i used to microwave frozen ravioli for like 5 to 10 minutes and then eat them like crackers. it was a very good snack. Actually, i don't know why i don't still do that.
And now I want pasta. Though recently we've been doing the frozen bagged meals for two. Grad school has meant a lot of frozen meals.
I have celiac disease so most stores have about 3 variations on edible pasta for me personally; Whole Foods might have 6-8. I usually don't get spaghetti, but if that's what they have in a good brand, that's what I'm getting, because some gf pasta brands are weird and gross.
i think we have very different pasta experiences? All pasta tastes just about the exact same to me. I'll mix the last little bit of macaroni, rotini, and like farfalle or whatever other small noodles if there's not enough of one kind to make a full serving Edit: altho to be clear, whole wheat is a different taste, soba tastes different, etc etc, but i feel that all pasta made using the same type of pasta dough tastes the same
There was a pasta when I was abroad in Hong Kong that was like, thinner than normal pasta but the width of linguine and it cooked very fast and held Alfredo really well and I loved it and I was probably terribly mixing a pasta meant for something completely different with a cream sauce but I loved it. I ate actual local food when I ate out but dear god I didn't have antidepressants yet in that time of my life I did not have the spoons to learn how to cook local food too Their brands of instant ramen were definitely better tho.
for Brits, I would recommend shopping at Iceland for cheap convenience food that's surprisingly good for the price Their £1 ready meals are hardly Cuisine but they're also not swill Grab like a bag of frozen chicken kievs and some frozen colcannon and jam the kievs in the oven and the colcannon in the microwave then dump the kievs in the colcannon container and chow down. They do packs of four steam-in-the-microwave bags of veg too that work to be mixed in with baked beans or colcannon or whatever the fuck
Any combination of jerky, cheese, crackers, and raw red pepper (or some other kind of veggie or fruit) is the Best snack/light meal. Only required prep is cutting up the cheese and veg, and you can find those pre-sliced.
This is a rice-cooker thing, but I think it would adapt to the microwave. I would put a half cup of rice, (maybe 1 cup), water, a tin of sardines or herring, (you could use tuna or salmon) and usually a double-handful of frozen peas, (other veggies require experimentation) If the fish wasn't in a sauce, season to taste even if you're in the mood for mustard, but usually it's salad dressing or soy sauce.
Jus fuckin, take a small avocado, crack that fucker in half like the green egg it is, pull out the sad times marble, put some salt or some spices on that fucker (i like that japanese spicy one with the yuzu peal), chow down.
If you enjoy tofu and don't mind dirtying a bowl, a pan, and some sort of spatula.... Firm tofu. If you have the time or think of it early, you can press your tofu between paper towels, two plates, and something heavy, or if you're like me you can just put slices between a couple of paper towels and press between your palms briefly like five minutes before you cook. You may have to change paper towels or use more if yours get very wet. You want your tofu to be kind of dry. Thinner slices dry better, so if I'm doing last-minute tofu drying I generally do ~1/4" slices. If I remember to press early, I just press a block that I'll cut into pieces for cooking. If you just want plain tofu, great! you can go straight to pan frying. Nonstick very much recommended for this. Put on medium heat, let warm, add oil (canola is good). Put tofu in pan and let sit for several minutes, if you want a nice crust. After those couple of minutes, flip and do the same to the other side. If you have a nice big flexible spatula, you can do the tofu in big slices, but if not, I'd recommend cutting into smaller squares for easier flipping. Once the tofu is crisped to your liking, serve and eat. Seasoning recommended. Soy sauce, salt/pepper, teriyaki sauce, whatever. Good with rice. However, you can make more fun tofu by making a very quick marinade and submerging your tofu in it for just a few minutes (or less) before cooking. My favorite right now is about 1/4 cup water, some soy sauce, garlic powder, ground ginger, white pepper, and sesame oil. Mix up, put tofu in, let sit, then cook in the same manner as above. It really doesn't take very long and it makes the tofu a lot more interesting to eat. You can make whatever flavor marinade you'd like, too; I saw a suggestion somewhere for an herb-lemon-olive oil one that sounded good.
Okay, this one involves dirtying a blender and a microwave safe bowl. Take some frozen peas, defrost them, and throw some in the blender, maybe about a cup. Add liquid, preferably chicken or ham stock or broth. Some spiral-sliced ham would be a good addition, but a hotdog and some ketchup will do. Blend it until it resembles pea soup, then nuke until hot enough to eat. If you have a toaster oven, serve with a side of cheesy toast. (Basically you make toast with sliced cheese on top.)
Honestly I got through high school by stashing individually-wrapped snacks around like a squirrel hiding acorns. Too depressed to walk to the kitchen, much less cook anything? That's okay because my backpack is at the foot of the couch and it has a pouch full of protein bars and fruit gummies. You should try to get some veggies/water/etc eventually, but often eating a small snack helps replenish enough spoons to go get other food, or at least keep you from starving until you find some other source of spoons. Hominy is also cute- it's like the lovechild of corn & potatoes, it comes in cans in most grocery stores, and all you gotta do is rinse it & skillet it until it's a bit browned. It's p much all carbs, but it's quick & tasty & will check off the "I ate at least one food product today" box.
I think I mentioned my bean and hominy stew recipe earlier in this thread but I’ll mention it again because it’s extremely good A 32oz can of black beans, a 32oz can of hominy, a regular can of diced tomatoes, a package of frozen cubed butternut squash or pumpkin (sweet potato also works), toss it all in a pot. No need to drain anything, the liquid is good. Season with cumin and, if you like, chipotle. Add some salt and brown sugar or maple syrup to taste. Simmer on low for a couple hours or so, stirring once in a while so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. If you have a crock pot you could absolutely stick it in there instead. This stuff is delicious, healthy, and filling, and doesn’t suffer at all from being frozen and thawed repeatedly. It’s especially good with cornbread or a little goat cheese! One of my favorite meals.
I like the smell of bananas but hate the texture. Is it worth trying one frozen? I've seen frozen banana puree used as an ice cream substitute, so how's the texture there?
I know in smoothies combined with other fruit (or peanut butter or whatever) the banana texture is as far as I can tell nonexistent. Don't know how it would be as a frozen puree with nothing else added.
A frozen banana has a really...firm texture. Like "you should be careful about how long you freeze these for, you could hurt yourself trying to bite into one" levels of firm. I'd go for dropping them into smoothies, personally.
yeah, I've had frozen bananas for smoothies or ice-cream-like stuff before and ime they're usually not very....chewable without thawing first. I imagine freezing banana puree itself would be different, but you still might run into the problem of like....can't get the spoon in it. putting frozen banana in something would be the best bet.
