What do you cook with?

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2

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  • katy84o
    katy84o Posts: 744 Member
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    I cook most of my stuff in broth too. I save all the ends of my produce, like carrots, celery, onion skins and so on. Once I get about a gallon sized bag full of veggies (i keep it in the freezer) I boil those with a gallon of water for 30 minutes then let it sit for a few hours. I put it in the fridge to cool. Then I freeze all of the fresh (salt free) broth in ice cube trays. Each cube is approx 1 ounce. When I go to saute or "fry" anything I pull out a cube or two. It's so easy and so cheap! It reuses the parts of the vegetables you would usually throw out. It adds crazy good flavors to whatever you are cooking, you never have to buy pre-made broth, and you don't have to worry about adding anything to your foods except extra nutrition!!
  • greengirl1978
    greengirl1978 Posts: 13 Member
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    ... or if you can bake a bunch of chicken on the weekend to use throughout the week perhaps, and then you'd just have to prepare a side of veggies or salad and reheat the chicken.
    Do you mean freeze the chicken once its cooked? if not, how long should chicken stay good in the fridge?

    EDIT: for clarification.

    I bake a few chicken breasts in the oven at a time, let them cool slightly, and then shred them using two forks. I measure out portions (optional) and then throw a few of the portions in the fridge (good for a few days) and a few in the freezer for later use. Shredded chicken can then easily be reheated for variety of recipes such as chicken tacos, chicken and rice, pulled chicken sandwich, chicken pita...the list goes on. I hope this helps. :)
  • renaconnor
    renaconnor Posts: 38 Member
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    I buy store bought broth/stock -- but I'm definitely going to try this!!
  • 5pmsomewherenow
    5pmsomewherenow Posts: 163 Member
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    For saute, I use a blend of EVOO and Grapeseed Oil. The Grapeseed oil is also very heallthy and has a higher smoking point. I use a mister I got from Pampered Chef, to just spray a light mist onto the pan, or on vegetables I want to oven-roast at high heat.

    I don't consider EVOO as an unhealthy "waist" of calories, either. In fact, I make the Good Seasons salad dressings from the packet with a combo of cider viengar, rice vinegar, lemon juice, the packet of seasonings, and the BEST Olive Oil I have -- it's not low calorie, at about 100 calories per 1oz. serving -- but it sure tastes a heck of a lot better than ANY bottled salad dressings, and won't do me any harm.

    Crock pots are wonderful for workdays, and can definitely be on low for ten hours (sometimes even longer.) I use mine for these favs on days where I need it to sit for a long time:

    >>flat cut of corned beef, cooked in a can of lite beer
    >>Spagetti sauce, loaded with veggies & "rinsed" ground beef, tastes phenonmenal when cooked all day
    >>Spicy Chili, made with "rinsed" ground beef -- awesome!

    Someone also mentioned roasting a whole chicken -- I did that this past Sunday, because they were on sale ($6.51 for the whole, huge bird!!)
    >>I roasted it and we had part of the breasts for dinner.
    >>Then I pulled the rest of the breast and white meat off the bird for two new menus this week:
    -- indiv. chicken pot pies one night,
    --and loaded chicken nachos for the super bowl.
    >>All the darker meat went into a pot of soup for the weekend lunch.

    You can do it! It just takes a little planning, and it makes the week nights so much easier.
  • lapointes007
    lapointes007 Posts: 2
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    Try cooking spray little bit of EVOO, or starting with veges that have their own liquid, mushrooms are great to throw in the pan first. and then cook seafood in their juices. Another is to brown chicken or meat in skillet in cooking spray and little EVOO and then finish "dry" in the oven. Also instead of cooking a large piece of chicken chop it into smaller pieces (less time in pan means less oil needed
  • sofitheteacup
    sofitheteacup Posts: 397 Member
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    Cooking spray or a small amount of EEOO won't kill you. I find that I probably use a 1/2 tbs when I cook something,but more often than not I use the spray then add water if the pan gets too dry. There's a user on here, can't remember who, who blogged about a technique called dry frying, where you use small amounts of water to steam/fry. I'm sure you can find more info by Googling the term "Dry Fry".
    For me personally, that 50 cals or so is not something I'm going to obsess over.
  • greengirl1978
    greengirl1978 Posts: 13 Member
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    I cook most of my stuff in broth too. I save all the ends of my produce, like carrots, celery, onion skins and so on. Once I get about a gallon sized bag full of veggies (i keep it in the freezer) I boil those with a gallon of water for 30 minutes then let it sit for a few hours. I put it in the fridge to cool. Then I freeze all of the fresh (salt free) broth in ice cube trays. Each cube is approx 1 ounce. When I go to saute or "fry" anything I pull out a cube or two. It's so easy and so cheap! It reuses the parts of the vegetables you would usually throw out. It adds crazy good flavors to whatever you are cooking, you never have to buy pre-made broth, and you don't have to worry about adding anything to your foods except extra nutrition!!

    YES! I make/freeze my own stock as well and use it for a variety of things. It is amazing what flavor you can get out of those bits and ends of veggies.
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    Is it ok to use frozen chicken in a slow cooker or is that a no-no?
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Is it ok to use frozen chicken in a slow cooker or is that a no-no?

    Yup totally fine. I make my shredded chicken from frozen chicken breasts in the slow cooker. It will take a few hours longer than normal but it's perfectly fine.
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    Yup totally fine. I make my shredded chicken from frozen chicken breasts in the slow cooker. It will take a few hours longer than normal but it's perfectly fine.

    I'm not worried about needing a few hours longer since I have to leave them in there for 10 1/2 hours.
  • Mynue_Jeens
    Mynue_Jeens Posts: 98 Member
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    I cook with Olive Oli, Coconut Oil and Peanut Oil usually but you really don't need much to pan sear chicken. You can also use stock to soften veggies which will keep them from sticking to the pan. But as someone mentioned, you need good, healthy, fats in your "diet" so don't try and cut them out completely.

    You can also buy a spray bottle and put your oil in it and use it like the cooking sprays (They have bottles made especially for this, but I'm sure a regular bottle would work fine). This way you're using real oil but in a small amount. By the way those "No Calorie" cooking oil sprays do in fact contain calories/oil so be careful with them.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Yup totally fine. I make my shredded chicken from frozen chicken breasts in the slow cooker. It will take a few hours longer than normal but it's perfectly fine.

    I'm not worried about needing a few hours longer since I have to leave them in there for 10 1/2 hours.

    Sounds good then!
  • vzucco
    vzucco Posts: 229
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    Organic Olive Oil in a spray can, thank you PAM!
  • jenlarz
    jenlarz Posts: 813 Member
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    Love to grill stuff! The small indoor ones work great for chicken breasts, burgers, and even fish
  • MdmAcolyte
    MdmAcolyte Posts: 382 Member
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    For the oil question ~ I mix water and olive oil 50/50 in a bottle and use that when I need it (which is rare) ~ but when you cook with it, the water ends up evaporating and what little oil I use is spread out "evenly" in my mind.

    As for the crockpots ~ OMG start using yours and let your fat kid out already... Lol I see that you are pressed for time and this a HUGE time saver. Not only can you cook chicken in it ahead of time, you can also cook beef roasts and pork loins. And dont forget you can plop a whole chicken in there too (granted the cavity is empty and you took the gizzard sack out). At the end of a long day, the last thing I want to do is stand around cooking all night for a decent dinner, so we cook main portions of meats ahead of time, and then throw the sides together at dinner time. I like to cook a pork roast in the crockpot, shred it, and use 1/2 of it for bbq sandwiches, etc, and freeze the other half of shredded pork for tacos or enchiladas later. Same thing for the beef roast, chicken, etc. And at the end of the week, make surprise crock pot stew... throw all the end of the week stuff laying around your fridge that you didnt use during the week (vegetables, left overs, etc.) and throw it in the crock pot for a stew to eat with sandwiches all weekend...
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    Love to grill stuff! The small indoor ones work great for chicken breasts, burgers, and even fish
    Do you mean the George Foreman?
  • rundgrenfan
    rundgrenfan Posts: 211
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    I am in love with cast iron! My Lodge cast iron dutch oven and 12 inch skillet get the most use. Now that I've been using it for years, no oil is usually needed for cooking. To cook a steak or piece of chicken, I salt the skillet and the meat gets a fantastic sear. I do have to brush a bit of oil on for the first batch of pancakes or the like.

    Cast iron is a little fussy but once you get a seasoned pan it's priceless. It's cheap to buy, easy to maintain once you get the hang of it, and the biggest bonus of all is that it actually imparts a bit of iron into your food which is good for ladies!
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    For the oil question ~ I mix water and olive oil 50/50 in a bottle and use that when I need it (which is rare) ~ but when you cook with it, the water ends up evaporating and what little oil I use is spread out "evenly" in my mind.

    As for the crockpots ~ OMG start using yours and let your fat kid out already... Lol I see that you are pressed for time and this a HUGE time saver. Not only can you cook chicken in it ahead of time, you can also cook beef roasts and pork loins. And dont forget you can plop a whole chicken in there too (granted the cavity is empty and you took the gizzard sack out). At the end of a long day, the last thing I want to do is stand around cooking all night for a decent dinner, so we cook main portions of meats ahead of time, and then throw the sides together at dinner time. I like to cook a pork roast in the crockpot, shred it, and use 1/2 of it for bbq sandwiches, etc, and freeze the other half of shredded pork for tacos or enchiladas later. Same thing for the beef roast, chicken, etc. And at the end of the week, make surprise crock pot stew... throw all the end of the week stuff laying around your fridge that you didnt use during the week (vegetables, left overs, etc.) and throw it in the crock pot for a stew to eat with sandwiches all weekend...
    I used to cook whole chickens in it, but we had to stop that due to.... stomach issues...
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Invest in a really good quality non stick pan and you can get away with the tiniest drip of olive oil, and if it starts to dry out you can drop a little low sodium chicken broth in there.

    If you're after cooking speed convenience, frying isn't the quickest way though. Buy a Cuisinart griddler(http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-GRIDDLER/dp/B00536W56I/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1328195842&sr=8-13). Seriously, this thing will grill a chicken breast clean through in 2 minutes flat. It's easily the fastest tool in my kitchen and all it needs is a quick spray of pam to avoid sticking.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    I only use coconut oil, clarified butter (ghee), or animal fats.

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