Egg Rolls

Wow, time flies. My last post was in March? What happened? Well...pregnancy, that's what. As much as I wanted nutritious supper in 10 minutes or less hands-on time, my stomach wasn't feeling very creative.

But, here's a new one thanks to a wonderful homeschooling mom friend who also happens to facilitate the delivery of our real milk lifeline each week.

INGREDIENTS

• Egg Roll Wrappers (found in the refrigerated produce section in our Kroger)
• Bag pre-chopped cole slaw, fresh
• Additions, such as:
fresh mushrooms
purple cabbage
onions
green onions
chopped chicken
• Garlic, ginger, salt & pepper, to taste
• Oil for frying
• Sauce for dipping (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Gently saute over low heat cole slaw, additions (I get my additions from the salad bar at our Kroger for super-fast, dump-it-in-the-pan preparation) & spices in a little oil. When vegetables begin to soften (after 4-5 minutes), turn off heat, cover & let sit until ready to wrap. Veggies will continue to soften as they sit covered. (2 minutes hands-on)

Pour a generous amount of oil in a frying pan & turn on medium heat. Wrap 2-3 Tbls. of vegetable mixture in each egg roll wrapper, seal, & place in hot oil. See back of egg roll wrapper package for instructions on how to fold the wrapper. (Be sure to moisten the last flap you fold to attach the rolls together.) Flip egg rolls when they are brown & crispy on one side; fry the other side until brown & crispy. In medium-hot oil, each side will take 3-4 minutes. (7 minutes)

Put on a plate, sprinkles with salt & serve with a dipping sauce, if desired.

Caroline has told me that her mom used to serve these when she was growing up. They were never part of grandma's dinner repertoire, so I am loving them! We needed something different. Plus, I've always loved egg rolls but will never allow myself to eat them in the Chinese restaurant because of the MSG content.

Yum!

Optional Ginger Peanut Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup raisins, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 15 minutes or more
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 clove raw garlic
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. mustard
1/4 tsp. salt

Drain raisins after soaking but reserve soak water. Add 1/4 cup soak water to all other ingredients (including raisins) in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Add more of the soak water if needed to achieve desired consistency.

Beef Stroganoff

A beef recipe? From me? Yep! I was lucky enough to pick up some grass-fed, grass-finished, free-range local beef last week & I've been thoroughly enjoying it. Check out this super-quick & super-easy stroganoff recipe:

Ingredients

Cooked beef (I cooked mine by dumping the plain steaks in the crockpot set on low for nine hours. 2 minutes hands-on)
Juice from the cooked beef, or canned beef broth
Flour to thicken
Buttermilk or sour cream or plain yogurt + salt for flavor
Egg noodles

Instructions

Put on egg noodles to boil until tender. (2 minutes)

Put juice and a little buttermilk or sour cream in a saucepan set on high & quickly stir in flour, a TBLS. at a time, until it boils & thickens to your liking. You want just enough buttermilk or sour cream to lighten the broth to a medium brown color -- no more. (5 minutes)

Stir in cooked beef & heat through. (1 minute)

Serve mixture over cooked egg noodles. (1 minute)

wraps!

Wraps are so versatile, it's amazingly easy to whip up a breakfast, lunch or dinner that will look luxurious to your friends, but takes less than 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients
Whole wheat or white flour tortillas (1-2 per person)
Fillings (see below)

Filling Suggestions
avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, bleu cheese dressing
sharp cheddar cheese, tomatillos, lettuce, onion, honey mustard dressing
provolone cheese, chopped turkey, gravy, onion, hot sauce
chicken salad, dried cranberries, chopped grapes, yogurt
tuna salad, pineapple, drizzle of honey
cream cheese and sliced peaches, kiwi, or mangoes
colby cheese, eggs & meat or meat substitute
peanut butter, banana, granola & drizzle of honey

Directions
If any ingredients are spreadable, spread evenly across each tortilla. (4 minutes hands-on prep)
Add remaining ingredients and roll tightly. (3 minutes hands-on prep)
Stick toothpick in center of each wrap. (1 minute hands-on prep)

Serving suggestions
Serve with side of chips, veggies, salad, or soup. Try serving bento-style for a fun variation. If using toothpicks in the center to hold together, teach kids to eat toward the toothpick from one side, turn around & eat from the other side & finish with the bite between the toothpick.

Sweet & Salty Apple Salad

I've decided to expand the original scope of Supper In Seconds to include breakfast foods, late-night snacks & desserts, that can all be prepared in 10 minutes of less.

The Sweet & Salty Apple Salad actually can be served for any of those purposes. It is especially great as a late-night snack when you're looking for something sweet and crunchy. It also fits the bill for a breakfast when you want something that will stick with you longer than a bagel. And although it might not be everyone's idea of "dessert," it's nice to have options for sweet after dinner treats that do not have sugar as an ingredient.

Ingredients
1 apple, roughly chopped
1 oz. sharp cheese (cheddar, parmesan, swiss, asiago), shredded or diced
1 handful nuts

Directions
Combine in a bowl. Enjoy. (2 minutes hands-on prep)

Cheesy Vegetables

I created this dish out of desperation over what to do with some goat cheese that needed to be used. I loved the result & it became a summer mainstay for us.

I've labeled it as dairy-free because if you use the goat cheese & the feta, there would be no cow's milk in the dish. If you need to avoid all dairy, regardless of the source, you can disregard the label.

Ingredients

1 12 oz. bag frozen green beans
1 12 oz. bag frozen corn
Half of a 12 oz. bag frozen peas
4 oz. Goat cheese (creamy) or Cream cheese
2 oz. Sharp cheese of any kind (cheddar, parmesan, asiago, swiss, bleu, feta), diced or shredded
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Boil water for vegetables. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Dice or shred cheese if necessary. (2 minutes hands-on prep)
When boiling, add veggies & simmer until tender & cooked through. (2 mintues hands-on prep)
Drain veggies, put in large serving bowl, & stir in goat cheese (or cream cheese) until well mixed. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Stir in sharp cheese while veggies are still warm. Add salt & pepper to taste. (2 minutes hands-on prep)

Serving Suggetsions
Serve with chicken breasts, fish, burgers or veggie burgers.

Couscous & Veggies

Thanks, Willow, for the couscous suggestions. It got me thinking about that quick little side dish, which hadn't been a pantry staple since college. As a bonus, my daughter calls it, "little tiny baby spaghetti" & thus, eats it all up.

Ingredients for 4 servings
Couscous (plain)
Water
2 Tbls. butter or margarine
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
10-12 leaves fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried basil
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2-1 cup frozen grean beans, frozen peas, frozen corn, fresh diced carrots, and/or fresh spinach (don't use more than a cup total of veggies, but you can mix & match in any combination)

Directions
Measure water according to instructions on box of couscous & heat to boiling. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Meanwhile, heat to boiling water for veggies in a separate pot. (1 minute hands-on prep)
When couscous water boils, measure couscous according to instructions on box & mix into water. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Add butter & spices (but not veggies). Cover & let sit at least 5 minutes or until couscous is soft. (2 minutes hands-on prep)
When veggie water boils, add veggies & simmer until soft & heated through. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Add cooked veggies to finished couscous & stir. (1 minute hands-on prep)

Serving Suggestions
Serve with meat, fish, poultry or a grilled cheese sandwich. Stay within the 10-minute total prep time by putting frozen fish fillets on a baking sheet in a 400 degree preheated oven. Drizzle olive oil & lemon or lime juice on top & sprinkle with seasoning salt. Bake uncovered until tender & flaky (about 20 minutes, depending on fillet size).

Cheesy Beans and Rice

Wow -- I must have beans on the mind (or menu) lately. Here is a very fast recipe for beans and rice, flavored with plenty of cheddar cheese.

Ingredients
I can red beans or black beans, undrained
1 cup instant rice
1 cup water
4 oz. shredded cheddar or colby cheese
1 tsp. chili powder

Instructions
Combine water & rice in saucepan, bring to boil & simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending on whether you have white or brown instant rice. (3 minutes hands-on prep)
Stir in beans, cheese & chili powder until well combined. (3 minutes hands-on prep)
Although it might look messy, it tastes great & is usually a big hit with the kids.

Serving Suggestions
Serve by itself with a salad on the side. Or, make a burrito by rolling mixture up in a tortilla & topping with sour cream & salsa.

Black Bean Salad

This salad is good alone, but it's especially good served with tortilla chips or quesadillas in place of salsa.

Ingredients
1 can black beans
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup fresh corn kernels, raw or cooked
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. honey or sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbls. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions
Place the drained and rinsed beans into a large bowl.
Add the onions, green pepper, tomatoes, and corn and mix gently.
In a small bowl mix the garlic powder, lime juice, honey, and salt. Pour over the beans mixture and toss.
Top with fresh chopped cilantro.

Variations
Try kidney beans or hominy instead of black beans. You can use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar instead of lime juice. For a very quick meal, melt cheese on tortilla chips at 350 degrees in the toaster oven while you're preparing the salad. They should both be ready at about the same time.

Quiche

Quiche is the quintessential quick meal. (How often can you use a "QU" word three times in the same sentence?) It's extremely versatile & can be padded with last night's leftovers.

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup whole milk
unbaked pie crust
1/4 tsp. salt
anything else you like (think veggies, cheese, cooked meat)

Directions
Line a baking dish with the unbaked pie crust. (1 minute hands-on prep)
In a separate bowl, add milk & salt to beaten eggs. You can use an electric mixer or just a fork, if you prefer. (2 minutes hands-on prep)
Stir in your additions. One of my favorites is sharp cheddar cheese, shredded or in chunks, a handful of spinach, & chopped onion and/or chives. (5 minutes hands-on prep, leaving time for chopping)
Bake in a 375 oven for 30-45 minutes or until middle is firm & a knife comes out clean.

Variations
Try different combinations for a breakfast quiche or a dinner quiche. Try a crustless quiche or an unconventional crust, like a tortilla, cheese, or sticky cooked rice.

Serving Suggestions
For dinner, we enjoy serving quiche with a salad or by itself with a nourishing dessert, like real strawberry shortcake or honey baked cinnamon apples.

Fettucine Alfredo

This was my college recipe for the dish, born out of both the desire for a quick meal and a usually empty cupboard. It was surprisingly good, thoroughly simple, and a favorite for many years.

Ingredients
Fettucine
Evaporated milk
Grated parmesan cheese
Butter

Directions
Immerse fettucine in boiling water & simmer until tender. (2 minutes hands-on prep)
Strain noodles when finished & return to the hot pan. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Add 2 Tbls of butter. When butter is melted, add 1/4 can evaporated milk & 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese. Stir until well-mixed. Add more evaporated milk and/or parmesan and/or cheese to taste. (4 minutes hands-on prep)

Variations
I often added frozen chopped broccoli to the water as I was bringing it to a boil so it would cook along with the fettucine. You can also top the fettucine with chicken or beef, making it an excellent dish for using up last night's leftovers. And of course, most noodles will work in place of the fettucine, like spaghetti, macaroni, linguine, rotini, etc.

Crockpot Cabbage & Potatoes

Typically, Supper in Seconds should save you from a restaurant bill at the last minute, when you're already tired, haven't planned anything for dinner & are trying to pull out just a few more minutes of reserves to put something together. But sometimes, you have enough time to plan earlier in the day -- just no time to put the plan into action. On these days, a crockpot meal that can be thrown together in the requisite 5-10 minutes can be a perfect choice. Here's one of ours.

Ingredients
1 head of cabbage, roughly chopped cabbage (approximately 1 inch squares)
about 10 small red potatoes
2 Tbls. butter
2 tsp. salt
Water

Directions
Put your potatoes in a sink full of cold water to soak while you chop the cabbage. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Chop the cabbage. (3 minutes hands-on prep)
Put in crockpot with about 10 small red potatoes (fewer if the potatoes are larger), the butter & the salt (2 minutes hands-on prep)
Fill with water to an inch from the top. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

We serve with apple cider vinegar. Meat eaters often serve this meal with sausage.

Quesadillas

Recently our most frequent standby, quesadillas are adaptable to many different diets.

Ingredients
tortillas, corn or flour
shredded or sliced monterey jack cheese (or other mild white, like mozarella or provolone)
oil for frying
salsa, for serving

Directions
Slice cheese if necessary. (2 minutes hands-on prep)
Heat oil to medium high heat (corn tortillas) or medium heat (flour tortillas).
Place as many tortillas in the oil as will fit in your pan. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Place a thin layer of cheese on each tortilla and top with another tortilla. Press each top tortilla down with the back of a spatula. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Fry until crispy on one side, about 4 minutes (corn tortillas) or 2 minutes (flour tortillas).
Flip to the other side. (1 minute hands-on prep)
Fry for a few minutes until crispy on this side, too.

We like to serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole & a small side salad of finely chopped lettuce, peppers & onions.

Variations
Add veggies or meat along with the cheese. Try summer squash, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken, turkey, shrimp or beef. Breakfast quesadillas with eggs & cheddar cheese (with or without more meat & veggies) are also very good.

If you use corn tortillas, sprinkle with salt when they are fresh out of the frying pan.

Rice Casserole

A shout-out to my college friend Christy for this one.

Ingredients
1 can cream of potato soup
2 cups (uncooked) instant rice
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen green beans
1 can sliced water chestnuts
garlic powder
onion powder
salt
pepper
sliced or shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the rice on the stovetop (hands on time, 2 minutes).
At the same time, boil your veggies on the stovetop to defrost them (hands on time, 1 minute).
In a large casserole dish, mix the cream of potato soup, the rice, the veggies, the water chestnuts & the spices. (hands on time, 3 minutes)
Top with cheddar cheese. (hands on time 1-3 minutes, depending on if you have to slice the cheese)
Bake uncovered until cheese is brown & bubbly (about 20 minutes).

Variations
OK, this recipe is so adaptable to different tastes. Use any cream-of soup you like. Use any veggie you like. Use canned veggies instead of frozen. Use a different "special" ingredient from water chestnuts, like cashews or chopped green olives or canned diced tomatoes. Use different spices, like cumin & chili powder or fresh basil. Instead of the cheddar cheese, top with crushed tortilla chips, melted butter, & grated parmesan like my friend Christy used to do.