Easy Recipe Suggestions

[llc45]

Hi all-

I am going to visit my sister in Fl who has been haveing some medical issues. She is a single mom with a teenage son who is a very picky eater. In the best of times, she hates to cook. She keeps an immaculate house and hates to have any mess. To complicate matters, she has been having some medical issues that make her too tired to buy groceries. Therefore, they mainly eat fast food like Chick Filet, Subway, Dominos, etc. My picky nephew does eat Italian (especially pasta), loves breaded chicken and mac and cheese, in addition to the aforementioned fast food alternatives.

So, my plan is two fold. First, to stock her pantry with things that I can teach them to quickly throw together for healthier dinners. Second, is to make a bunch of things for the freezer that they can just microwave. I know I'll make a big pot of meatballs to freeze and maybe tacos (I think my nephew will eat those). Also, will find a soup and a pasta casserole thing that he will eat to freeze. However, many of the things that I normally make are either too time consuming to teach or won't be eaten. So I hoping for some help with suggestions for either freezing or teaching them how to make. Last time I was there, I showed her how to make an orzo pasta salad using mostly canned ingrediants (artichoke hearts, diced tomatoes, olives). She loves to make this for herself even though her son won't eat it. So I looking for similar ideas, even better if they will appeal to her son.

[Little Colleen]

One of the first recipes I learned growing up was quiche -- fast, healthy. It consisted of mixing a can of salmon or tuna with a cup of shredded cheese (any kind), adding a herb (tsp of thyme leaves) or chopped green onions and throwing it into a frozen pie shell (or you could omit that & make a crustless quiche). Then, lightly beat a couple of eggs into a cup of half-n-half (or really, any milk will do in a pinch), pour it over the other and bake 375 til set. Obviously this can be varied -- use canned flaked ham or chicken instead of the fish if the kid won't eat fish. All ingredients are easily kept at hand. French toast is easy and fairly healthy, especially if you top with a fruit or applesauce. Are they near a grocery store that has rotisserie chickens? We buy them often for a fast meal when working late, often have with a pre-made salad. A camping favourite is a can (or two) of tuna, plus 3 cans of different beans (chickpeas, etc); can be improved at home with a little balsalmic dressing or vinegar and chopped green onions. I don't know if the kid would go for that though.

[Darienne]

Mr friend gave me this recipe called 'Impossible Pie' which she believes was first handed down using hamburger and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Now that goes back. It's very flexible and has categories of ingredients, rather than ingredients.

Into a small casserole dish or 10" deep pie plate, put

a)a layer of cooked meat of any kind: bacon, sausage, ham, chicken, etc,

b)a layer of vegetable: canned artichoke hearts, spinach, canned mushrooms, sauted onions, parboiled broccoli. Any number of things which go together. Any herbs or spices you want.

c) add a lot of cheeses: grated cheddar, jack, cottage cheese, sliced cheese, commercial shredded cheese, asiago, parmesan, etc.

d) top with a biscuit dough. Either use 1 1/2 cups Bisquick or use your own recipe, plus 3 beaten eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk. It's quite thinnish.

e) into a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I have made this pie out of everything and anything. My friend lives about 45 minutes from a store and we live about 35 minutes so to make it at the last minute for unexpected company, you have to have canned, frozen, etc stuff on hand.

The last time I made it I used: chopped cooked pork, fresh spinach and mushrooms, thyme and parsley, grated cheddar cheese, mozzarella and parmesan, and made the biscuit topping from scratch.

There is no end to what combinations you might use.

[Beebs]

What about things like pita pizzas, quesadillas, or hot grilled sandwiches for your nephew? These are fast food alternatives that can easily and quickly made at home.

[PopsicleToze]

Here are a couple of recipes from a family cookbook I put together submitted by the teenagers in the family. It may not be up to our standards, but it started them off cooking and a few of them are quite good at it now. They're easy to make and he should like them.

CHEESEBURGER CASSEROLE

1 pound ground meat

1 medium onion

1 can tomato sauce

1/3 cup catsup

mild Cheddar cheese, shredded, or American cheese slices

refrigerated or homemade biscuits

Brown and drain meat. Add onion, tomato sauce and catsup; simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from burner. Top with cheese. Top cheese with biscuits. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, or until biscuits are done.

QUICK SOUTHWESTERN PIZZA

1-1/2 cups Bisquick original baking mix

1/3 cup very hot water

2 cups cut-up cooked chicken

1/2 cup salsa or picante sauce

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 bell pepper, cut into thin rings

Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 450ºF. Grease cookie sheet or 12-inch pizza pan. Mix baking mix and water; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Turn onto floured surface. Knead about 60 times or until no longer sticky. Press into 13-inch circle on cookie sheet; pinch edge, forming ½-inch rim, or press into pizza pan. Mix chicken and salsa. Sprinkle crust with 1 cup of the cheese. Top with onion, chicken mixture and pepper; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is brown and cheese is bubbly.

Rhonda

[snowangel]

In terms of freezer foods, you might find this topic helpful. (I also posted in this topic about quick and easy things to fix because after I had my babies, I could never remember to pull something out of the freezer!)

You mention that your sister hates to grocery shop. There are two supermarket chains in the Twin Cities who deliver groceries. Is something like that available in your sister's city/town?

[Darienne]

Aha! Popsicle Toze second recipe just reminded me of something I saw in a Longo's booklet the other day: all sorts of uses for pizza dough. Besides making a pizza, you can make calzone, stromboli, garlic breadsticks, cheesy bread, buns, appetizers, even a dessert pizza. All the other ingredients can be on hand in the fridge or in cans or jars.

[llc45]

Wow - the suggestions so far have been great. I am pretty sure that my nephew will eat each of them. My hope is that I can get him interested in cooking some of these things. He loves when I cook if I gear it to something he will eat and maybe he is so tired of fast food that he will try. I'm thinking of telling him that it will impress his dates in the future if he can cook.

It's funny, I was the picky eater in my family growing up. My mother cooked rare meat, gravy and potatoes at least five nights a week. so this is how I started cooking as a teen because I was so tired of eating (or not eating in my case) the same thing night after night. Now I am the least picky eater in my family and they think I am a gourmet chef.

The suggestion about grocery delivery is outstanding. I live in a rural area and would never have thought about it. My sister lives in Orlando and I am sure that I can get her set up for this. Especially, if I can put together a list of pantry items geared around what they like to eat.

[snowangel]

My hope is that I can get him interested in cooking some of these things. He loves when I cook if I gear it to something he will eat and maybe he is so tired of fast food that he will try.

If you could get him interested in cooking, I'm sure it would be a big help to your sister, too, and perhaps a boost for him! If his mom is too tired to shop, times have probably been tough for him, too.

One of the things I did when I worked outside the home was to keep a list of 10 dishes that were fast and easy that everyone liked. I kept the list on the fridge, and every time I grocery shopped was to make sure that I had all of the ingredients on hand for at least five of these dishes. I also learned to double the recipes for those that would freeze well.

And, for folks who don't like to cook, or are health or ability challenged, things like frozen or fridge pizza dough, pre-cut broccoli, pre-mined garlic, frozen chopped onions, etc. can make a difference between eating fast food or eating something healthier. Those frozen steam them vegetables are pretty good and easy to do (and because there is air in the package, they don't get all crumbled up. There is definitely a time and place for convenience.

[judiu]

I've found that the following appeals to most kids, just so long as they don't know there's garlic (powder) in it. "Blue box" mac and cheese, seasoned up with garlic and onion powder, with a can of tuna stired in (could use ham, but I'd rather used left over diced ham, the canned ham in the tuna fish sized cans is just NOT that good. Oil packed tuna, well drained, works best. Generally served with broccoli, in my house. Also, make a ham and cheese sandwich, dip in an unsweetened French toast batter and saute in butter; Voila, Croque Monsieur!

To get the kid more interested in cooking, you might mention to him that cooking for a girl is a very good way to impress her!

[Blether]

- Cottage pie -

(minimum)

A layer of tinned corned beef broken up with a fork

A layer of tinned baked beans

A layer of instant mash (adjusting salt can improve it a lot)

Bake for 35 minutes or so at 350F.

(improvements)

Some real mashed potato

browned mince (and onions), seasoned, in place of corned beef

optional cheese on top

- Stewed mince -

(minimum)

Fry some chopped onion

add minced beef, cook till the red colour is gone

add chopped carrots and water to not-quite-cover

Season with salt & pepper, tasting to check

simmer for minimum 20 minutes

Serve with mash; rice; or bread for that matter.

(improvements / variations)

Brown the mince properly - not every surface of all of it but think of it as a big hamburger, say, browning on both sides

vary the vegetables - peas ? frozen mixed chopped veg ?

add breadcrumbs (equivalent to 1/5 - 1/4 the meat volume ?) for a thicker sauce

enrich the sauce with stock cube / tomato puree / can of tomatoes / herbs / some vinegar / worcester sauce

- Cheerful chicken -

Mix yoghurt, tinned tomatoes just crushed by hand, chopped onion, curry powder (you're flavouring here, not making a curry), salt. Pour over chicken leg portions in baking tray. Bake 1hr at 350F. Mmm. Rice or bread again (buttered toast ?).

Shortcut - jar of pasta sauce replaces the tomato & onion

Would it be a stretch too far to suggest a breadmaker ? Accompanied by a big bag of flour and a cheap re-zero-ing electric scale ? I even add the water by weight these days - and it's not a disaster if you miss by even 10 grams.

8g salt

15g sugar

15g oil (optional)

5g instant yeast

400g wholewheat bread flour

265g water, in my case

Point being, of course, that there is no convenience food quite like it in the carbs range. It's fresh, it's healthy, all the ingredients keep forever; it's there when you want it - at point of use there's no peeling, no boiling, no draining, no washing up.

Edited October 2, 2009 by Blether (log)

[llc45]

Thanks again for the suggestions. I am leaving a week from Monday and will post back to let you know how I make out.

[helenjp]

I know at least 3 teen boys with seriously ill parents and a couple more who need to fix their own dinners...they all (and my two boys as well) love to cook Italian! If you're going to buy a recipe book and/or basic stocks, a really, really simple Italian book would be my recommendation.

Other than that, I get most response with small books on one-dish meals that are not only easy to make, but are also very familiar and easy to imagine, e.g. XYZ on toast.

[llc45]

Just wanted to thank all of you for your excellant suggestions. I have to say that I wasn't as successful as I had hoped to be but I definitely made a bit of impact in their eating situation. I compiled a list of easy recipes from here and others that I make. My nephew had zero interest but having some easy recipes to choose from might help both of them in the future.

I did fill the freezer with meatballs and soup. Also, I made an Italian turkey meatloaf one night even though they both said they both hate meatloaf and they liked it. So I made a bunch in muffin cups for the freezer. They didn't make it that far but my sister said she would definitely make that again. My nephew was really interested in the cheeseburger casserole recipe from PopsicleToze so I bought the ingredients and put the meat in the freezer and asked if he would try to make one dinner a week. My sister really wanted pasta most nights so that's what I made, even though my nephew would only eat it plain with chicken fingers. My sister loves cabbage rolls so I showed her how to make an easy unstuffed version - more like a soup. She said she is going to try it again because it was so easy.

Hopefully, once they start realizing how easy it is, they'll start eating a little better which I believe will help my sister tremendously. I couldn't wait to get back home to well stocked pantry. Anyway, I got them started and now just have to keep my fingers crossed. Thanks again!