Food Hacks: Dinner in 25 minutes!

That title doesn't sound too remarkable if you're talking about frozen corn dogs and applesauce for supper. But we're talking about a real meal at home of roast beef, real mashed potatoes, gravy and corn. 

Many of us have to come home and make dinner after a full day at work, and we're tired. But we're hungry, too, and so is everyone else. Half the key to having a tasty dinner in minimum time is planning ahead, even if it's only one day ahead.

This morning, as I was preparing to head out the door for work, I said to my retired, care-free* husband, "Oh! I didn't plan dinner for tonight!" So I took out a 16 oz. carton of mashed potatoes from the freezer and set it on the stove top to thaw, then said, "Choose a meat you would like to go with it. Chicken, pork, beef or ham." He went to the pantry and chose a pint jar of last year's canned roast beef.

When I got home, the potatoes were thawed and I:
 - put them (uncovered) in a small baking dish, mashed them down a bit with a fork, set the convection oven to 375 degrees and put them in. 
- opened the jar of roast beef and emptied it into a 2 quart saucepan and set it at a low-med heat and covered the pan.
- opened a can of kernel corn and put it in a small pan on the stove to heat and
- and I made 2 cups of gravy in a small saucepan

Let me take this opportunity to tell you about how I make gravy. Our mother made gravy from pan drippings with flour in a skillet and it was tasty. No matter how I try, I can't make decent gravy that way. Mine is tasteless. 

So... I make it using a Beef Base from GFS (pictured at left). It's a thick paste that I use as roux in canning (an idea I got from my canning buddy and hairdresser Betty) and it makes a heavenly tasty gravy! It's available in chicken as well, which I also use.

Anyway, I use 2 1/2 tsp of Beef Base to 2 cups of water and 5 tablespoons of flour. Even though this amount of beef and potatoes makes a two-person meal, I make plenty of gravy because I just love the stuff and use any leftover gravy to take to work for lunch. I dip bread in it, or shred bread and pour the gravy over it.

You don't have to use an oven to heat up the mashed potatoes, you could use your microwave. Even though the potatoes look mushy when they are cold, the hotter the get, the firmer they get and I take them out often and whip them with a single beater wand from an old hand mixer (or you could use a whisk) and it really works well. When the potatoes are as hot and thick as I want them to be, they are done.

Everything was ready in 25 minutes and I had a very happy husband. You don't have to have home-canned meat and make-ahead frozen mashed potatoes
(as noted in the previous blog) to accomplish this. You can slow cook the beef all day in a crock

pot or roast it the night before to heat up for the following evening. You can cheat and buy those high-sodium but oh-so-delicious Bob Evans mashed potatoes, then open up a jar of gravy and a can of corn. It all comes out the same, but the key is to plan ahead. That takes some time and a bit of effort the day before, and is a subject for a future blog on meal planning.

Story: For all you 'preppers' out there wondering if canned goods are still edible past their 'best by' dates, the can of corn we used tonight was dated September of 2010, and no one has died yet. (I walked over to the sofa and gave the husband a poke... he's still breathing.) He has told me a story (more than once) of a time in 1965 during his Navy days when they were out at sea for 39 days and took on a crew of 250 men whose ship ran aground. The extra men caused a fresh food shortage and the mess hall resorted to serving hamburgers canned in Chicago in 1939! My old sailor says they were were like squashed meatballs and 'edible' and nobody got sick, in spite of the 'funky' taste and appearance. Canning methods are better today, so if they could eat 26-year-old canned 'hamburgers and not become ill, our 4-yr-old can of corn is more than fine.**

* Hubby really is retired but far from carefree, since everyone knows he's retired and can fix just about anything.
** Always check any can for bulging, punctures and seepage and discard these. Also discard if contents don't smell as they should.