The 45- Minute Miracle

Cooking your own meals is probably the easiest way to save hundreds, or if you go to GW, thousands, of dollars over the college year. Quick meals for the quick kid. But is quick always better?

If you’re like me, you have gotten into the habit of putting the same meal together so often that you end up making a whole lot of it on Monday, putting the remaining food in a Tupperware container and then doing the dish- and- microwave thing Tuesday through Friday. And the only thing that offsets this is the occasional late- week Nooshi happy hour or a delivery pizza for the blissful NFL/ HBO/ Showtime Sunday’s. It sounds foolproof, but there’s only so much pasta a guy can eat.

By the same notion though, what’s a guy to do? I get home from a normal day and have things that I want to do before I eat. I like to answer emails, take a power nap-- if the gods permit it-- and hop in the shower before dinner. Always have. Always will.

Recently, in an attempt to impress a special someone I made a fantastic discovery. I cooked a real dinner. By that I mean something easy (after all it wasn’t an anniversary or even a weekend night) but something that wasn’t ready at the drop of a hat. Something that resembled effort. So I busted out an old family recipe and went to work. It took me 5 minutes to make and then cooked in the oven for 45 minutes, which allowed me ample time to check the boxes on my daily chores checklist. When I was ready my food was ready. It was tasty, healthy, and heartwarming.

All this is to highlight one miniscule point: Cooking a meal that takes 30- 45 minutes in the oven gives you the freedom to handle your business and the peace of mind to know that once you’re done to-doing your to-do’s, a real and constantly changing meal awaits you. So if you’re in anyway like me, give the 45 minute meal a shot. You’ll be surprised at how little it takes out of your day, and how much it adds.

PS- If you’re not like me but want to give it a go. Here’s a great recipe to get you started.

What you need:

1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Milk
Rice
Chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper
Paprika

Steps:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour the can of mushroom soup into a baking sheet then fill the empty can with rice, and pour it in the baking sheet, then fill the can with milk and pour that in.
3. Mix the three ingredients evenly throughout the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Place 2- 3 chicken breasts on top of the mixture.
5. Sprinkle paprika over chicken.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and place in oven.
7. After 25 minutes remove foil and stir rice, adding milk if the rice is getting a little dry.
8. Allow to cook for another 20 minutes.
9. Remove and enjoy! (with cranberry sauce)
10. You’re welcome.

By: Brendan Barrack