Skillet Meals

[shelley]

A skillet meal is a combo of things in one skillet. You often have to cook them separately before bringing them together if you're doing a complicated skillet meal. I like them because they are hearty meals and can be made in an infinite number of ways. They can be suitable for any stage or any special diet.

Stir-fried meals are skillet meals cooked on very high heat in a Wok. My skillet meals are simply sauteed on medium heat in a regular pan and aren't necessarily Asian in origin.

A good skillet meal is engineered like this:

Olive oil, or coconut and butter/Ghee...

One form of protein (eggs, ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, sliced sausage, salmon hash...)

One form of grain, rice or pasta (e.g., barley, quinoa, basmati rice, elbow macaroni)

One or more forms of Veggies, usually including some kind of onion and always including garlic.

Lots of fresh and dried herbs/spices, sea salt and pepper.

Cheese (optional)

Most people tend to use tomato sauce, but I detest tomato sauce and it doesn't like me all that much either! So I really spice up the beef with other things like Thyme (thyme and beef are yummy!), parsley, basil, rosemary, bay leaves and of course lots of garlic.

Here's the last skillet meal I made when I was craving lasagna:

Serves 5:

2 tablespoons of olive oil, about 1 tablespoon of Garlic, 2 tablespoons of onions, chopped fine. Sauteed on low heat for two minutes to let them flavor the oil.

Turn the Broiler on, about 200 degrees.

1 pound of natural ground beef. Albertson's has a hormone-free, pasture-grazed ground beef source that is the BOMB. Don't bother buying low-fat, the expense isn't worth it. Simply drain off excess fat. Natural beef isn't as fatty. Even when it says it's 15% fat, not much fat came off it. Raise the heat to medium and take out the pink.

As you stir the beef, add fresh or dried Thyme and lots of it. Add whatever other spices you like, the more the merrier. Marjoram, basil, oregano, rosemary all work well with beef. Sage is traditionally used with poultry. Salt and pepper.

Add chopped zucchini and yellow squash and keep stirring.

Cook 1 pound of pasta shells until al dente. Drain. Add to pan.

Grate mozzarella and spoon out Ricotta cheese, dotting the top with both. Place pan in Broiler until cheese melts and serve with salad greens dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Place Ricotta on the table so people can add more at will.

Yummy!

[De-Guts!]

Sounds Yummy Shelley , I`ll have to give it a go.
I`ll let you know how things turn out.
Thanks for that.