Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking. And I hope that shattering sound I just heard was your illusions and not the cat throwing glasses off the counter again.
I cook. I cook a lot. Cooking serves a lot of functions for me. It’s my way of creating a little bit of multi-sensory art in my home. It’s my way of ensuring my husband and I get balanced nutrition. It’s my wind-down time after a long day of struggling to make sense of complex equations and, worse, trying to make a bunch of perpetually sleep-deprived twenty-year-olds see the significance of math in their later life. But there are some days when all of that takes a toll, and I just don’t feel like cooking.
I don’t consider this a bad thing. It’s only a bad thing if that “I don’t feel like cooking” feeling turns into “I’m stopping at McDonald’s.” I would love to say I boycott fast food but I don’t – there are still the rare nights that both of us are exhausted and sometimes that just results in a call to the pizza guy. I do try to avoid it as much as possible, though. I’ve only got so many calories allotted for a day’s consumption, and I want to spend them on something gloriously tasty and good for me. So what am I to do when a long day of work results in that “I don’t feel like cooking” attitude?
Ladies and gentlemen, meet my friend the crock-pot.
I’ve always been a big fan of slow-cookers. To this day, I don’t think I could make quality pulled pork without one. But they’ve come a long way since I bought my first one my senior year at West Point {the smell of slow roasting taco filling used to bring cadets from all through my building}. This particular gem has a timer function on it that allows you to set it so that it cooks on a certain setting for a certain amount of time and then drops to “Keep Warm.” Gone are the days when I had to worry about getting to the crock-pot before some part of my dish permanently burnt itself to the side of the inner stoneware!
Now all I have to worry about is having the ingredients on hand, dropping them in, setting the timer, and then coming back from an outing to some pretty tasty food! The easiest possible recipe to tackle with a slow-cooker is chili, and I’ve got a modified version that’s ridiculously easy to prepare, relatively easy on the calories, and, in my opinion, is delicious.
Southwest-Style Crock-Pot Turkey Chili
What you’ll need:
- 1 lb lean turkey meat
- 1 1/2 cups sweet pineapple salsa {I like this version}
- 1/2 cup sweet corn
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1/4 cup diced red pepper
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
How to make it:
- Make sure your crock-pot is clean and dry. Either pour in a little olive oil or spray the stoneware lightly to keep everything from sticking.
- Add all ingredients to crock-pot. I set my timed crock-pot for 4 hours on high but you can cook this recipe through the work-day on low and it’ll be fine.
- Check and stir ingredients about halfway through if you’re home.
- Garnish with a little light sour cream and grated cheese.
Oh, I garnished this last batch with these absolutely delicious buttermilk biscuits. This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, and I feel no need to elaborate on or change the recipe in the slightest, because they’re amazing! Well, I do one thing – I can’t say I keep buttermilk in the house {but considering that this post has shattered your illusions about me cooking all the time already, I don’t feel bad for sharing} so instead of the 3/4 cup buttermilk Deb calls for, I use 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup sour cream. It gets you about the same texture and about the same taste.
I know I’m not the only “I don’t feel like cooking” chef out there. I need more crock-pot ideas and recipes, and other quick tricks for feeding people healthy food on the lazy. Let’s hear it, folks – what are your go-to recipes for days you don’t feel like cooking?