I am calorie counting and struggling in the evening. I work alot usually 10-12 hour days and then my commute is 45 - 60 minutes. It's just me and my husband at home. Does anyone have any suggestion on quick and easy dinners or slow cooker dinners that can go all day without being terrible that are low cal? When I say quick and easy I am talking 15 minutes and under. I don't get home until around 7 and really don't want to have to spend alot of time cooking. Thanks for any help!
I just made BBQ pulled pork yesterday for dinner, which is SO delicious! Even without the BBQ sauce it tastes awesome. I just got the long, skinny pork tenderloin (or pork shoulder if you prefer). I just dumped some BBQ sauce on top and set it on low for 8-9 hours (it could have gone for 10 even). By the time it's ready you can just pull it apart with a fork it's so tender. We ate it on wheat rolls but it's good by itself too.
I like to do veggie chili in the crockpot. The recipe always varies, but I use ground turkey or Boca. I also do spaghetti sauce in the crock pot regularly for my guys, I personally dislike pasta.
My friend has a great roasted chicken in the crockpot recipe. I'll check with her and get it for you. While I've never had it she loveloveloves it.
I'm not great about actual measured recipes (my dad was a chef, I learned from him), I like to vary it up. I just use whatever I would for quick cooking on the stove, but dump it all in the crock when I opt for that.
Really really basic: my mom will take a bag or two of frozen mixed veggies and then add a jar or so of tomato sauce (like spaghetti sauce) and let it cook in the crock pot on low all day. Really basic, but for some reason I love it and it's healthy and easy. just grab a bowl as you walk in the door. She would also add meat most of the times but i can't remember what or how exactly. Either way this could be a good appetizer or side dish. Since you're probably hungry when you get home you could have a bowl and then fix something else to go with it so you wouldn't be in such a rush to cook and eat something.
my mom also has a really great crock pot chili recipe that was super easy to do--just open cans, stir, and go but i don't have it. If you want it i can get it from her though. Just let me know!
I just made chili last night in the crockpot. I used two cans of beans, drained and rinsed (I had navy and black beans in the cupboard so that's what went in), a bag of frozen cut spinach, one diced red pepper, about half an onion (diced), a couple cloves of minced garlic, some sliced mushrooms, a package of Morningstar Farms soy "ground beef" crumbles, a large can of diced tomatoes, and a chili seasoning packet I found in the organics section of the store. It was super good!
You could also cook up double or triple recipes on the weekends and freeze them for easy heat-up meals during the week.
I do BBQ chicken sandwiches- cover them in BBQ sauce and leave them on low all day- pulls apart and great with a little bit of cheddar on a wheat roll.
I also do salsa chicken- cover the chicken with salsa and go low. I add a little bit of cheese at the end and serve it with quinoa (I add a little bit of lime and cilantro after it's cooked) and a salad. It also makes a good fajita meat- nice and tender. Or, do it with green sauce, mix it up with a little cheese and use it as enchilada filling. (throw them in a tortilla, cover with a little more sauce and cheese and bake until bubbly- prob 15 mins or less)
Of course, potroast!
Chili is also great- throw in just about anything you like. I go for ground turkey, two kind of beans, onion, one can tomatoes, one can sauce, chili powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
Also, just about any soup can be thrown in and put on low all day.
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Broiled meat is good, and doesn't need oil or anything. About 5-10 minutes per side for a 3/4 inch or 1 inch thick slice of meat. I just cook it until it crisps up on the top side, then flip and figure about half the time on the second side.
Sweet peppers or bell peppers can be stuck on the broiling rack alongside the meat. Cook until blackened on the top, carefully flip and blacken the other side...very good if you like sweet peppers, and no oil or anything needed. Leave the stems on for a handle, if you're using the mini sweet peppers.
You can also cook mushrooms and similar juicy veggies, apple slices (great with pork!), pineapple chunks, or small onions right alonside the meat...they will most likely be done when you turn the meat over or a little after, but just stick in a glass/ceramic cooking bowl and cover with foil and/or the lid, and by the time the meat is done, they'll be cooled enough to eat without getting burned by the juices.
I generally pull meat out in the morning from the freezer, put it in the fridge to thaw for the next day's dinner. If I want it marinated, I go ahead and rinse the frozen meat, put it in a clean ziploc, and add marinade, then put it in the fridge. That night, I'll just flip the bag and/or squish the marinade around to make sure it's covering the meat, then next morning it can be tossed in the crockpot (adding extra sauce and/or water, so it doesn't boil away), or next evening, it can go in the oven or under the broiler, depending what it is.
Of course, you can also just thaw meat in the microwave, if it doesn't need marinade, or if you're not 100% sure you'll cook it up before it goes bad.
My usual day-to-day standby is stir-fry. Boneless skinless chicken breast, mushrooms, sweet peppers, tomatoes (just the last 3 minutes for grape tomatoes), or whatever I have on hand. I usually make a double serving, half is for my lunch (could be dinner in your case), the other half for dinner or I'll split it into two snack sized servings. There are bags of frozen, pre chopped veggies you can use, too. I don't use any oil, because usually the juice from the veggies is plenty to get the job done without the meat drying out, but I'll use a little water, about a tablespoon, if it's looking too dry. Cook about medium high if you have a stainless skillet, but for teflon keep it at med-med.high to keep from burning your pot. You can use a little oil or butter if you don't mind the extra calories, but it tastes fine to me without it. I put usually just some garlic and pepper with it, but you can season it any way you like.
About 2 times a month, I make pork country style ribs in the crockpot with bbq sauce, or put some chops under the broiler. Not lowcal, but nice for an occasional treat, and I just adjust my calories that day to accomodate it.
Salmon is great under the broiler (or on the grill, in summer), and very fast. Throw some veggies on there of your choice: I like whole cloves of garlic, grape tomatoes, mini sweet peppers, and whole mushrooms. I sprinkle some garlic or lemon pepper on the salmon, toss the veggies on there too, and it's all done when the fish is done. I'm sure you could do this with other fish, I just am partial to salmon myself, and it's not too expensive where I live.
If you like shrimp, you can get pre-cooked shrimp in a bag, divide it into single or double servings, and just pull a baggie out in the morning to let it thaw in the fridge for dinner. Make a nice spinach salad, rinse the excess salt from the shrimp if desired and let drip in a strainer, add your fave salad ingredients and top with the shrimp and your fave dressing to make a one dish meal, or have the shrimp on the side if you like with a low-cal dip of some sort.
Great great recipes!
I also plan to get a slowcooker very soon, because we love stews. Plus we can't believe how few calories they have!!! Our last chicken and mushroom stew had 1900 cal for 4 quarts of stew! And that includes the 2 Tbsp of olive oil we used.
Kara ~ thank you for telling us about the "Morningstar Farms soy "ground beef" crumbles" - since I came to the US I couldn't find my usual textured soy protein... Bach home it's in transparent bags and it's dry, so you can see what you buy. The colorful boxes and wrappings in the US make me dizzy and I never have the patience to discover new products - I just get what I can recognize... Can you recommend any dry TVP? It must be great for stews...
I live alone and hate leftovers so the only thing I use my slow cooker for is to make steel cut oats for the week.
As for dinner in a hurry, most of my dinners are a salad, steamed veggie and grilled meat. While the grill/BBQ is heating, prep the veggie for the microwave, toss meat on the grill, make salad, turn meat, set table and serve. I buy about half of my meat already marinated from a local butcher shop. I'm only cooking for myself so can afford the slight expense as I'm only buying 1 pork chop or steak, not 4. Tonight is a maple bourbon pork chop, steamed asparagus and baby greens w/balsamic vinagrette.
If time is an issue, why not prep some meals on weekends. Then you just put in the oven when you get home. Even making a spaghetti sauce on the weekend that can be eaten for dinner later in the week, or frozen so you just pull out in the morning. My fav quick meal is Japanese curry. You can buy Glico at most grocery stores. Ignore the instructions. Add about 1lb meat and lots of potatoes/carrots/mushrrom/onion any stew stype veggies you liketo a pot. Cover w/water and simmer 20+ mis. Chop Glico into tiny pieces and add to the stew, stirring constantly. Allow to thicken and simmer 15 mins. Serve with rice, or I prefer with a slice of bread to mop up the sauce. Last time I made this with beef, 1.5cup serving was 289 calories. Would probably work in the slw cooker, adding the Glico when you get home.
Slow Cooker Recipes
