I have totally lost any cooking interest at all. Need some quick and easy ideas. Tired of BBQing and need things to make that don't take 1/2 hour to prepare and have tons of ingredients that I have to go to the grocery store for. Any family favorites?? Tips??

My husband and daughter thank you as well!

Kelly K.
Heathly Mom to a 1 year old

Hi Kelly:
I've found lots of help in the Recipes Forum. Even at the last minute, I've gone there and found stuff to fix for dinner. There are hundreds of ideas. Good luck
Peg
1/1/03
205/179/165 5'8"

Kelly

The recipe section on this website is very good but is in the process of being restored.
Here are a couple of resources for ideas on what to cook.

http://www.low-carb.com/low-carb/lcl-recipes.html

http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/

My advice keep it simple - stir fry vegetbles with ground beef or chicken or beef. bake a turkey breast or roast beef or pork and that will give you many meals including lunches (and breakfasts if you like).

Hth
Rob

Kielbasa for dinner. God I love it! I use Hillshire Farms brand Polska Kielbasa. Slice it down the middle and fry it.

Pork chops. Breakfast ham is easy to fry up, too.

Fried fish. I like mahi-mahi or salmon. I don't batter or bread it. I just cook it in butter.

Double cheeseburgers with grilled onions from a take-out place. Throw away the bun.

Is the rest of the family eating spaghetti? Fry yourself a couple of big chicken breasts and cover them with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese.

When I'm feeling frustrated and need variety, what I do most often is just go out to eat. If you plan ahead, if you have a variety of restaurants, if you know what they have, you can figure out a lot of different options. When I go to Mexican restaurants, I order carnitas or chorizo and eggs. At Italian places I order the large antipasto salad. At Denny's, I order the Chef's Salad. If you can psych yourself up to not eating the side dishes, there are a whole bunch of filling meals available.

***********************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

I'm afraid I tend to cook differently for the kids and feed DH and myself later. However, there are some standbys. Baking chicken pieces wrapped in foil is one. Tuck a few slices of lemon under the skin. This is excellent with spinach and green veg (for us) or rice and preferred veggies for the young ones. Baking in foil keeps meat moist and tender, and there are plenty of juices to pour over, so your small one should eat it cheerfully. I like salmon fillet parcels with some lemon juice and very finely sliced onion, all baked in foil, which take less than half an hour to cook. These go well with a side of fromage frais and chopped watercress. If the carbs in the ff are too many, sour cream might substitute.

This one isn't for low carbers but my children all woofed this down when very small: tuna, cooked rice, a can (or less, depending on quantities) of chicken or mushroom soup, some grated cheese (can add some cooked onion and peas if they will eat it). Mix together while rice is still warm, put in dish, cover with some more grated cheese and bake until browned. I've lost the exact recipe, but it's one of those things you can just toss together.

Roast meats are good. I like the faux-tatoes recommended on this site (somewhere). Mashed cooked cauliflour blended with cheese and cream to resemble mashed potatoes. The kids can have potatoes roasted in the same oven as the meat. Half an hour or so before the meat is ready, pop in the oven a small baking dish with some chopped peppers, zucchini, onions, with olive oil drizzled over them. That one's for you!

I make gravy with the meat juices (fat skimmed off), adding a spoonful of flour and water from cooked vegetables, maybe a dash of wine. It has carbs, but the amount of gravy on each plate isn't enough to be a problem, and there would be a revolt in our house if gravy didn't come with a roast.

I love stir fried food. Not sure my children when very small would have liked it though. Maybe some strips of chicken, carrot, zuccini, would be OK?

There's always eggs. Scrambled with some cheese and/or ham thrown in. Kinds can have them on toast.

How about kebabs? I buy good cuts of lamb (expensive, though), slice into small chunks and skewer them with pieces of onion, tomato, pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and grill until done. This is quite quick. Cous cous (which we can't have) takes a couple of minutes to prepare. I like my kebabs with green beans and spinach and a dab of sour cream. Do you know tsatsiki? It's very finely sliced cuke with yogurt - great with lamb (and many other things).

Or you could make hamburger patties from ground round, add a dash of tabasco sauce or some tomato paste and finely chopped onion for taste. Oven fries for the small ones!! (I think Mom deserves some time off...)

My eldest daughter is Doodlebug! She's 17 and I still call her Doodle.... (sentimental sniff)
Clare

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I really appreciate it!

Kelly
Heathly Mom to a 1 year old

If you can afford the price of the stuff, I've noticed a LOT of precooked items in the butcher case these days, from pot roast to rotisseried chickens to meatloaf and gravy! It's probably a little higher in the sodium department than what you'd prepare fresh, but it could give a harried Mom a break a couple times a week!

I do a lot of cooking on the weekends with planned leftovers - chicken breasts, spareribs, cauliflower salad, whatever - and I make up a big green salad and keep it in a ziploc bag. Then when I get home from work, I can just zap it in the MW and pull out some salad and I'm ready to eat! For the kidlets, maybe make some baked potatoes in the MW or some corn niblets or whatever they like.

I love to cook, but not during the week when I'm tired from work!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

I purchased an indoor grill that Hamilton Beach makes. It has grids that come out for easy cleaning and a large cup to catch drippings. And, it has a 15 minute timer. In 15 minutes, I can take a frozen, rock-hard chicken breast or burger patty and have it ready to eat when the timer goes off. I do add seasoning for flavor at the start of cooking. Sometimes, I remember to use my pressure cooker too. I try to keep my meals healthy and simple, as I usually have 40 minutes or less to prepare the food.

Ilse

380/304.6(WW)/230.5(current)/154
5'7"
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
Walt Disney

Ilse, thanks for the posting on your grill! I was just trying to remember who said (in the cooking forum) they had an indoor grill with removable grids and what kind it was they had.

I agree; the thing I like best about the contact grills is being able to cook from frozen to on the table in a very short time, with no supervision needed. I pop something in mine (which I think I will replace with one like yours, as the removable grids sound like an excellent idea), go about putting together salad and setting the table, and by the time I'm done, so's the entree.

Also, for a quick, basic, yummy vegetable, Schwan's sells a frozen asparagus that is delicious. The texture and flavor is right next to fresh. And it goes in the microwave (I wrap it in waxed paper) right from frozen and is ready in just a minute or so. (I have no affiliation with Schwan's other than liking many of their products.)

Aderyn

I'm still surprised how well the chicken in a can turns into chicken salad. I'd never tried it before and didn't have high expectations--but even my finicky husband likes it. Add mayo, onions, celery, salt, pepper or if you're really pressed for time, use celery seeds/onion powder. So fast and easy to keep on hand for lunch, dinner, or snacking!

My quickest real food snack is dried beef smeared with cream cheese and rolled up. I make a few and put them in a baggie. I am DESPERATE for fast, easy snacks that can be made ahead.

p.s. Hardee's around here is so used to low carbers that they know exactly what you mean when you order a burger without the bun. They serve them in a tray with condiments on the side.