[Andy M.]

And I don't even owe a favor.

No, but remember who your friends are.

 

[FrankZ]

No, but remember who your friends are.

Gotcha covered my friend.

 

[Cheryl J]

I looked through the link to One Pot Pastas, and boy there are some good sounding dishes there. I'm especially interested in the Pasta Enchilada one, among many others. Saved to my faves.

 

[buckytom]

One Pot Wonder Chicken Lo Mein - The Wholesome Dish

She has several recipes for one pot dishes. I grabbed as many as I could.

you know, from a snooty based "authentic" point of view, that's just wrong.

but from a realistic "i wanna make something similar, easy, efficient, and tasty pov, i could go for that.

btw, they need more longer shots of her cooking.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...On Pinterest, I stumbled on "Wonderpots." I've seen one-pot ideas before, but these recipes usually had pasta included and the pasta cooked along with everything else...

Kathleen, I'm glad you mentioned Wonderpots. I had run across them in a food blog or something like that a while back. The one I saw looked like a great idea that I wanted to try. Then promptly forgot about them when I turned the computer off. After this thread, there might be more hope in me remembering. Quite a few of the recipes in the Buzzfeed link sounded yummy.

 

[CWS4322]

Sunday I made seafood stock from a bunch of shells I had in the freezer and the lobster and crab shells from the "cook off" on Friday. Last night I transformed the stock into seafood chowder. There is enough, if I stop eating it for breakfast, for 3-4 healthy sized servings. Cook once, eat many. I could add noodles to it and make a casserole, but I don't eat pasta very often, I rather have the chowder.

 

[Addie]

Sunday I made seafood stock from a bunch of shells I had in the freezer and the lobster and crab shells from the "cook off" on Friday. Last night I transformed the stock into seafood chowder. There is enough, if I stop eating it for breakfast, for 3-4 healthy sized servings. Cook once, eat many. I could add noodles to it and make a casserole, but I don't eat pasta very often, I rather have the chowder.

That sounds delish! I want some.

 

[Kathleen]

PF, if you make that, I want a review! BT, I totally agree, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Cheryl, I saw that recipe too. If you make it before I do, I'd love to hear how it turned out!

Cooking Goddess, I think I may have stumbled on one of the key ideas to prevent work-related starvation. I got home at 5:20 PM today and had dinner on the table prior to 6 PM - which makes up for my arrival home from work after 9 PM yesterday!

CSW & Addie - I love all seafood! I'd rather have chowder too...but....I'm playing with the wonderpot options. And pasta works so well! That being said, I'd love the recipe for your favorite chowder!

Frank and Andy - Since guys like items with meat, tonight's Wonderpot was this recipe!

Though I stayed pretty true to the recipe, I did make a few changes.

• I used 4 sausage links. I also sliced the sausage prior to cooking it.
  
• I used baby bella mushrooms.
• Instead of vegetable broth, I used brown pork stock that were canned up last year.
• Penne instead of rigatoni.
  
• I added 1/4 teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper and a tiny container of pitted whole black olives.

The cook time was about 5 minutes less than stated in the recipe.



Again, it turned out pretty yummy and a dish I could serve to friends without apology. A tossed salad and crusty bread would make it shine!


Leftovers yielded 3 2-serving bags for the freezer!


~Kathleen

 

[Addie]

Between the rice and pasta, I think you have found the solution for your dilemma. When you think about it, it is always the carb that takes the longest to prepare. While that is cooking, you can be doing the rest. But of course, the real bonus is the leftovers for nights you don't feel like cooking.

So glad you have found the solution. I can well remember rushing home every night to feed hungry kids. Not an easy job.

 

[Efrain]

Planning on Having Little Time to Cook

What I like to do is make a rice dish in bulk, that way I will have plenty of food for throughout the week: my go to dish is rice, beans and chicken (a staple in my household growing up). Recently I made a beef and potato soup that ended up yielding much more than I intended, but it worked out because I had enough containers to store it in. I am always a fan of food that I can make which leaves me with leftovers; often times throughout the week I am too busy to grab lunch in between classes!

 

[Efrain]

I will make basic biscuit dough and then add cheese/garlic/herbs to the dough, cut out the biscuits, freeze them, so all he has to do is bake them.

I make beef stroganoff for the freezer, chili, spaghetti sauce, meatballs, meatloaf, pies, pot pies, cabbage rolls, lasagna (that is for if they want to invite s/one out for supper), pizza, wildrice casserole. For the most part, all my dad has to do is follow the spreadsheet, thaw the main dish the night before, and make sure he has picked up the fresh ingredients needed.

If my girlfriend had her way she would bake bread every day and freeze all of it! She loves baking bread, but sometimes we cannot eat it all in time before she makes another batch!

I have never heard of freezing beef stroganoff (I actually just made it this past weekend). While it does not take too long to cook the day of, I usually forget to take the meat out of the freezer to thaw so perhaps cooking it ahead of time is the way to go.

Also, I'm a fan of your term "mega-cooking". I do not think I am quite at that level yet, but perhaps one day I will be!