Oh, I know that we don't need to be eating fast food everyday. But I'm not totally against fast food places. Especially having lived in a country, when our four kids were young, where there weren't any kid-friendly, fast food places to stop at when we were making long trips. On a long trip, dragging four tired little kids into a "regular" restaurant to wait on their meals, is no picnic .... which is what we usually did - picnic (because it was also quite costly to eat in that "regular" restaurant with four kids). And having a picnic in the car when it's pouring rain outside is no picnic, either. There were many times back then when I wished we'd come upon an honest-to-goodness fast food place. ( Now this country has plenty of fast food places.... ours and theirs. And they are always full.)
However, the fast food place is not my topic here. Fast food is. Homemade fast food. Did you know that you can make fast food at home often FASTER than you can get it at the fast food places? And, you can make perfectly healthy fast food at home. AND you can serve totally "normal" portions of your fast food at home. Oh.....and get this: you can actually serve your homemade, healthy, small-portions of fast food at home WITH the toy of your choice, if you so desire. And no one can sue you for doing so, either (not yet, anyway)! :)
"Fast food" took over my thinking the other night when I was tired and aching, and didn't feel up to doing a lot of cooking, even though I love to cook. Going out to eat somewhere didn't appeal to me. Just too tired. So was my husband. Hence, the "fast food" thoughts - only I wasn't thinking of the hamburger-french-fries kind of fast food. I was thinking of the "what's-in-my-kitchen-to-fix-quickly-and-easily" kind of homemade fast food.
So I peeked in the pantry to see what lurked there. Onions caught my eye. Opened up the fridge to check it out and saw those pretty little yellow summer squash. Cucumbers. Couple of left-over pieces of steak. Some fresh okra.
Hmmmmmmm, let's see. My mind told me to grab those veggies and that left-over meat and get busy "fast fooding". So I did.
Getting out my great old cast iron skillet, I put in a little olive oil and heated it. Peeled an onion and sliced it into the skillet. Took several of those little squash and sliced them into the skillet with the onions (the squash were already washed). Stirred everything. Cut the ends off the also-already-washed-okra and sliced them into the onions and squash. Stirred. And the cucumbers? Didn't you know that you can cook cucumbers? I peeled a couple of them and sliced THEM into the mixture. Stirred again. Mmmmmm. Was already smelling good. Added some salt and pepper, lots of garlic powder and a sprinkling of Herbes de Provence spice. REALLY smelling good at that point. And almost done. Those veggies cook quickly; only a matter of a few minutes until they were done to my liking (which isn't mushy). Then I took the kitchen shears and snipped up those two pieces of left-over steak - right into the skillet full of veggies. Stirred around a bit until the meat was good and hot and, voila, my fast food supper was done - quickly. Less than thirty minutes; probably about twenty minutes or so. Just before serving I stirred in a little green salsa. Oh, and I also sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese on top. My husband and I both loved it.
So, you see, you CAN fix fast food right at home. This version, and many other versions. Be creative. I often fix a mixture like this and serve it over rice or some sort of pasta. Sometimes I add slices of green and/or red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, celery, leeks, potato - just any veggie you have and happen to like. Often, too, I will add chopped-up fresh tomatoes (hard to come by this summer in drought-plagued Kansas) or a can of crushed or even whole tomatoes. Add meat. Or not. Any left-over meat: hamburger, steak, sausage, chicken, left-over hot dogs, etc. Add any kind of spices/herbs you and your family love. Add some cheese as it cooks, then sprinkle some on top. This is such a versatile "fast food" that you are sure to come up with SOME kind of combination that you and your family will enjoy. I often cook up a huge pot of rice (usually brown rice) and let it cool, then divide it up into quart-size freezer bags to have on hand for a fast food meal. You don't even have to thaw it; just put it into the mixture and stir around until the rice has thawed and separated into the rest of the food. I also do this (cooking a big batch) with pasta.
The point is: homemade fast food IS fast. And good. And can be healthy. And can be served in the right portion sizes to your family. This is only one example of a really tasty homemade fast food dish; there are so many others. So - if you have worked all day outside of your home and come home dead tired, or if you have worked all day inside of your home and are already home dead tired - don't despair. You can still enjoy a homemade meal that doesn't take up a lot more of your time and energy.
You will enjoy it. So will your family.
Do fast food!
