Qwik Cookin'

One of the things that I get asked the most when presenting healthy, inexpensive, easy to cook meals is 'How do I do it?'. It seems that there is a whole generation of people that don't cook. Every meal is take-out, eating out, microwave or delivery. I don't blame anybody for this and I used to be the same way in college and right out of college. I had an advantage that I had worked in restaurants since the age of 16 so I always knew my way around the kitchen, but most people my age (34) seem to have skipped that day in Home-Ec (my wife hates to cook so this post will hit very close to home).

The meals I create at home and for menu plans try to encompass a few virtues.

1. Quick - I hate, hate, hate coming home from a long day at work and then spending an hour to cook a meal. BOO! On the weekend maybe.

2. Easy - By this I mean few ingredients. I always try for 5 or less, optimal is 3; this makes it hard to screw up as well.

3. Healthy - Fresh ingredients with low levels of processed carbs, gluten, dairy or beans.

We don't have a microwave so all meals are cooked over a gas range, on the grill, in the toaster oven or the real oven. Here a few tools that help to speed up the cookin'

TOOLS

Mandolin - quickly slice up your veggies but watch your fingers! Great for squash and zucchini. Added a picture b/c lots of people don't know what it looks like!


Go to the gear page to see the stuff I use in my kitchen!





Hand Chopper - Makes quick work of veggies that need to be chopped or minced. Keep it washed and clean. I love this picture; I don't have a slap chop though.











Pressure Cooker - Cook your food faster! I hate waiting an hour for delicious acorn or spaghetti squash.

Toaster Oven - We currently cook for two so we rarely have a need for heating up the oven (takes too long!) Works great for corn tortillas.

Crock Pot - The ultimate in lazy cooking! Throw in meat, veggies, water, spice. Set it on low and go to work. 6-8 hours later - eat.

There are a ton of neat kitchen products out there but I rarely need more than these to cook any meal besides a good set of pans, knives and cutting board.

More recipies coming!

Making Healthy Food Easily, Cheaply and Quickly

I have been busy posting recipe after recipe without putting any implementation steps in how to do it quickly or effectively. I like easy and fast! Get a mandolin first off it will save you a ton of time, just watch the fingers! Secondly, cook and shop in bulk. This saves money and more importantly time.

We like to buy all of the chicken for the week and all of the vegetables for lunches at once. Grill all of the chicken at once and portion it out in lunch containers for the week on Sunday or Monday. We often eat leftovers from the previous dinner for lunch so just filling in the gaps during the week with 2 more chicken breasts usually works. We grill ours with a little salt, pepper and EVOO. Sometimes I throw on some italian seasoning.

We love zucchini and squash and it is real easy to slice it up on the mandolin with half an onion in a little EVOO and saute it. I just throw it on top of the chicken in the lunch containers and I'm all set for the week.

Add a small baggy of pistachios or almonds for a snack and lunch is done for the week. Easy, fast, delicious and super healthy!