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!