Conference turris::cooks

How about macaroni and cheese:  Buy generic macaroni (Kraft mixes are too
expensive!!!) and boil it in a pan, stirring occassionally (every minute or
two) for about fifteen minutes (until eating one is soft).  Drain it by
either putting a plate over the top of the pan and tilting it over the sink
(use a pot holder--the plate gets hot!) and then add a pat of margarine. 
Add a couple of chunks of Velveeta, chopped up, and mix until it melts.
Voila! macaroni and cheese.

Or how about scrambled eggs with onions and/or cheese and/or cheap sausage?
Break 2-3-4 eggs into a bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix them up.  Put
some margarine or oil into a frying pan, and fry the additions (mushrooms?,
onions, or sausage--I buy cheap pepperoni).  Dump in the eggs, and stir,
pulling the congealed egg to the center and running the liquid onto the pan.
Add the cheese quickly, so it will melt.  Cook it until you'd like to eat it
(I like it a bit "wet", but some people like it "dry").  Voila! something
you can even serve your guests.

Or how about cheese toast?  Just buy any old generic cheese (NOT cheese food,
it makes good sauce, but gets too runny for cheese toast) and slice it. Toast
the bread on both sides lightly, and broil the cheese on the toast until it
bubbles. It helps to put the toast on a plate, so you can clean the melted
cheese drippings off the plate, instead of off the toaster over or oven.
Add some chopped onions under the cheese, or spread mustard on the bread before
melting the cheese.

Or, how about chicken?  Just buy legs or quarters or wings (do you like 
chicken livers--they're really cheap!) and unwrap them, put them on a plate,
sprinkle a little soy sauce on them and bake them in an oven at 350 deg for
about an hour.  Cut into one and if it is still red inside, cook another
half hour.  They are good hot, and the leftovers are good cold.   Make
chicken salad for sandwiches by chopping up the chicken meat and mixing
it with mayonnaise, mustard, chopped onions and maybe a little chopped
pickle or relish.

Give me some better idea of your likes and dislikes, and I can give you
some more tips.  I'm no gourmet cook--I've only recently been able to do
anything, but I live very cheaply, making most of the food I eat.  Start
simple, and you will only have to throw out a few things.
--Ruth

Try stir frying...it's very simple, inexpensive, and can really impress
people if you have them over for dinner.

If you like veggies, it is easy enough to cut up a few different kinds, like
cabbage, carrots, broccoli and onions, as an example, toss them into an iron
skillet, or a wok (a good investment, as you can also use it to boil water
for pasta, heat soup, etc), with some oil, stir until the veggies are a bright
color, and just barely cooked.  You can add some soy sauce, bbq sauce, a little
vinegar, or just eat them plain.  You can make minute rice, or learn to cook
regular rice, it will take about as long to make the rice as it does to stir
fry your veggies (the whole thing takes under 30 mins.).  You can also eat
stir fry over noodles.  Most grocery store chains (like Star and Stop and
Shop) now stock chinese noodles in their produce department.  They only take
about 5 minutes to cook, and are very good, also pretty inexpensive (about
.99 cents to 1.19).

You can get more elaborate and daring by stir frying inexpensive cuts of
meat and then adding the veggies, or if you like tofu you can add that to
the stir fry.  Tofu has no or little taste on its own, but absorbs flavors
from the things it's cooked with.  It
s
 It is an excellent source of protein, and is also very inexpensive.

I think you will find you can eat very well with stir frying, and still
stay within a reasonable budget.  It's hard to get bored cooking this 
way because you can vary the ingredients and the sauces.

Hope this helps...good luck and happy woking!

Andrea 

HOORAY FOR THE WOK.  I GOT ONE FROM MY FAMILY FOR MY BIRTHDAY AND FELL
IN LOVE WITH IT RIGHT AWAY.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE IS THE COMPLEXITY OF MOST OF THE RECIPES AVAILABLE.

I'M A RENEGADE CHEF.  WRITTEN RECIPES INTIMIDATE ME.  I START WITH
WHAT EVER TICKLES MY FANCY AT THE TIME AND CREATE AS I GO.  FOR 
EXAMPLE IF I FEEL THIS PARTICULAR DISH MIGHT BE ENHANCED BY A LITTLE
GARLIC OR BLACK PEPPER - IN IT GOES.  I MOSTLY LET MY SENSE OF TASTE
AND WHAT I IMAGINE WILL LOOK APPETIZING DETERMINE THE END RESULTS.

I DID FOLLOW A RECIPE THAT I FOUND IN A MAGEZINE THE OTHER NIGHT AND IT
WAS AS GOOD AS I HAD HOPED IT WOULD BE.  IT BASICALLY CONSISTED OF
SHRIMP, SNOW PEAS, AND BROCOLLI.  I DID MODIFY IT A BIT THOUGH BY BUYING
MORE SHRIMP THAN WERE CALLED FOR.  ANYWAY I FED MY FAMILY OF FOUR FOR 
ABOUT $12.00.  MY TWO SONS ARE EATING MACHINES (TEENAGERS) SO I WENT
THE EXTRA JUST TO MAKE SURE THERE WOULD BE ENOUGH.

MORE:

FRIED CHICKEN IS EASY AND ECONOMICAL TO PREPARE IN A WOK AND A LITTLE CAN
GO A LONG WAY IF YOU BONE IT AND CUT INTO BITE SIZE PIECES.

COAT THE BITE SIZE PIECES WITH SEASONED WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR.

HEAT UP THE WOK.

POUR IN ABOUT 3 TABLESPOONS OF PEANUT OIL.  (IT STANDS UP TO HIGH TEMPS 
BETTER THAN REGULAR VEGITABLE OIL).

DROP IN THE CHICKEN PIECES TWO OR THREE AT A TIME AND LET COOK ON ONE SIDE
FOR A BIT TURN OVER WHEN THEY TAKE ON A GOLDEN BROWN AND THEN WHEN THE OTHER
SIDE IS TO THE SAME SHADE PLACE ON A PLATE COVERED WITH A PAPER TOWEL - SOAKS
UP THE EXCESS OIL.  EACH PIECE TAKES ABOUT THREE TO FOUR MINUTES.  ONE PERSON
CAN PREPARE ALL THE CHICKEN THEY CAN POSSIBLY HOPE TO EAT IN A MATTER OF 
FIFTEEN MINUTES.

COOKING MEAT IN A WOK WORKS BEST IF THE MEAT IS SLICED VERY THIN AROUND 1/4
INCH IN THICKNESS, CHICKEN CAN BE UP TO AROUND 1/2 INCH.  FOR BEEF AND PORK
SLICE THEM WHEN THEY ARE PARTIALLY FROZEN, THE SLICES COME OUT NEATER.

GOTTA GO - WORK IS CALLING.

OH YEA - THE LATEST QUICK MEAL ON THE MARKET IS CALLED "THE BUDGET GOURMET"
I HEAR THEY ARE QUITE GOOD.  YOU'LL FIND THEM IN THE FREEZER SECTION AT 
AROUND $1.50 EACH.

BYE

BBOB

Believe it or not, anything you can do in a wok, you can do in a nonstick
frying pan.  I stir fry all the time, and I have NEVER used a wok.  Buy a
frying pan at Woolworth's.

--Ruth

	I live alone and cook for myself just about every night.
	Two cookbooks that I recommend are:

	Meals for One or Two by Better Home and Gardens
	Cooking for One by Betty Crocker

	They have lots of different ideas and have instructions on
	how to perform different cooking tasks in case you don't
	know what they're talking about.  Try them, I think you like
	them...and probably eat a lot better for cheaper!

					-- Geoff

For simple basic things, I recomend Betty Crocker's Cookbook.  I don't
recall seeing how to hard boil eggs anywhere else.  The Joy of Cooking
is pretty comprehensive and has many more recipies.

I've learned most of the basic things the hard way.  Making a cheese
sauce (in most any cook book) and throwing in macaroni is pretty simple.
Then maybe throw in a can of tuna (drained) or cooked frozen peas.  Much
better than Kraft.  A little more expensive (sunday dinner) is Rock
Cornish Game hens.  Just follow the instructions on the package.  You
throw them into an oven for about 1hr, maybe bast ocasionally, and that
is it!  No fancy preparations unless you want to (they usually have some
recipie inside the wrapper).  Also get some breaded veal patties (prepared
at the store, very cheap as I recall), fry for a few minutes in hot oil
on a stove, until the breading turns light brown, remove, put some jar
spaghetti sauce over it, and some cheese on top of that and bake (say 350
for 15-20 minutes to further cook the meat, sauce and melt the cheese) in
a foil covered pan.  Boil spaghetti noodles and put warmed bottled speghetti
sauce on top.

Don't be too upset if your first few tries look or taste like first tries!

Charlie

Along the lines of stir-frying... Buy a box of Minute Rice 
and check out the recipes on the back. They are quick,simple,
and inexpensive. (Usually pretty tasty too.)

Another thing you can do with rice.  I  just call it egg rice
All you do is cook  up some Minute Rice,(or your favorite brand)
add a couple of slightly beaten eggs, and stir until the egg is
cooked.  You can spruce this up a thousand ways depending
on your tastes.(onions, cheese, peppers,...) Works great as 
either a main or side dish.  Oh yea, make rice in skillet so
you can stir egg in easier.

Another tip... how about cooking things up ahead of time and refrigerating
or freezing?  Most anything can be prepared and then frozen or refrigerated
on a "nothing-better-to-do" night or weekend.  Like spaghetti sauce and
meatballs.  Just pull out the sauce and/or meatballs and heat while cooking
the spaghetti noodles and in 15 minutes you got a main dish!

There are quite a few cookbooks around that address the topic of
how to eat well without living in the kitchen; could well be worth the
investment if you need the extra help.

One more thing - do you like peanut butter???

Wendy

I, too, do a lot of cooking for one... now the following may sound strange, 
but it isn't, if you think about it.

It sound as if you aren't particularly enthusiastic about the amount of 
preparation involved in cooking....

One way to avoid this is to buy expensive cuts of meat -- for example,
chicken cutlets (boneless breast of chicken), pork cutlets (also boneless)
or more expensive boneless beef steaks.

These cuts can be quickly cooked, in the oven or in a pan.
They're easy to prepare in a variety of simple, tasty ways.

But, you say, they're EXPENSIVE... Yes they are, in terms of price per 
pound. However, you have the advantage of buying something with virtually 
no waste (bones, gristle, layers of fat, etc.)

To give an example: last week I bought six pork cutlets at $3.99/lb.
Seems expensive, right? Well, I got about 1 1/2 lbs. of meat for $5.75.
Now, two chops per meal is a reasonable portion. It's a reasonable portion
because I am able to eat ALL of what I paid for. So, what's the price per 
meal??? It's $1.91, at least for the entree. You could probably complete 
the meal for another $.60. $2.50 for steak or chops isn't bad, and it's a 
hell of a lot better than subs.

Another cookbook you might want to look at is Pierre Franey's
"60 Minute Gourmet". His recipes are for four, but I simply divide by 4.
Most of the recipes are relatively cheap, usually simple, and always good.

					Best of Luck!
					Bon Appetit!
					  andrew

	This dish has several names - I call it American Chop Suey
and Jim calles it "Glop".  But it's really good, easy, can be varied
to fit what's in your fridge, and freezes well.  If you make a lot
then you don't have to cook again for a week.  I don't use very
accurate measurements, since this is "to taste" and, frankly, I don't
ever make it the same twice in a row.  You can serve this with grated
cheese, if you have some.

Ground beef - 1 to 2 lbs, broken up into bite-size chunks
A jar of tomato sauce, your favorite flavor, the size that's about 5"
  tall (16 oz?) or more, to taste.  NOT pizza-quick!!!
a big onion, chopped up
some oil
garlic, either fresh or in a jar
elbow (or shell or rigitoni or other hollow-kind-of) noodles

  Dump about 4 cups of water into a med-size pot and put it over enough
heat so it'll boil sometime soon.
  Cook onion in oil over med heat in a big pan until it starts getting
yellow and soft.  Dump in the beef and stir it up.  Cook until the beef is
brown/grey.  Add the garlic and the tomato sauce.  Let it cook while you
cook about a cup of the noodles in the (now boiling) water in the other
pot.  Dump the noodles into the meat stuff and cook a few more mins.
That's all!

Variations:
Some celery, carrots added when you start the onion cooking.
Some mushrooms, peas added when you put the sauce in.
Spices, like marjoram, oregano, basil, black pepper, thyme added with the
sauce.
A little wine (red) added with the sauce.  You can then drink the rest....

If you add veggies this becomes a one-dish balanced meal that your mom
would approve.

Another useful item when you are cooking for one and need quick healthy
food is a steamer.  The kind that fits into a standard size pot is
sufficient and can be purchased for about four dollars.

Try steaming a combination of fresh vegies at once and to please your
palate go for the more unusual like anise, bok choy, chinese cabbage
in combination with halved onions, whole mushrooms etc. etc.  A good
trick is to add a few drops of sesamee oil while they are steaming.
(Sesamee oil can usually be found in the specialty food section of
your supermarket - expensive but a little goes a long way.)

Sesamee oil can also be added to WOK food to give it a very distinctive
far eastern flavor.

Good eatin - LARRY

Fresh broccolli is particularly good steamed.  Don't allow it to get 
mushy by cooking it too long...

One of the reasons I turned vegetarian is I hate to prepare meat, cook meat,
and clean up after meat. (The other reason is I was eating in a college dining
hall at the time.) Maybe you'll find that if you don't feel you have to come
up with a meat dish every night, cooking is less of a chore.

For protein, I rely a lot on dried beans. Lentils are about the quickest beans
to cook, taking about 1/2 hour; don't know if this is "quick" in your book,
but all you really have to do is throw them in a pot with water & stir
occasionally. You could cut up an onion and/or a carrot or two and throw them
in when you start cooking the lentils, and add some curry powder if you like
curry powder. Or stir in some tomato sauce after they're cooked. 

If you're around the house on a weekend, you can boil up a big pot of some of
the longer-cooking beans, then freeze most of them, and later defrost them and
heat them up. A really good recipe is: 1 pound of little white (navy or great
northern) beans, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil. Cook the beans according
to the package, throwing in the garlic & olive oil at the start of cooking.
When you eat them, try squeezing some lemon juice on top. These beans take a
few hours to boil, but again not much work. 

Eat beans along with a grain food, like bread, rice, or corn, to get a 
balanced protein. You can cook non-instant rice and lentils together, since 
they cook in about the same time.

My favorite egg thing, to go along with the other egg suggestions, is potatoes 
& eggs; take boiled potatoes, cube them, throw them into a pan with butter to 
fry a little, then throw in beaten eggs & scramble them up.

					Val

RE.13


instead of using boiled potatoes, try using 'tater tots' or any other
frozen kind...add some oil or butter to a frying pan and add the potatoes.
Cover with a lid, stirring occassionally to avoid burning.  When the potatoes
are soft, mash them up, and then add the eggs.  Scrammble and then serve...
a good quick dinner, especially if you have a salad or veggie with it.

This is a pretty well-known chicken recipe, that I've been using for years. 
It has several virtues: its quick and easy to prepare, smells heavenly while
its cooking, and tastes delicious!

Ingredients:

Chicken (I use legs, but you can use any part you want)
1/4 lb butter
1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope of Lipton's onion soup
1 - 2 cups (depending on how hungry you are) of Uncle Bens converted rice
            NOT THE INSTANT KIND!)
Pam

1. Melt the butter.
2. While the butter melts, spray a casserole dish with PAM.
3. Pour your rice into the bottom of the casserole dish.
4. Sprinkle the onion soup on top of the rice.
5. Dump the cream of mushroom soup on top of onion soup.
6. Add about 1/2 - 3/4 of a can of water and mix the onion soup, mushroom 
   soup, and rice together.
   (AT THIS POINT IT LOOKS COMPLETELY DISGUSTING AND RATHER WATERY...DO NOT
    DISPAIR!)
7. Place your pieces of chicken on top of this disgusting mess, skin side up.
8. Pour your melted butter over the chicken.
9. Put it in the oven and bake at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours

Another good investment (besides a wok) is a Faberware broiler. Broiling meat
is easy and healthy, but broiling in your stove can create a real mess.
Faberware broilers can sit on the countertop while you're using them, don't
spatter, and disassemble nicely to fit into the dishwasher. I've had mine for
15 years and its still going strong.

Broiled chicken basted with a mixture of melted butter and garlic is delicious!

Another handy item to have around is teriaki sauce. Just brushing it over
a simple minute steak greatly enhances the flavor. You can also brush it
over chicken, ribs, or pork chops before baking or while broiling.

bon appetit!

-nn

As far as chicken goes:

If you're fussy about white/dark meat, and don't feel like boning it yourself,
you can pay up to $2.00/lb for chicken. If, however, you're willing to eat it
all, and you don't mind a little hacking in the kitchen, you can easily find
whole chickens for $0.79/lb, and on sale as cheaply as $0.59.

What does this imply? Well, first, that you'll get both white & dark meat. If
you refuse to eat one variety, and don't have somebody around who will, you're
wasting your money. If you do, then you've gotten a bargain. Second, you're
not paying the butcher up to $1.00/lb to cut your chicken for you -- and there's
a lot of recipes that want whole chickens, halved chickens, or quartered birds.
Third, if you like soup, it's trivial to make a chicken soup that would grow
hair on a matzoh ball. Fourth, you can divert some of the broth from the soup,
boil it down, and you have a concentrated broth that you can use to make gravy
or sauces (and have them taste like something).

I'll try to dig up a recipe for chicken pilaf that I made over a Coleman at
a campground (with partly-cooked chicken, I'll have to admit). Easy to make,
cooks in 1 skillet, doesn't require much work or strange herbs.

Dick

2 solutions for people to hate to cook (& are sick of subs);

	1) Buy those dried Raman Oriental noodle soup packets (cost about
25 cents apiece); they take 3 minutes to make. Also, buy a couple of bags
of chopped, frozen vegetables and (optionally) a bag of frozen, (cooked),
diced chicken.

	Then, when you're hungry --> cook the noodles, throw in a handful
of veggies, throw in a handfull of chicken and....your done! Less than
5 minutes for a heaping bowl of food. A little soy sauce is nice too.


	2) Slightly more ambitious; Make a big pot of brown rice ahead of
time (takes about 30 minutes). Go to the supermarket and throw a bunch of
fresh veggies in your cart (doesn't matter which). Get a sub for dinner
on the way home.

	Then, the next day; clean and peel (if appropriate) the
veggies, heat up a frying-pan (or wok) with a bit of oil and throw in
the veggies and stir them around. Then throw in some rice and stir the
whole mess around. (you can throw in some of that cooked, dice chicken
too.) That's it. Once again, soy sauce helps. Less than 10 minutes and
real tasty!

	A big pot of rice and fresh veggies should last you several
days (and it's cheap).

					an ex-submarine addict, Karl

RE: -1 (Ramen Noodles)

	Frozen pea pods are *especially* good in Ramen noodles...

	Left-over strips of charcoal broiled beef are the best (the
	broth picks up the flavor)...

	Also slivered fresh carrots give the "soup" an interesting
	texture...

-mike

15 MIN. IS TOO LONG FOR NOODLES! TRY 8 MIN OR LESS FOR THE "AL DENTE".

This bachelor came up with several "recipes" during college that are very 
easy.  Macaroni and cheese gets pretty bad tasting after the third box, so I 
started buying Rice-a-Roni.  (All you gourmet types better type NEXT right 
now).  Now this is a ton of starch and little taste, so I always threw in 
frozen veggies about 10 minutes before it was done cooking down.  One pan 
meals are the only way to go.

The Ramen soup can be made a little more varied by dropping in two eggs.  
Don't let it boil over as it is a pain to clean burned boiled eggs.

Not too quick but really easy are Killer Pork Chops.  Get a tin pie plate or
something leftover from that last TV dinner.  Slice an onion or two and lay
the rings onto the pan.  Put the chops on top then smother with BBQ sauce. 
Plain Heinz worked well for me.  The onions keep the chops from sticking and
the sauce keeps them moist.   350 degrees for 30 minutes and they taste good! 
The smell of them cooking is the best part.  Throw out the pan when done. They
are called "killer" because of what they did to a friend who had an ulcer. 

Most of what I baked were things which were hard to over cook.  The above 
chops can be cooked for 45 minutes if you are too busy watching TV and they 
won't burn.  I graduated to lasagna and quiche for this reason.

Best of all, get a girlfriend who cooks.  I am using mine's account to send
this. She went out with friends for dinner and all I could make was a PJ
sandwich for dinner. 

Chris

    TRY THIS ONE:
    TAKE COOKED CRUMBLED GROUND BEEF-PLACE IN BOTTOM OF CASSEROLE DISH.
    ADD ONE CAN OF WHOLE KERNEL CORN AND MIX.SPREAD MASHED POTATOES
    OVER THE TOP OF THE BEEF/CORN MIXTURE,AND COOK IN THE OVEN AT 350
    DEGREES UNTIL TOP OF POTATOES TURN BROWN.SERVE WITH GRAVY.
    
    THIS RECIPE CAN BE VARIED TO YOUR TASTE-ADD GRAVY TO THE BEEF/CORN
    MIXTURE BEFORE TOPPING WITH POYATOES-USE OTHER VEGGIES OR MEAT-GOOD
    FOR USING UP ALMOST ANY LEFTOVERS YOU MAY HAVE.

    THIS IS A QUICK DISH IF YOU HAVE A MICROVAVE,IF NOT OVEN WILL DO:
    MEXICAN CASSEROLE:
    1 LB. GROUND MEAT
    1 SMALL ONION,CHOPPED
    2 CUPS OF CRUSHED TACO CHIPS
    1 PACKAGE(1 1/4 OUNCE) TACO SEASONING MIX
    1 CAN(16OUNCE)WHOLE TOMATOES,UNDRAINED
    1 CUP (8OUNCES)SOUR CREAM
    1 CUP(4 0UNCES) SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE
    
    CRUMBLE GROUND MEAT AND ONION INTO A MICROWAVE-SAFE DISH
    MICROWAVE ON HIGH (10),UNCOVERED 5 TO 6 MINUTES OR UNTIL NO LINGER
    PINKSTIRRING ONCE TO BREAK APART;DRAIN
    LAYER 1 CUP TACO CHIPS IN BOTTOM OF 1 1/2 QUART MIREWAVE-SAFE CASSEROLE
    DISH,COVER WITH GROUND MEAT,DRY TACO SEASONINGMIX,TOMATOES(CUT INTO
    QUARTERS) SOUR CREAM AND CHEESE  TOP WITH REMAINING TACO CHIPS.
    MICROWAVE ON HIGH(10) UNCOVERED,5TO 6 MINUTES(150)DEGREES) OR UNTIL
    CHEESE MELTS AND CASSEROLE IS HEATED THROUGH,ROTATING DISH ONCE.SERVES
      6.ALSO CAN FREEZE FOR A LATER DATE.                          
                                             
    YOU CAN USE YOUR OVEN TO COOK IT ,IT'S FAST AND EASY DIRECTIONS
    SOUND HARD BUT NOT,WILL SEND MORE IF YOU CAN TELL ME YOUR LIKES.
    RAVEN1::PMCDONALD
    
    

    Re:  NOTE 39.8
    
    I agree with the idea of buying more expensive/better cuts of meat.
     Main reason is this:  They are much quicker to cook, do not need
    any seasoning at all, (the flavor of a good steak ex: Delmonicos
    is so good nothing need be added) No waste what-so-ever, and in
    fact when you think about it, really can't be called expensive at
    all.  Best way to go, take from a cook, who does everything from
    scratch and loves to cook. I have been learning very fast ways to
    cook fantastic yet simple meals.  If you truly love to eat, and
    are very serious about the quality of food you eat, not to mention
    the taste try these few helpful hints.
    
    If possible invest in Very good cooking equipment.  I have finally
    been able to buy those "Caphalon pans"  (very worth the investment)
    they are all aluminum, best heat conductors and cook everything
    in no time at all.  Seriously, since I have gotton them, (basic
    starter set is all you need for the rest of you life) these will
    never have to be replaced, never, and you can throw anything into
    them with a little liquid and pop them in the oven with cover on
    for a fantastic roast, hardly any work at all; or cook vegies in
    a matter of 2-3 min. the same way on top of range.  
    
    I know you did stress inexpensive, but I have learned that the initial
    investment of good cooking utensils, and going to a butcher for
    good cuts of meat is in the long run, 1.) better for your health,
    2.) your taste buds will thank you, (let's face it hamburger casseroles
    get very boring after a few months) and in the long run save you
    money, tv dinners, frozen entress are too expensive!  
    
    Sounds like a lot to think about but changes two things alone make
    a big difference.
    
    Try this.
    
    If you don't have a Caphalon pan - try a roasting pan that has a
    cover that fits well and metal handles so it can be put in the oven.
    
    
    Then... peel a few potatos, carrots, onion, celery, whatever you
    like set aside.  Take a roast, any roast and place in the pan, salt
    & pepper, other spices maybe?  put cover on the pan and place in
    oven for 1 hour on 350 degrees max.  Take the veggies and throw
    them in the pan with the meat.  Cook for another hour.  Presto you
    have a meal that is very easy, takes 2 hours but, you can be doing
    other things.   

    Dear Shriving up to nothin'
    
    Hey is there anything left of you???  Didn't know if you found
    either:
    1.  A good receipe book
    2.  Coupons for free dinners at your local quickie joints.
    3.  A sweet Italian momma!
    
    Let me know if you're in need of emergency care..hahha
    Linda
    
    

    I was roving throught this file and saw this topic which
    fits my cooking style to a T.  I really do not enjoy cooking
    unless I am really in the mood.  
    
    Something quick, cheap and easy that I do is Fetuccini Clams Alfredo.
    You gourmet's out there may not want to read this - it may offend
    8*)
    
    Buy a box of Tuna Helper Fetuccini Alfredo and 2 cans of chopped
    clams.
    
    Prepare according to package directions, substituting clams for
    tuna.
    
    Add a salad and garlic bread on the side and you have a meal.
    
    It works for us!  Feeds 3 for about 6$ total.
    
    If anyone else has some quick, easy and fairly cheap this
    tired 'ole working mom would appreciate your posting them.
    
    Thanks,
    Pam

    One Oven Meal...

    
    Scrub potatoes and jab with fork for baking.

    Mix together one can of chicken with rice soup, one can of corn
    flakes, a chopped onion, and one pound of hamburg and put into
    meatloaf pan.

    Cut in half two Acorn squash, scoop out seeds, add pats of butter
    and tablespoon of brown sugar to each half.  Place on baking sheet.

    Put the above three articles in a 350 degree oven for an hour or 
    so.  

    justme....jacqui

    p.s.  Serve with a store-bought angel cake that has been split in
    	  half horizontaly and up-ended in an angel food pan.  Mix up
    	  a package of lemon or lime jello.  Add a can of crushed 
    	  pineapple (drained) to the middle of the cake.  Pour half the
    	  jello over the inverted top half of cake, add the bottom half
    	  and pour the rest of the jello over it all.  Weight down the
    	  mixture so that the jello soaks into the cake.  Place in fridge
    	  until it is set.  To unmold, place pan in warm water quickly
    	  and up-end on plate.  Slice and serve with dollops of Cool Whip.

    Just started reading this notes files and this string of notes brought
    a line from a recent TV show to mind.. "Grace under Fire" from 2 weeks
    ago:
    
    friend, looking through food cabinets: "Grace, you must have 19 cans of
    Cream of Mushroom soup!"
    Grace: "Sometimes things struggle in the skillet and mushroom soup
    subdues them"
    
    
    
    janetb.

    
    Lets reactivate this topic!
        
    What I'm looking for is tips that help you shorten the time to get
    dinner on the table. I'm really not looking for recipes... more just
    ideas.  This note and note 2602 have mostly recipes but this seems
    to be the best place to put this note!
    
    When you arrive home with your kids from daycare, they want your 
    attention and they don't want you in the kitchen!  I'm looking for 
    techniques to minimize the prep time necessary immediately after
    work to get dinner done.  I've got a few ideas but I'm looking for more.
    
    1.  Keep it simple on the weeknights.  Save complex dishes for the
        weekend.  One night during the weekend, usually Sunday,
        I cook a more complex meal that may take 1-2 hours to prepare.
        I always make extra and either serve it as leftovers that week
        or freeze it to use as leftovers later. 
    
    2.  Partially prepare dinner the night before.  After the kids
        are in bed, assemble a simple casserole (remember, you are
        tired, so simple).  Then, when you get home the next day, you
        just pop it in the oven, cook a veggie, and you are done.
    
    3.  Grill it.  I freeze fresh chicken in its marinade then take it
        out the night before I want to use it.  I also make my own 
        hamburger patties (I add spices to them) and freeze individually.   
    
    4.  Stir fry it.  I suggest preparing your vegetables the night
        before and your stir fry sauce as well.  Only use 1-2 veggies.
        Cut your meat the night before too while it is still partially
        frozen.  It is much easier to cut that way.  When you get home,
        all the prep work is done and you just have to stir it in the
        wok while cooking.  
                                                                 
    5.  Make a large batch of meatballs.  Cooked them, froze them on the
        baking sheet, then dropped them into a ziplock the next day to
        be taken out and used as needed.  Freezing them on the cookie sheet
        keeps them from sticking together.
    
    6.  Brown large quanties of hamburger 3-5 lbs with chopped onion, garlic,
        and maybe green pepper.  Freeze in 1 lb portions.  Then take out as
        needed to make sloppy joes, tacos, american chop suey, etc.
    
    7.  Make your salad the night before.  On Sunday, I make three
        individual salads for myself to take to work the next 3 days.
        I put the wet veggies on the bottom and the lettuce on top.
        This keeps it from getting soggy. 
    
    
    Anybody got any other time saving tips?
    
    Karen

    Karen,
    
    This is not an idea for how to make cooking the meals any quicker,
    but it does save me time overall and also saves me money!
    At the beginning of each week, I write up a menu for the week.
    This saves me the time of knowing exactly what I'm suppose to
    be cooking so I can get right at it.
    
    Also, from this menu, I write up my grocery list.  This saves
    me considerable time at the store instead of floundering around
    the aisles deciding what to buy and heading back later in the
    week for what I forgot.  I have also found that this method has
    saved me money at the grocery store as well because I'm not 
    buying any unnecessary items that I am not going to use.
    
    I have suggested this to friends and they have all like it 
    and admitted that it saved them time and money as well!
    
    

    
    re: .29
    
    Thanks for the tip... I actually already do that, but one better.
    I look through the two grocery flyers quickly to determine which
    store has better sales that week (I refuse to shop at two stores
    in one week just to get the stuff on sale).  Once I've picked the
    grocery store, I jot down the sale items that I want to buy then
    form my weekly menu around them.  For instance, if peppers are
    on sale, I make stuffed peppers.
    
    And of course, I buy in bulk when things are on sale that I use.
    
    Karen
    

    One obvious tip for saving mney in the grocery store: don't shop when
    you are STARVING, such as on the way home from work.  Since that tends
    to be one of the more convenient times to shop, bring along an extra
    piece of fruit, bagel, rice cake, whatever with your lunch and eat that
    right before you leave work, so that you are not real hungry when you
    are shopping.  This cuts down on buying things that aren't on the
    grocery list but look appetizing!
    
    I always wonder, when I see people buying those HUGE packages of
    staple items, like 24 rolls of toilet paper, where they store all that
    stuff?  I can't buy huge blocks of paper goods - there is only room to
    store about 6 rolls of toilet paper and 4 of paper towels.  I guess the
    bulk buyers have big closets?
    
    /Charlotte

    
    re: -1
    
    or basements...
    
    

    RE: -2 about shopping while hungry, Do you think the person who buys
    24 rolls of toilet paper has cramps. :-O
    

    The paper goods are really cheap in the huge bundles, but my basement
    is already full!  My very small house is home to two packrats (and two
    cats, but their stuff doesn't occupy too much space).
    
    /Charlotte

	My wife picked up a cookbook called "Once a Month Cooking".
        This allows her to prepare either two weeks or one month's
	worth of meals in advance.  This allows her to put something
	in the oven, on the grill, or in the crockpot.

	Works for us.

	Don Whiting Jr.

What my Jewish wife makes for supper -- Reservations!	
	
Kraft maccoroni and cheese add 1 can strained tuna fish
not bad! you can also add other items to make a tuna 
casserole such as peas,carrots mushroom bits , get creative.

soup & sandwich works for me, and my 3 kids, especially when 
dad has to put something together after work on moms bowling 
night.
	
for snacks after supper try Hormel chili w/or w/out beans
over nachos add shredded cheese and bake until cheese melts.
	
try cooked pasta and pour hot clam chowder over it.
filling and in-expensive.

        Gary