Spec me: extremely fast family meals

One me and my Mrs have when we are feeling lazy is Fresh tagliatelle with herb and garlic philadelphia and cut up bits of smoked salmon. takes roughly 10 mins to make and tastes lovely.
 
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Haggisman said:
Well that depends, reheating left over rice from the night before? Probably fine.

Reheating rice that's been in the fridge for a week? I certainly wouldn't risk it.
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Irrelevant, the thing that matters is the rapid cooling down to minimize bacaterial growth.

I would eat rice after a week in the fridge, but as with anything eventually it will go off. Would you eat chicken left in a fridge for a week? I wouldn't.


Cooking rice for 2-3 days use is perfectly find as long as it goes straight in the fridge. I even tend to put it in the fridge almost immediately after cooking it. Contrary to popular belief, putting a small warm item in a fridge wont heat the fridge significantly due to the thermal capacity of all the fridge contents, cooling solution and cold air and the fact that if the air does warm up the compressor switches on to cool it down. I have a thermometer in the fridge and never see it change when adding big pots of hot stew/chili/souop before going to bed.
 
I always like to have cold pasta in the fridge ( I eat a lot of it)

Fry/grill some meat
Reheat pasta and have some stir in sauces, Aldi do some really nice ones in little jars or pesto.
Have some basil growing in window, rip some off throw it on top

I can get in the door grab some chicken chunks takes 5 minutes to cook through. whilst that's cooking you've reheated pasta and stirred in sauce, quick simple filling and its ready before they have had chance to moan

You could even use cold meats, like salami.
Also cold pasta with tuna and some sweetcorn is delightful with choice of sauce, I Like mine with sandwich pickle.

I also like to cook Chinese/Japanese food, I can prep it all the night before get in from work heat wok throw it in. stir it around about, Bish bash bosh, tasty meals full of flavour.
 
Not sure if this has been covered, but what is your weekly food prep time?

I'm a student (one that actually does work) and former chef and thankfully the organisational skills I have mastered as a chef have helped me no end as a student. The theory is to spend a free weekday cooking for the rest of the week, and substitute in a few hours at the weekend to make up for it. This allowas me to enjoy the weekend, but not feel guilty about missing a weekday. Of course it rarely works like that.

I have no kids at 31, and frankly require none, but my friends do so I shall try to be vicariously empathetic. For you, the issue will be that you have no weekdays, and probably very little weekend as well. I suggest you make a deal with your other half that you have one week day (be that a weekend or otherwise) alone. In which you will both spend some of your time preparing food for half the week. Firstly, this allows you both to have spare time, and also accomplishes the main manly task of getting down the pub at the weekend.

To prepare three or four days food for four mouths is not significantly more time taxing than preparing the same amount for one person. The same jobs must be completed, only a slightly increased amount of produce must be prepared; the majority of time lost in the amateur is in umming and awing about what to do next. Organisation is the key. Plan during the week what you will make for the next week. Large batches of chilli, bolognese, chicken (remember you can pre/part cook things) or stirfrys can be made and stored in the fridge and used at will.

I wont provide recipes unless asked, but take a moment to think about things you normally cook. Ask yourself whether you can save some time here and there. Cooking a weeks worth of pasta or vegetables on a Sunday can save a significant amount of time.
 
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spoffle said:
Did you even read the information at the link you posted?
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spoffle said:
Oh well it's clear now that you didn't read the link. It's cooling the rice that's important. Reheating it is fine. Reheating it a week later is also fine.

Also it seems the NHS doesn't have a clue what it's talking about:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1124.aspx?CategoryID=51&SubCategoryID=167
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D.P. said:
I think you missed some vital information in that link:


Cook the rice, cool it down quickly and straight into the fridge,then there is no problem.
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Fair enough, I was going off the:

"keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating" point in the article.

Consider me educated :p
 
Haggisman said:
Fair enough, I was going off the:

"keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating" point in the article.

Consider me educated :p
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That part is just to be extra extra careful so that people don't derp and come whinging. Realistically, you can keep rice in the fridge for a week and it's fine.

Obviously it's optimal to eat it asap, but it's still fine.
 
carbonara!

I cook it in around 10 minutes now

350g spaghetti
Four to six slices of pancetta (bacon will do)
Oil (could be garlic oil)
Four to six eggs
100g-150g parmigiano reggiano (or other hard cheese)
1/2 glass white wine (optional with small kids)

Get kettle on!
Pot for spaghetti with a small amount of water on the stove heating up
Pancetta in a pan as you turn the heat up to start rendering the fat
Boiling water in pasta pot, add pasta and salt
Onion in the pan as soon as their is a bit of fat on the bottom, when it is all cooked add wine and let simmer for a bit
Stir lots
Meanwhile, put eggs in bowl/jug with salt, pepper and parmigiano reggiano and wisk
When pasta is ready drain, saving a couple of tablespoons of starchy water
Place pasta back in the pot, add pancetta and onions, mix
Add egg mixture slowly mixing the whole lot ensuring that the egg doesn't scramble

Should take 10 minutes and my 6 year old sister loves it. I will think about other things for you.
 
I would cook one day ahead. Reheat and eat what you made yesterday today and then make tomorrows dinner once things calm down in the evening and stick it in the fridge ready to be reheated the next day.
 
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