Instead of going out to dinner, buy good food. Cooking at home shows such affection. In a bad economy, it's more important to make yourself feel good.
- Ina Garten -
I'm a pretty healthy eater. I think about what I eat partly because I'm diabetic and partly because I like to look after myself, stay healthy overall and not put rubbish into my body, fast food and stuff like that. I do it now and then but it's a sometimes thing; I prefer to cook for myself using fresh ingredients so I know what's in there. Having said that, I lead a busy lifestyle and don't always have time to spend cooking, I need convenience which is why sometimes I make things ahead of time and in larger batches.
Yesterday I made a couple large batches of tasty things I could store away in the freezer. It's my take on convenience food as all I need to do is heat them up and add them to whatever else I'm eating that night. I do this fairly regularly but haven't made these two particular things for a few years now...so yesterday was the day I revisited these tasty, easy to make, convenience foods.
These are really nice covered in tomato relish and topped with a poached egg and crumbled fetta cheese for breakfast or, more simply, topped with avocado salsa. I first started making them to take camping, again ahead of time for the convenience factor, and liked them so much I began to make them more regularly at home. They are so basic to make but tasty, and are flexible enough to add other ingredients if one would like to. I made some with pieces of pulled roast chicken in them once and they were fucken scrummy!
Anyway, here's how you go about it.
Ingredients - Corn, half a cup of plain flour, 2 beaten eggs , 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, 2 finely chopped green onions, 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Method - Mix all the stuff together, spoon into the frypan and cook in the oil (I use the grill instead of the pan as per the image above.)
Avocado salsa:
Ingredients - 1 chopped avocado, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/2 red capsicum (red pepper) chopped finely, half a Spanish (red) onion finely chopped, fresh coriander to taste (about one tablespoon chopped) and 1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce.
Method - Mix it all together and you're good to go.
I sometimes add other things into these but the basic version is tasty enough, especially with that salsa on top.
These are bloody tasty on a burger instead of a beef or chicken pattie, I spread hummus and sweet chilli on the buns when I make burgers with them and trust me, get on that! They are nice with a salad or some steamed vegetables with chicken or steak, basically however the fuck you want to eat them. They're good.
These can smell up the house a little when cooking so I always cook them outside (see image above), especially because I often experiment by adding garlic or ginger or whatever I have laying about. I don't get too fussy with it though, just throw a few things in sometimes to see how it turns out...I put roasted slivered almonds in once...Yep, it was legit!
So, here's how the magic happens.
Ingredients - 2 400g cans rinsed and drained lentils, 1 beaten egg, 2 teaspoons of curry powder, 1 teaspoon (each) of ground cumin and coriander, half a cup of dried breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (I use double), 2 coarsely grated carrots, 2 spring onions finely chopped and small amount of plain flour.
Method - Put one can of lentils, the egg, curry powder, cumin, coriander, breadcrumbs and fresh coriander into a food processor and blend until smooth. Put in a bowl and add the other can of lentils, carrot and onion. Mix up well then make pattie-sized shapes using your hands and dust both sides with the flour.
Grill (pan fry if you like) until golden brown (use oil), drain on absorbent paper and transfer to a pre-heated oven (160C fan-forced or 180C non fan-forced) and bake for ten minutes.
This is uncomplicated, basic food, but it's easily made and super tasty and I find it convenient to have such things sitting in the freezer for those times when I haven't got the time to make them from scratch.
I actually base meals around them, and other such things, when I plan out meals and do the shopping. Add a side salad, grill a chicken breast or steak and you're good to go. And with the corn patties...make some poached or scrambled eggs, well done bacon, sauteed mushrooms and grilled chorizo then use the corn patties in place of toasted bread and you've got a hearty breakfast-dinner on your hands!
We live in a society that loves convenience and that often comes through people ordering food or fronting up to a fast food place like McDonalds. That's not my style though and I think it's easy to make some healthier convenience foods for snacks or to base meals around. These two above are so simple, reasonably quick and taste the same whether eaten on the day or after a time in the freezer which is ideal.
Do you folks do similar things, prepare food ahead of time due to a lack of time or are you lucky enough to have the time to cook as you need the food, meal by meal? Have you got any recipes you like to make that are quick, simple and tasty? If you do please share them below. Do you work on eating in a healthy manner with self-made foods using fresh ingredients or do you prefer a more unhealthy fast-food diet? Feel free to comment below if you like.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default; tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind - galenkp
[All original and proudly AI free.]
Any images in this post are my own.
