The Busy Home Cook's "Secret"

Last week, a friend asked me, skeptically, if I really cook "from scratch" every night. I am often asked, as a new mother, how I have time to do all this cooking. Let's keep in mind that I only have one little baby at home, but my sister, who has 4 children, also manages to cook dinner "from scratch" most nights of the week.

First, let's define "from scratch." I don't want anyone operating under the illusion that I'm making fresh pasta and baking bread and churning my own butter every day. For me, "from scratch" just means assembling ingredients together myself instead of using pre-assembled ingredients, which are often loaded with sodium and unnatural ingredients. Don't get me wrong -- the microwave gets used plenty in my house. But for reasons of economy and health, prepping your own ingredients is the way to go.

So, the "secret" is not really a secret -- it is a time-honored tool in a good home cook's arsenal. Are you ready for this? It's called menu planning. Painfully obvious, no? Or maybe not. The Domestic Diva is a hardcore menu planner -- she plans by the month. I, on the other hand, plan by the week. Every Sunday, I sit down and look through the latest issue of Everyday Food and get ideas from epicurious.com. I watch the Food Network everyday (surprise, surprise, I know) and often make a mental file of recipes to try. I also take a quick inventory of what we already have in the fridge and freezer.

We pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast every morning (oatmeal with blueberries), and my husband eats out for lunch, so I only have to plan dinner for the week, Monday through Friday. After creating my menu, I go back and make a shopping list. This is a great way to save money, by the way. Knowing what I'll cook every night and having a shopping list, in addition to doing that quick inventory (how many times have I bought something at the supermarket, only to come home and find that I already had tons of it in the fridge or pantry?), helps me curb impulse buys at the supermarket.

Here's the real key, though, to being able to make fresh food every night: pick recipes that are easy to prep and easy to cook. Save the ambitious recipes for a special meal! (Yes, this puts me in the Rachael Ray-Sandra Lee-Robin Miller camp, but those ladies are onto something. So, let's put our snobbery aside for a moment here. Thanks.) My freezer is full of frozen vegetables and flash-frozen chicken and seafood and my fridge is full of fresh vegetables and meat.

I know you're just dying to see my menu for this week. Wish granted!

Monday: Orangey herb and oat-crusted chicken tenders, with broccoli. This recipe took me 25 minutes, start to finish. And here's where the microwave comes in handy: steam that broccoli in there! My microwave has a vegetable button that senses the amount of broccoli and cooks it perfectly nearly every time. Just put the broccoli (if fresh, add a little water. Frozen doesn't need any!) in a microwave-safe container, cover it with saran wrap, and zap for a couple of minutes.

Tuesday: Roasted Miso Salmon (sans potatoes), with lemon and cilantro, served with rice. (Note: miso is not cheap but I had miso leftover from a cleanse we did two weeks ago. Again, inventory that fridge before you go shopping!) I haven't made this yet.. we swapped for Friday's dinner for Tuesday's because the hubby took over dinner duties, so I could wallow in my miserable cold.

Wednesday: Veggie-Turkey dumpling soup (my own recipe). The quick-prep key here is sheets of wonton or eggroll wrappers! You can make any kind of filling you like, and make it vegetarian, of course. Start by sweating onions in olive oil, then adding in your vegetables (I used spinach), and whatever spices you like (I used cinnamon and sage). Add in ground meat, and cook until the meat is just cooked. Let cool a bit, then fill wonton or eggroll wrappers, using water or an eggwash to seal the edges. Be sure to press the air out. I have no special technique here for wrapping and in fact, mine came out looking like little envelopes somehow. Sear the dumplings in the same pan, until browned on both sides. At this point, you can store them in the fridge until dinner time or drop them into your soup right away if you're ready to eat. Just heat up a pot of your favorite broth, slide in the dumplings and your veggie of choice--do this shortly before serving, or your dumplings will fall apart and veggies will be mushy. All told, this takes about 30 minutes, from start to finish.

Thursday: Baked cod with sweet potato fries. Here, I use flash frozen cod that can be thawed overnight or cooked from frozen, which is awesome. More often than not, I always forget to take out the fish for thawing. Sweet potato fries are ridiculously easy. Scrub those potatoes clean. I personally tend to leave the skin on because it's fiber-ific. Halve the potatoes length-wise, place cut side down, and chop into sticks or wedges. Coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for a half-hour. This also works for regular potatoes, yams, yucca, what have you. This dinner probably takes about an hour, from prep to done.

Friday: Whole wheat penne with vegetables and shrimp. My favorite quick-cooking ingredient is uncooked, e-z peel frozen shrimp, which is actually better than the "fresh" shrimp sometimes because it's more likely to be wild, and not farmed, for one thing. It is also fresher than shrimp that has been frozen, then thawed before being displayed in the market. It is often on sale at my local supermarket, or reasonably priced at Costco. This meal is quick, quick, quick... boil the water for the pasta, thaw the shrimp under cold running water, use those frozen veggies in the fridge (we used sliced peppers and some green beans we had in the fridge). Saute the veggies with onions in olive oil, dry off the shrimp and slide them into the pan, and cook until shrimp is opaque and veggies are tender. (For a special touch, you can add a little white wine and some cream or half&half). Drain the pasta, and combine all ingredients. Serve.

Ta-da. That's it. Do you have tips to share? Leave a comment!

Comments

[Idytme]

Just a little comment here. If your are thawing shrimp under water, they should still be in a bag. Don't run water over your shrimp as the water is going to take out all the flavor.
Would you pour water over a steak to thaw it?
Sorry, this is one of my husband's (retired seafood Chef) biggest pet peeves and we try to stop people from doing it whenever possible (same thing applies to scallops - or any seafood for that matter)

[Nancy Cavillones - Huffpost Blogger]

Interesting. I did not know that. I just follow the package instructions. Can I just put them into a ziplock before running under water? I hardly ever thaw a whole bag at once.

[Idytme]

Yes, just put them in a bag, and put the bag in a bowl of warm water. Or, leave them out on the counter for an hour or so.
Always store your prawn shells in the freezer for later uses for sauces.

[jf224]

Woo-hoo, I can finally log in! I like your turkey dumpling soup idea - gonna try that. I'm a big fan of cooking with ground turkey...Where do you stand on slow cookers? I don't have one - i'm cautious about what i bring into my smallish kitchen - but people say it's a must-have. I find myself considering it, but I also don't mind tending a pot of soup/chili for a long time. I'm a bit torn.

[Nancy Cavillones - Huffpost Blogger]

I totally love my slow cooker and will do a separate post on that soon. I meant to include that I often use it and that I just happened not to use it this week. It's definitely worth the counter space.

[tilted windmill]

Absolutely get a slow cooker. Then buy a box of the liner bags. They make clean up a breeze. You can have a slow cooked meal on your busiest day.

The recipe for pot roast on the box of liners is the best! Just whack up a couple of potatoes and onions, open a bag of baby carrots and put most of them in the bottom of the cooker. Sprinkle most of a packet of beefy-onion dry soup mix and 1/4 cup of water, stirring to coat the veggies. Then add a chuck roast that you've seasoned with salt, pepper and marjoram. Put the rest of the veggies and soup mix on top, close the lid and turn on low for 6 to 8 hours. Then go about your day. I don't think the fanciest chef could make a tastier meal.

[Nancy Cavillones - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree with tilted_windmill, and I would add that it is also worth the ten extra minutes to sear the roast in a pan before adding it to the slow cooker. It seals in the juices and makes a nice crust.

[Dana Brodsky]

Hey thanks for admitting that Food Network ladies are not all that bad. I mean, it would be nice to Alice Waters or even Sara Moulton but the fact of the matter is, I don't have time for all that! Thanks showing us that, you can mix a little from both worlds and come out with something that is generally cheaper and healthier than take out. It is kind of a lot more work but isn't the health and well-being of ourselves and our families worth that effort?

[Nancy Cavillones - Huffpost Blogger]

I don't think I would even ever think I could aspire to be like those two ladies! I think it's kind of sad that all of a sudden, there is this pressure to be gourmet chefs or something. I take comfort in the idea that maybe even Alice Waters has a pb&j once in awhile!