Quick and Easy Cooking

What are your favorite meals that are quick and easy to make but still taste good. When I say quick I don't mean something you can nuke in the microwave real quick.. I'm talkin' about meals that take anywhere from 10-15 minutes to make, maybe even a bit less, but I try to keep it under 15 minutes.

Here's a few of my favorites and err.. the only things i actually know how to make.. I'm not very suave in the kitchen.

Grilled Cheese. This has to be one of the greatest dishes ever served.
I usually use sourdough bread, mexican or american cheese and a thing layer of butter on one side of the bread on each side of the sandwich.. cook on low on a pan over the stove for about 5-6 minutes on each side then enjoy

Quesadilla.. Very similar to the grilled cheese, in fact i use the same pan and sometimes even the same cheese. (those kraft cheese bags are great, especially the mexican flavored one. they go good on grilled cheese too) i like to add a little bit of garlic salt to my quesadillas.. gives it some extra flavor and it tastes awesome

and lastly, the one i have recently mastered, the fried egg sandwich. toast a couple peaces of sourdough bread, fry up an egg, add a few slices of cheddar or american cheese, a peace of ham if you'd like and then you have it. an egg sandwich thats good for any time of the day

as good as these delicious ensembles are i'm starting to get bored of them. so share some of your meals that you can cook up quickly and they still taste like a lot of time and effort when into makin them

Oh dear, how did you know that cooking was my secret passion? (shifty eyes)

My favorite appetizer has to be spinach and artichoke dip. It takes about 10 minutes to make, and lasts for about a week so you can enjoy it for quite awhile.

On medium heat, melt 1/2 stick butter in medium saucepan, then add one box/can of drained spinach. Once that's mixed in, add 8 oz (about 1/2 of a regular-sized tub) of sour cream, then stir in one package of shredded Parmesan cheese.

After the cheese has melted in, mix in chopped artichokes to taste (I usually put in about 1/2 of a small Reece's-brand container), followed by about 1/2 a package of Monterey cheese.

Next, for the main course, I usually make spaghetti with meat sauce. Spaghetti is another few-minutes recipe.

Place one package (for about 4 people; use 1/2 pack for 2) of spaghetti noodles in a large saucepan full of water on low heat. Brown one package (1 pound for 2 people) of ground beef.

After the meat's browned, add one jar of spaghetti sauce (I usually use Prego's three cheese mix), mix well, and throw on top of the (hopefully soft) noodles. Top with parmesan cheese (or my personal favorite: monterey and cheddar) and serve with Italian-style green beans and sourdough bread.

Now, if I'm STILL up for a little more time in the kitchen, I make puppy chow for dessert.

To make puppy chow, you melt 3/4 of a cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup of butter together, then stir until they're well blended. Next, you take a large (large!!) bowl of Rice or Corn Chex cereal and pour the melted mixture on top. Finally, you take 2 cups of powdered sugar, put it in a large ziploc bag, and spoon in the cereal/chocolate/peanut butter mixture. Shake shake shake, and put back in the bowl. Voila! Good, chocolatey, goes-right-to-your-thighs goodness.

mmm the artichoke dip and the puppy chow sound delicious

my mom actually makes the artichoke dip quite often, pretty similar to how you described it also.

i'm going to have to try and make the puppy chow, sounds good

reply to post by The Phantom


The puppy chow is really messy, is the only problem.

Microwaveable popcorn, liberally sprinkled with parmigiano cheese, tabasco, crushed walnuts, last nites pizza toppings, a half eaten pbandj sandwich, thousand island dressing and crumbled toast.

Might I suggest a nice glass of thunderbird to wash it all down.

Though it is not really cooking,

I wait all winter for the first local, fresh tomatoes to make my Bologna and tomato sandwich...

The secret is good quality mayo, German Bologna and then right at the end, sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese on it...

MMMMMMMMM

Think I'll go have one

Semper

Originally posted by whaaa
Microwaveable popcorn, liberally sprinkled with parmigiano cheese, tabasco, crushed walnuts, last nites pizza toppings, a half eaten pbandj sandwich, thousand island dressing and crumbled toast.

Might I suggest a nice glass of thunderbird to wash it all down.

wow sounds interesting.....

the only thing i've ever put on my popcorn is Parmesan cheese and butter.. this sounds pretty good though, well maybe without the thousand islands and the half eaten pb and jelly sandwich

reply to post by semperfortis


for some reason i could never get myself to enjoy bologna.. i don't know what it is.. maybe it has something to do with how it's spelled

nothin' like a fresh tomato though, theres a local farm that sells them and they are unlike any tomato i've ever had

I know what you mean about the tomato...

We grow our own and I can not wait until that first plump, juicy tomato is on my counter, ready to be sliced up...

We eat so many though that we also have a fav. little beside the road stand where we get our extras..

As for the Bologna, it all about the quality in my opinion... I really like it slided and fried too...

Semper

Quick, easy, and tastes great.
And if you buy pre-cooked frozen shrimp you don't even need to cook.




The red stuff is just seafood sauce from the jar mixed with some chopped onion.

I'm using saltine crackers tonight, but use whatever you have in the cupboard.

The rest is sliced medium cheddar and defrosted frozen shrimp that thawed in water.


Total prep time is 5 minutes.
I made it back to the TV by the end of the commercials.

oh man that looks so good.. thats what i'm talkin' about!

thanks man i'm definitely going to look into this!
do you think it would taste fine if i took it out of the fridge and put it in an ice chest for 4 or 5 hours with one of those freezer pack things over it?

For sure.........

Leave the shrimp frozen in it's bag and it will help keep the cooler cold. Put the jar of sauce on top with the cheese, and don't let the cheese come in direct contact with anything frozen. Then make up the crackers when you get to where you're going.

Almost every type of sliced veggie can also be put on.


Edit:

By the way, I was just sitting down to this when I saw your thread so I took a pic.
That's what I just had for dinner, and wow, they tasted so good.





[edit on 18/9/2007 by anxietydisorder]

i appreciate you taking the time to do that man