I’ve mentioned before that I have a tendency to be slow I am in the kitchen. I actually come from a really long line of very slow people. When I was kid it drove me NUTS that my Mom was so slow. She’d come in and wake me at the crack of noon and say “Hey! You wanna go to the mall today?”
Me, being a glutton for punishment would say “Sure!” and instead of rolling back over and falling asleep for another hour, I would heed my Mom’s request of “O.k.! Come on then, get up, lazy bones!”
And so I’d get up, shower, get dressed, do my makeup, re-do my hair, make my bed, re-do my makeup, read a couple of books, start feeling a kind of hungry and finally I’d say “You ’bout ready, Mom?”
“Almost!”
Two hours later . . . we’d hit the mall.
Drove. Me. Nuts.
So, I vowed, as an adult that I would never be that slow. And, honestly, in the morning I’m not. I can leave the house in a measly 45 minutes – and not in my pajamas. I don’t do public in pajamas.
But, in the kitchen, I get distracted. And I’m a bit of a perfectionist and before you know it, dinner time has came and went and I’m still chop, chop, chopping. Or mix, mix, mixing. This is all fine and dandy when you’re dorking around in the kitchen. When you don’t have 4 other people waiting (starving) to eat. But, I did have other people waiting on me.
Was it worth the wait? Maybe. Still, I recognized it’s reasonable to make and eat dinner in less than 4 hours. And I realized then, I was doing what I swore I would never do. What every woman swears she will never do.
I was turning into my Mom.
So, I got serious. I had to stop this process immediately. I love my Mom. I think she might be my best friend in the whole world. But, I can not, will not, am not going to be SLOW. I pulled out the big guns. I bought a OAMC (once a month cooking) book and started collecting tips on how to increase my speed.
It has helped immensely. I don’t really do the once a month cooking, but they have some of the best ideas when it comes to being fast at dinner.
I’m going to share one of the best tips I’ve ever received from OAMC and a recipe that lets you use today’s tips.
Buying ground meat in bulk (on sale) is something most folks have done at one time or another. But, what I used to do was stick the huge package in my freezer or fridge and figured I’d portion it into smaller packages later. Of course, 2 weeks later I was chipping at a frozen giant meat block trying to get just enough burger off for some tacos. You know what I mean?
So, here’s what I learned.
Come home from the grocery and immediately dump the meat into a big pan. This is about 6 pounds of ground beef I got on sale for $.99 a pound – what a deal!!
Pop the pan into the oven at 350F.
Set the timer for 30 minutes.
Unload the rest of the groceries. Have a nice cold beverage, or a cup of tea.
photo credit: pretty-hate-machine
When the time goes off, pull the pan out of the oven, stir and break up the meat. Put it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes if it still looks pink.
Nest your Colander
Rinse the meat under cool water.
Package the ground meat in zippered freezer bags. A pound is about 2 cups of cooked meat. Label and date the bags and put them in the freezer.
Precooked meat (without a frying pan!) just waiting for dinner time. All you have to do is defrost it (in the fridge or the microwave) and add it to your dinner. And most of this is done while you unload groceries!
The Quickest Chili Ever
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 pound precooked ground turkey or beef – thawed
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 14.5 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
1 16 oz can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup beer or chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large dutch oven until tender. Add garlic and cook one minute longer.
Add thawed and pre-cooked meat, chili powder, cumin and tomato paste and stir until well combined. Cook two minutes.*
Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer at least 15 minutes. Garnish with sour cream and cheese, if desired.
*A note. If you find yourself without any precooked meat you can add add uncooked ground turkey (ground beef will make the chili greasy). Just brown the turkey for 8 minutes, or until no longer pink, before proceeding to the next step.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
What a brilliant idea! Thanks!!!
What about the corn bread??? You got any good Ideas for that?