# What do you cook when you don't feel like cooking?



## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Some nights I just don't have time, or I simply don't feel like cooking. Tonight I was tired and didn't feel like spending 1h+ in the kitchen. I'm sure some of you probably feel the same sometimes - so maybe we can share our quick-but-delicious recipes? 

So tonight, as is often the case when I don't feel like cooking anything fancy, I made spaghetti carbonara: 

• Place a big pasta pot full of water on high, and when boiling, add coarse salt and spaghetti.

• Meanwhile, beat a couple of eggs (I use 2 eggs for 2 people) with a good amount of grated 1/2 parmeggiano reggiano and 1/2 pecorino romano, lots of black pepper. 

• Place a medium skillet on low with minced bacon or pancetta (I know the authentic recipe uses guanciale, but I've never seen any around here). Lots of black pepper. Cook very slowly. 

• When pasta is ready, take a bit of the rendered bacon fat out of the bacon skillet so you have 1 or 2 Tbspn left. Add one laddle of pasta water. Deglaze and take the skillet off the heat and add the drained pasta.

• Add the egg/cheese/pepper mixture and mix. 

Serve. Add more cheese if necessary. 

It's a fast recipe, and yet it's delicious if you get the sauce right (it should be smooth like melted butter, with none of the egg coagulated).


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## eastshores (Oct 23, 2008)

Yea there are a lot of pasta dishes you can do fairly quick. Really fresh stuff too with diced tomatoes. I like to add in some sundried tomatoes and let them simmer a little then add just a bit of cream and parmesan, ends up kind of like a vodka sauce. Last time I made fresh whole wheat pasta.. let it be known that doesn't fall under the purvey of quick when you are mixing, kneading, resting, rolling, and cutting it on a chitarra.

Tonight I didn't feel like making much of a mess, or really cooking much. So I just grabbed a red onion, nice ripe tomato, and a cucumber. Grilled two chicken breasts, and whipped together a balsamic vinaigrette. Served over mixed greens with feta and a couple boiled eggs.


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## charles g. (Jan 20, 2010)

mac and cheese out of a box.

I did make butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage sauce for school tonight.eace:


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

If i'm alone, i eat cereal. 
If not, or if i need something more salty, then i make straccetti with rughetta. 

Wash the rughetta, put in a flat bowl with salt, pepper, oil and lemon and mix.

Put some garlic in a pan with olive oil and some sage and plenty of black pepper. Let it fry a minute and then add the thinly sliced meat (I'm lucky, they always have it in the supermarket, and i always keep some in the freezer. Stir while it cooks. 

Take it hot and dump on top of the rughetta. Add some wine, dry vermouth, dry sherry, or other mild alcohol or if i donlt have that i use water. Deglaze and pour over all. 

takes less than 2 minutes. 

Pasta is always good, and will sometimes make aglio, olio and tuna. But you have to wait for the water to boil and the pasta to cook. Many times i get home at 8:30 and am too hungry for that.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Broiled Chicken
Buy one chicken. Cut it up. Season generously with salt and pepper. Spray the broiler tray with oil. Put the chicken on it, skin-side down. Set under slightly distant broiler about 10 minutes, until very deep gold. Turn chicken and continue cooking until done. Serve with whatever bottled sauces seem appropriate.

If you can cut up a chicken fast, this is really easy. Of course the cooking part does take 20-25 minutes, but it's not like you have to do anything.

Soup
Coarsely chop onion, carrot, and anything else in your fridge that will take long cooking and isn't actually furry. Old mushrooms are terrific, for example, as are bits of leftover meat and poultry. Sweat 5 minutes in olive oil. Add lots of chopped garlic of you like, and for sure a quart or so of frozen stock, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a medium simmer. Ignore for 30 minutes to an hour.

Check seasoning. Add garlic, leafy greens, sausage, or whatever else shouldn't cook too long. Add a couple generous handfuls of small pasta or rice. Return to the boil, stirring, then simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and check seasoning again.

If you've got frozen stock, this is a no-brainer. It's also irritatingly healthy. It does take a while, but again, you don't have to do anything about it. You also clear out your fridge of all kinds of odd things you were on the verge of having to throw away.

Actually, I often do both. If I start at 5:30, I've got a great dinner by 6:30, and most of the time I don't have to do anything at all. I'll usually also have good leftovers to take to work the next day.


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## kalach (Aug 18, 2009)

My cheap/fast/easy favourites are;
-Premade ravioli with garlic and chilli flavoured olive oil and shaved parmesan
-Sushi/sashimi (depending on what I have around)
-And those asian two minute noodles


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## indianwells (Jan 2, 2007)

I just gently heat some good olive oil with chopped garlic, a finely chopped chilli, and then throw in some cooked spaghetti with a handful of parsley and a good grind of black pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Sometimes i'll add parm, mostly not as I like the clean flavour.
With a glass of ice cold Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc I find this far better sometimes than a meal i've spent a couple of hours on.
The older I get the simpler my tastes have become, I like to savour (and taste) every ingredient in the dish.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Some nights its creamy mushrooms on slices of toast and a Chablis or crepes suzette, or a deconstructed shepherds pie with the potatoes sliced thin not mashed, a soup , some nights its stilton, apple and crusty bread with a glass of Riesling, or just salmon on a bed of greens with Chardonnay . 
A good stir fry (whatever is in the fridge)....fast and easy on udon noodles or rice....


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## chefray (Sep 29, 2009)

Linguini, Heavy Cream, Butter, Green Onions, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Salt, Garlic Powder.

Cook noodles
Slowly heat cream, butter, and grated reggiano to a fast simmer
Add salt and garlic powder to the sauce
Add pasta and sauce to large warmed mixing bowl and toss
Plate
More cheese on top
Eat
Nap

I'm off today so that's my lunch plans.


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## eastshores (Oct 23, 2008)

Chef ray.. for some reason envisioning that dish I could see mixing in fresh peas. :smiles:


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## gunnar (Apr 3, 2008)

roasted potatoes and onions with a little garlic and rosemary, preferably with two over med eggs on top. not a lot of fussing around after a quick chop on a couple of spuds and a onion. place in oven, have drinks till smell draws me back into the kitchen, fry two eggs. easy peasy.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

pretty much all the above....
last night it was Afgan bread, about 14" round, 1/3" thick..chewy texture. topped with:
local sausage cooked in pan with sliced red onion
calamata olives
mozz and some sharp cheddar
eating the remainder for breakfast now.

sometimes just a glass of milk and hard ginger snaps.....dunk at will.


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## chefray (Sep 29, 2009)

Peas would be good, but I have no peas. I did have a bit of parsnip and that got diced and put in. It was good.


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## blueicus (Mar 16, 2005)

toast and jam and scrambled eggs


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Drop some junk food in the deep fryer :lol: this thread was about lazy!


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## eastshores (Oct 23, 2008)

Well in that case... HOT POCKETS!


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

All too fussy except for those who responded "breakfast" in one fashion or another.

Scrambled eggs with cream cheese bits
poached eggs on english muffin
Oatmeal (extra thick oats cooked in water for all of three minutes with cinnamon, raisins and chopped walnuts

I'm not feeling well right now; those are the only ones that came to mind.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Another one we'll do once in a while (perfect for winter time) is French crepes: eggs, flour and milk, bit of salt and sugar, mix, let rest for 1/2 hour, make the crepes and eat. The first one (or the first couple if you're hungry): as soon as one side is cooked, flip, break an egg, add shredded ham and grated swiss cheese, salt and pepper, finish cooking and serve. The following ones will get sugar, sugar and butter, sugar and lemon juice, sugar and rum, nutella, creme de marrons, banana, apples, jam, etc.... although my favorite is still sugar & butter or sugar and lemon juice! Keep it simple! OK so banana+nutella is pretty good too. :lol:


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Vegemite sandwich...naturally


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

You know I've never even seen vegemite. But every time I hear that word it reminds me of this. :lol:


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Usually mac & cheese and crudite. On the table fast and some semblance of a balanced meal.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

I know it's a weird word. Can see it here:

http://tessaaston.files.wordpress.co.../vegemite3.jpg

...or here:

http://www.eatoutzone.com/images/Vegemite.jpg

...and I thought this one was a bit risque, but funny 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CkPmWAHLfG...vegemite+2.jpg


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## rexxar (Jan 22, 2010)

i do BS curry 
on the week ends i make a metric ton of curry paste ( really what ever i like some time i like stuff with shrimp paste or coriander heavy what ever i have lying around) then i open a can of coconut milk or some cream and some vegis and combine ........or i make pasta dam its easy 

Putenesca FTW!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

oof, crepes are a lot of work to me. Anything that requires you to stand there at the stove and do one by one, is not something i do for when i don;t feel like cooking. 
Pancakes, at least, can be done four at a time!

A friend of mine says that cereal is most women's favorite meal when the family is not home. It's one of mine. Cheerios and raisins. yes. nice. I wonder if that is true, though, about women. 

It's one thing to cook occasionally or even often because you like to and want to, it's another to have to feed a bunch of people every single day with a balanced meal. True, many men do that, so maybe the question is, if you're the chief cook and bottlewasher in the family, do you go for cereal when you;re alone?


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

The only time I'm alone for a meal is lunch time. I eat leftovers or a salad with whatever I have on hand. Sometimes I'll throw together a quick soup or something else. I don't usually eat cereal unless it's for a snack, because I am hungry within an hour or so after eating it as a meal.

For quick family meals, I'll throw together a tuna casserole, sloppy joes, or something else quick and easy. Sometimes m 16 year old daughter will cook if I'm not feeling well.


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## chefboyarg (Oct 28, 2008)

I will usually throw in a pot of pasta; toss it in some olive oil; salt, pep, red pepper flakes, grated parm. If I don't feel like pasta I toss some rice on the stove and once it is done toss it in a hot pan with some olive oil so it gets a nice crusty crunch and then toss it with loads of sriracha. Alternatively if I am super-beat after a particularly grueling shift I will just cook some pasta and toss it with sriracha.


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## jzone (Oct 7, 2004)

I keep some frozen things on hand for just such an occasion, usually do up batches of lasagna, cabbage rolls, chili, pasta sauce etc and just throw them in the oven when I get home.

But if I don't have that around I often go for tacos/fajitas. Takes 20 mins, reasonably healthy and filling.

I make my own seasoning so dont have to worry about a package being around, (and the tons of extra salt in them). And I often have the hard shells in a ziplock in the cupboard. They last for months and are still fine. If I'm out, I just go with a taco salad 

Taco seasoning:
chili powder
onion powder
garlic powder (fresh preferably, but with powder you can make a large batch and always have some premixed on hand)
dried chili flakes
cumin powder
oregano
paprika
corn starch
S&P to taste (I have high BP so leave the salt out mostly, and go with lots more pepper)

You can play with the ratios to get your favorite mix. I go with less oregano and paprika and more chili powder and garlic. But even 1 part of all of them works. About 1 tsp of everything goes with 1 lb of beef/chicken etc.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Hello, Dominos, I'd like a ....


mjb.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, omelettes.

Sandwiches, "pannini"sandwiches, fried egg-sandwiches (Linda wants hers scrambled), egg-salad sandwiches.

Sardine salad sandwiches (Linda, the shikseh, has ham salad).

Toast, cheese-toast, cheese pannini.

Toast, bagel or arab bread with hummus, baba (mutabel) or tarama (which we ALWAYS have lying around).

Bagel and lox (usually have either lox or gravlax) bagel and herring, bagel and taramosalata.

BDL

PS. Re bagels: I don't have a good bagel recipe but am on the _qui vive_.


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## dillonsmimi (Dec 2, 2009)

Cereal...cold or hot. Hot is usually Oatmeal (the whole grain type) with brown sugar, raisins and touch of cinnamon...in the micro.


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## kirstens (Jul 3, 2009)

Mmmmm, Philly cheesesteak. My guilty pleasure.


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## langerdad (Jan 27, 2010)

I will usually throw in a pot of pasta; toss it in some olive oil; salt, pep, red pepper flakes, grated parm.Tonight I didn't feel like making much of a mess, or really cooking much. So I just grabbed a red onion, nice ripe tomato, and a cucumber.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Well there's that little problem. And to me, the idea of "holding" a crepe, or of preparing them in advance, or eating them lukewarm, makes about as much sense as drinking a lukewarm beer with a straw. 

What I do is this: I'll make one crepe, serve it to my wife, and while she's eating I'll make one for me, then she watches me eat. Then we repeat this process until

a) we can't take it anymore. 
b) there's no more batter. 

(b) never ever happens because I always make extra batter for breakfast the next morning. :thumb:


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## voodoochyl (Feb 1, 2010)

Quesadillas are super fast and there are limitless possibilities. Add a glob of sour cream and some fresh salsa...mmmmm.


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