01-27-2016, 02:32 PM
(01-27-2016, 02:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: By "weeknight" I guess you mean quick and easy with no rice or long baking times. In that case I would recommend breakfast for an evening meal once and a while.
I also suggest that you use a slow cooker. It takes just a little prep time in the morning, but you can come home to beans, soup, or a tender stewed roast.
I don't use mine much because I am usually just cooking for one. But when I had a family I would use it on a regular basis. I was raised on country cooking where a meal might consist of just pinto beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes. My parents always had a freezer full of beef, but they still liked old fashioned meals that did not include meat. especially in the summer when they had fresh garden vegetables. They were not doing it to be vegetarians. That was just the food they were raised on. My mom made a crock pot full of pintos probably once a week.
As to the slow cooker, not even just in the morning for prep, but the night before for most recipes. Our slow cooker gets a workout because I will throw something together, put the crock in the fridge overnight. In the morning, before showering and all, I get it out so it has some time to get back to room temp (though it never really does) and then throw it in the shell and start it up. There are sometimes ingredients that you want to leave out until the morning, but most of the time this works well. Doesn't make you feel rushed in the morning and you can do dinner prep after you've satisfied your hunger instead of having to wait to eat.
