healthy alternatives to the take away?

Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

late night snack for me would be cereal or toast, both of which are always in the house, then again I could live on these items! If you have to have something more substantial then re-discover baked beans or spaghetti hoops on toast! A childhood memory that is still a handy filling snack!
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

I sometimes freeze portions of dinners to use for a quick alternative some evening when Im in a hurry. I find the best for freezing are pasta dinners - I just make sure I mix the meat/sauce/pasta well before freezing.

Another old favourite for me is ryvita, cheese and tomato - and for extra hunger, grilled chicken breast with it. Delicious, quick and easy.
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

Fry up some chopped onion and add a bit of garlic (if you have any). Then throw in whatever you have lying around the fridge (chopped rasher, chopped up tomatoes, some mushrooms, left over veg, cold chicken or ham, whatever). After a few minutes add some cooked rice and stir around for a couple of minutes. Shake soya sauce over. It's really delicious and a great way of using up stuff that's lying around the fridge nearly at its use by date. You could also throw in some parsley or some chinese s 5 spice (a great storecupboard ingredient) if you have any.

Also, with the money you save, you can treat yourself to a glass of wine.!
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

Nigel Slater has another similar one called 30-minute dinners or something - it's good too. The thing with Nigel is that if you spend some time reading through the books and jotting down some pointers you actually learn how to throw things together to make a meal rather than following a recipe all the time.

Yeah I think a sandwich is a great late night snack. I also buy scones and muffins, freeze them and thaw them in the microwave if needed - takes seconds not minutes.
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

liaconn said:
Fry up some chopped onion and add a bit of garlic (if you have any). Then throw in whatever you have lying around the fridge (chopped rasher, chopped up tomatoes, some mushrooms, left over veg, cold chicken or ham, whatever). After a few minutes add some cooked rice and stir around for a couple of minutes. Shake soya sauce over. It's really delicious and a great way of using up stuff that's lying around the fridge nearly at its use by date. You could also throw in some parsley or some chinese s 5 spice (a great storecupboard ingredient) if you have any.
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The packets of pre-cooked rice in lidl or aldi are great for recipes like this, they just need 2 minutes in the microwave or a few minutes in the pan to heat and come in a few different flavours, delish!
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

Guys I'm overwhelmed by all the responses! (almost as overwhelmed as I was after eating the Chinese the other night...!) thanks. Some great suggestions....
The problem for me I think is having something healthy to hand, without having to leave the house....otherwise one starts thinking of frozen pizzas, and driving in the direction of take aways etc ....

i need to replace the mental image that pops into my head of takeaways and pizza shops when I feel hungry late in the evening, with images of a healthy alternative, that is realistic and satisfying..... and also in the cupboard :D
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

It's not usually too hard to have some sandwich ingredients in the fridge be it cheese/ham/tuna/boiled egg mash with mayo etc. Have some jars of very nice relish / branston pickle /mustard etc to liven up a normal sandwich. Low fat baked Walker's crisps on the side.
Bread and a tin of beans - you could have that lying around.
Pasta is easy to have around - boil it put in some pesto + olives + feta + sundried tomoatoes etc - once you know how it's very easy to put something very tasty together.
My latest favourite is ciabatta (frozen then warm in oven) together with roasted peppers/courgette/aubergine - just wash, slice, olive oil em, bake, enjoy on ciabetta with more olive oil + feta. yum. add glass of wine and you will feel truly the domestic god.
Yummy dessert late at night - back to basics with jelly+fruit+icecream/yoghurt/crumbled biscuits. I make jelly a lot for my toddler . . . .I would understand if it wasn't in everyone's fridge!
Left over rice is brilliant as someone pointed out. If you get yourself one of those plastic rice cookers that go in the microwave you don't even have to watch the saucepan. Just cook it then fry it up in the wok with all the bits.
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

jamie olivers ministry of food book is brilliant for stuff like that. we cook batches of the curries etc and then freeze them in small metal trays. That way you could cook one whenever you want. the same with pizza dough.. make up a batch.. freeze portions and then you're good to go!
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

JoeBallantin said:
About 6 mins, from frozen, I use a fair amount of oil, medium heat I suppose, pretty constant stiring... I just eat little bits until it seems done...
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For people who want to cut down on the oil, just add water and keep on stirring.
 
Re: healthy alternatives to the take away??

Make your own take aways months in advance and freeze. Before the kids left home I used do just that and was never short of volunteered labour :)
 
Thats a brilliant idea Tinkerbell! Make my own healthy 'take aways' and freeze them. Save a load of money too. Question is how long would something like that stay good for in the freezer? Indefinately? Could one freeze portions of rice?
 
Easy to do. Cook rice as normal, drain, leave in strainer to cool. When cool, fluff it up a little and put into dish, before putting in fridge. After a few hours transfer to bags and freeze.
 
It only takes 10 minutes to cook fresh rice or pasta so I don't get people buying cooked rice or freezing rice or pasta.

There can also be a problem with reheating rice, it can cause some kind of illness, can't remember which one but I remember hearing about people getting ill from reheating takewaway rice in the US.
 
You should not freeze food that you get from a take away unless you are sure that it was not originally frozen.
 
Bronte said:
There can also be a problem with reheating rice, it can cause some kind of illness, can't remember which one but I remember hearing about people getting ill from reheating takewaway rice in the US.
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Reheating room temperature or maybe even refrigerated rice yes, but not frozen rice.
 
Rice has a huge amount of surface area. Bacteria live on the surface of food, so rice is more prone to bacteria growth than other foods. According to the chef Derek Clarke on the radio recently, reheating rice is one of the more prevanent methods of getting food poisoning. Make sure you reheat it until its boiling hot to kill all germs. I would always reheat rice on the cooker, not the microwave, so I am sure that it has all been in boilig water.

I regularly freeze portions of curries and casseroles etc, but I find when I reheat them that freshly cooked rice is much nicer.
 
Yeah I wouldn't go to the bother of freezing rice. If I am using rice leftovers from the fridge it would be within a day or two and very well reheated
 
I deliberately always boil a little too much rice as it is the cooled, day old (but refrigerated) rice that is best for frying.

If you are OK with having rice 2 days in a row obviously.
 
Scrambled eggs do it for me.

Whisk 4 eggs in a bowl. Add a drop of milk or cream if you have it and some black pepper.
Melt a knob of button in a non-stick pot on a medium heat
Add the egg mixture and stir constantly until the eggs are scrambled.
Pour over 2 slices of real buttered toast and enjoy with a big, hot cuppa.
 
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