One Pan Wonders
Since I haven’t been eating the best lately I’m trying to come up with some one pan wonders that I can prepare quickly when I do have the urge to eat. These are quick and easy and for the most part fairly healthy.
A few days ago my neighbor had an abundance of summer squash so she brought me a bag full. I love this kind of meal! All I do is wash the squash, slice it thin and sauté it in butter and avocado oil. I added a chopped up onion and sprinkled it with grated cheese. A quick and easy but filling meal.
I don’t eat much bread but I do like tortillas for sandwiches. I hardboiled some eggs and made a sandwich adding pickle relish. Another quick, easy and delicious meal. Plus now I have hardboiled eggs when Lia stops by. I can substitute the egg salad for chicken, tuna or salmon and have a variety of tortilla sandwiches.
I love vegetables and this is the first time I’ve grown cabbage where it’s actually had heads! Previous years it’s just huge leaves that I would cut off, steam them and add a mixture of ground beef, rice and tomato sauce and roll up the leaves. I put them in a baking pan, cover with more sauce with shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes. Different but they were good!
But now that I have cabbage heads I can make fresh from the garden fried cabbage with bacon! Just add chopped cabbage to a frying pan with fried bacon pieces and stir around until its done to your liking. Sometimes I add an onion and you can also substitute the bacon for ham or sausage.
Tip for when I fry bacon that will be added in recipes.. I cut the bacon strips in pieces before cooking and I cook it quick, stirring as in browns. This way it doesn’t make much grease in the pan and I can toss the cabbage in without the bacon even needing to be drained. Another tip: Since I don’t use the entire package of bacon at once, I cut the package in 4 individual pieces. That way I can take one or two out at a time when needed.
The other day it was between breakfast and lunch time and although I was hungry I didn’t know what I wanted. I had three options: Coconut Bites drizzled with dark chocolate, a lemon/raspberry Nothing Bundt cake or a cheese tortilla. Of course I went for the cheese! I melted butter in a frying pan, put the tortilla in then topped with a slice of swiss cheese, American cheese, another swiss, then a blend of shredded cheddar and finished it off with my last piece of swiss cheese. I covered the pan and cooked on medium until all the cheese had melted. OMG this was SO good! Can you tell I like cheese? For my beverage I made a cold Chai latte and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. This meal was ready to eat in less than 10 minutes and oh so good. Not sure how healthy this was with all that cheese but every now and then we have to eat daringly instead of sparingly. LOL
I hope you enjoyed my one pan wonders, I love cooking meals like this.
I’m glad you’re using your creative superpowers to come up with easy and healthy meals for one. It must be challenging after cooking for two and more your entire married life, but it’s so important to take care of yourself.
When I was single, I often ate a can of sweet corn in front of the TV 😇
Of the recipes you present, I think I would try the baked cabbage leaves filled with ground beef.
I’m trying to bet back to a healthy eating plan Tamara and eating more regular instead of just “picking” here and there. Sweet corn is good, I should get a few ears of corn, I love corn on the cob. The filling I used for the cabbage leaves is the same for my stuffed peppers and what we used to eat in my younger years, spanish rice!
Martha – You offered so many wonderful suggestions for quick meals. I like that style a lot. The summer squash is a go to of mine! I like a little lemon and lemon pepper for zest! I also like to use tortillas also. There are so many variations of what to add depending on what you have or are in the mood for! Delicious ideas! Thank you!
Oh I never thought of added a squeeze of lemon to the squash Anne, I’ll try that for tomorrow’s dinner! I find that tortillas have a much longer shelf life than bread and yes so many variations can be added.
Your summer squash looks really good. The cabbage in the garden look fantastic. The bigger leaves look like they might make a good cabbage wraps. The cabbage ground beef mixture almost sounds like a deconstructed stuffed pepper, subbing the pepper with cabbage. What a blessing to have neighbors that share garden abundances! My mother and our neighbors had that with each other. Such a gift! Thanks for making me hungry while reliving a bit of my childhood, LOL
Yes Jodi, the stuffing is the same that I would make Rich’s stuffed peppers with! I’d either eat some like spanish rice or make cabbage wraps! Glad you were able to relive a bit of your childhood through my blog!
Those meals look amazing!
Thanks Amanda, they are quick and easy too!
I love your one pan wonders, Martha. I love tortillas for sandwiches, too. Will have that for lunch tomorrow. I’m going to be home alone then. I just have to please myself.
I hardly eat bread, except wheat now and then. It seems to fill me up and then I’m stuffed, the tortillas are great and so many different recipes I can use them for.
Martha, yum yum! Such delectable one-pan-wonders. One year my then-boyfriend’s mother shared a cooking secret I’ve never heard from anyone else. In the summers in Michigan, cooks would make absolutely any dish on top of the stove, and just cook it slowly, with a lid. So I have made biscuits, brownies, omelets and scromblets, and cake, all on the stovetop. I love your formulas! I love stir-fried cabbage but have never tried it with sausage. Again, you’re inspiring me. And oh we share a love of cheese! I am allergic to wheat, but I just use almond flour tortillas as the base for a pan-steamed omelet. And your one-pan wonders leave you with fewer dishes to wash up. Fun!
That’s one reason I like my one-pan wonders Kebba, less dishes to wash! LOL I have a few more to share next UBC!