Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Works For Me Wednesday: Quickie Dinners

Works For Me Wednesday Special Edition is about Dinner on the Rush - a quickie dinner. The official name is: WFMWTWDIFE! (That's "Works-For-MeWednesday: the What Do I Fix? Edition", for those of you who are unable to speak
in acronyms.) Take Out is not an option. Funny, this is our norm. Quickie dinners almost every night except for weekends (but sometimes also on weekends)

Here's the question that prompted this theme. It was posed by one of Shannon’s readers:

“It’s 5:15 pm, the kids are hungry, you have a headache, hubby is almost home, and the pantry has three things in it. What is your BEST last-minute meal recipe?”

First, I'd say we eat breakfast food for dinner when we really need it quick. A bowl of cereal. Pancake out of Bisquick. Scrambled Egss and Toast, sometimes with bacon. And Spam and rice.

Now if you're really wanting to hear about dinner stuff, one of the favorites is baked potato. Wash the Russet Potato, poke holes using fork, put in the microwave for 8 minutes, then toaster oven for another 10 minutes or so until the skin is a little crunchy. Take it out. Cut the middle halfway - press in. Now put butter on top until it melts; add grated cheese, sour cream and bacon bits on top. You can also add veggies like streamed broccoli if you'd like it to be healthier. A variety of toppings can be added, like chives, real bacon, etc depending on what you have in your refrigerator or pantry. It's all in the presentation.

UPDATE:

Many uses of chicken tenders. I like always having chicken tenders in the refrigerator because it's easy to thaw and can be cooked in many ways quickly.

1. Grill it - we always have this Korean Barbecue Sauce stocked. Marinade the chicken tenders in it (even for 2 minutes), then grill. It's very yummy with hot steamed rice!

2. Deep fry it - Mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs (we usually use panko which is japanese bread crumbs). Scambles a couple of eggs on a bowl. Have a bowl of four. Now, dip one tender at a time to 1) egg, 2) flour 3) egg again 4) pank-parmasean mix 5) then deep fry. Very yummy especially if you dip it with a Thai Chili sauce! Of course I again serve it with hot steamed rice!

4. Broil it - Marinade the chicken tenders in a Ceasar Salad dressing or Italian dressing even for 2 minutes, the bake to perfection! You can put bread crumbs on top if you desire (i don't). Yummy again!

For veggies, I always have a can of corn ready. This chicken tenders recipes go well with fresh steamed rice and corn on the side :)

That's it for now. Hop on to Rocks In My Dryer for more of quickie dinner tips.

4 comments:

Infinity Goods said...

One minute in the toaster over. What a nice trick. Thanks.

Rogue de Plume said...

Great minds must think alike. I just posted about loaded potatoes over at my blog for WFMW too! Glad to see I'm not the only one who does this when time is limited.

Phyllis Sommer said...

i really like the tip for the toaster oven. that's the reason i just don't like microwaved baked potatoes - the ease is so great but i miss the crunchy outside...this is the perfect solution...thanks!!!!

4urpets said...

I always have chicken tenders in the freezer. Great minds think alike!