I love to cook, and I don't often use recipes...I'm more of an instinct cook, but I've been doing it for almost 30 years.
Stock your cupboards with things you like, for example, canned artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, water chestnuts, different beans, things that are fine canned. I keep a jar of minced garlic in the refrigerator. I always have the boxed cartons of chicken, beef, and vegetable stock on hand. Have different kinds of pasta available.
If you eat fish or chicken or meat of any kind, buy it bulk, and then repackage in dinner-sized ziploc bags and freeze.
Now all you need to do is melt some butter, add a spoon of garlic, chop some onion, saute it for a few minutes... add some flour to thicken and slowly stir in some of one of your broths until you have the consistency you want, thick or thinner. Throw in something from the cupboard and one fresh veggie that you love, change the flavor by adding a few tablespoons of a marinade, a dressing, sour cream, veggie dip, anything... add meat or shrimp if you eat it, boil up some pasta and voila, you've got a yummy meal that you can change a hundred ways, and it takes you 20 minutes to cook.
I keep shredded asiago cheese, pecorino romano, feta, and crumbled blue in the 'fridge at all times, too. A sprinkle on top, and yumm..
The bags of Uncle Ben's long grain rice that you cook in 90 seconds in the microwave are incredibly easy and good. 90 seconds! I keep half a dozen in the cupboard.
If you don't eat enough dark greens, here's the best tip I can offer. Get a mini chopper, one that holds 3 cups is great. I got mine for $12 at Wal-Mart. Buy a bag of fresh baby spinach, and chop a handful and add it to every single thing you eat. You can't really taste it, it adds great color, and it's so freakin' good for you. I put it in pasta sauce, goulash, linguine and clam sauce, everything! By mini-chopping it, it's so small you don't even notice it, but you get the goodness of it.
Here's another easy side dish. Take a few whole potatoes and slice them skinny, so you have round potato circles maybe 1/4" thick. Butter a cookie sheet, lay them out, however many you want to serve per person. lightly butter on top, and add salt or pepper if you want. Cook @ 425 for maybe 10-15 minutes each side, 'til they get kinda golden brownish. After you turn them and cook side two, sprinkle the tops with shredded cheddar. Add some crumbled bacon bits (I buy the bacon that cooks in the micro in 2-3 minutes) and heat until cheese melts. Another yum.
If you tell me some things you like, I could probably say more, but I'm thinking I've rambled enough.
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Stock your cupboards with things you like, for example, canned artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, water chestnuts, different beans, things that are fine canned. I keep a jar of minced garlic in the refrigerator. I always have the boxed cartons of chicken, beef, and vegetable stock on hand. Have different kinds of pasta available.
If you eat fish or chicken or meat of any kind, buy it bulk, and then repackage in dinner-sized ziploc bags and freeze.
Now all you need to do is melt some butter, add a spoon of garlic, chop some onion, saute it for a few minutes... add some flour to thicken and slowly stir in some of one of your broths until you have the consistency you want, thick or thinner. Throw in something from the cupboard and one fresh veggie that you love, change the flavor by adding a few tablespoons of a marinade, a dressing, sour cream, veggie dip, anything... add meat or shrimp if you eat it, boil up some pasta and voila, you've got a yummy meal that you can change a hundred ways, and it takes you 20 minutes to cook.
I keep shredded asiago cheese, pecorino romano, feta, and crumbled blue in the 'fridge at all times, too. A sprinkle on top, and yumm..
The bags of Uncle Ben's long grain rice that you cook in 90 seconds in the microwave are incredibly easy and good. 90 seconds! I keep half a dozen in the cupboard.
If you don't eat enough dark greens, here's the best tip I can offer. Get a mini chopper, one that holds 3 cups is great. I got mine for $12 at Wal-Mart. Buy a bag of fresh baby spinach, and chop a handful and add it to every single thing you eat. You can't really taste it, it adds great color, and it's so freakin' good for you. I put it in pasta sauce, goulash, linguine and clam sauce, everything! By mini-chopping it, it's so small you don't even notice it, but you get the goodness of it.
Here's another easy side dish. Take a few whole potatoes and slice them skinny, so you have round potato circles maybe 1/4" thick. Butter a cookie sheet, lay them out, however many you want to serve per person. lightly butter on top, and add salt or pepper if you want. Cook @ 425 for maybe 10-15 minutes each side, 'til they get kinda golden brownish. After you turn them and cook side two, sprinkle the tops with shredded cheddar. Add some crumbled bacon bits (I buy the bacon that cooks in the micro in 2-3 minutes) and heat until cheese melts. Another yum.
If you tell me some things you like, I could probably say more, but I'm thinking I've rambled enough.