You know what really gets to me? Those "one-pot" recipes you see everywhere. I hear "one-pot" and I am thinking: simplified prep, less dishes and a throwback to my bachelor days (where most meals were actually made inside of plastic containers). But then you start reading them and its all: Sauté in one pan and combine in another and yada yada yada.
I'm in a new season of life right now. My wife and I had our first child last October. With that blessing comes all the new "things to conquer" (not stresses) that we have had to figure out. And no matter what, at the end of the day it's time for dinner!
We both have full-time jobs so some of the domestic stuff around the house gets shared between us. But with me getting home first I try to make sure dinner is ready for my wife (oops, forgot to put beautiful, amazing and truly incredible before the word wife. Oh well, that's what parentheses are for.) when she gets home.
This is where a lot of people fall into the trap of just "grabbing something on the way home", "ordering dinner to be delivered" or just "nuking something in the microwave". Of course none of these options are usually the healthiest or easiest on the ol' wallet. Over the past couple of months I have come up with what I call "So Simple Stovetop Meals" as a way to combat this. (Plus I love cooking,)
The "So Simple Stovetop Meal" is an easy concept. I want to make a healthier, balanced meal with minimum clean-up and stress. Each meal usually contains the following:
Meat (Usually ground)
Rubb
Healthier Carb Option
Veggies
Maybe some Sauce
For Dishes/Utensils:
Pan with Lid
Stirring/Serving Utensil
That picture above is of one of the most common combinations that I do through the week. For this one I've got:
Ground Chicken
Rubb (This time I went with Sedona Smoke)
Seeds of Change - Quinoa and Brown Rice
Bird's Eye - Steamfresh - Gold & White Corn, Carrots and Asparagus Mix
And just a little Worechestire Sauce
The Process Goes Like This:
Rubb one side of the meat still in the packaging.
Flip and dump the meat (Rubb'd side down) into the pan. Rubb the top side of the meat and I added in a couple squirts of Worechestire Sauce for flavor. Cover and cook.
While the meat is going, prep the Quinoa and Brown Rice. This stuff takes 90 seconds to cook. Just follow the instructions on the back of the package. I will usually start this after the chicken has been going for like 8 minutes. Once cooked, pour into the pan with the chicken.
*Thing to note about this brand. They have several other flavors, that are all really good! So if they are on sale you should snag a few to try. This specific flavor is the only one that our local Costco carries, so we can buy in bulk and save some cha-cha-ching-change!
Cool. Now start the veggies. This bag takes about 5 minutes to cook in our microwave. A lot of the reason we became partial to this exact mix is that it has a lot of flavor and none of the veggies would be too gassy for my son as he was feeding at that time. New mothers know and fear certain vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and onions. But check out their whole line of options cause they have like over a dozen blends/choices to go with.
Oh snap! Has it been 5 minutes already?! OK, well open the bag and pour it in with the rest of the meal. (It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes total to put this whole thing together. )Stir together and BADA BOOM!!!!
Dinner is ready!
Because I used the steamer bag of veggies and the microwavable rice, I saved on dishes/utensils that would need to be cleaned. Now I know that those two options are not the freshest or healthiest, but I am just happy to be getting those items and not having to deal with more cleaning.
I mean this whole meal breaks down as the following:
1,250 Calories - 26.75 grams Fat - 123 grams Carbs - 107 grams Protein
That's not bad considering it was made in 15 minutes, took little to no prep and 2/3 main ingredients were microwaved!!!
And this is just the staple version. You can use any kind of ground or diced meat (turkey, beef, lamb, etc), any kind of the microwave rices and any kind of the steamer bags of veggies! Use your imagination and add whatever little extras you want! (Fun one would be adding feta cheese, bacon and mushrooms!)
Remember, don't beat your meat. Rubb that Chubb!