Monday, February 22, 2010

Manic Monday - Oven is not a dirty word!

Well, my Monday has definitely been a little crazy (here I am at 9.40pm doing this blog post!) -- but I did get dinner on the table at the regularly scheduled time. And why? Because I am very very good friends with my Oven!

I love the oven. I used to pan-fry most of our dinner meats - time consuming, hot, spitting oil and difficult to do when holding a child. Even the griller requires frequent checking, and turning, of whatever you are cooking.

Instead, my tip is to invest in a good quality roasting dish, preferably with a rack tray insert, so everything is up off the bottom of the dish. I oven cook all the usual casseroles and roasts, but also sausages, chops, chicken legs, even fish (sprinkle with your favourite herbs & spices, then wrap in foil). I can't remember the last time I pan fried meat for dinner.

I can concentrate on veges, side dishes, and trying to get Ryan to eat his dinner instead of smearing it in his hair, without having to also constantly check on whatever is in the pan!

Oven baking most of our meats is certainly making for a happier Mum in our house, at 5.30pm!

Do you have anything that you love to oven bake? Want to leave a tip to help us all make Mondays (and every other day) a bit less manic? I love to read comments and links!

2 comments:

  1. Pot roast. Most people cook it in a crockpot but for some reason mine does not come out well that way. Cook it in the oven and it just shreds apart and is nice and juicy.

    I, like you, prefer most of my meats cooked in the oven. I recently ran across a recipe for cooking beef stew in the oven. My, oh my! 10x better than on the stove top!

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  2. I like to use my crock pot. I will even prepare things like spaghetti and chili early in the afternoon and stick them in the crock pot to keep them good and hot until supper time.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!