Monday, May 5, 2008

Why Don't You Marry It

I have a recipe relationship problem. I like to look, but I'm rarely the marrying kind. I'll date 'em. I'll take 'em out every now and then and look at them, wine them and dine them, but rarely do we go all the way. See, the problem is, I like low maintenance recipes. And well, most of the recipes out there? They're just too high maintenance. I don't have a lot of time. I don't want to play games. I just want good, healthy, simple food.

The other problem that I have is that when I do find a recipe we all like and I add it to the rotation, it starts to get old kind of fast.

So lately I've been on kind of recipe kick. I signed up to get a daily recipe from one of my favorite recipe sites. They've sent me a couple of promising ones that I printed out. Unfortunately, they're still sitting beside my printer at work -- not going to do me a lot of good there.

That's also why I was super excited about the new cooking blog that AndreAnna and Cass put together. It's called Chop.Stir.Mix. It's like a girlie magazine for recipes. It's gorgeous. But the good thing is that the recipes look totally do-able. That's what she said. Perhaps I'm taking my metaphor a little too far....

Anyhoo, guess what? They're having a contest. They're giving away some really cool stuff from Crate & Barrel. With cool stuff like that I could be a do-er, instead of just a looker. So go here to check them out. Leave a comment for a chance to win. Not that it will help you, since I'm totally winning this one.

While you're here, leave me one of your fast and easy recipes in the comments.

15 comments:

AndreAnna said...

Thanks so much for the links! And I hope you finally get off your tookus and make some of our recipes. They're good! And easy! I swear!

And if you make my drunken oatmeal cookies, people will want to marry you! LOL

Karen said...

Oooh, a contest! Thanks for the hookup.

One of our family faves is Tater Tot Casserole. A bag of said tots, browned burger, corn, cream of anything soup and cheddar cheese. Mix and bake until warm. So good.

Anonymous said...

I'll email one to you tomorrow. And, good for you giving A some props. I'm planning to via HF.

Birdie said...

cool!
Here's mine
Burger steaks
2 lbs ground beef
powdered garlic
Worcestershire
Colgin's liquid smoke (optional)
********************************
add ins -
Shitake mushrooms (wal-mart)
frozen, chopped onion or slice it fresh if you're feeling unrushed
*********************************
Make your big patties, butter your griddle, fry in the butter & worchestershire, sprinkle with garlic. When it's browned, add the onions & mushrooms. Sometimes I cover that with a big pot lid while I whip up some potatoes. Wash a few & pop in the microwave for about 6 minutes or make them from a box. Idahoan in the red box are the best! You can even open a can of gravy if you want.

Tootsie Farklepants said...

Well I would, except I don't have a fast and easy recipe that is worth leaving. Do bbq hamburgers count?

el-e-e said...

Here's what I did last night -- marinated chicken breasts in one of the Lawry's 10-min marinades. In the salad dressing aisle.

Grilled it on the George.

Made a box of "fancy" rice.

Opened a can of green beans.

VOI. LA.

Cass. Just Curious said...

Thanks for the pimpage. I hear you about the ruts. I've been all about those sunshine sandwiches and the husband said to me last night "ENOUGH with those damn sandwiches". He keeps my ruts in line.

Lauren said...

Oh man, im totally a foodie! Going there _immediately_!

Also, I recently updated my foodblog (ok, i just added one simple recipe)...and most of my favorites are on there..

schroederchef dot blogspot dot com

Sass said...

Chicken caesar salad is one of my easy ones. I rotisserie the chicken - but you could buy it ready roasted and hack the meat off the bird to save time. The other essentials are little gems lettuces, your choice of caesar dressing, scrapings of parmasan and chopped salad onions.

The other favourite meal is a cheat. I buy fantastic fish cakes from a local fish shop/restaurant. Fry them 10 minutes either side, place them on top of a rocket/spinach salad, sprinkle over chopped salad onions and serve with mango chutney.

You might not be able to get these particular fishcakes - but if you've got a deli nearby that does something especially well... cheating's easy peasy.

Burgh Baby said...

All I ever cook is rice dishes and pasta dishes. I'm just not very exciting.

Unknown said...

Here's a really easy recipe if you like fish (Birdie likes this one):

Arrange tilapia or other mild white fish in a baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Chop a large fresh tomato and sprikle over the fish. Sprinkle a small can of sliced black olives over the fish. Sprikle a tablespoon of capers over the fish. Bake at 350 for about 30 mins.

You can serve it with rice or a couscous mix (Far East makes some delicious, fast to make ones) and a green vegetable and/or salad.

I also have a super easy mexican meatloaf recipe, but I'll have to look it up and get back to you.

Thanks for the memory about the pumpkin bread, by the way!

Elisa said...

This is one of my new favorites-- cause i'm with you-- i ONLY do the easy ones! I read recipes for fun... but if they have too many ingredients.eh. not for me. But, I will fantasize about how yummy they would taste if i weren't so freaking lazy.

Awesome pot roast
2 cans cream mushroom soup
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cup water
5 1/2 lbs pot roast

put roast in crock pot, mix everything else together and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
I use the left over gravy stuff, and thicken it and serve it with mashed potatoes my family goes ga-ga over it!

My favorite recipe site is allrecipes.com You can put in an ingredient you have on hand, and it will find you gobs of things to make with that ingredient. i only pick stuff that has 4star ratings and has more than 200 reviews.

Have fun.

Jessie said...

Check out dinnermadepossible.blogspot.com. Easy yummy recipes for those of us who don't have a lot of time (or don't make a lot of time) to spend in the kitchen.

Amanda said...

Oooh, thanks for the heads up. I'm going to check it out.

I'm with you on recipes. If I see more than 5-7 ingredients, I move on. And if I don't have to chop anything, that's a bonus!

Simple recipe? Okay...

2 slices bread
1 scoop peanut butter
1 scoop jelly

J/K ;)

Here's simple cookie one:

1 bag butterscotch chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Melt over low heat until smooth. Pour over 4 cups Corn Flakes.

Plop into any-size mounds on a cookie sheet and stick in the fridge. Eat when solid. YUM!

Anonymous said...

um quick recipes, hmmm do fish sticks count?

I make a great roast in the crock pot.

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pack onion soup mix
1 roast
red wine

put roast in crock pot (I use those crock pot lining bags cause I don't like to do dishes). cover roast with mushroom soup. sprinkle onion soup mix over mushroom soup. pour wine in crock pot up to top of roast. cook for 8-10 hours.

so in theory it isn't fast but it takes like 5 min to prep and then you put it on before you leave and it's ready when you get home. Soooo good. I used the leftovers for hash and then the gravy as a base for stroganoff.