Cooking for One or Two - Quick Lunch or Dinner - in Less Than 45 Minutes

With the holidays coming up, there hasn’t been much time to think about meals.  Pizza has been in the planning for two weeks, yet no pizza!

I am beginning to hate left-overs, so I try to cook accordingly.  Today, I needed to quickly fix something to eat that would not give me that over-stuffed feeling as I am trying to eat lightly before the holidays (yes holidays! Christmas and New Years).

Don't you just love those small (8-inch)plates?



The meal today consists of the following with  shaved Parmesan cheese

Mediterranean "Style" Tomatoes


I love fresh tomatoes, but are a bit timid about eating them raw out of season.  So, I have a quick way to drop them in olive oil with basil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, etc. and sauté on high heat until the skin just begins to pop. A little spray of Balsamic vinegar finishes off the dish.

These were left a little too long as the skins are wrinkling a bit.  They are still good, even if not as pretty!




Veggie Topping


1/4 cup each: cooked baby bellas, cooked eggplant,  diced red peppers, jarred artichokes and spices sautéed in garlic-infused olive oil



Cooked Pasta
- rinsed and tossed in olive oil

There is also a similar post

World Pasta Day - Pasta topped with Tomato Sauce and a medley of vegetables, Olives and Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Cooking for One or Two - A Quick Meal in Less Than One Hour

I prefer baking  to making meals, so I am always looking for quick meals that are nutritious. Today was one of those days; I baked cookies instead of cooking a meal. Of course, they were chocolate!

There are always food in the pantry, fridge or freezer, I just have to decide how to ‘mix it up’ to make a meal.  My preference is a vegetarian meal.

I attended a class at the Celiac Center of Minnesota on Monday night and came away with a better understanding  between fat and carbohydrates.  At least, I accept the explanation. The impression I came away with was that in order to digest carbohydrates without all of it going to sugar, was to be sure to add fat.  Normally, I try to go low-fat.  Future meals will include added EVOO where necessary.

Sweet potatoes are one of those vegetables, we used to eat raw when growing up.  My mother had this garden where she always had sweet potatoes.  When it was time to harvest, we always had to eat a few pieces raw.  They were really sweet even raw. We always had the pink fleshed ones.

There were no left-overs in the refrigerator, so I either had to open a can, microwave a bag or pare and cut something up.

Now back to the sweet potatoes, I picked up one and decided I would be having it for dinner, but had to think quick about what to make with it.  Stir-fries are the quickest way to make a meal with little fuss.  Out of the fridge came a red pepper, baby bellas and eggplant.  I hadn’t decided at that time whether to make rice or use beans.  Well the rice had to be cooked, so I chose the beans.

This is basically a simple way to get a meal real quick…..


Black Bean & Sweet Potato Stir-fry


Ingredients
1 small sweet potato, peeled and shredded
1 small eggplant, diced ( about 1 cup)
1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup baby bellas, sliced (cooked)
1 15-oz can  black beans, rinsed and drained
Seasonings
1 tbsp ginger(squeeze tube) or 2 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp Mrs Dash original spice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp low-sodium Cajun spice
2 tsp chili oil
2 tbsp olive oil
Topping
2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

ProcedurePrepare all of the vegetables
Heat a large iron skillet with the olive and chili oils.
Cook the peppers, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and eggplant until eggplant is tender.



Rinse and drain the beans.  Add to the skillet. 



Cook on high for about a minute, reduce to low, stirring to mix.  Cover on low heat for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to merge.



Serve, topped with 1 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese



and/or optionally with chips




Servings: 2
Yield: 2 meals or about 6 sides

Nutrition FactsNutrition (per serving - 1/2 half of recipe): 486 calories, 21.9g total fat, 13.2g monounsaturated fat, 3g polyunsaturated fat, <1g linoleic acid, 3.2g saturated fat, 3.6mg cholesterol, 59.2g carbohydrates, 18.5g fiber, 40.7g net carbohydrates, 11.8g sugar, <1mg stigmasterol, 9.4g starch, 1.3g fructose, 0g galactose, 1.3g glucose, 1.9g sucrose, 0g maltose, 879.8mg sodium, 2208.1mg potassium, 19.1g protein, 161mg calcium, 10437.6IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, 51.7mg vitamin c, 3.8mg vitamin e, 30.1mcg vitamin k, 5mg iron, <1g lysine, 27.6mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 4.4mg zinc.

Microwave Lemon Cup Cakes for Two

Today, I decided to modify what normally I make as one small microwave cake into two cupcakes after seeing a post about baking two cupcakes in an oven.
The microwave is one handy appliance. 
Microwave ovens were used commercially a few years before becoming available to the general public.  They were first seen in large corporation’s break rooms or ‘canteens’.  They became available to the general public around 1967, yet the price was quite prohibitive for most households at that time.
The early ones were very heavy with low-wattage.  Now they are so sophisticated that any food item can be cooked in them.
They are programmed and programmable for cooking by weight and even defrosting food. They are more accurate than the first one I purchased in the mid-70s.
This cupcake was made using boxed cake mix.  I have about 3 boxes of gluten-free cake mix that I do not really like.  So I am using the cake mix to test out my recipes.
So here goes the first try, using this cake mix.

Lemon Microwave Cup Cakes for Two
Ingredients
4 tbsp yellow cake mix
1 tsp meringue powder
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
1 1/2 tsp oil
1 tbsp liquid egg white product
2 tsp fat-free half n half
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp lemon extract or lemon juice.
1/4 cup water, divided
2 tbsp purchased frosting, optional
Procedures
1. Place cup cake papers in 2  7-ounce ramekins.  Spray the papers, if not using non-stick papers.

2. Mix all dry ingredients.   whisk oil, egg white, lemon zest, extract and half and half together, mix into dry ingredients. Add water as needed.  Batter will be thin.  Beat with a hand mixer at least 30 seconds.

3. Spoon half of batter into each ramekin.   - I added a sprinkle of unsweetened coconut

Place each ramekin on far sides of the microwave turntable.   Cook on high for 70 seconds for an 1100 watt oven.

4. The cupcake will puff up and jiggle a little. As soon as you see no movement, remove immediately from microwave.  This will determine the future time for your microwave.
5. Frost, if desired - each tablespoon of canned  frosting adds  an additional 30 calories


Refrigerate any left-overs – covered


Servings: 2
Cooking Times
Cooking Time: 1 minute and 10 seconds  (70 seconds)
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per cup cake): 148 calories, 3.4g total fat, 2.5g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, <1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 26.9mg sodium, 25.9mg potassium, 27.6g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 27.6g net carbohydrates, 14.9g sugar, 2.3g protein, <1mg iron, 1.2mcg folate, <1mg vitamin c, 0IU vitamin d, 0mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg niacin, 0mcg lycopene, <1g aspartic acid, <1g glutamic acid.
Notes / Tips
Feel free to use egg, rather than egg white.  I prefer using liquid egg products over raw eggs.
Being that this cake mix is not the best on the market, is the reason for the additional flavoring and  meringue powder.

Salt and Pepper to Taste - and awards

Everyone has seen the instructions in a recipe ‘season to taste’ or ‘salt and pepper to taste’. Well today, I made a pasta dish that I have made numerous times. I do not know where the recipe is or if I have ever had a recipe.

I had plans to make the dish that has a vinaigrette type sauce. It always has artichokes, sweet peppers, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic and olives.

I took the cherry tomatoes out and sliced them in half, also sliced the small sweet peppers in rings. I added some Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, spices and a small amount of cider vinegar. I microwaved it for about 4 minutes.
This was about 2 cups of peppers and 3 cups of tomatoes with olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, Italian spice, fresh basil and freeze dried herb mix

Next, I measured out 2 servings (4 ounces) of pasta and added it to the boiling water to cook just to al dente.

I used a 6 ounce jar of artichokes  in olive oil. I drained and chopped them a bit.

After the pasta was cooked to perfection and drained, the artichokes were added to the pot and combined.

Next, added in the tomatoes and peppers.

After I mixed it all up - This makes about 4 servings.

Well a couple of days earlier, I tried my hands at baking a loaf of packaged Italian Bread in the bread machine. It wasn’t quite the texture I liked, so I decided to make garlic cheese bread with it.

I added garlic butter (real garlic in olive oil), basil parmesan cheese and a little crumbled Feta cheese.

Baked it in the oven on 375F until browned.

Well, now that I have a meal, time to serve it up.

As I have said, season to taste!

And now a




Shout Out

to my fellow bloggers

I want to thank Cathy from The Dutch Baker’s Daughter (great food--give it a click) for giving me this:

I received this Blogger Award from Cathy – The Dutch Baker’s Daughter.
In order to accept I must:
1. Thank the person who presented the award, and link to their blog in this post--thanks, again, Cathy!
2. Copy and paste the award image (see above).
3. Share seven things about yourself (below);
4. Pass on the award to fifteen other fabulous blogs, and let them know that they have received the award (below).

Seven random things about me:

1. I was born in Arkansas and consider myself to be a permanent Minnesota transplant.
2. My first job that paid a regular paycheck was as a long-distance operator. Remember Ernestine, the telephone operator character of Lily Tomlin: Have I Reached the Party to Whom I Am Speaking?
3. My major in college was Business admin. Couldn’t get a job that paid much in the 70’s in Finance so I went back to U of MN – Twin cities for System Analysis and Design, from there into the title of Software Engineer for the next 25 years!
4. Between high school and college, I took 4 years of French. At the time, I could read it, understand it, and conjugate the verbs better than I could in English. Now, I remember very little of it.
5. A few years ago, while visiting a friend and driving up the winding road to Mt Rainier, classical music was playing the entire time. I jokingly said ‘elevator music’. Well, Linda said it’s very relaxing in traffic. After returning home, decided to try it. I am now a classical freak. I love all Italian Tenors, especially Pavarotti.
6. I have travelled over the US on business and vacation. One of the lesser reasons for leaving one job and moving back to Minnesota was the constant travel. After not doing it, I began to miss it.
7. I have only travelled out of the USA to one country: Canada – many times – love the Country!

Now to thank the Academy!
1. To Cathy from The Dutch Baker’s Daughter , I met you over on Mixing Bowl and you inspired me to write my blog. Finally got a chance to meet a fellow Minnesotan who CAN COOK!
2. To Danielle from Cooking for my Peace of Mind ---Great recipes. Great Facebook Fan page.
3. Sheryle over at Cookie Baker’s Corner - Great site – I am the cookie monster and I love seeing new recipes that I can snag to try to convert.
4. Like Cathy, I believe Shane’s blog belongs in the "sisterhood", he has so many great recipes that I have tried to duplicate at Culinary Alchemy . The latest was his Zucchini Cookies –yum!
5. Another great site (a fellow MBer) is Homesteading in Maine. This is written about a family doing what they call ‘living on the grid. Lots of tips, recipes, overall very good blog
6. Serendipity is another blog that I follow for the food and stories. Great food and great stories.

I have to start following more blogs, couldn’t come up with 15 blogging Sisters!