I’m single. I hate cooking for one person. So I tend to eat out a lot or do quick microwavable meals. But that gets really old and at times unhealthy. So I’ve been trying to come up with more creative meals that are quick to prepare. This week I used my 3 qt. crock-pot to make a beef soup. It took me 10 minutes to prepare in the morning before I left for work and when I got home I was greeted to the delicious aroma of a meal that had been slow cooking all day. In the recipe below, feel free to substitute fresh herbs for dried and toss in an onion. Onions bother my stomach so I don’t usually have any on hand.
1 large russet potato cubed
2 carrots chopped (or for the lazy, about a cup of baby carrots whole)
2 stalks celery chopped
1 1/2 lbs stew meat
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste
7 cups water
6 beef bullion cubesMix all ingredients in the slow cooker. Turn on the ‘low’ setting and let cook for 12 hours.
Tags: Cooking
January 20th, 2005 at 1:35 pm
Jamin,
I have an entire cookbook of recipes for crockpots, if you are ever interested to take a looky!
Princess
January 20th, 2005 at 2:43 pm
Cool. I probably could get some neat ideas from such a book. I’ve just kind of improvised and experimented with putting things I know I like together and it’s turned out pretty good so far.
January 23rd, 2005 at 8:09 pm
I also tend to eat out and do quick bachellor geek meals.
I will have to look into the crock pot thing - but knowing when I’m going to be home ready to eat, 12 hours ahead of time, really doesn’t suit my impromptu scheduling.
I love my rice maker though! Dump in rice and water, press button, go write code, and come back to ready rice 15 minutes later. I like to add unsweetened coconut to the rice while it cooks, while adding cinammon to a bowl of canned chili in the microwave, and mixing the two results covered with grated cheddar (I’m cheese crazy). Fast.
Another favorite is to put some frozen boneless chicken breasts in the toaster oven - which again, you can leave alone, so it’s not really like cooking, then dicing them up into rice with some Soy sauce.
And though, it’s a little more like actual cooking in terms of time, the chicken breasts also work well diced into Macaroni and Cheese, and then baking the whole lot with cheddar in the toaster oven.
January 24th, 2005 at 10:52 am
Thanks everyone for the additional tips. I’m going to buy a rice-cooker and also try couscous. Chris: I also love my toaster oven. I use it all the time. Made a baked potato in it last night. I also grill fish in it quite a bit.