<p>Plank grilling or baking is easy. All you need is some heat source and some of this:</p>
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<p>I still have the big baking cedar plank that I bought from the chef when he was promoting his new restaurant at a local Costco ten years ago. His rubs are really good, especially the mushroom rub.</p>
<p>Any cooking method that leads to food “redolent of a lush forest,”
I’m on.</p>
<p>Ah but I’ve never had anything bad from Bittman and all the recipes are easy. :)</p>
<p>Here’s another suggestion one dozen great ways to cook white fish: Bittman from a recent Sunday New York Time’s magazine <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03Eat-t.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03Eat-t.html</a> I’ve tried a bunch of them, they are all yummy.</p>
<p>
Having someone else do all the work. I am sick to death of cooking, shopping, and doing the dishes. But we have so few decent restaurants in our area, and dh gets home from work so late, that I’d actually rather have something quick, cheap, and easy at home than venture out. We have saved a ton of money since I came to this realization.</p>
<p>We bought a panini maker for about 50 bucks last year and use it a couple of times a week. It makes any sandwich so much more appealing! It’s also nice that the snow has finally (mostly) melted off the back deck so we can grill veggies and a piece of meat several times a week and be done with it. I’d even do cereal and milk for dinner if dh would go along, but he’s not a believer yet.</p>
<p>Loving the cookbook recommendations (all the cool kids seem to have Bittman, so seems like a must-own book). Wondering what’s for dinner right tonight. See, the planning aspect of this whole eating at home thing also eludes me. Oh, wait. I have some eggplant that’s already been salted and patted dry, some thawed home-made sauce (the aforementioned awesome sauce d’absweetmarie), some good Parmesan cheese and a box of pasta. Sounds like it’s eggplant Parmesan tonight.</p>
<p>I have quite a few recipes that I’d love to post on here when I get a chance. One thing we like to do is pick up a pack of 12 individually wrapped purdue chicken breasts from BJ’s wholesale. It’s great because you can freeze them and just thaw out the ones you need on a given night. </p>
<p>We sometimes will cook something up (I have a ton of chicken recipes) but we also love to grill it as well… especially at this time of the year… Sometimes we season it with Montreal seasoning on the grill… othertimes we wrap it in bacon (hold it in place with tooth picks) and coat it with bbq sauce (top with cheese).</p>
<p>I have one really quick go-to from pantry for a quick lunch.</p>
<p>Can of artichokes, drained and chopped; some roasted red peppers sliced; fresh basil, rolled and cut into slivers; half of a red onion, sliced; cherry tomatoes, cut in half; and some provolone cheese. I put everything in a small bowl and drizzle some balsamic vinegar. For DH, I cut a crusty roll and for me I just cut up some romaine lettuce. </p>
<p>Easy and tasty.</p>
<p>Tonight I made a frittata using roasted cippolini onions, asparagus, and red pepper. I sauteed some mushrooms, added the roasted veggies, and finally the eggs. YUMMY!</p>
<p>worknprogress2,</p>
<p>The frittata is my go-to option for using up lots of this and that. One of my best kitchen purchases ever was a frittata pan apparatus from Williams-Sonoma. My daughter used to be on the frittata bandwagon but got off the bus (egregiously and willfully mixing metaphors here) when she grew tired of me using the frittata as a spinach-delivery device.</p>
<p>given 2 gluten-intolerant family members and typically busy family life w 2 teenagers & over-extended parent volunteers, I find eating at home is actually easier than ordering out. We keep things very simple - grilled meat or fish, potatoes (white or sweet) in microwave, plus bagged salad and I can have dinner on the table in under 15-20 minutes. </p>
<p>Take a look at the Trader Joe’s thread. I refer to their food as ‘semi-prepared’. Another time saver I have latched onto is bagged, microwavable rice - 3 minutes and you have healthy brown rice.</p>
<p>Glad to hear there’s a Trader Joe’s thread (what discussion CAN’T one find on CC?). I’m lucky to have a TJ within a mile of my house. A nice alternative to the Jewel and the Whole Foods.</p>
<p>Absweetmarie - I ALMOST bought that pan. I just thought it seemed heavy and would take up a lot of room. Oh, you are making me rethink whether I want it or not :)</p>
<p>I don’t cook everyday anymore. I cook ahead on the weekend using crockpot so I can run for errands and not worrying about burning anything. I then divide the crockpot into 4-5 meals and then freeze some for future use. When I get home every day, I only have to do fresh vegetables and heat up the already cooked food. It beats eating out every day. Much healthier.</p>
<p>worknprogress2: Insofar as part of my goal in cooking in was to save money, it feels a little hypocritical to advise anyone else to buy anything from Williams-Sonoma! But I do love that pan. It is one of my most-used kitchen tools. Just ask my daughter and my BF. I’m a frittata freak all because of this amazing little pan.</p>
<p>W-S and other kitchen gadget makers and sellers try to change our mindset by forcing us into thinking that for every little thing we prepare, there should be a special tool. There is absolutely no need to spend $120 on a pan if you already have one with a good lid. Quickly stir-fry your “mix-ins”, pour the egg mixture over the goodies, put the lid back on, set the heat on LOW, and in a few minutes you will have a perfect egg dish tastier than a frittatta made in the special pan. And with much less oil!</p>
<p>I do 90% of my cooking in a black iron skillet, a largish steamer and a tiny non-stick frying pan.</p>
<p>Bunsen - I “finish” my frittatta in an oven set at 350 - but I was tempted. You know how you are about shoes??? Kitchen things. Love 'em. But I have a very small kitchen and no storage so I must choose very carefully.</p>
<p>My friend and I raced to see how many meals we could get out of a roasted chicken from Costco. I was able to make chicken with penne pasta mixed with zucchini, artichoke hearts and summer squash in a light butter and cheese sauce, chicken enchiladas and finally, chicken noodle soup! She got roast chicken and mashed potatoes and chicken pot pie with the leftovers the next night.</p>
<p>Wnp, I agree: kitchen gadgets are like shoes, cool to look at and dream about, but when it comes to actually using them, the good ol’ proven in action ones can do the job just fine. In my house, a fancy panini maker will get as much action as a pair of Loboutins with 5 inch heels. ;)</p>
<p>other ideas that work for us:</p>
<ul>
<li>George Foreman grill. Amazing for all types of burgers: beef, turkey or salmon.<br></li>
<li>put small roast or chicken breasts in pan in marinate night before and call home to have teenager preheat oven & put in oven.</li>
<li>make lasagne night before & call teenager as above…</li>
</ul>
<p>you can also lower expectations and have soup (trader joe’s boxed soup!), sandwiches & salads. Tuna melts on George Foreman are big hit in our family.</p>
<p>I’ll join this club! We cut way back on eating out when we started a weight loss campaign last September and simultaneously decided we were spending too much money. My H reached his weight goal. I was successful, took a hiatus, and am beginning again. Our needs are different (for example, lower carbs for me), but we work it out. The main thing I had to overcome, on several fronts, was inertia. I work from home, so there is no reason I can’t take salmon or chicken out of the freezer–unless I forget, which is ridiculous.</p>
<p>This week I started meal planning again. For us, that’s the key to cooking at home and avoiding “why don’t we just go out?” syndrome. We had two nights of Caribbean black beans and Spanish rice from a Moosewood cookbook. Tonight it’s Cobb salad. I remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer, and the two-mile roundtrip walk to the grocery store to buy an avocado will be good exercise! If we keep things simple, we stay on track: protein, a cooked vegetable, a large salad, and sometimes brown rice.</p>
<p>Cookbooks: Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food is a long-time favorite. Lately I’ve gotten back to Moosewood Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day. Simply Recipes and The Kitchn are good blogs. I like Martha Stewart, Mark Bittman, and Epicurious iPhone apps. </p>
<p>Frittata: I make it in an ovenproof pan and finish it in the oven. </p>
<p>Appliances, etc.: My recent concession was a new, larger George Foreman grill to replace my old tiny version. I also bought a 4-quart Anolon pot this winter so we could make smaller batches of soup for the two of us (still with leftovers to freeze).</p>
<p>Planking: The planks we bought at Costco last summer don’t last longer than one grilling on a Weber charcoal grill, right? Or do we need to buy a thicker plank? They seem to burn too much to be re-used. We love making planked salmon coated with grainy mustard and brown sugar. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we can’t call a teenager around here anymore, but we look forward our college son being home this summer because he’s a great cook. He’s doing summer school and (he hopes) a restaurant job, so he might not be around enough to meet our culinary needs.</p>
<p>Note to the OP: Have you heard the version of Absolutely Sweet Marie sung by George Harrison on the Bob Dylan 35th anniversary celebration live concert CD? Love it, and it’s on my “cooking playlist.”</p>