Quick-heat meals that actually impressed you?

[Perknose]

It depends. Even fresh pasta is too firm for me after 5 minutes. I normally cook fresh pasta about 7-8 minutes and dried 8-10

Yo, Mr. Pedantic! Not to get too pedantic, mister, but the length of time to achieve any particular desired result with pasta depends on the thickness of the pasta, which varies greatly by variety and even within varieties.

For instance, different brands of angel hair vary in suggested cooking time from 2 minutes to 5-6 minutes, as listed on the box!

That's just within one variety.

 

[guyver01]

Depend what kinda of pasta you use.

I hand roll all my pasta.

()

but in reality.. i use Barilla...

on the box it states "Al Dente perfection in 4 minutes"

 

[Wyndru]

OMG. I agree, but I am shocked that someone I don't know is posting this.

In college, we used to deep fry hot pockets in shortening. It probably took years off my life, but they were delicious.

I think I need a better deep fryer. Mine definitely does not fall into the category of a "quick heat" appliance. It also takes like a half of container of oil to make anything .

 

[Leros]

I hand roll all my pasta.

()

but in reality.. i use Barilla...

on the box it states "Al Dente perfection in 4 minutes"

I have some pasta that takes 2 minutes, some which takes 4, some which takes 10. The really thick noodles I grabbed last time would be crunchy at 4 minutes

 

[lxskllr]

I have no idea how long my pasta takes. I boil it, and sample until it's as soft as I like.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Chef's generally have the worst eating habits of anyone. That said, I refuse to live my life so that I have only "ten minutes to heat something up and eat it." It may not seem like it but, it is a choice in how you choose to live.

 

[lxskllr]

Chef's generally have the worst eating habits of anyone. That said, I refuse to live my life so that I have only "ten minutes to heat something up and eat it." It may not seem like it but, it is a choice in how you choose to live.

I'm not a huge fan of food, and even less a fan of cooking. Grilled cheese is a big meal for me, but that's ok since it's one of my favorite foods. I have fairly pedestrian tastes :^D

 

[herm0016]

when my crew or 2 or 3 and I are in the field i usually get stuff to make sandwiches. meat/cheese/bread/mayo/mustard. i like to get lean pockets when its cold out, we just keep them all in a cooler full of ice, i have a microwave in my truck. chunky soups are great too, just stick them on the stack above the heat guard for about 20 min and they warm right up!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'm not a huge fan of food, and even less a fan of cooking. Grilled cheese is a big meal for me, but that's ok since it's one of my favorite foods. I have fairly pedestrian tastes :^D

Everyone has their own criteria for living the 'good life.' Mine prioritizes well cooked interesting food and friends to share it with. Take heart, you're just one of the 90% who prefer the 'blue pill.'

 

[DT4K]

I hand roll all my pasta.

()

but in reality.. i use Barilla...

on the box it states "Al Dente perfection in 4 minutes"

Umm, it's not the brand that makes the difference. It's the type of pasta.

Other people have pointed it out, but it's idiotic to be discussing cooking time for "pasta". Angel hair is probably 4 or 5 minutes. Regular spaghetti might be 8 to 10. Some thicker shapes might take 12 minutes to get to a perfect al dente.
I cook my pasta until it's done properly. I use the directions on the box, but only as a rough guide, so I know when to start checking it. If the box says 10 minutes, I start checking it after 7.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Yo, Mr. Pedantic! Not to get too pedantic, mister, but the length of time to achieve any particular desired result with pasta depends on the thickness of the pasta, which varies greatly by variety and even within varieties.

For instance, different brands of angel hair vary in suggested cooking time from 2 minutes to 5-6 minutes, as listed on the box!

That's just within one variety.

Touché...

 

[Lorthreth]

Lidl's Coquette Chilli con Carne, was bored and bought one just to try it last week, ended up buying 3 more this week Almost as good as self made.
Also, Lidl's Vitasia Thai Noodles with Satay Sauce.. yummy. Both are microwave meals.

 

[nageov3t]

Chef's generally have the worst eating habits of anyone. That said, I refuse to live my life so that I have only "ten minutes to heat something up and eat it." It may not seem like it but, it is a choice in how you choose to live.

it's not an uncommon occurrence for me to be ravenously hungry as soon as I walk in the door when getting home from work. in those instances, I'm going to reach for something that can be ready to eat in 5 minutes rather than spend an hour cooking while racked with hunger pains.

though generally in those instances, it's either a sandwich or takeout on my walk home from work that I gravitate towards. I don't keep and frozen or canned dinners in my apartment on a regular basis.

 

[DrPizza]

1. You don't need oil to keep the pasta from sticking together - if you're going to eat the pasta during those 10 minutes in the OP. Oil keeps the sauce from adhering as well. You end up with a plate full of sauce when you're done because it all slid off.

I like the chunky soups at Aldis. They're either Campbells or Progresso; I'm not sure which, but at half the price.

Schwans has a LOT of quick cooking meals that are excellent (but sometimes a little salty.)

Also, not sure of the brand, but a few of the grocery stores in the frozen section, they have bags of complete meals - vegetables with shrimp and stuff in it. A few minutes in the microwave and it's a quick meal for two.

Another favorite, Amish brand popcorn chicken. Made from breast meat & breaded. 10 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees and they're awesome. Better than popcorn chicken from restaurants, because they actually have meat inside the breading & are larger pieces. Toss with some Frank's red hot & serve with chunky blue cheese & it's awesome.

On a related note: wtf is wrong with companies that get carried away with the squeeze dispenser on dressing containers - my chunky blue cheese can't make it through that tiny hole at the top.

 

[Perknose]

it's not an uncommon occurrence for me to be ravenously hungry as soon as I walk in the door when getting home from work. in those instances, I'm going to reach for something that can be ready to eat in 5 minutes rather than spend an hour cooking while racked with hunger pains.

Crock pot simmering all day as the flavors run deliciously together after throwing the veggies and the cheap and otherwise tough cut of meat in the night before.

Crock pot: It's not just bad weed anymore!

 

[thescreensavers]

Mrs. T's Pierogies

Just pop in the microwave for 7min on high with all of them on a plate, then when 7 min is over, you can put some cheese on top, or while the 7min of cooking simmer some tomato sauce.

 

[nageov3t]

Crock pot simmering all day as the flavors run deliciously together after throwing the veggies and the cheap and otherwise tough cut of meat in the night before.

Crock pot: It's not just bad weed anymore!

I've had a crockpot for like 5 years and never figured out how to use it or bought any cookbooks for it.

 

[Perknose]

1. You don't need oil to keep the pasta from sticking together - if you're going to eat the pasta during those 10 minutes in the OP. Oil keeps the sauce from adhering as well. You end up with a plate full of sauce when you're done because it all slid off.

I use a judiciously small amount of oil in the pasta boiling water, about a tablespoon or so in the requisite four quarts or so (I don't measure either.)

It does keep the pasta from sticking together and the pasta never comes out oily nor does the sauce ever subsequently slide off of it on the plate or in the bowl.

 

[Perknose]

I've had a crockpot for like 5 years and never figured out how to use it or bought any cookbooks for it.

Just grab some basic tips and recipes off the web and give it a go! The process breaks down cheaper meat cuts into tender morsels of win, and, you know how spaghetti sauce tastes even better the next day because the flavors of the different ingredients have had time to meld? The long times ingredients cook together in a crock pot mimics this alchemy!

Having said all this, I haven't used my crock pot in a couple of years . . . can't even say why. D:

 

[nageov3t]

I just busted out my slow cooker and I think I need to buy a new one if I actually want to use it

it doesn't have a timer and I don't see a whole lot of 13 hour recipes (which is about how long I'm usually out of the house for... 10 hours at work, an hour of commuting each way, and misc overflow time for staying at work late, running errands, etc)

 

[slayer202]

Marie Calendar chicken/turkey pot pies are awesome, but obviously very unhealthy and it takes a long time in the oven, about 45 min

Unlike most, I've never had a good meal from trader joes.

 

[OCNewbie]

This Marie Calendar's meal is pretty good in a pinch - Turken Breast with Stuffing. Only like 10 grams of fat too. Probably high sodium, but I'm unsure.

 

[Perknose]

I just busted out my slow cooker and I think I need to buy a new one if I actually want to use it

it doesn't have a timer and I don't see a whole lot of 13 hour recipes (which is about how long I'm usually out of the house for... 10 hours at work, an hour of commuting each way, and misc overflow time for staying at work late, running errands, etc)

You don't need a timer, really, afaik. That's one of the beauties of crock pot cooking. It's not like you're going to burn anything!

 

[moshquerade]

Ok, "impressed" is relative. We all know that quick-heat meals are garbage compared to home cooking and most restaurants. But for those days when you have ten minutes to heat something up and eat it, what have you bought and actually somewhat enjoyed?

For me, it's Campbell's Chunky Soup. I grabbed some sort of beef, vegetable and noodle concoction. It's actually not that bad. It has some kind of tomato / beef broth, celery, little bits of tomato and onions, cubed carrots, rotelli-like noodles, herbs, and chunks of beef. The vegetables are one stop before mushy and relatively tasteless, the beef is your average processed dog food-like stuff and a bit tough, but the noodles and broth aren't bad. Best of all, it didn't taste ridiculously salty. Overall, it isn't half bad (no worse than soup you'd get at a fast food place), and I wouldn't mind eating one again for a quick meal.

Disclaimer - I only consider "quick-heat" meals to be something you can make with minimal ingredients, tools, and time. Ramen soup counts because all it takes is boiling some water and throwing everything together, but something that requires you to cook meat and / or vegetables, then finish off in the oven doesn't count.

If you are talking about heat -n- eats, this one is not that bad.

 

[Kirby]

fried spam and cheese sammich