30 Minute Meals
Eliza and I love to cook at home. As Eliza says “The clean up is the worst part.”. Apart from that, there is nothing I do not enjoy about cooking, and eating, at home. It is cheaper, generally better for you, and is all around more fulfilling.
Not too long ago Eliza picked up Rachel Ray’s (of FoodNetwork) book called “30 Minute Meals“. This book gives you about 200 recipes that you can, supposedly, make in 30 minutes or less. I managed to try two of them this weekend.
Chicken and Dumplings
On Friday I made recipe #148, Chicken and Dumplings. I cropped the recipe slightly to make just enough for Eliza and I, which works out great - because we generally do not like to have much in the way of left overs. I rate this recipe about an 8 out of 10. Its fairly easy to pull off, yet the details to follow jump around a little too much for how I work. The end result was a very enjoyable meal for sure.
Four-Season Burgundy Beef
Tonight I made recipe #150, Four-season Burgundy Beef. This recipe had a much better flow to it than the last one. It flowed much more to the way I cook, which made it easier to follow. The end result was good, but probably not as “full of taste” as the chicken and dumpling recipe was. Perhaps it was the type of wine I chose, or maybe next time I make it I will add a little more spice.
All in all these recipes were very easy to follow, they did take about 30 minutes to complete, and they tasted great. The bang for your buck is outta this world, I think I paid about 18 dollars (give or take) to feed myself, my wife, and my mother in law. If I was to buy that much food in a restaurant it probably would have cost about that per plate, not counting drinks.
I love to cook, and look forward to trying out the other 198 recipes.
Update: Definitely check out Daniel’s video of him cooking his 30 minute meal, and winning a bet with his Mom.
April 9th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Maybe this week, I get to try a recipe?
April 9th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
I was hoping you would try more than one!
April 9th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
Nearly a year ago, a bet was placed. My mother bet against the possibility that dinner could be made in 30 minutes and that the TV show was just a gimick and that it wasn’t really possible.
of course, she wasn’t about to go try and beat her bet, so I had to make dinner that night, and film it.
See it, hear it, blog about it today!
http://www.wakingideas.com/chicken.mov
April 10th, 2006 at 12:14 am
hahhahaha. That is awesome. I actually was seriously going to film my little escapades, ask Jake, but then I decided not to. It seems like your video was cut a little short, but I can see where you were going with it…. very cool.
April 10th, 2006 at 12:19 am
Yeah, I still think it should have been recorded
You should try it next time you use this book!
April 10th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Perhaps you would be willing to recommend the Five Minute Video Series on your website.
I just finished posting “Josh Kent: I’m not going back to jail”. Wow, what a segment! I now see why MC Vendetta kept telling me “I can’t wait to bring my boyfriend over. He’ll have some stories to tell!”
He did.
I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the segment. On the one hand Josh seems kindhearted, fun loving and charismatic. I can see why MC is in love with him. On the other, he seems misguided and reckless. MC may straighten him out. I hope so. If not, she could headed for a whole lot of grief.
April 10th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
This is one of the big things that I’m going to have to face next semester. I’m going to be in an apartment and not on any sort of meal plan. I’m going to have to cook for myself. I’d rather not have a 7 microwaved TV dinners each day of the week either, so my only alternative (aside from giving my left leg to order out) is to cook for myself. I’ve never really disliked cooking. It’ll be fun I guess.
As much as I hate Rachel Ray, I may have to pick up that book on your reccomendation. Or atleast some other cook book.
April 10th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Sameer: Definitely pick it up. At Borders it is like 18 bucks, but through that handy dandy Amazon link it is like 9 dollars.
April 21st, 2006 at 8:25 am
[...] I’m looking forward to using this for many kitchen projects, along with the cook book of course. [...]