Recipes, Food Tips, Healthy Eating & More

Excellent Jake

For your steak- put your oven top on med/high. Spray your pan (fry or saute pan) with pam or even put a bit of Extra V. olive oil in. Add a bit of Mrs Dash on your steak and when the pan is hot put it on the pan. You will need to flip the steak . Each side should cook for about for 4- 5 minutes for med/rare. If you want your steak done more than leave it on longer..
For potato- Wash/scrub the outside. Poke a couple of holes in it. Stick it in your microwave for about 4- minutes. If it's not done turn it over and zap it for more time.

Asparagus- Wash and trim the asparagus. (https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&source=hp&ei=-i2iXKTaIMjj_AbY57qABA&q=trimming+asparagus&oq=trimming+as&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0l9.1241.3283..6023...0.0..0.140.1367.2j10......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..35i39j0i131j0i67j0i131i67j0i20i263.RqEICxiJ8g8) In another pan put a bit of olive oil in it and add the asparagus. You can add any herb that yu want. Turn the heat on low/med until they are done to your liking. Or you can add water and no oil. Cover the pan too.

Hope this is what you want

@harriethodgson1
I thought that’s what microwaves were for.
Jake

@harriethodgson1
I have one too but haven’t used it in years. Bet your all taken aback by that revelation.

@jakedduck1, enough. Please.

@capausz Thank you for your request.

Please, let's be respectful at all times
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/community-guidelines/

@jakedduck1 I understand from your wish to "throw a bunch of junk together" that nutritious, tasty crock pot recipes would be your preference. With that in mind I will share my general guidelines for making stews.
Choose a meat. Beef, pork, chicken and fish all go well together with similar sets of vegetables and spices. If you start with your meat it will be easier for you to decide what vegetables and spices to pick. I have no crockpot fish ideas but I do have some simple stovetop and oven fish meals. If you are interested in those, let me know. This is quite long, so I suggest you scan through the paragraphs and only check in when you are interested. I hope you can find this helpful for a start and over long term. And I apologize if it is overwhelming to you at first glance. Just read till you have had enough and stop.

Vegetables. Carrots, celery and onions will work with any meat choice. And I consider them a part of my flavor/spice profile. You can add or delete according to your taste. Sometimes I use bell peppers, but do not care for the taste often. They work well with all meats and will stand up to crock pot use.
I never use potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes or beets because of a dietary limitation, but they all go well with beef and pork.
Potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes will pair well with chicken or any poultry.
I like to add a little fresh grated ginger and touch of soy (or Worcestershire Sauce) but change up the choices and amounts to vary the tastes. That will only come after you have tasted things and know what you like and don't like.
Tomatoes will work with any meat, provide tenderizing and change up the taste quite a lot. I suggest trying your mixtures with and without to determine if you want them or not. I love them, so that tomato taste is in quite a lot of my cooking. It tends to add an acid taste sometimes that you may like better if you add some sort of sweetening like sugar, brown sugar or honey (again according to what you like). I avoid added sugars of any kind as much as possible, so that is where the ginger, etc. comes in for me.
I cannot eat any green leafy vegetables, so you will have to go elsewhere for information on those.
I do eat cabbage and asparagus. Cabbage will go well with beef and pork, but I do not care for it with chicken. I also do not like asparagus in crock pot recipes. I feel it gets mushy and stringy.
Turnips I do not eat (diet limitation) but turnips are allowed. I put these together because they each have very distinctive tastes. Either will go well with beef and pork and I encourage you to get one and try them out to see if you like them or not.
Peas and corn are starchy and corn has more fiber (which I also have to limit) but I eat them as I like and add them in whenever I feel like it with any meat. I particularly like corn with chicken, tomato, dry beans and salsa.
Green beans I use whenever I feel like it. I like them, but not every meal, and I do not like them in crock pot recipes.

Spices. As I said, my vegetables determine a great deal of the flavor of my dishes. I regularly use Lowery's Seasoning Salt and sometimes preserved garlic bits that I get from the produce department I a jar. A small jar goes a long way unless you love garlic and use it often. I use it sparingly because it can become irritating to the stomach with frequent use. I rarely use back pepper because it easily becomes too strong for me. If I do use black pepper I prefer to use a few twists from a grinder. I use chili powder with beef primarily. I have seen it in pork and chicken recipes, but it doesn't work for me. You certainly can try it out so see what you like.
I keep oregano, basil, dried bay leaves, tarragon, on hand and mixtures of these will work with any meat. I suggest trying one at a time to determine what you like. The easiest for you might be to get a bottle of Italian Spices that includes most of these premixed for you.

Sauces. I still fly by my pants with sauces. I use mostly tomato sauce, puree or diced canned to start and build from there to the taste I want. If tomatoes are not in the picture for a meal I go searching for sauces. Sometimes using beef or chicken broth as a base for my sauce.

I'm sure that is way more than you need or expected, but you can keep this handy to refer back to if you see anything helpful that you might want to reference later. I hope this helps you. Good luck. You really have come a long way from your first post and I am proud of your progress.

Not really, @jakedduck1. We understand your reluctance to use kitchen appliances🤔

@jakeduck1
Google Instapot and see if that meets your needs. You can probably download a manual. Suppose to be able to throw everything in pot....can defrost in it too or cook frozen....My daughter has one but not sure how she uses but she has made chili, stew, hard boiled a dozen eggs beautifully, meatballs.I think you can layer veggies and potatoes and meat. Sounds like your kind of dream.
Has anyone here used one?

@harriethodgson1 I use my toaster oven all the time but still use the oven or slow cooker for roast