Dinner after a long day on the hill...

[geargrrl]

Hey gals... I'm looking for ideas. Typically our day on the hill is a long one as it involves the guy's patrol duties, and not getting home until almost 6 ( or later) I've got a selection of quick dinners I do, but I am always looking for more.

here are some of my standards quick, filling and tasty meals for hungry skiers:
-black beans and rice. Canned black beans heated up with a little cumin, lime and garlic. Put the rice in the cooker and get the beans going, then go unload the car. Heat tortillas wrapped in a towel in the microwave, grate some cheese and you are ready to go.
-Tortelli/Ravioli ( from Costco) Put the water on, then go unload the car.
-crock pot. There's not a lot you can do that will survive 11 hours in a crock pot( we leave at 7 am) but a pot roast is one of the them.


what about you?

gg

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Anything that involves a crock pot works for me -otherwise, it's taco-type stuff - make everything the night before, heat up the meat before serving. Done. Of course, I'm not one to complain when/if a restaurant is isuggested

 

[atlantiqueen]

I must be crazy! I do big meals for the fellas (hubby and stepsons) and often for 5 or 6 others after skiing all day.

Usually I whip up some guacamole and fresh salsa for them to gnosh on while I"m cooking and then get down to the serious business of feeding three + hungry men!

Once/wk I do a lot of prep - cook large portions of rice, dice onions, celery and peppers, do carrot and celery sticks, cook a roast (beef or pork tenderloin), cook up a big pot of soup, and make some casseroles (shepherd's pie or goulash which I think you probably call American chop suey).

The rice gets separated into portions for 1, 2, or 4 people and frozen, the same goes for the casseroles & soups. The veggies go in containers & tossed in the fridge.

So, when we head up to the mountain for the weekend, I fill a cooler with all these prepped items and life is much simpler! We have healthy snacks and if they're really hungry, the boys can grab a container pop the food in the micro and they're good to go!

BUT...our crockpot is also used failry frequently - set it up in the morning and away we go.

Some crock pot favourites:

Riz and Bezellah (PM me for the recipe -it's a delicious Lebanese dish)
Chili
Baked beans
Tortilla Bean soup

 

[mollmeister]

I make a lot of soups and stews from scratch (Lentil with Lemon and Cumin, Chicken Barley Stew, Chicken Corn Chowder, Posole, that sort of thing). I generally double or triple recipes and make a lot of extra ahead of time and freeze (we have a chest freezer in the basement). Then I typically take several nights' worth up with us when we ski. Just thaw it and heat it up, serve with some bread and/or salad and you're good to go.

Minimal effort.
Minimal clean-up.
Maximum taste. (I love soup and stew.)

Cooking ahead is a big one for me right now. Two very young children ensure that everyone is pretty much toast by 5:00pm on a ski day, and I need to be able to get good food on the table without focusing on it too much.

If we're up with friends, there is more opportunity to share duties and have guys watch kids while women cook or women watch kids while men grill. Even so, pre-made soup is always appreciated.

 

[abc]

Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country. ~Steven Wright

Mollmeister, who's Steven Wright?

 

[mollmeister]

Mollmeister, who's Steven Wright?

Comedian and writer, known for his slow, deadpan, monotone delivery of ironic, philosophical jokes and one-liners.Mostly funny due to the musing, quiet, almost bored nature of the delivery. I couldn't say any of these things and have them be funny. But he can. I don't know what he's up to these days. Everything I remember him from was from the 80s and early 90s.

He said things like:

"Don't you hate when your hand falls asleep and you know it will be up all night.?"
"A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths. "
"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. "
:D

I ran across the ski quote somewhere and thought it was funny!

 

[Kimmyt]

Usually we do bigger dinners too. It might mean we're not eating a real meal until 1-2 hours after we're home, but usually we'll have something to tide us over, like chips/salsa, raw veggies, or a salad. And of course, I don't do it all myself, it's usually The Boy helping me prep and cook so it's less of an ordeal and some fun homie time together after a day of skiing.

For quick good food, we're big fans of steak. It only takes a few minutes to cook, so you can whip that and some rice or couscous up with some steamed veggies, within about 15 minutes.

Chicken parm is good and easy too. Put your chicken all together, throw it in the oven and boil your water, then everything's done in about 30 minutes.

Stir fry is quick and easy, usually skillet to plate in less than 15 m., (shrimp is speedy, or thinly sliced beef) unless you do rice, and boil in bag rice or even the precooked rice is quick and decent enough to sop up the sauce.

 

[abc]

He said things like:

"Don't you hate when your hand falls asleep and you know it will be up all night.?"
"A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths. "
"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. "
:D

I ran across the ski quote somewhere and thought it was funny!

Well, I have to say I don't really get it. Maybe there's a context for those quotes?

About the ski quote, was it meant to be sarcastic? (cause the two largest country, Canada and Russia, are both big in x-c skiing -- like the last quote about walking distance?)

 

[mollmeister]

Well, I have to say I don't really get it. Maybe there's a context for those quotes?

About the ski quote, was it meant to be sarcastic? (cause the two largest country, Canada and Russia, are both big in x-c skiing -- like the last quote about walking distance?)

Not sarcasm, exactly. He liked to play with literal and non-literal meanings. So when he says cross-country, he's talking about the literal idea of skiing ACROSS the country. Which would be hard in a big country.

A lot of it is in the delivery. He definitely liked to play with words and language and multiple meanings and and Americanisms and idiom. Just the way his mind works, I guess.

 

[Skimom]

Martha Stewart Macaroni and Cheese...it's not quick and easy, but it's the best apres ski meal around! Let me know if anyone wants the recipe!

 

[ride_ski]

I find that taking something out to throw on the grill is pretty easy. We also cook our veggies there too (wrapped in foil with olive oil and spices on them). All that needs to be made inside is rice or noodles.

A few things that I make in a crock pot are: a whole chicken (yes, you just plop it in), you can make a turkey breast the same way. I also make pulled pork in the crockpot. This one is very easy and so yummy. Everyone loves it. If you want to bring up or bake cornbread it completes the BBQ meal.

I must admit that we have on occasion called the local pizza joint- located in a guys basement a few miles from our ski house.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Mollmeister, who's Steven Wright?

https://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Steven_Wright
He's also all over You Tube.
Funny, funny guy

 

[Jilly]

Crock pot my saviour. Stew and BBQ ribs. But the ribs are falling off with 8 hours, so not good for your 11 hours. Stew would be OK. Also I have new crock-pot that has a hold temperature after cooking. "Smart-pot" by Rival.

 

[geargrrl]

I find that taking something out to throw on the grill is pretty easy. We also cook our veggies there too (wrapped in foil with olive oil and spices on them). All that needs to be made inside is rice or noodles.

A few things that I make in a crock pot are: a whole chicken (yes, you just plop it in), you can make a turkey breast the same way. I also make pulled pork in the crockpot. This one is very easy and so yummy. Everyone loves it. If you want to bring up or bake cornbread it completes the BBQ meal.

I must admit that we have on occasion called the local pizza joint- located in a guys basement a few miles from our ski house.

LOL, I appreciate the concept, but my grill is buried under a foot and a half of snow right now.

 

[abc]

Crock pot my saviour. Stew and BBQ ribs. But the ribs are falling off with 8 hours, so not good for your 11 hours. Stew would be OK. Also I have new crock-pot that has a hold temperature after cooking. "Smart-pot" by Rival.

Use a kitchen timer to turn on the cockpot a couple hours later. Better yet, make it such it's done an hour before you get home (and use the timer to stop the cooking). The cookpot will keep the dinner warm for more than an hour anyway. That way, you don't have the chicken/rib boiling hot when you want to really chao down right away (after a day of hard skiing)

 

[ride_ski]

LOL, I appreciate the concept, but my grill is buried under a foot and a half of snow right now.

We use ours year round, so it always get shoveled out. It does get difficult to shovel out the one at the ski house if we haven't been there for a while.

abc- good idea about the timer and the crockpot. I never though of using one with that.

 

[geargrrl]

Use a kitchen timer to turn on the cockpot a couple hours later. Better yet, make it such it's done an hour before you get home (and use the timer to stop the cooking). The cookpot will keep the dinner warm for more than an hour anyway. That way, you don't have the chicken/rib boiling hot when you want to really chao down right away (after a day of hard skiing)

hmm, personally, I'd be a little cautious with leaving any meat product at room temp for a few hours before starting the cooking process, but that's just me.

gg

 

[mollmeister]

hmm, personally, I'd be a little cautious with leaving any meat product at room temp for a few hours before starting the cooking process, but that's just me.

gg

Mine has a *keep warm* setting for just such things. . . but it makes me a little leery also. Sort of like those chafing dishes at a buffet. . .

 

[abc]

hmm, personally, I'd be a little cautious with leaving any meat product at room temp before starting the cooking process, but that's just me.

gg

Mmmm, I think it's just you. We're talk an hour to at most two. Not a day or two...

Not to mention my house resembles a frig half an hour after I'm out of there! We're not talking about summer in Arizona, are we? ;-)Most houses in the snowbelt in the winter SHOULD resembles a frig when no one's home, if only to save on heating bill!

And even if you're THAT worry, you can also have the timer on for the first few hours so the meat is totally cooked, off for a few hours gap and on for the final cooking till it's done when you're ready to eat!

 

[Jilly]

I would never leave anything that should be refrigerated at room temp for any length of time. Background on that: BSc in Microbiology. I've used the "keep warm" setting a few times. It's OK. My new crock-pot has a 10 hours time too.