Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Okay, here's this just dead dumb idiotic thing I just did

Recently we have had money problems (maybe more than usual) and we are trying to not eat out. We must absolutely not eat out (though we will probably go to Arby's on Wednesday, cause we'll get a free sandwich if we buy a soda). We must eat what is already in the house (or possibly, in the garden).

So, we must do things to make this easier, or we will give up on the idea and go out and spend more money. Like, we must stop complaining about being too tired to cook or not having time to cook. To speed things up, we have to do stuff ahead of time. Like if we need to make rice to go with dinner, we might as well make extra for the next day and maybe the day after, cause that will save about half a hour. And if chicken is planned for lunch or dinner, I should cut up the chicken in the morning or the night before, cause if I have to do all the work of cutting up a chicken before I can eat, I will probably just give up and go to KFC.

Okay, so there is cut up chicken and leftover rice and sometimes there is even cut up veggies already in the frig. So all I have to do is pick some spices and start actually cooking the chicken. And I pick some stuff, but I don't follow a recipe, cause I looked at some recipes and most of them called for chicken broth and I didn't have any chicken broth and I really didn't want to go buy any chicken broth. And how hard can this be anyway?

Okay, so this doesn't taste too bad, but maybe I should follow a recipe and/or use chicken broth next time. But it really isn't too bad, and the idea is to use stuff in the house and still make dinner in a reasonable amount of time, and I did that.

So I cooked the chicken and the veggies and put it over some rice and then there was this liquid that the chicken was cooked in and I put that over the rice. And then I served dinner.

And I guess that I forgot to warm up the rice.

Okay, at least I didn't put the chicken over rice that I forgot to cook. But I did just sort of take it out of the frig and forgot to do anything with it.

I thought that I was doing good before that. Two hours of work before lunch, check. Drink two liters of water, check. Warm up rice before serving a hot meal...oops.

7 comments:

bulletholes said...

That liquid the chicken cooked in?
Chicken Broth!
Hey Laffin!

Ananda girl said...

Well, that's what microwaves are for I guess. :)

I should do that too... the cutting up beforehand stuff. That's a smart idea.

Reminds me of something my grandmother used to say when I felt I'd messed up a meal. "Probably just needs a bit more salt." Her solution to all cooking problems. Ha.

laughing said...

Bulletholes, that was my thought too. Why does the recipe say to cook the chicken in chicken broth when just cooking the chicken in water would make chicken broth? But I guess some recipes need stronger chicken broth.

laughing said...

Ananda, I should have microwaved the thing, except that by the time I realized what I had done my husband had already eaten half of it.

As for salt, I love salt, and my mother loves salt, and that is sometimes the only thing that we have in common. We eat way too much salt. If either of us complains that something is too salty, that doesn't mean it is too salty, that means that it is actually inedible.

Today we are going to go to Arby's for lunch, and then we will have chicken for dinner. The chicken is already cut up, and there is already cut up veggies, and there's a few cans that need to be opened and that's about it. I expect that washing dishes and other cleaning after dinner will take longer than actually cooking the dinner.

bulletholes said...

YEAH, IF YOU COOK THE CHICKEN IN A BROTH (oops)you end up with what we call a "fortified stock".
Stocks are the heart (not to try to sound too cliche) of a kitchen.

If you are feeling aggressive, you can make a stock with the neck, back, wingtips from your chicken. Add celery onion and carrot.
You don't have to use it for this meal. Make it while your meal is cooking, then freeze it and use it for your next.
Or save your bones from a couple of meals in the freezer, then make a big batch.
Its a lot of trouble, though.
Get some boullion cubes...use those if you like. Same same.

laughing said...

Yes. And then, you know, if you use the bouillon cubes, they contain salt.

I love salt. Did I mention that I love salt?

dmarks said...

I left a comment earlier, about rice, but I must not have saved it correctly.