kqcrna said:I'm just too lazy. I know lots of people look at something and say "I'll bet I can make that myself!!!". I, on the other hand, hear someone talk of how to make something and say "Oh, I'm sure I can buy it already made!"

Karen

Yup, I am with your school of thought!

Start reading food labels. Ready made items are not always the healthy option no matter what the pretty label says. Terms like "All Natural" and "Healthy" with Earthy illustrations can be very misleading! There are usually many additives used for flavoring, appearance, and preserving. The least amount of ingredients, the better! And if you can't pronounce it, is spelled with the letter "x" somewhere in it, has more than 8 letters or so, then your might reconsider your ready-made item for healthy eating and make it yourself. A great example is Boxed Rice-A-Roni. Fast to make, tasty, but loaded with chemicals and junk. Add yellow food coloring to your simple 4-ingredient rice pilaf recipe and you'd have a healthier (and cheaper) option.

I do eat mostly whole foods, not boxed stuff. Haven't had Rice a Roni in years. The only cereal I eat is whole grain steel cut oats, the kind that have to cook for half an hour. But I'm not making yogurt. I'm perfectly happy with my Dannon Light and Fit Greek.

Karen

ShadyGreenThumb - add food coloring??? No way. Try a nice mild yellow curry or just a pinch of Turmeric Gene

ShadyGreenThumb said:Start reading food labels. Ready made items are not always the healthy option no matter what the pretty label says. Terms like "All Natural" and "Healthy" with Earthy illustrations can be very misleading! There are usually many additives used for flavoring, appearance, and preserving. The least amount of ingredients, the better! And if you can't pronounce it, is spelled with the letter "x" somewhere in it, has more than 8 letters or so, then your might reconsider your ready-made item for healthy eating and make it yourself. A great example is Boxed Rice-A-Roni. Fast to make, tasty, but loaded with chemicals and junk. Add yellow food coloring to your simple 4-ingredient rice pilaf recipe and you'd have a healthier (and cheaper) option.

Cheryl ...

Not all prepared foods, canned or boxed are "bad" foods. I truly dislike generalizations. They drive me nuts. Whether it is about food, gardening, or whatever, so please do not take this personally.

To counter the post above I am going throw up an exception just cuz ...

I love artichoke hearts. Just love them. When I buy a fresh artichoke, that's the part I like the best. When I was young, I lived near Castroville, California, which is often called the "Artichoke Capital of the World". When we visited, my birth-father would buy a couple of lugs of the small chokes and we would bring them home and my birth-mother would "put them up" and we would have them all year.

Nowadays, when I see artichokes in the market, they cost $2.00 and up. When I buy a can of artichoke hearts ... the best part ... it cost about $2.25. I get a lot of artichoke hearts. (you can also buy them frozen)

The ingredients on a can of artichoke hearts are quartered artichoke hearts, water, salt, citric acid. Rinse them off and all you have is a artichoke hearts and maybe a little bit of salt.

I do cook from scratch ... simply because it is more economic, but I will readily admit if I could afford to buy clean organic food already prepped, I would do it in a nano-second. I do not like spending so much time in the kitchen. To me, there far more interesting ways to spend my time than cooking or cleaning up. I do it because I have to do it.

And I love artichokes, too. My Kroger sells frozen hearts that are awesome. They're sold in a steam bag, just pop into the microwave.

Karen

My dad squashed jarred artichoke hearts in pan ...fried those in a bit of butter..... then in separate bowl would scramble eggs and break up in the egg bowl MATZO!! Unsalted. Add it to the artichoke fry pan.... cook til no wet stuff...It was the BEST DARN meal

I thought it was SICILIAN!!

I thoughtvit was saffron that dyed the rice

Artichokes are a staple in my kitchen. There are so many different ways you can use them.

Your dad's recipe is just a start ... You already know how egg scrambles can grow with what you have on hand. I usually am adding fresh mushrooms and green onions to my artichoke scrambles.

I use them in salads, add them to both my red and white pasta sauces, in casseroles, in vegetable side dishes and more. Oh, one of my favorite side dishes in spring is to saute fresh asparagus in some butter and lemon juice along with the hearts and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top ... You can make that and add a hard boiled egg to it and call it a salad for lunch. Pure bliss

I make a chicken and artichoke dinner with capers.

You can buy the big jars of the marinated hearts at Costco, but I don't because I don't have enough room to store them and I don't need the oil in my diet, but that gives you a whole lot more options.

With some imagination, using artichokes can really change up a dish.

I guess all of that comes from living so close to Castroville. We often would go over for the Artichoke Festival ...

I always thought it was a California thing ...

gasrocks said:ShadyGreenThumb - add food coloring??? No way. Try a nice mild yellow curry or just a pinch of Turmeric Gene

Perrrrrfect!

Been eating a lot of fresh artichokes this fall. Been finding big ones. I love eating each leaf! And the heart is the best! $3 for a fresh meal is not bad. Usually serve with a bit of quinoa with kale(garlic and olive oil) on the side.

Cheryl ...

I am glad you have been enjoying your artichokes. However, at $3.00, I think they are over-priced. That may be because I have never paid that much for them ... even the big ones. ...

I do have a tighter food budget than you do, so I have to make my food dollars stretch further. That's why I cook from scratch.

I know we have discussed processed foods but there are some things in processed foods that go really well with easy to cook (and very tasty) dinners for me. I am not a great cook so love that it's easy.

First off are the Zatarains Rice Mixes. Made as a side dish it becomes a very inexpensive main meal by browning some ground beef and adding to the mix.

Same thing with those Knorr Pasta Sides. Just add browned ground beef and instant one pan meal. Of course it does mean I have to have some milk in the fridge to use.

I have either whenever I want a filling easy meal; that is quick to make and very tasty.

I used to use those when I was working and had so little time to cook. We liked them. Now, they don't fit our health parameters, (too high in salt and carb) but we'd still eat them if we could. And also, since retiring, I actually have more time to cook.

Karen

It's the carb overload that I am trying to avoid. It's hard for me. So, I am always checking the glycemic index for everything.

I have finally found a way to cook quinoa so that it is not a gag food . I toast it ... I didn't like the texture of it in my mouth. I don't even have to use a lot of oil. I can just spray a non-stick pan. Or I can use just a little bit of olive oil. It's not as awful that way. I like brown rice. I prefer the medium grain rices. Toasting them adds a different kind of flavor, too.

Karen ... I am retired and I still don't want to spend more time in the kitchen. I want to spend my time doing all of the things I didn't have time to do when I was working ...

I understand that.

So, you don't boil the quinoa at all first? Just pour the dry stuff into the pan? You don't need to add any water? Doesn't it stay hard?

I like quinoa. It's pretty bland, takes on the taste of whatever it's served with. That's my problem: I like everything.

Karen

Zatarains Rice Mixes - but rice keeps in the ref. well and freezes very well. Cook extra when you're making some. Use your own spice mix with very little salt. Faster, cheaper, better, easy. Gene

@kqcrna, Karen ...

Yes, you boil it first, then toast it. You can also use sesame oil, peanut oil, coconut oil ... whatever to add flavor. Put it in soups, bean dishes, etc and it does add a different texture and kind of a nutty taste. Same with various kinds of rices.

You can add spices either when you are boiling it or when you are toasting it.

I just don't like the feel of quinoa in my mouth. Toasting it solves that problem.

RoseBlush1 said:Cheryl ...

I am glad you have been enjoying your artichokes. However, at $3.00, I think they are over-priced. That may be because I have never paid that much for them ... even the big ones. ...

I do have a tighter food budget than you do, so I have to make my food dollars stretch further. That's why I cook from scratch.

I think every one is watching their budget retired or not and watching prices of everything go up and up and UP! I am a Cali Girl. I remember when fresh artichokes were 50 cents a piece! DH and I split one artichoke between us. I cut it in half, so it really is just $1.50 per serving. But since I add the Organic Quinoa and Kale in olive oil and garlic from Costco on the side that brings to the total to $2.50 each for a solid, fresh healthy vegetarian meal . While artichokes are an expensive option compared to other fresh veggies, they are available for only a short season and we like to treat ourselves. Let's not talk about the rising cost of Avocados!

gasrocks said:Zatarains Rice Mixes - but rice keeps in the ref. well and freezes very well. Cook extra when you're making some. Use your own spice mix with very little salt. Faster, cheaper, better, easy. Gene

I do that with quinoa sometimes, and rice, and always with steel cut oats. They take half an hour to cook. I make a large pot of it and refrigerate it, then we can just warm a little bit every morning.

Thanks for clarifying on the quinoa toasting, Lyn.

And yes, avocados have gotten expensive.

We usually buy our berries at Sam's. Usually good and less expensive. (though the blueberries were $9 for a pound and a half this week). I never buy avocados there though because I'm the only one who eats them and at Sam's you have to buy a whole bag.

Karen

gasrocks said:Zatarains Rice Mixes - but rice keeps in the ref. well and freezes very well. Cook extra when you're making some. Use your own spice mix with very little salt. Faster, cheaper, better, easy. Gene

Maybe easy for you but not for me. If I tried to make my own from scratch I would never end up with anything that tasted near as good,

When I had high blood pressure for years I stopped eating those rice mixes. But now I can eat them so I do. Just don't overdo it but I can have them.