I am not that big on cooking. In another life I am going to assume I had someone to cook for me, because when Hubby all but took over the cooking duties in our household, I was thrilled! While I don’t mind cooking every once in a while, I am a very plain-jane cook. I like the foods to “speak for themselves” and allow the flavors of the meat and vegetables to be the star of the meal, as opposed to spices and herbs. I bake, I don’t cook.
Hubby and Sonny-boy on the other hand, are totally different! The spicier, more herb encrusted, crazier a concoction they can come up with, the better. Sonny-boy is actually a very good cook, and I think it is due to creativity on his part, and being part of Scouting. When you have to cook over an open flame, cooking in an oven is no problem!
We don’t do a lot of meal planning in our house, although Hubby does make a lot of soups, chilies and stews, freezing them for future consumption. I will say at home, we don’t eat out a lot – maybe twice a month. Down in Florida we eat out once a week, although if someone is visiting we eat out one meal daily. But, we don’t eat a lot of frozen foods. The sodium worries us, so an occasional frozen pizza is about it for frozen foods.
I must admit I like the way Hubby cooks. I am very glad he has taken on the task, even though my waistline is a bit less grateful.
Do You Cook From Scratch? If not, why not? And if so, do you have a “go-to” recipe when crunched for time?
● For a list of all recipes available on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.
Stephanie B says
I am a “semi-homemade” kind of cook. I use store bought broth and sauces and and I love frozen ravioli for a quick meal. I regularly use canned cream soups for casseroles in a really delicious corn chowder. We eat at home most nights simply because its more affordable. I like to cook, and my husband compliments it often, but finding the energy to do it at the end of a long day is often my problem. That’s when we have pasta night lol.
Ann says
Stephanie that cream soups to corn chowder recipe sounds interesting. Care to share?
Ann
Stephanie B says
No problem! I will get out the recipe in a bit 🙂
Stephanie B says
I’m sorry for sending it here…email and Facebook were not working for me! UGH!!
Ingredients:
1 lb. bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cups of potatoes, cubed
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, divided
16 oz of sour cream
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
3 cups of whole milk
3/4 bag of a 16oz bag of frozen corn
Directions:
Fry the bacon until crispy.
While the bacon cooks, add to your crockpot the cream soup, sour cream, milk, potatoes, corn and 3/4 cup of broth.
Remove from pan and drain on paper towels leaving the fat in the pan.
Add the onion to the bacon grease and cook until softened slightly.
Add remaining 3/4 cup of chicken broth and ground black pepper if desired and cook until the mixture reduces.
The original recipe says to add the bacon back to the onion and then add the entire mixture to the crockpot. That’s too much fat for me, and I like the bacon crunchy for a garnish. So you can do like the original recipe, or remove some of the fat first and add just the onion to the crockpot.
Cook on low 6-8 hours stirring every hour or so.
This ends up being very thick and creamy.
Ann says
Thanks Stephanie! Here is fine so other’s can get the recipe too. Much appreciated.
Ann
Shell says
Yes I cook from scratch all the time. Not to say I never use any boxes or cans though. I do use spices when I cook, but not overboard on it. I plan my meals at least one day ahead so I have time to defrost the meat I am using. I have some easy recipes for when I feel less like cooking. I also keep some things on hand for those days I don’t feel like cooking. I always have bacon and eggs. I just stick the bacon in oven and hubby cooks his own eggs. Something I always keep on hand in the freezer (besides frozen pizzas) are those Hormel meats that are already cooked. You find them near the fresh meat at the store. We like the roast and the Italian roast the best, but there are quite a few good ones. I put that on a ciabatta roll and melt swiss cheese over the top. Great quick meal in about 15 min from taking it out of the freezer.
Ann says
I will have to take a look at those Hormel meats, Shell. Thanks for the idea!
Ann
Shell says
Coupons.com has $1 off coupon for the Hormel Refrigerated Entrees (I checked the actual name).
Marie says
I don’t cook from scratch as much as I used to. I do the semi-homemade a lot. Here lately, with the kids out of the house and the one still here working the evening hours and my husband not having a taste or his stomach not allowing him to eat much that he used to, it’s more convenience foods and sandwiches. If he could have his way, it’d be breakfast twice a day. Pot roast in a slow cooker is a favorite for us all.
Ann says
I LOVE breakfast for dinner, Marie!
Ann
Skirnir Hamilton says
I tend to cook from scratch quite a bit, but always keep around pasta and the preferred pasta sauce jar we like and frozen meatballs for a last minute meal. We also do frozen pizza once a week. 🙂 I tend to do breakfast about every two weeks. Other meals tend to vary.
I love throwing some cubed potato, some cube boneless pork and some barbecue with a bit of mustard powder into the crockpot. Can’t get much easier than that, but yes, the barbecue makes it high sodium.
We make something we call soup with rice somewhat regularly. Mainly takes however long it takes to cook rice…
Soup with Rice
★★★
Prep Time: | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4 servings | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup onion , chopped
10.75 ounce can of vegetable beef soup
1 cup rice
1/2 lb. mixed vegetables
Water enough for the rice , slightly diminished (typically 1 1/2 cups water for white rice or 2 cups water for brown rice)
Spice to suite your tastes , (suggest 1 rounded tsp bangkok blend)
Directions:
In a large heavy skillet over medium high heat, cook onion and ground beef until done. Degrease. Add spices if desired. Add soup, water and rice.
Bring to boil. Stir. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook until rice is done, adding water if needed. When the rice is done, add frozen veggies and cook until warmed, about five minutes. Serve with soy sauce.
Here is another fairly quick recipe, as it is cooked in the microwave, but you do need to marinate the chicken some.
Microwave Spicy Oriental Chicken
Prep Time: | Cook Time: | Servings: 4 | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. white grape juice
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 clove garlic , minced
1 dash ginger
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 dash cayenne
1 1/2 lb. chicken breast , boneless/skinless
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 red pepper cut into strips
1 cup red cabbage , shredded
1/4 cup green onion sliced (optional)
8 oz. of spaghetti
Directions:
In 10x10x2-inch microwave-safe baking dish, combine soy sauce, 1 tablespoon olive oil, grape juice, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, black pepper and cayenne. Cut chicken into 1/2 inch strips. Stir chicken into sauce. Cover dish with plastic wrap and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade. Stir cornstarch into marinade until well blended. Place chicken in an even layer in marinade mixture. Recover, turning back one edge of plastic wrap to vent. Stirring halfway through cooking time, microwave on high until chicken is tender and sauce is thickened, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in red pepper, cabbage and onion. Recover with plastic wrap, turning back one edge to vent. Microwave on high until vegetables are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Cook pasta according to directions on package and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Serve chicken and vegetables over pasta.
Not a quickie, but another favorite….
Paprika Sausage Casserole
Prep Time: | Cook Time: 1 hour | Servings: | Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes , peeled and coarsely diced
1 pound bulk sausage (We recommend a slightly spicey sausage like Hungarian Bratwurst , or Italian Sausage.)
1 Tbsp paprika (We use 1/2 sweet , 1/2 half sharp. Using some half sharp paprika, makes this delicious.)
White Sauce White Sauce
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tbsp butter melted or oil
2 Tbsp flour
Directions:
White Sauce
First make a white sauce.
Melt butter in small saucepan completely over low to medium heat. If using oil, heat until shimmery. Add flour and mix. If mixture is too dry, add some more oil. If too moist, add more flour. Should be one nice clump, but not too wet. Slowly stir in milk a little bit at a time (start with no more than a tablespoon). Keep the heat at a low to medium level to avoid scalding the milk.
The rest of the dish
When the white sauce is ready, add paprika, using desired mixture of sweet and half sharp paprika. Brown the sausage and throw the potatoes and sausage into a casserole pouring the paprika white sauce over. Bake at 350 degrees covered until potatoes are done, about 1 hour.
This one is about as quick as cooking rice and I do prefer fresh pineapple. When using fresh, we tend to use a bit of orange juice or whatever juice we have around.
Pineapple Chicken
Prep Time: | Cook Time: | Servings: 3 | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast , cut into 1 inch squares
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp pepper
28 ounces canned pineapple , drained, reserving 1/2 cup juice
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3 cups rice , cooked
Directions:
Toss cubed chicken into a mixture of flour and pepper. Drain a can of unsweetened pineapple juice, reserving 1/2 cup of the juice. Heat oil in wok. Saute the chicken for 5 minutes and then add the pineapple chunks and stir. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Mix soy sauce, vinegar and corn starch with the reserved pineapple juice. Throw in wok and stir while cooking until thickened. Serve over rice.
Dag, another rice dish… For me this is comfort food, even if I never grew up with it. And simmer/cook it as short as you want. We often times do not let the beans cook the whole time as we get antsy.
Red Beans and Rice
★★★
Prep Time: | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 4 servings. | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup onions , finely chopped
1 tsp garlic , minced
28 ounces kidney beans drained
10 ounces ham diced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
16 ounces of crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp thyme
6 dash pepper sauce
2 cups rice , cooked
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat, add onion and garlic. Saute stirring, until onions are wilted, 6-7 minutes. Add beans, ham, broth, tomatoes, thyme and hot pepper sauce; mix well. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are creamy. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice.
If using chicken in place of ham, need to season it somehow.
Ann says
I will definitely be showing these recipes to Hubby, Skirnir. Thanks!
Ann