Dear readers, I have a confession to make:
I have been cheating. On what, you ask?
On dinner. On my made-from-scratch, garden-to-table, cooking-marathon ways.
And here is why: Not long after getting home from work, the daylight starts rapidly fading, and I, like many others, feel the need to squeeze as much as I can into my day before it gets dark. Messing around with dinner when it's dark out just feels wrong. Of course, I just need to adjust the shorter days, but in the meantime, here are some sneaky shortcuts that I've been using to make the most of the daylight:
Frozen Pie Crusts:
I know many people are extremely anti-storebought crust, but think about it this way: when you want quiche for dinner, over half the prep is already done! I made a delicious savory quiche last night- based loosely on this recipe, and it came together quickly and easily.
Jarred Tomato Sauce:
This one is especially hard to admit, because I love homemade sauce. But unfortunately, I don't have any sauce of my own this year- or even my own frozen crushed tomatoes- the tomato crop was extremely dismal here. So I could still make my own sauce from canned plum tomatoes, but if I'm making something else from scratch, like meatballs, I buy a jar of canned sauce and add a bunch of fresh basil and a bit more garlic.
Pizza Dough:
This is another super simple recipe, but I think it's extremely time and cost efficient to buy pre-made dough and I don't think there's an extremely big taste advantage to making dough at home. If I don't have to make the dough myself, I'm more prone to get a little fancy with the pizza toppings- grilled veggies, homemade sauce, carmelized onions...
*note: my grocery store carries frozen dough (white or whole wheat!) that's already thawed and ready to go, but if that's not an option for you, most pizza places will sell you unbaked dough for a dollar or two.
Chicken Cutlets:
I haven't been cooking long enough to know why these have fallen out of style, but I do know foodies smirk a little at cutlets. I don't, because they cost less than pre-cut chicken tenders, and they cook evenly and quickly. I use them to make chicken marsala, chicken parmigiana, or lemon garlic chicken. Back off, foodies. ;)
Freezer-Friendly:
I freeze everything. Fresh breadcrumbs, fresh lemon juice, chicken stock, leftover wine, wonton wrappers (from a failed appetizer attempt), rolls, and two frequent dinner-savers kale and bacon. This makes it easy to add an extra homemade element to an otherwise dull meal.
That's all the tips I have for now, they keep me from getting take-out and get me out of the kitchen a little more quickly. Because when you find yourself tempted to attempt dinner projects like Thousand Layer Lasagna, well, that's what the weekend is for. :)