Quick and Easy Meals for Those Who Hate to Cook

I was recently speaking with my friend Kathy about one of our favorite topics: food. We discuss this topic thoroughly and often. We both adore eating but have very different outlooks on cooking--she loves it and I hate it. If a food must be peeled, cleaned, chopped, marinated, or heated in any way, I avoid it as much as possible. If I had an unlimited amount of money (and didn't have to watch my weight), I would eat at restaurants for every meal.

Since I have neither an overabundance of cash nor a speedy metabolism, I eat most meals at home. When I can't get anyone to cook for me, sometimes I have to bite the bullet and make something resembling dinner. Over the years I've developed some tried and true meals that I can prepare with a minimum of fuss. I will list some of these meals below, in case any of you feel the same way about cooking.

Before I get to the list, please note that I realize these meals aren't necessarily balanced, complete, or overly nutritious. And to others, they're probably not all that tasty. But I've grown fond of these meals and do actually enjoy them.

1. Black Bean Soup and Rice
   Ingredients
   1 can Goya black bean soup (red label), brown rice, salsa, sour cream (I use fat-free but you can use whatever kind you like), tortilla chips (optional: I only add these when the baked kind are on sale), shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
   Method
   *Make rice according to package directions. This takes longer than you'd think so plan ahead.
   *Open a can of black bean soup and heat in a microwave-safe bowl. If you're really lazy, you don't even need to heat the soup. It will be room temperature, if that's OK with you.
   *Mix together in whatever proportion you like.
   *Add salsa and sour cream and stir.
   *Add shredded cheddar cheese and crumbled tortilla chips on top if desired.
   
   
2. Pita/Tortilla Pizza
   Ingredients
   Pita or tortilla, tomato sauce, shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, any vegetables you have on hand (cut into small pieces)
   Method
   *Cut open pita so you have two round halves and place on cookie sheet (or put a tortilla or two on cookie sheet).
   *Spread tomato sauce on pita or tortilla.
   *Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top of sauce.
   *Pile on as many vegetables as you'd like.
   *Bake in regular oven (350 degrees) or toaster oven until cheese is melted and vegetables are cooked through. If you like your pizza extra-crispy, you can place it directly on the oven rack for a few minutes toward the end of the cooking cycle.


3. CPR (cheese/pretzels/raisins)
   Ingredients
   Block of cheddar cheese, Snyder's Bavarian pretzels, raisins
   Method
   *Take a bite containing a small chunk of cheese, a piece of pretzel, and 2 or 3 raisins.
   *Repeat until you're full.
   
   
4. Santa Fe Rice and Beans With Spinach
   Ingredients
   Weight Watchers Santa Fe Rice and Beans frozen dinner, Green Giant spinach pouch, salsa, sour cream (can use light or fat-free), baked tortilla chips (optional)
   Method
   *Cook frozen dinner in microwave according to package directions.
   *Microwave spinach pouch. Drain liquid. Divide into two portions, use only one.
   *Mix heated frozen dinner with spinach.
   *Add salsa and sour cream.
   *If desired, eat with baked tortilla chips.
   
   
5. Gardenburger
   Ingredients
   Gardenburger, 2% cheese slice, relish, ketchup
   Method
   *Microwave Gardenburger (1 minute on each side) and leave on plate.
   *Place slice of cheese on top of burger.
   *Add relish and ketchup.
   *Eat with knife and fork (or put on hamburger bun if you prefer)


6. Egg Sandwich
   Ingredients
   Arnold Sandwich Thin, 1 egg, 1 slice 2% cheese, 2 slices turkey bacon, olive oil
   Method
   *Toast Sandwich Thin.
   *Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan and fry the egg.
   *Lay cheese slice on toasted bread.
   *Microwave bacon slices on paper towels.
   *Assemble sandwich and enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vocabulary

• overabundance: too much of something
• bite the bullet: be brave about dealing with something painful
• tried and true: reliable
• nutritious: healthy, feeds the body with what it needs
• fond: full of affection or love
• optional: not required; can either be done or not, depending on which you prefer
• on sale: reduced in price
• room temperature: not too hot and not too cold; a comfortable feeling for indoors
• on hand: available
• portions: individual parts of something
• assemble: put together

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vocabulary Practice

1. After trying to get by with a 6-year-old computer, I finally had to ________ and buy a new one.
2. Ikea has nice furniture that doesn't cost a lot of money, but it can be difficult to ________ the pieces at home.
3. If you visit Costco and don't shop wisely, you can wind up with an __________ of food and nowhere to store it.
4. My son's preschool teacher assigns homework to the students, but they don't have to do it. She says it's __________ work.
5. I think cheese tastes best when it's served at ___________, not just out of the refrigerator.
6. Even though it's old and doesn't work well, I'm very ________ of my car and don't want to get rid of it.
7. I'm not picky about cereal; I usually just grab whatever is _______ and eat a quick breakfast before work.
8. You can find nice clothes ________ if you buy things at the end of the season and don't mind searching for bargains.
9. I've bought several different shampoos, but my __________ Pantene is the one I keep coming back to.
10. My salad contained a _________ mix of olives, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries.
11. Keep your _________ small if you want to maintain a healthy weight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grammar Point

Contractions
In the paragraphs above and in my recipes, you will see that I use several contractions. To form a contraction, you add two together, remove some letters, and add an apostrophe to show that letters were removed. For most of the contractions, it's very clear which letters are missing:

I + will = I'll
he + will = he'll
it + is = it's
should + have = should've
I + am = I'm
do + not = don't
does + not = doesn't

However, for some of the contractions it's not as clear:

will + not = won't
she + would = she'd

Why do we use contractions? You'll notice that native speakers of English usually speak very quickly. Using contractions is natural when you want to get your point across more quickly. For example, if you're rushing out the door to catch a train, you would most likely yell to your family, "I'm leaving!" instead of "I am leaving!"

Using contractions is one of the great secrets to sounding like a native speaker of English. Many people who are not native speakers are hesistant to use contractions. To the native English speaker's ear, the absence of contractions sounds "foreign."

People also use contractions to establish a more intimate and casual tone. For example, you may say to a friend, "I'll call you later." But at a job interview, a native English speaker will usually use fewer contractions and say something like, "I will send that resume over to you tomorrow."

You might also decide NOT to use a contraction if you want to emphasize a point. When I want to make sure my small sons understand that I'm serious about a warning, I find myself saying, "Do not run in the street!" instead of the less serious, "Don't stand so close to the TV." In the first example, they absolutely need to listen to me so I speak distinctly and clearly with "Do not." For the second example, it's nowhere near as important so the contraction is OK.

Try using contractions when writing to friends or family. Many people, even native English speakers, don't use contractions when they write friendly emails. The result is often a message that sounds way too stuffy or formal. If you would normally say, "Hi Jane! What's going on?" when you speak to Jane, then write it that way too. Don't write, "Hi Jane! What is going on?" because that sounds unnatural.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grammar Practice

Pick the correct contraction to complete the sentence.

1. Freddy ________ know the right answer. (doesn't OR does'nt)
2. Do you think _______ going to win the race? (she's OR shese)
3. ______ it past your bedtime? (Is'nt OR Isn't)
4. I _______ be able to go with you tomorrow. (won't OR willn't)
5. You _______ bite your nails. (should'nt OR shouldn't)

For more contraction practice, try this puzzle: http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics/contractions5-puzzle.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Proofreaders Needed!

http://www.zazzle.com/i_hate_cooking_apron-154398987726938834
Open this link and look at the picture of the apron.
Can you find the big grammar error?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Food Movies

Although I truly hate to cook, one thing I do love is movies in which cooking and preparing food is a major theme. Here are some wonderful movies that beautifully show the preparation of food as an art, a passion, and a labor of love:

Chocolat
Babette's Feast
Big Night (watch this video!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxrMEveOkSs&feature=related
Like Water for Chocolate
Eat Drink Man Woman
Tortilla Soup
Tampopo

Weekend in Manhattan

• This past weekend I took my son John, who'll be 4 next month, into Manhattan to spend some time with my sister Jennifer. John had been to the city a handful of times before but he couldn't clearly recall any of the trips. He'd never slept there before, so he was very excited to be staying the night at his Aunt Jenn's apartment.
  
  We live in Suffolk County. The trip to the city on the Long Island Railroad takes about an hour and a half. This is a long ride for an excited preschooler, especially when the train is extremely crowded. However, I managed to keep him entertained and we got there in one piece.
  
  At Penn Station, John couldn't believe how many people he saw. He was especially impressed with the musicians who were entertaining the crowd. He said, "Mom, this place is great! It has a show!" I gave him a dollar to put in the musicians' open guitar case.
  
  I had a moment of concern as I contemplated the giant staircase we had to ascend in order to get out of Penn Station and onto the street. I had our overnight things in a large, heavy, wheeled duffel bag that had a broken handle. The handle problem made it nearly impossible to carry, so the thought of lugging it up a steep and seemingly endless staircase was not appealing to me. The other option was an equally long escalator. I couldn't figure out how to swing the bag onto a step, make sure John got on safely, and get myself on as well. I needed at least three hands. I tried standing at the bottom of the escalator and looking forlorn so someone would volunteer to help us. When this failed, I flagged down a friendly looking man and asked him if he would take my bag up the escalator so I could take care of my son. He was more than happy to help and the problem was solved.
  
  John and I walked the cold and windy streets of the city toward Times Square to meet Aunt Jenn at the ESPN Zone restaurant. After his favorite meal of chicken nuggets and fries, we went upstairs to play some games. John bowled, rode some virtual horses, nearly fell off a jet ski, and beat me in a game of air hockey. All in all, he had a great time.
  
  The next stop was the huge Toys R Us store a couple of blocks away. John was blown away by the indoor Ferris wheel, but he had some reservations about going for a ride. We made a beeline for the LEGO display, as John has lately been obsessed with these small plastic building blocks. The store had the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the Flatiron Building creations made entirely out of Lego pieces. They were each at least 5 feet tall.
  
  After we'd safely escaped the toy store without purchasing anything, we moved on to the next adventure. We walked across the street to the movie theater to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Despite its awful name, the movie was actually adorable. John loved it and my sister and I were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed it as well. I'm generally not a fan of talking animals, especially not talking, singing animals. But I must admit that these cute little chipmunks stole my heart.
  
  Once the movie was over we headed to Jenn's apartment for a takeout dinner, some quiet TV for an exhausted little boy, and an early bedtime for two wiped-out adults. It was a wonderful day but we all slept well that night. I think my sister, who doesn't have children, probably napped the whole next day trying to recover.
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Vocabulary
  
• staying the night: sleeping somewhere
• in one piece: not hurt or harmed
• contemplated: thought about
• ascend: go up
• duffel bag: a soft bag often used to carry sports equipment
• lugging: drag or pull something difficult to carry
• forlorn: sad and lonely, nearly hopeless
• more than happy: very eager
• all in all: overall; when everything is considered
• blown away: amazed and impressed, usually in a good way
• reservations: doubts (can have other meanings)
• made a beeline: took a straight, direct course
• stole my heart: made me fall in love with something
• wiped-out: very tired

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vocabulary Practice

1. When the store opened its doors in the morning, the shoppers __________ for the items that were on sale.
2. As she listened to the 5-year-old play Mozart, the piano teacher was ___________ at his talent.
3. In order to avoid paying to check your luggage when you fly, you can pack all of your things in a small __________ and carry it on the plane.
4. Joe __________ several different laptop models before he settled on the one made by Toshiba.
5. After an hour in the advanced level yoga class, I was _________ and ready for a shower and a nap.
6. Although I didn't plan to adopt a puppy that day, the adorable pug I saw at the animal shelter ________.
7. We all managed to cross the river during the storm and reach the other side _________.
8. The only part of doing the weekly grocery shopping that I don't like is __________ all the bags of food from the car to the house.
9. In an attempt to get an extra cookie from his mother, Danny tried looking hungry and _________ as he stood in the kitchen.
10. Even though she was excited to try bungee jumping, Maria felt some __________ as she peered down into the deep canyon below her.
11. I would be ____________ to help you learn how to use your new sewing machine.
12. Anne thinks that ____________ in a beautiful hotel is a very relaxing way to spend a weekend.
13. Before we could enjoy the lovely sunset, we had to _________ the last part of the mountain.
14. ___________, Sam felt that the surprise party he threw for his parents' anniversary was a success.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grammar Point

Proper Nouns

A noun is usually defined as a word that describes a "person, place, or thing." In the paragraphs above, some nouns are son, city, people, restaurant, guitar case. There are also nouns in these paragraphs that don't fit neatly into any of these categories: option, problem, adventure.

But today I want to talk about proper nouns. Regular nouns, called common nouns, usually begin with a lowercase letter (unless, of course, the noun starts a sentence). In some languages, such as German, a common noun always begins in with a capital letter (das Kind = the child; ein Hund = a dog). In English, only the names of specific people, places, or institutions begin with capital letter. We call these proper nouns.

Look at the difference between common and proper nouns:

The dog needs to go for a walk. (common noun)
I need to find the leash to take Fluffy outside. (proper noun)

The girl won a college scholarship. (common nouns)
Will Linda attend Molloy College next year? (proper nouns)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grammar Practice

For each of the common nouns listed below, find a matching proper noun in the paragraphs above. The first one is completed for you.

boy/John
city/________
woman/_______
aunt/________
county/________
train/________
train station/_______
mother/_______
restaurant/________
toy store/_______
city area/________
ride/_______
building block/________
statue/_________
building/________
building/_________
movie/__________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Word About LEGO

The founder of the LEGO company, Ole Kirk Christiansen, was a Danish carpenter. In 1934, he began creating these internationally famous building blocks (they started to be made of plastic in the 1940s). According to the story on the official LEGO website (http://www.lego.com/), Christianson came up with the name LEGO by combining the first two letters of the words in the Danish phrase "leg godt," which means "play well." What Christiansen didn't know is that one meaning of the word "lego" in Latin is "I put together."

There are currently only nine people in the world who are licensed by the LEGO company to be LEGO Professional Builders. Click this link to see some fascinating videos on one of them, New Yorker Sean Kenney: http://www.youtube.com/seankenney

Running, Anyone?

I used to hate exercise. I was famous for it. There was truly nothing I detested more than going to the gym to work out, or even worse, playing a sport such as softball or volleyball. But for health and weight control reasons, I forced myself to exercise with a kind of regularity. I would get into the habit of going to the gym for a few months at a time and then stop for a few months. Off and on I would repeat this pattern. While I was in the "on" cycle, I still hated every minute of it. I had to use every trick in the book to get myself to just get up and do it.

And then something miraculous happened. I became a runner. A slow runner, but still a runner! I know it's sounds implausible that I went from being the anti-exercise poster child to being a runner, but it really happened.

After I gave birth to my son John in March 2006, I had about 25 pounds to lose. I had always struggled with a few pounds but never this many, so the situation called for drastic measures. I thought I would begin a walking plan in order to get in some reasonably painless exercise. But I found out very soon that walking was very boring to me! I know some people love it but it's just not my cup of tea. I figured that if I ran, I could get the miles over with sooner. However, I could barely run 25 steps without feeling winded and terrible.

I started searching on the internet for some sort of running plan that could ease me into it. What I found literally changed my life: the Couch-to-5K plan. It's a simple plan that works miracles. If you follow the plan exactly, in 9 weeks you will go from not being able to run at all to being able to run a 5K race. The plan requires you to exercise three times a week, for 20 to 25 minutes at a time. When I read that, I thought, "That's it? Even I can do that." You begin with a combination of walking and running (more walking than running) for the first week. The next week you increase your running but you also increase your walking. You just follow what the plan tells you to do and before you know it, you're running 3 miles (approximately 5 kilometers). It was definitely not easy, but I worked hard and completed the program. And to my surprise, during those 9 weeks I got hooked on running. On July 22, 2007, I completed a 5K race, running the entire time. I'm number 81 in the photo you see above; I was steps away from the finish line when it was taken.

That year I continued to run until it got way too cold for me to exercise outside. When I had my second son Timothy in June 2008, I had to start the whole process over from the beginning. But this time I couldn't wait to get back to my beloved running. This winter I'm keeping up my training on the treadmill at the gym; it's not as fun as running outside but at least it will keep me in shape until the spring. I'm counting the days until I can get back outside.

Running has given me so many psychological and physical benefits. I'm still amazed at how far I've come. For those of you who think you could never run, if I can do it, anyone can.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vocabulary

• detested: hated
• every trick in the book: every resource or strategy available
• miraculous: amazing, something highly unlikely to happen but does happen
• implausible: hard to believe, something with a small chance of really happening
• poster child: someone who is the best example of a characteristic; comes from a child with a disease whose picture is used on a poster to raise money for charity
• drastic measures: extreme effort
• not my cup of tea: something you don't like
• over with: completed, done; usually used with something unpleasant.
• winded: very tired, perhaps having a hard time breathing
• literally: truthfully, exactly; used when something could be thought of as an exaggeration, but you want to point out that it is not an exaggeration
• that's it?: another way of saying "that's all?", especially when you thought something was going to be larger or bigger in some way
• before you know it: very soon
• got hooked on: enjoyed something so much that you want to do it more in the future
• counting the days: looking forward to something, generally something enjoyable

Vocabulary Practice

1. After going up 15 flights of stairs, Susan felt _________ and needed to rest.

2. Many people seem to love the TV show The Office, but it's just __________.

3. I __________ quilting in 2002 when a friend taught me to sew, and I've made 8 quilts since then.

4. Overwhelmed with final exams and projects, the student couldn't wait to get the semester _________.

5. When Lily received her tiny plate of three crabmeat ravioli at the Italian restaurant, she thought, "________"

6. If you practice English as often as you can, __________ you'll be speaking fluently.

7. It took ____________ to get the toddler to eat his vegetables.

8. Anne, who hands in every school assignment late, refers to herself as the ____________ for procrastination.

9. The woman ___________ the idea of seeing the action movie but the friends she was meeting at the theater were very excited about it.

10. Due to a __________ catch in the last inning, the baseball team won the game.

11. When he saw his credit card bill, Greg knew he would have to take ____________ and cut up all his cards.

12. Jim was _____________ until the car dealer called to tell him his new BMW was ready.

13. The weatherman is predicting snow later on today, but it seems ___________ due to the fact that the sky is completely clear.

14. Amanda looked in ___________ every bridal store in Queens to find the perfect wedding dress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grammar Point

The words "your" and "you're" are frequently misused, even by native speakers of English. In the fourth paragraph above, I wrote these sentences:

The next week you increase your running but you also increase your walking. You just follow what the plan tells you to do and before you know it, you're running 3 miles (approximately 5 kilometers).

The word "your" is used to indicate possession or ownership:

I like your shirt.

Please wash your hands.

Is that your dog?

The word "you're" is a contraction of "you + are" and is only used in the same place you would use "you are." Contractions are used to give your sentences a more informal or casual feel:

You are my best friend.

or

You're my best friend.

I think you are adorable.

or

I think you're adorable.

Practice Sentences: Insert "your" or "you're"

1. If ________ tired, you should take a nap.

2. I broke ________ picture frame. I hope _________ not angry with me.

3. _________ eyes are _________ best feature.

4. If ________ sure of ________ answer, write it in the test booklet.

Go to http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/your1.htm for another quiz on these two easily confused words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do You Want to Start Running?

Here's a link to the Couch-to-5K plan that I use: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

The site http://c25k.com/ is interesting too. It is a community for people doing the program. You can find helpful hints, music suggestions, and motivation from others, as well as the basic program translated into many languages. One way to motivate yourself is to sign up for a 5K run in your area that takes place about 3 months after the day you start the program. There are many, many 5K races all over Long Island. Go to the Long Island Race Calendar to start your investigation: http://www.panix.com/userdirs/runner/races.htm

Happy running!