February 7, 2002

Prairie Fare: Ringing the Dinner Bell for a Quick Meal

By Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service

As with many of my counterparts in the baby boom generation, I grew up with meals almost completely "made from scratch." Most of our fruits and vegetables were home-grown and then frozen or canned. I thought bread from the store was a huge treat, because all we poor, deprived Garden children ever seemed to have was home-made bread.

Eating in a restaurant was a rare event. I still remember what I ordered when we ate out: a hamburger and French fries. We never had French fries at home, just boiled or baked potatoes. We also sat down to dinner as a family nearly every night. No TV or anything. And we didn’t know how good we had it.

In 1976, about 72 percent of families ate together five or more times a week, compared to about 50 percent in 1995. Among the many advantages of eating as family are improved communication skills and cooperation, despite the sibling squabbles that may occur. Families that eat together are more likely to eat nutritiously.

With today’s hectic lifestyles, more people are eating out than ever before. Nearly 54 billion meals are eaten in restaurants and cafeterias annually. That adds up to more than half of our food dollar spent on food eaten away from home.

Expectations for meal preparation time at home have changed greatly even in the last decade. In 1990, "convenience foods" needed to go from the box, bag or can to the table in 30 minutes or less. Today, "convenience" means the meal needs to be on the table in 15 minutes.

Streamlining meal preparation time starts with some planning and organization. First, if needed, organize your kitchen so foods, utensils and equipment are arranged conveniently. Stock your cupboards with quick-to-fix items like pasta and spaghetti sauce.

Food companies have responded to the changing demands on family time with new food products that are quick to prepare. Added convenience, however, often means higher price tags. If your budget allows, consider buying pre-washed, pre-cut vegetables, frozen pasta with vegetables, fajita kits, pre-chopped garlic in jars, boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pre-sliced stir-fry meats, frozen bread dough and shredded cheese. Many convenience items are higher in fat, sugar or sodium than their home-made counterparts, so look carefully at the food product labels.

To save some time, focus your mealtime preparation efforts on one portion of the meal. If the main course is time-consuming, fix a simple vegetable or salad. Assemble equipment, cooking utensils and ingredients before you begin. Try using the one-pot method to save some time. For example, add vegetables to pasta that’s cooking. Serve fish, which cooks in minutes, with couscous or pasta and microwaved vegetables.

Consider your leftovers as "planned overs" and use them in a completely different way from the original meal. If you roasted a chicken on Sunday, cut up some vegetables and stir fry with the cut-up leftover chicken within a few days.

Do you have time to open some cans for dinner? Here’s a recipe that can be on the table in 15 minutes. Nutritionally, one-half cup of canned fruit or vegetables counts as a serving on the way to five total servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Here’s a recipe from the Canned Food Alliance, which features a database with hundreds of recipes. All the recipes include preparation time, cook time and nutritional information. Visit the site at http://www.mealtime.org/recipes/

Chile Chicken and Corn Tortilla Soup

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth, preferably reduced sodium
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Mexican-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 ounces) diced mild green chiles, undrained
1 can (12 to 16 ounces) corn, drained
1 can (10 to 12 ounces) chicken breast, drained (or 1 1/2 c. cut-up cooked chicken)
1 cup coarsely crumbled tortilla chips, preferably unsalted
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth, tomatoes and chiles to a boil. Stir in corn; reduce heat, simmer 2 minutes. Add chicken, stirring gently to keep pieces from breaking up too much. Simmer 1 minute until heated through. Stir in fresh cilantro if desired. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with tortilla chips, stirring chips into hot soup.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving contains 300 calories and 11 grams of fat. Preparation time: 5 minutes. Cook time: 10 minutes.

###

Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu