My favorite "keep in the fridge ready and waiting" recipe. Most of the recipe is done in advance. I freeze half the bean mixture, keep the other half ready to go in the fridge. It's a huge time saver!

Shrimp Burritos

Make ahead Bean Mixture

2 onions, chopped
1 tsp Oil
Salt
1 can fat free refried beans
1 package Uncle Ben's Precooked Spanish Rice
1/3 Cup Salsa (I prefer a mild, chunky kind, use what you like)

Cook onions over low heat in a frying pan until caramelized. This will take a while. The will shrink down quite a bit. When done, they should be a light brown color. Add the other ingredients, and stir combine. Heat till hot, then remove from stove. At this point I divide the mixture, and one goes into the freezer.

For 1 Burrito:

A handful of Frozen, cooked, shelled shrimps

2-3 tablespoons salsa (I use Newmans's med Peach salsa here, I like a bit of sweetness. But any salsa would work fine)

1 Tortilla, about 8 inch's. I use Honey wheat tortillas here, but again, any kind would be fine.

About 3 tablespoons of the bean mixture

Put the shrimps and salsa in a small fry pan, heat on medium until shrimp is defrosted and some of the water cooks out of the salsa. Mixture should be fairly thick. While shrimps are heating up, nuke the bean mix for about a minute to heat. Nuke Tortilla for about 15-30 sec till hot.

Assembly: Put Shrimp in a line down middle of tortilla. Put Bean mix on top. Wrap up and enjoy! I eat this with home made carrot and jalapeno fridge pickles.

This is filling, and very yum!

Hi!

I use my Tupperware steamer to par-cook ground beef. I put in for 5-7 minutes and start testing it around 5 minutes. You should see how much grease comes out.

Wow, what a great thread! I have for sure learned some good tips here! Thanks!

When i went to ireland i picked this trick up from my dad: Lay out a sheet of aluminium foil on your working area. This way, when you're finished you barely have to clean up, you just wrap up all the mess into the foil and chuck it away... If you live on your own you can use aluminium foil for plates aswell. or even paper plates. It's great for people who like cooking but hate cleaning.

I have a rotisseries and love cooking chicken and pork loin in it. The grills are nice to have for chicken, burgers etc. I have steamer for boiling eggs, steaming veggies, cooking rice in and corn in the cob for my family.

My most important cooking utensil: High-quality knives!

Chicken tip
When preparing the dieter's staple of low-fat chicken breasts, it is much easier to cut them for a saute or fajitas if they are PARTIALLY frozen.

Many dishes taste great if you veer from the recipe and use lots more veggies than the recipe calls for. This gives you more "fullness" for less calories. (i.e. I make cabbage rolls with 1/2 the meat called for, and use peppers, celery, and onion to replace it)

Experiment with recipes. Can you make that recipe that calls for eggs with just the whites and leave the yolks out? Does the recipe still work with 1 tbsp of oil instead of 2?

You won't have to sacrifice flavor in most cheesy recipes if you reduce the cheese amounts by 1/3 and use low-fat cheese instead of regular.

SPICES, SPICES, SPICES. Try thyme on corn, cinnamon on carrots, anything to make a healthy dish that has started to bore you more interesting. Buy some spice mixtures. I never use regular black pepper anymore, because there are so many wild and fabulous peppers available, black pepper has become boring to me.

Use extra lean ground turkey instead of ground beef.

Replace white rice with brown rice. I haven't had any recipes that were not better when I did this, IMHO.

When making a tossed salad, make enough for a few days, but don't mix the ingredients except for what you actually use that day. Especially keep tomatos separate. This way, if one ingredient goes bad, you don't have to throw the whole salad out. The ingredients will all keep longer if not mixed with tomatos.

I love pancakes and was missing them. I found that I can make up buckwheat pancakes that are a flavorful joy by substituting cinnamon applesauce for the oil and just skipping the egg. These don't need syrup.

i would be lost without vietnamese chili garlic sauce to add spice to my meats, stir-frys... everything! no calories, and it packs so much flavor. spicy, flavorful food keeps me fuller longer and does away with the need to add oil or extra meat to my meals.

Sue, when you do the thing with the pork roast and putting part of it in the crockpot, is the part that goes in the crock pot already cooked? Or do you divide that roast and bake part one night and slow-cook the rest?

Sounds delish!

Donna D., Columbus, Ohio

An inside grill pan. I got mine at Target...i think mine is Calphalon, but you can find something cheaper. If you have this and non-fat cooking spray with No-salt seasoning, you can make anything! Chicken, eggplant, zuchinni, salmon, asparagus.

It's just the the Foreman, but a lot easier to clean and can be stored with you pots and pans.

1) Fish sauce or soy is really good to give food more flavor and don't add many calories either.

2) Use a non-stick pan to cook salmon and other fatty fish. You don't need to add any oil, lots will come out of it when it's cooking and make sure that it doesn't stick. That way no extra fat is added and you even get rid of some during the cooking process.

Last night I sprayed a pan with Pam, cut up some overgrown zucchini and sauteed it with some fish oil. It was an awsome snack!

I have an abundance of fresh tomatoes every year. A really simple way of preserving tomatoes is washing them, take off the stem and throw them whole into a freezer zip lock bag. When you need some for soup (or whatever) you just take out what you need and pop them frozen in the soup. The skin floats to the top or you can zap them first in the microwave for 30 seconds and the skin just fall off. I also put individual servings of soup in containers and put the calorie count on the top, then pop them into the freezer.
Bobbi

this probably been said already. buy a bunch of meat and veggies and cook them. then freeze in portion sizes so you don't think how much to eat. glen

A little "duh" moment yesterday - wanted to use shallots in a recipe but didn't have the patience to dice - cut in small pieces and push through a garlic press. Like I said, "duh", especially as most of my recipes call for garlic when they call for shallots, and I got it out anyway.

Also, try using frozen chopped onions in place of chopping your own - if they are going to be cooked anyway, why not?

Vietnamese Chili-garlic sauce is great. Mix with equal part dijon mustard and spoon over firm fish fillets (tilapia, cod, snapper) or chicken breast before baking. Fast and tasty.

Serve above with simple steamed green veggie and FROZEN brown rice - 3 min in the microwave - fabulous find. I can get it at both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Regular grocery stores will have it soon, I bet.

*edit* for more ideas:

2C steel cut oats + 8 cups water+ bunch of cinnamon in slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours - enough oatmeal ready to go for 10 days or so in the fridge. Just spoon into a mug with another spoonful of frozen blueberries and a couple drops of water or milk and nuke for 2 min in the rushed mornings. Add a few hardboiled egg yolks or other protein for a complete breakfast licktey split. If you want to do a quick egg white omelet in the morning by the egg whites in the carton - fabulous and not expensive.

I buy a big bag of lemons at Costco and juice them all at once and keep the juice in a psorts bottle in my frige - great for adding that quick flavor effortlessly.