It's about an hour later than you thought it was, you
have exactly four minutes to make the ten minute trip to pick up your kids, and
you know in about twenty-five minutes time you're going to have a house full of
hungry creatures and nothing to feed them but re-fried air.
So you scramble. You search on your smart-phone for
quick meal ideas, and—the lying bastards!! Every mother knows that the amazing
homemade from scratch casserole that the lying prick of a celebrity chef tells
you will take fifteen minutes only exists in a world where you have mad-ninja-knife-skills,
or a fridge magically full of every fancy-ass herb on the planet, or it uses every single utensil, pot, and appliance you
own—including the giant food processor buried in the corner of no return at
the back of you over-stacked cupboard. You know if on the highly unlikely
chance that this recipe actually takes fifteen minutes to make, the clean-up
afterwards is going to take the rest of
your life.
So you flick to the next website, and oh looky here, something
that might really take fifteen minutes to cook—but its stir-fried beetroot with
raw zucchini salad served on a bed of nothing-any-child-will-ever-eat...
Eventually as your family sits down to their meal, and
you watch your children eat their tinned baked beans that in no way resembles a
meal, nothing you've achieved
that day seems to count because you've just failed at dinner. Even better your
blood pressure has gone up like you've just eaten all the salt directly from
the box.
I'll be clear, I like cooking. I even like
making things that take the extra effort—when I'm prepared
and have the time. But sometimes as someone who wears the twenty five different
hats of a working mother, a small business owner, a writer, and every other
thing, I just need a cheat.
I mean a real proper cheat. Something that takes five
minutes, that looks and tastes like a meal but I don't actually have to cook.
Something that doesn't need me to chop eighty things, or use all the pots, or
cause a mess that will drain my life on a day I don't have the time. But most
of all I want to put it on the table and be okay with my kids eating it, and still
be winning. Sometimes, I want to fudge dinner, and for it to be okay.
So recently I learned to fake it. Learned a handful of
tricks and recipes I can use on those days and create the illusion that I have
this domestic stuff covered.
4
Timesaving Tricks
Tip 1— Tinned tuna and salmon can be substituted
for chicken in many recipes and save time. Have these in your cupboard and
you'll always have something to cook.
Tip 2— Shred the meat off a purchased rotisserie
chicken and use it in a recipe. You'll have meat for two days without cooking. Tinned chicken is also available (if your game) at
most supermarkets, and some deli's sell precooked chicken breast if you're not
big on rotisserie chooks.
Tip 3 — Don't be afraid to buy a salad kit or bag of
pre-chopped veg, it's better than baked beans for dinner.
Tip 4 — Keep tortillas, pita bread, and bread rolls in
the freezer, to throw together an instant no-cook meal. Long life taco shells
and wraps last months in the pantry.
5 Cheat Meals—5 minutes or less prep time
Here are my own
versions of 5 minute meals, although the images are just for reference ;)
Souvlaki
Anna Frodesiak, February 2013
Ingredients
·
Pita Bread
·
Shredded
rotisserie chicken
·
Tzatziki
(Grerk cucumber dip available in deli section of supermarkets)
·
Lettuce
(the pre-washed ready to use kind)
·
Sliced
Tomato
Directions
It ain't science. Just scatter the fillings in the middle of the pita, fold in the bottom and wrap it up.
Takes a few minutes,
no cooking or washing up. :)
Salmon Risotto
·
Family
size pouch of microwave rice
·
1/2 a natural vegetable stock cube dissolved
in 1/4 cup boiling water
·
1/2 cup
frozen baby peas
·
1 chopped spring
onion/shallot
·
3 tablespoons
light cream cheese (Philadelphia style)
·
3
tablespoons fresh parmesan
·
200g tin
of boneless salmon (well drained)
Directions
Place the rice in a
microwave safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds. While the rice is in the microwave,
whisk the cream cheese into the hot stock. Mix all the remaining ingredients with
the rice and microwave for another 2-3 minutes depending on the strength of
your microwave.
Chicken Caesar Salad
By
tratong,
published on 15 January 2013
Ingredients
·
A bag of Caesar
salad mix (with crotons and dressing)
·
1/2 a
shredded rotisserie chicken
·
4 eggs
Directions
Set the eggs to boil for 4 minutes. Put
together the salad mix and top with either warm or cold chicken. Rinse the eggs
under cold water and peal. Cut eggs in quarters and top salad.
Tip: My kids don't
always like the idea of salad, but if I put salad on one side of the plate,
shredded chicken and boiled eggs on the other, they generally eat it.
Easy Pizza
By -Marcus-, published on 05 June 2013
Ingredients
Pizza Base - Be creative. If you don't have a
base in the freezer, they can be made with Pita, Turkish bread, Bread Rolls, and
much more.
Toppings
·
Tomato passata (puree tomato) seasoned with salt, pepper and a squeeze of minced
garlic if you have it.
·
Packet of grated mozzarella cheese
·
Torn cold meat (whatever you have in the fridge - salami, ham, chicken
etc)
·
pitted olives
·
sliced capsicum
Directions
Preheat oven to 200c
degrees. Top base with tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings. Bake for 15
minutes.
Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
1 packet of soft taco shells
- 1/2 a shredded rotisserie chicken
- Ready to use lettuce
- Chopped baby Tomato's
- Avocado (optional)
- Ready grated tasty cheese
1 tbs lime juice (or white vinegar)
- 1/4 cup Natural Yoghurt
- Smoked paprika
- Salt and Pepper
Directions
Heat chicken in microwave safe bowl. Combine dressing ingredients with
chicken and toss well. Fill Taco shells with chicken mixture, and top with
salad toppings and cheese.There's a real dinner, effort fudged!
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