4-Star Meals: Cheap, Fast, Low-Fat AND in the Toaster Oven!

The LAST thing I want to do after work is spend hours in the kitchen. I also dislike washing pots. Someday, I will execute on my plan of inventing disposable pots. In the meantime, I need meals that minimize prep, cooking and clean-up time. These meals also need to be inexpensive. Oh, and calorically “cheap.” I know I’m asking for a lot. But here are some ideas:

Sea bass. One of the best things I ever bought was a $20 stoneware pan that fits right in the toaster oven. I bought it at a Pampered Chef party after the hostess mentioned that she cooks fish in the toaster oven. That thought never occurred to me. I rarely used to make fish at home because I felt like it was a process of preheating the oven and watching the fish so it didn’t over cook. But the great thing about making anything in the toaster oven is that you can watch it without bending.

Sea Bass comes out great after 10 or 15 minutes in the toaster oven. Just garnish about half or three-quarters of a pound with mushrooms, tomatoes and some lemon wedges, then place some Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom soup on top, which helps you pretend you are eating a decadent meal. I realize this is only cheap if you are cooking for one, or even two people, but it really comes out great.

Honey mustard chicken wraps. Beth LOVES Ken’s Steakhouse Honey Mustard, and we combed the supermarkets in Forest Hills, Jamaica and the Upper East Side to find it. For some reason, it isn’t as popular here as it is in Florida. I finally found it at Waldbaum’s Online. I thought Beth was gonna drink it! As I write this I’m marinating a pound Perdue Fit N Easy thin-sliced chicken in about ½ a cup of the lower fat Ken’s Steakhouse Honey Mustard, which is almost as good as the full-fat version. These shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes cooking in the toaster oven at about 400 degrees. We are going to make honey mustard chicken wraps and potato fries tonight. This is much healthier and cheaper than ordering in two wraps from the diner!

Barbecue chicken breasts. Marinate a pound of boneless chicken breasts in Kraft Honey Barbecue Sauce (between ¼ and ½ the bottle, depending on how saucy you like things) overnight. Then place it in the toaster oven for 20-25 minutes at about 400 degrees. You can even serve with some pineapple chunks or pineapple slices to add a bit of fun and variety. I suggest this meal with Betty Crocker Mashed Sweet Potatoes. You can also make low-fat cole slaw. That’s easy to assemble if you buy the shredded cole slaw in the bag and use low-fat mayo. The recipe is even on the bag.

Hamburgers. If you like onions, toss a package of Lipton Recipe Secrets Golden Onion Mushroom or Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion soup mix with about one pound of ground beef. I added some water to the mixture since it looked powdery in the bowl and I was afraid it would be dry. Depending on the thickness of the burgers, Bake at 400 for about 30-35 minutes. You can also broil in the toaster oven but definitely use a meat thermometer so you don’t overcook. You can serve with some frozen French fries (which are surprisingly low-fat and definitely less caloric then restaurant French fries) a cut up potato, or even a baked potato.

If you have your own favorite toaster oven recipe let me know! I’ve heard some of you may be having trouble commenting, so shoot me an email at acorik (a for allison, cori is my middle name and k is the first letter of my last name) at hotmail.com.

Baked Apples

I’ve been obsessively craving baked apples, probably because it is cold and I haven’t had it in a long time. This is a great dessert if you are dieting, since it is almost like an apple pie. ALMOST. I also decided to make this in the toaster oven. I cored two Rome apples (large apples usually used for baking and available at most fruit stores), added about a half a teaspoon of cinnamon and brown sugar and baked at 375 degrees for about an hour. Every 20 minutes or so I poured some Sprite in the middle of the apple, but I think that seltzer may be better. Some recipes suggest using butter, which I didn’t. I did place a drop of margarine on the bottom of the apples so it wouldn’t stick. This smells very good while it is baking but didn’t taste as good as I remember from my childhood. (Mom, if you read this please let me know if I missed something.)

Another recipe suggested serving this with vanilla ice cream, which sounds really good but not very diet friendly. I do think it would also be good with fat-free frozen yogurt or fat-free ice cream.

Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey

Besides coming up with new, interesting and easy dinners, I also need to make lunch. I do not like the offerings in the cafeteria or neighborhood where I work. This is actually ok, since I do not want to even think about how much I’ve spent on lunch over the years working in the city. One good alternative to a traditional deli-sliced turkey breast sandwich is a turkey tenderloin sandwich.

I made some Knorr gravy (which is kind of annoying since you have to stir it constantly, so you may want to try the Campbell’s gravy in a jar) and added it to two turkey tenderloin breasts. Then, I placed it in a Tupperware to let it marinate a bit. Since I didn’t get to make it when I originally thought I would, I ended up freezing it raw, in the gravy, for about a week. I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but I know a lot of frozen dinners contain gravy so I thought, how bad could it be? When I finally baked it—in the toaster oven I might add, for about 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees—it turned out to be a very flavorful sandwich. I think it cooks a bit faster than chicken breast too. You could bring some of the extra gravy on the side, or just pour it over the top of the turkey breast.

Using a meat thermometer that stays in the oven while you cook things really helps not overcook anything too. But also, I think freezing the meat raw in gravy really made the flavor POP. If anyone else tries this please let me know!

Dear Giada,

Stop making everything look so easy! Please keep in mind those in your audience that are trying things for the first time. When you say on Food Network online that a gnocchi recipe is intermediate, that doesn’t deter me enough. You need to label it as “expert” for me to think it is beyond the scope of my talents.

Your recipe didn’t stop me from buying three potatoes, piercing the potatoes all over with a fork, microwaving them for 12 minutes (turning halfway through,) removing the skin (and almost burning my hands in the process), mashing the potatoes with salt and pepper, throwing three tablespoons of egg in along with ¼ cup of flour and sifting the flour over the potato (through a colander since I do not have a sifter) and then kneading the potato. It also didn’t stop me from dividing the dough into four equal pieces, rolling each piece between my palms and then rolling it on a plastic mat until it is one long 20-inch “rope.” It really didn’t discourage me from cutting the dough into one-inch pieces, rolling each over a fork to form grooves and then cooking it in a large pot of boiling water until it rises to the surface (about one minute) and cooking another four minutes. At this point, I am discouraged from trying again because it feels and looks like I just made mush.

I thought if I let the gnocchi sit for a while it would harden. So I proceeded to make a Knorr four-cheese sauce mix (just 180 calories and 7.5 grams of fat for the whole package) which you needed to stir with 1.5 cups of milk (I use skim of course) constantly until boiling, and then occasionally stir as I let it simmer for five minutes. You, Giada, suggested that I make the gnocchi with a Butter Thyme Sauce, but that didn’t sound appetizing to me so I improvised. The sauce, thank god, saved this dish, which tasted a bit like what I imagine potatoes au gratin should taste like.

And Giada, since I was frustrated that my almost two-hour effort did not come out perfectly, I googled gnocchi recipes to find out what I may do the next time to make my gnocchi more like yours. One suggestion that I will take is using a mashed potato mix instead of using potatoes from scratch. Of course, that’s if I ever feel up to the task of trying to be like you again (without the great cleavage!)

Your friend,

Allison

Almost Homemade Chicken Soup

Beth and I were both feeling crappy, joking that we had the Swine Flu. I really do not like store made chicken soup, I just can’t stand hot celery for some reason. So I threw together a hot soup meal with a few simple ingredients, some of which were left over from my attempt at Rachael’s slurpy noodle bowls (another “make your own takeout” meal). The ingredients:
1. About two cups chicken broth
2. A splash of chicken stock
3. Olive oil misto spray or Pam
4. 1 pound of chicken thighs
5. Pasta, about a cup of macaroni and a cup of vermicelli (I didn’t have that much vermicelli left so you could use whatever type of pasta you like)
6. I’d say you could add vegetables to this too, such as mushrooms, carrots and celery (if you like it)
7. Salt, pepper and garlic (optional, I stay away from spicy things when I’m sick)

Spray a 10-inch nonstick pan with olive oil or Pam. You can use a little chicken broth to cook the chicken in too. Cook chicken thighs on top of the stove until cooked through, probably about 20-25 minutes, until no longer pink. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken is at least 185 degress. Once the thighs are done, you can even cut them with a knife or with scissors (seems to be easier to cube these with scissors). I also cut the fat away after the chicken was cooked, and that’s definitely easier to do than cutting fat off raw chicken. While the chicken is cooking, you can boil water and cook the pasta too. Drain the pasta. Mix pasta, chicken and broth in a pot and simmer over low heat until boiling. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic.

I think this came out pretty good, and tasted a lot like Campbell’s. This leads me to the conclusion that despite the claims on soup cans and microwavable soup bowls that they are using white meat chicken, they are actually using chicken thighs. If you prefer white meat, you can substitute the thighs with chicken breasts.

Have you tried a recipe? Do you have a recipe suggestion? Please let us know!

Don’t Try This at Home…

Several years back, way before I became interested in cooking, I was invited over to my friends Betsy and Dustin’s for homemade pizza. I was very impressed by this, they even made the dough from scratch! So I decided if they could do it, I can too. Boy, was I wrong. Beth and I both tried to make the dough, mixing yeast with warm water (why does yeast smell like baby formula?) letting it sit, kneading and finally getting annoyed that it wasn’t coming out right. If you are bored at the gym, try kneading dough as a workout. That’ll definitely make you sweat. I can’t really describe what the dough tasted like, but like a handful of other homemade conconctions we’ve tried, it wasn’t worth the effort.

So last week we decided to try pizza again with my brand new pizza stone, a birthday present from my favorite cousin. We had made this in Florida a few times and it came out great. All we did was buy the pizza dough and place homemade sauce, part skim mozzarella cheese, olives and mushrooms on it. You do need to roll the dough with a rolling pin, and place both flour and corn meal on the stone so the dough doesn’t stick. If you like a thinner crust pizza, try cutting the dough in half and making two pizzas, one at a time, instead of one large one.

We also tried the Pillsbury Pizza Crust, which comes in a rolled tin just like the Pillsbury biscuits. It makes more of a square Sicilian crust but it is easier since you can just press the dough into a greased cookie sheet. It was like having pizza made on Pillsbury rolls and was very tasty.

Helpful hints: Do not try to use low fat cheese for this, it doesn’t come out right. Also make sure you use dough from a really good pizza place. We tried the dough from AJ’s in Forest Hills, and the dough was definitely sub-par to Big Louie’s in Hollywood, Fla.

You can place any of your favorites on the crust with sauce, such as chicken or shrimp.

Mock Shepherd's Pie

Beth’s been staying with me for a few weeks, which is fun since I have someone to cook for and eat with. I like to plan meals a few days in advance because I hate to go to the supermarket every day. It also stresses me out to think about what to have for dinner every night. I am especially diligent about this since I recently started working again (YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!) and I DEFINITELY do not want to shop, cook and do dishes every single night.

One day I should just tape record the conversations we have about meals and post it as an audio file. They tend to go something like this:

“Do you want omelettes or turkey burgers?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Ok I’m in the mood for Mexican, how about tacos?”

“Sure.”

“I saw a good recipe Rachel Ray was making that involved chicken and broccoli. Wanna try it?”

“I don’t care.”

I think you get the idea. I can never decide what I want and like to keep my options open. And Beth just agrees with everything I say.

So the other night I had some chopped turkey meat that had to be cooked before it expired. Beth’s default dinner with chopped turkey is ususally turkey burgers— but that always sounds boring to me. One of my favorite things, especially when it is colder out is gravy. It reminds me of cold days in elementary school. Whenever we’d open a can of gravy in Florida I’d always pronounce “It smells like winter.”

That’s because one of my mother’s default quick dinners was ground meat in gravy over pasta (sorry, Italian girls, I know you think this is gross). This is a good, easy hot meal that can feed a lot of people. This time, Beth cooked and we decided to make it over mashed potatoes. I keep calling this a mock shephard’s pie, but it is very simple. It only requires four ingredients:

1. About a pound of chopped turkey breast (make sure it is ground turkey breast. Regular ground turkey is full of fat.)
2. 1-2 cans of Campbell’s mushroom gravy
3. Mashed potatoes
4. Extra mushrooms (I like extra mushrooms in mushroom gravy)

Brown the meat. Add the gravy and any vegetables. Simmer for a few minutes. Make the mashed potatoes. Place meat on top of potatoes.

Serve!

This goes well with Pillsbury rolls or Italian bread. For some reason, this tastes good. But not as good as I remember from my childhood.