# I cheated!



## ptolemy (Nov 4, 2011)

Living alone has its benefits but also its downfalls... One is late night, lazy snack. Usually it's leftovers of fruits but last 2 nights I cheated...

Weather has cooled off and I keep heat down, so it was chilly here. I grabbed some bottled pasta sauce and frozen meatballs.

Took out my cast iron skillet, poured 1/2 of the 45oz bottle of sauce and dropped 1/2 a bag of meatballs. Warmed both up for 10-15 minutes and then poured in a bowl

It was AWESOME. Reminded me of tomato soup, except this one did not need anything nor was it too watery.

Tonight I finished both


----------



## ecchef (Nov 4, 2011)

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do....right?


----------



## bprescot (Nov 4, 2011)

Ha! My go-to dinner when I'm on my own is plain penne with sriracha and parmesean, so I don't think I'm one to judge! :wink: Can't all be gourmet meals, right?!


----------



## mr drinky (Nov 4, 2011)

If that's cheating, then a frozen pizza is cheating too. 

My cheating dishes are buttoni pasta with a jar of Mario Batali's pasta sauce; the frozen edamame from Target mixed with feta, ortiz tuna and olive oil; Green Mill frozen pizzas; and Amy's mac and cheese.

k.


----------



## Vertigo (Nov 4, 2011)

Lol.

A couple nights back I heated up an old can of creamy broccoli soup found in the back of the cupboard, mixed some egg noodles into it, and ate in on two pieces of toast. I'm not proud.

It _is_ nice to know I'm not alone with these occasional culinary malfunctions, though.


----------



## jm2hill (Nov 4, 2011)

My two cheats and I love them both: 

Instant Rice with soy sauce -- Spaghetti and can tomato sauce with some chilli flakes and spices.

My biggest cheat is that I buy in bulk then cook and freeze and just microwave later down (This includes: chicken,brisket,soup, fish, pizza, veggies). It doesn't let me use my knives as much but it saves me money to buy more. 

Although I will say a CCK can do wonders on those cooked chicken breasts. Its slowly becoming one of my favourite.


----------



## tk59 (Nov 4, 2011)

:sofa:Um... I always have a box of mac n cheese in the back of the cupboard...


----------



## apicius9 (Nov 4, 2011)

bprescot said:


> Ha! My go-to dinner when I'm on my own is plain penne with sriracha and parmesean, so I don't think I'm one to judge! :wink: Can't all be gourmet meals, right?!


 
Hey, I had that a few days ago. Well, I had run out of parmesan also, so it was just spaghetti with butter, olive oil and sriracha. Need to get to Costco and Wholefoods to stock up...

My emergency foods are usually some kind of Barilla pasta with some kind of tomato cause in a glass, and I throw in a hand full of capers, a bit of anchovy paste and some canned tuna - adding a bit of shallot or onion if I feel like 'cooking'  I also try to have some frozen chicken & vegetable dumplings in the freezer most of the time, they take a few minutes gyoza-style. 

Stefan


----------



## stevenStefano (Nov 4, 2011)

Anyone familiar with the tins of baked beans and sausages in them? They're so bad yet so nice, such a cheap meal on toast. I love them. Perhaps other UK people might be more familiar with what I'm talking about


----------



## rahimlee54 (Nov 4, 2011)

If all our meals were from scratch would we really appreciate it as much? I think I am about to go to Wendy's myself.


----------



## Eamon Burke (Nov 4, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> If that's cheating, then a frozen pizza is cheating too.
> 
> My cheating dishes are buttoni pasta with a jar of Mario Batali's pasta sauce; the frozen edamame from Target mixed with feta, ortiz tuna and olive oil; Green Mill frozen pizzas; and Amy's mac and cheese.
> 
> k.


 
1. frozen pizza IS cheating.

2. Battali's sauce is FANTASTIC. Best jar sauce ever. Not cheating. It's better than a lot of restaurants around here.


My cheating food is starvation. I often don't eat when I need to. Last night I ate one of these, out of sheer desperation for calories:


----------



## ptolemy (Nov 5, 2011)

The sauce in question is: Francesco Rinaldi Garden Style Tomato, Garlic and Onion Pasta Sauce

I also have another cheat dish...buy alot of button or bay bella mushrooms. 

cube and slice alot of onions and cook together until both golden brown. add as much garlic as you want and cook 1-2 min until you smell it..

add can of sour cream and thyme and cook for 5-10 min and then cube plain sliced cheese, the kind you buy in bricks at sam's club...

you then take it off the heat and mix until it becomes goo....then eat that with pasta or on top of sandwiches or with anything else --> awesome.

Now, why that crappy cheese? if we can even call it cheese... Not sure but I tried, mozzarella, provolone, swiss, and parmesan and none seem to work...


----------



## El Pescador (Nov 5, 2011)

Tough to beat grilled cheese...and my favorite is Velveeta slices on good sourdough bread.


----------



## JohnnyChance (Nov 5, 2011)

ptolemy said:


> I also have another cheat dish...buy alot of button or bay bella mushrooms.
> 
> cube and slice alot of onions and cook together until both golden brown. add as much garlic as you want and cook 1-2 min until you smell it..
> 
> ...



How did you come up with this? Stoned out of your gourd, or were these literally the only six things in your fridge one day?


----------



## apicius9 (Nov 5, 2011)

Somds like one of the worse 'Chopped' episodes 

Cheese in brick form reminds me of a horrifying experience. The first time I came to work n the US I went to the supermarket and saw a sign that they had 'munster cheese' on sale. 'Oh great', I thought. I love artisan Munster cheeses from the Alsace. I was very confused and must have looked it when the sales person reached for an orange brick of plastic...

Stefan


----------



## Jim (Nov 6, 2011)

Speechless!


----------



## ptolemy (Nov 6, 2011)

JohnnyChance said:


> How did you come up with this? Stoned out of your gourd, or were these literally the only six things in your fridge one day?


Hah, but no. My aunt once tried to make that dish except she used some french recipe which called for similar setup except finished in the oven covered with cheese. She used some cheese (this was years ago and I don't remember which). It didn't work, cheese broke down, and ended up horrible. I did try it though and it was pretty tasty so I experimented. The problem is, if you use other cheeses, the flavor overpowers mushrooms and that plain, sliced cheese that you buy in bricks, provides no flavor but proper texture. So, you can really do play with it


----------



## Eamon Burke (Nov 6, 2011)

It's not the worst I've heard. My coworker regularly raves about how good "spread" is. It's prison food.

You take beef Ramen Noodles, a personal-size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, bust up the Doritos, put them in the bag with the noodles. Add half the seasoning packet and some water and microwave. What comes out is a gelatinous mass of noodle and chip that gets wiped on saltines or sliced bread.
uke:


----------



## ptolemy (Nov 6, 2011)

johndoughy said:


> It's not the worst I've heard. My coworker regularly raves about how good "spread" is. It's prison food.
> 
> You take beef Ramen Noodles, a personal-size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, bust up the Doritos, put them in the bag with the noodles. Add half the seasoning packet and some water and microwave. What comes out is a gelatinous mass of noodle and chip that gets wiped on saltines or sliced bread.
> uke:


haha, that's fine. I never asked anyone to try... I usually buy enough for 3-4 seatings. I usually make it with paste first time and eat the rest as a night snack/dip.


----------



## Salty dog (Nov 6, 2011)

Hamburger, demi, noodles, sour cream.

Hamburger Helper Stroganoff


----------

