Other days, I cook an easy, healthy meal like sauteed spinach and mushrooms with ground beef or Italian-style beans and greens.
My happiest days are when I can reach into the refrigerator and pull out cartons of leftover beef stew or takeout Thai curry. Heat and eat.
And then there are the days when I reach in and come up with. . . nothing. And, of course, those are the days that I want food and I want it NOW.
How do I bring on the fast and easy without resorting to my daughter's favorite lunch, ramen that's ready in three minutes? Or grabbing for the bag of chips with a side of salsa?
Peak into my pantry and you'll always find a stash of these ready-made Tasty Bite dishes that I learned about from Wandering Chopsticks.
Bombay Potatoes is one of 18 Indian vegetarian dishes available from Tasty Bite.
The nutrition label says that the packet includes two servings, but I find it perfect for lunch for one.
With a serving of heat-up Trader Joe's jasmine rice, here's how the time, cost and calories stack up:
(I don't know how to make nice, neat columns in blogger, so I'll have to itemize in little chunks.)
Indian Food, Tasty Bite Bombay Potatoes
Time: 2 minutes
Cost: *$2.19
Calories: 220
Rice, Trader Joe's Thai Jasmine
Time: 1.5 minutes
Cost: $.75 per serving
Calories: 180
Totals
Time: 3 1/2 minutes
Cost: $2.95
Calories: 400
*$2.19 at Fresh and Easy but $2.99 at Cost Plus
Take an extra 10 seconds and add a handful of chopped cilantro and a few mint leaves.
Mix it all together, enjoy and get back to work.
What do you do when you want "fast food"?
NEWS FLASH: I just returned home from Cost Plus for my monthly supply of cheap cava and discovered that Tasty Bite meals have been reduced from $2.99 to $2.00. I stocked up.
10 comments:
Miscue! I scrolled down too quickly and thought the pommes frites were under 400 calories. Damn. A woman can dream, can't she?
I love how you doctored the mix--I look forward to trying it--
Oh! These are on my shopping list right now. Sure beats Ramen :)
SC, I don't have 2 peak N2 your pantry to find these - they're in mine already.
I love Tasty Bite. The Bombay potatoes and Jaipur vegetables are my favorite flavors. Fresh and Easy's naan is really good too. Chewy. So much better than TJ's version.
When I get a craving for Indian food these days, that's what I go for. Cheap, quick, and usually satisfies my craving.
Looks good. blue kitchen had a recipe this week for linguine w/clams; everything but the pasta from a can. I was dubious, but it was delicious. Esp. w/the anchovies.
Now you've gone and made me hungry again. Stop doing that!
Desiree, I wish I could have those pommes frites in under 4 minutes.
FL, Hurry to Cost Plus, if you have one nearby. On sale for $2.00 a package.
CO, Good for you.
WC, Thanks for the great tip on these. I still have to try the Fresh and Easy naan.
AH, I bookmarked that Blue Kitchen recipe. Can't wait to try it now that I know you've vetted it.
Margaret, After the huge breakfast, I'm not gonna' be hungry for a while.
I purchased a bunch of that Thai coconut soup at Cost Plus. I had to cut it with plain coconut milk because it was too hot for me but that was kind of good.
While this looks good and the calories are great I would bet the carb count would be too high for me as a diabetic. I love rice but it's very high and so are anything in the bean family. I only have 150Mg of carbs per entire day and one cup of rice is nearly 1/3 of that. I miss chili so much but I have to spread my carbs out over the day. I try to have most at breakfast and dinner saving a few for snacks. I can have a salad at lunch with lots of protein without using them if I pass on croutons or beans.
PA, The hotter the better.
Nelle, No these would not be good choices for a carb-counting diabetic. I was shopping with a carb-counting friend at Fresh and Easy, and she dismissed these. I didn't realize that beans are so high in carbs.
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