need recipe ideas.

mykaylis

i'm seeing a nutritionist, and one of the challenges i have is that our family can't plan well, and then we end up going for fast food. obviously, this is bad. she has challenged me to come up with 10 recipes that i can plan and cook if we're having a bad day.

criteria:
-no green peppers.
-plenty of protein.
-plenty of nonstarchy vegetables of any kind
-small servings of starches are fine
-crock pot ideas are most welcome cause they're a bit idiot proof. doesn't have to be crockpot, just easy to make.

due to neurological challenges i have difficulty focusing on multiple things, which is why i need simple. usually my husband cooks but there are frequently times where he has to work double shifts at work and i'm responsible to feed the kids.

Slasher09

-Roll up foil balls...put in bottom of crock pot. Put whole chicken on foil balls. Liberally apply salt, pepper, paprika. Low for 5 hours, heat up frozen veg and rice if you want.

-Put 4 chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour in 2 cans broth and 2 cans cream of chicken (we do homemade varieties of both for less salt, you can also use stock instead for less salt). Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred chicken. Cut up grands biscuit (raw) into 8 pieces each. Drop on top. Turn to high for 1 hour. Serve (avoid the biscuits if you don't want the carbs)

-Put 4 chicken breasts in crock pot. Top with a bottle of BBQ sauce, 1/4c brown sugar and 1/2 can of cherry coke. Cook on low 6 hours and shred Serve pulled BBQ on roll as sandwich or just eat plain.

-Put pork tenderloin in crockpot. Top with a bottle of BBQ sauce (I like Dinosaur BBQ sauce...28cal a serving). Cook on low 6 hours. Shred. (Pulled pork)

Pinterest has thousands of crock pot recipes.

Slasher09

Bonus on cooking the whole chicken: you can use leftovers in other dishes and once the carcass has been picked through of whats going to be eaten....throw it back into a crock pot with some veggies you aren't going to use before they go bad (I keep keep greens which you wouldnt eat in the freezer for this purpose) and put enough water to cover. Cook on high for a couple hours...or on low overnight and in the morning you have chicken stock you can use for cooking. I use it in the chicken and biscuit recipe up there...I use it for cooking rice and I use it for sauteeing veggies when I want to cup back on oil.

Slasher09

Oh....the last one I forgot. Take boneless/skinless chicken breasts (1 per 2 people). Cut into small squares. Cook in pan with a little oil (or stock) until cooked through, remove and put in a bowl. add some more oil and turn up heat and throw a bag of frozen broccoli into the pan until cooked. Turn off heat. Add chicken. I mix in a little stir fry sauce (our favorite is by wegmans: they make general tso, sesame garlic and sweet/sour, etc) serve over rice. Whole meal takes about 15 minutes tops.

corgicake

Here's a basic fill-in-the-blank with what's available "recipe" I use...

Season/salt your cooking water and get that on the stove heating up. Nuke celery and root veggies until slightly limp. This will make them much easier to work with. Chop up and toss into pot. Of these, rutabagas and celery should take priority if they're going in the pot, followed by carrots and potatoes. The order of the rest shouldn't matter. Then come the other vegetables and canned things if any. Mushrooms should be chopped fresh, then nuked before going in the pot if any are being used. Let cook for a while. Things like rice or pasta are to be timed according to package. Meat or "meat" is going to vary depending on your protein source of choice.

What's currently on my stove: pinto beans (I use the dry kind and soak 'em overnight) with radishes, carrots, onions, green pepper, and canned tomatoes. Just ran the numbers on Sparkpeople's recipe calculator and there might be some seitan thrown in later for the sake of protein.