What are some good, easy meals my wife can’t screw up?

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, WhoTom said:

 

That's what we called them too. I think the can said, "chick peas" on one side and "cici beans" on the other. I've seen it spelled "cici" and "cece" too.

 

I don't know why, but for some reason, I call them garbanzo beans now.

 

Then there was:

 

"Chai Chai Rod-traqueez"

 

"It's ChEE ChEE Rod-REE-quez"

 

😆 

 

 

 

[Johnny Hammersticks]

9 minutes ago, muppy said:

ditto.

 

chick peas just sound weird What's next dude carrots......

 

lol 😉

I see what you did there.  You rascal. 😎 

[Bill from NYC]

I tried this with sausage instead of panchetta, and I used small rigatonis instead of shells. I mixed hot and sweet sausages. It was surprisingly good. 

[Big Turk]

On 2/15/2023 at 7:15 PM, Einstein said:

 

I am a carbaholic but i’m trying to change that. Fish is ok. Chicken is ok smothered in sauce. Steake diane is great.

 

Tired of spending thousands per month at restaurants. Body doesn’t appreciate it either.

 

Thousands per month at restaurants?  You must be crazy.

[Augie]

On 2/15/2023 at 10:28 PM, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

if you love carbs, try Pepe e Cacio. Pasta, pasta water, cheese, pepper. It’s such an easy dish to make. 
 

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/cacio-e-pepe

 

 

 

Humble brag, but I have to agree with you here! We were in Rome last month and they brought me a bowl of cacio e Pepe rather than my pasta with  seafood dish. I took one bite and didn’t want to give it back. Now I’ve been craving it ever since. Unfortunately, I doubt anything I find around my house will be anything like what I was treated to in Italy! 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 hours ago, Augie said:

 

Humble brag, but I have to agree with you here! We were in Rome last month and they brought me a bowl of cacio e Pepe rather than my pasta with  seafood dish. I took one bite and didn’t want to give it back. Now I’ve been craving it ever since. Unfortunately, I doubt anything I find around my house will be anything like what I was treated to in Italy! 

I suspect nothing beats the real thing right out of Rome!! 

[Augie]

10 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I suspect nothing beats the real thing right out of Rome!! 

 

I never would have ordered it as it sounds too rich for my usual taste. But I think that bite from the pepper makes you forget about the richness, or something. I knew it wasn’t what I ordered, but after one big bite I was upset when they brought the correct meal. My meal was of course fantastic as well, and my wife even said “You usually eat like a bird. I’ve never seen you eat like this!” 

[Doc]

Get a crock pot.  Throw whatever you want in there and come back in 8 hours.  Or do what I did and get a wife who can cook.

[TBBills Fan]

just google 2 girls 1 cup.  It is a great resource for easy meals

[Talley56]

You can never go wrong with breakfast foods for dinner.  Nothing wrong with some bacon or sausage and eggs, maybe some steamed veggies or a salad on the side if you want to add some vegetables in.

[Draconator]

Download the Mealime app. Full utensil and ingredients list, and step-by-step instructions.

[Doc]

22 hours ago, Talley56 said:

You can never go wrong with breakfast foods for dinner.  Nothing wrong with some bacon or sausage and eggs, maybe some steamed veggies or a salad on the side if you want to add some vegetables in.

 

Or a bowl of cereal.

[Augie]

2 hours ago, Doc said:

 

Or a bowl of cereal.

 

However, Cap’n Crunch should come with a warning label. The roof of my mouth learned this the hard way. 

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

However, Cap’n Crunch should come with a warning label. The roof of my mouth learned this the hard way. 

 

Yeah.  I love the cereal itself but the carnage doesn't make it worth it.

[Joe Ferguson forever]

down to brass tacks....make a huge batch of this.  Go to Aldi and buy some 90 sec basmati rice or a baked potato with sour cream..  Some grated extra sharp cheddar.  loaf of french bread.  you're good.

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/231082/just-like-wendys-chili/

Edited June 18, 2023 by redtail hawk

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

While we're passing through the Italian portion of the thread- had this in Florence... it was sooooo good I looked it up and make it from time to time.  Brutally simple, just make sure to use wine you'd actually enjoy drinking:

 

https://www.insidetherustickitchen.com/peposo/

[muppy]

not a peep in reply from @Einsteinwe spent time to answer ...What did wifey or you do to increase your meal making at home  game.?

 

Pray tell

 

🙂

[T&C]

Lol.

 

Happy Fathers day...

[Einstein]

26 minutes ago, muppy said:

not a peep in reply from @Einsteinwe spent time to answer ...What did wifey or you do to increase your meal making at home  game.?

 

Pray tell

 

🙂

 

Sorry about that. We did take a few suggestions and also tried finding recipes of our own. We even found an excellent chicken french recipe, and the best chinese fried rice i’ve ever had. We were doing so well with cooking at home until we went on vacation.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

The Rettata chef still visits the site? 🤔

[boater]

On 2/15/2023 at 6:52 PM, Gugny said:

Allrecipes.com is my go to when I need ideas. Lots of great recipes with common ingredients. 

Yep. That's the place to go. Just look at their highly rated and you can't go wrong.

 

Pro tip: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16733/bobs-blue-cheese-dressing/ is better than Rooties, and much cheaper than $8 a jar at Wegmans.

 

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

Does anyone know how to make Hot and Sour soup?  Sorry if this is a derail, and I do hope Einstein's wife can make it.   Please, no doggam carrots, peas, sugar, red pepper flakes or honey... just the brilliant soup, with maybe some scallions on top.  Willing to trade actual fuggin awesome Michoacan salsa recipe, or the keys to eternal beauty and happiness. 

[LeviF]

5 hours ago, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:

Does anyone know how to make Hot and Sour soup?  Sorry if this is a derail, and I do hope Einstein's wife can make it.   Please, no doggam carrots, peas, sugar, red pepper flakes or honey... just the brilliant soup, with maybe some scallions on top.  Willing to trade actual fuggin awesome Michoacan salsa recipe, or the keys to eternal beauty and happiness. 

 

I've used this guy's website for other chinese recipes and they've come out brilliantly. Not a hot and sour soup guy so I haven't tried making it.

 

https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/hot-sour-soup

[K-9]

Before I answer, I’ll need to know if your wife has had her IQ tested.

[Joe Ferguson forever]

10 hours ago, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:

Does anyone know how to make Hot and Sour soup?  Sorry if this is a derail, and I do hope Einstein's wife can make it.   Please, no doggam carrots, peas, sugar, red pepper flakes or honey... just the brilliant soup, with maybe some scallions on top.  Willing to trade actual fuggin awesome Michoacan salsa recipe, or the keys to eternal beauty and happiness. 

This looks good and easy. Might try it

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/hot-and-sour-soup-recipe/

[SoTier]

During the pandemic, I started watching the Food Network cooking shows like "The Kitchen", "The Pioneer Woman", 'Girl Meets Farm", etc. because they not only give you the recipes but demonstrate how to make them.   They also demonstrate skills and explain why you should do X rather than Y.    All the recipes from these shows and others are on FoodNetwork.com.   They are very tasty and usually easy, especially the recipes from Ree Drummond of "Pioneer Woman".   Many of her recipes are Tex-Mex inspired and are based on ingredients you'll find in most supermarkets.

 

SpendWithPennies and allrecipes are both excellent sites.

 

For Italian food, Lidia Bastianich's cookbook A Pot, A Pan and a Bowl is full of simple-to-make Italian recipes. 

 

 

[BullBuchanan]

90% of cooking well is understanding the balance between salt, acid, fat, and heat. If you can saute garlic & onion, that will make any dish magical. Then use salt and fresh cracked black pepper on a protein of choice and just cook it to a proper temperature. Most people overcook the ***** out of their food, so cook it less - especially vegetables and especially lean proteins like chicken breast and pork chops.

A chicken thigh with just salt and pepper cooked in a pan should be mouth wateringly delicious on its own, you just need to know how to get good results. If steak and broccoli is bland, it's probably because you didn't season the meat well enough and you boiled broccoli. Try roasting some fresh broccoli in oil salt and pepper at 450 for a few minutes until it starts to brown and crisp up and tell me that's bland.

 

Technique is everything. Recipes are really the end of the line. If you can't make chicken taste great on its own, that's something to fix first. I recommend getting a good understanding of the maillard reaction and pasteurization temps for meat to make sure you cook your lean proteins to the lowest proper temperature. For meats high in collagen like chicken thigh, brisket, chuck steak, you have to cook those to 185 or above to break that down to have the meat be as moist as possible.

Of course, you didn't ask for that, so here are some great easy recipes that are staples around here:

This homemade tomato sauce pasta is can't miss. We like to use fresh campari tomatoes or you can do the same technique with san marzano tomatoes. Because the dish is so simple it's worth using the best tomatoes you can get. I'll often add sauteed shrimp

This scampi recipe from Gordon is also fantastic and dead easy:

100% make the sauce on this chicken from Sam the cooking guy:

Tacos are a very easy meal to make with any protein and here's a great salsa:

 

[PromoTheRobot]

Mississippi Pot Roast:

Into a crock pot ..

3-4 pounds of steak or chuck, cut in pieces.

Packet of Au Jus mix

Packet of Ranch Dressing mix

Half stick of butter

10-12 pepperocini, plus a splash of the brine.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Foolproof.

 

[Joe Ferguson forever]

Just watched a couple episodes of Oliver's show based on this.  Made the mushroom Carbonara in about 15 minutes and it was delicious but almost all these recipes look amazing and all in 1 pan.  btw, used double the bacon for a much creamier sauce than in the pic.

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/articles/best-recipes-jamies-one-pan-wonders-channel-4/

Edited July 7, 2023 by redtail hawk