# Frustration with long commute and cooking dinner. Help? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051 "2013-03-04T23:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/21 "2013-03-06T01:58:32Z")
You can start cooking on your way home! [Manifold Destiny](http://www.amazon.com/Manifold-Destiny-Guide-Cooking-Engine/dp/1416596232)will tell you how! > [@](#): > > It’s time to bid farewell to the roadside meal as you know it. Nearly twenty years ago, Chris Maynard and Bill Scheller opened the world’s eyes to the beautym of car-engine gastronomy in the original Manifold Destiny. And now that another generation of both drivers and eaters has emerged, the cult classic is due for an overhaul. In this shiny, spanking-new edition, learn how to make s’mores in your Scion, poach fish in your Pontiac, even bust out a gourmet snack from under the hood of your Escalade. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/22 "2013-03-06T03:51:40Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > Keep cooked rice in the fridge; it warms up beautifully and it’s great for a quick fried rice. What’s the best way to reheat cooked rice without making it too clumpy or dry? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/23 "2013-03-06T04:00:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > What’s the best way to reheat cooked rice without making it too clumpy or dry? Microwave IMO, with a tad of extra water, then break it up a bit with a fork (or break it up beforehand). ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/24 "2013-03-06T07:25:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You can start cooking on your way home! [Manifold Destiny](http://www.amazon.com/Manifold-Destiny-Guide-Cooking-Engine/dp/1416596232)will tell you how! Sadly, we take the train. I will check out pressure cookers. Thanks to those who suggested them. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/25 "2013-03-06T07:47:20Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Yeah, I’m already doing this for lunch and dinner but bleh. I think I’m realizing as I’m reading the excellent suggestions that I’m doing the right stuff most days, just getting frustrated with having to spend my weekends cooking and then eating leftovers which I’m getting less and less fond of every day. > > And my husband won’t say that he hates leftovers, but he hates leftovers. > > One thing I haven’t been doing is having things prepped and ready to go, which is a great idea to save time cooking, but when do people do the prepping? 😃 But they’re not leftovers, they’re premade - you shouldn’t be cooking something to be eating it several times the same week, but to have it available for several weeks. You make a large amount of veggies, and freeze them, and then you can whip up a stew or rice-with-veggies or chicken-breast-with-a-side-of veggies a lot faster; better yet, freeze portions which have different compositions. Cook a very bare stew and freeze most of it: mixing it with rice gives you a different dish than mixing it with potatoes or with one of those bags of veggies - but do it in different weeks! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/26 "2013-03-06T08:42:59Z")
Also consider “transformer” leftovers, and give it a day or two between the original and the transformer. That makes it less “ugh, this again?!”, even if you don’t have freezer space. Sunday, when I was home, I made a pot roast. Monday we had chicken. Tuesday, I diced an onion, used presliced mushrooms (hey, they were cheaper than the whole ones for once!) and a clove of garlic and sauteed them in a skillet. Added the leftover pot roast, cut into cubes, and the left over gravy and a little paprika. Warmed it to bubbling and stirred in a cup of sour cream. Voila. Instant beef stroganoff! Not quite as good as made from raw beef, but better than a sharp stick in the eye. Tonight we’re having some sort of something with pork tenderloin (it’s my husband’s night to cook, so I don’t know what, exactly). Tomorrow is pizza night, and then Friday, using the leftover pork tenderloin, we’ll have either fried rice or stir fry, whichever we feel like in the moment. Weekend roast chicken leftovers become chicken soup (add carrots and celery, noodles on the side) becomes chicken stew (add a roux and some potatoes and peas) becomes chicken pot pie (put the stew in a refrigerated pie crust). Maybe not all in one week, but that’s why I love my freezer. A big batch of black eyed peas simmered with a ham bone is two side dishes of black eyed peas, a main dish of hoppin’ john with some rice, and a soup with some stock, canned diced tomatoes and vegetables added to it. And yes, all of those freeze. I’ve also learned that almost 1/3 of my recipes start with “saute a chopped onion”. So when I’m making a roast or soup or something on the weekend, I’ll also chop up several pounds of onions and saute them. Then I freeze them in 1/2 cup portions for later use. Some thing when I find mushrooms on sale. Sauteed mushrooms freeze beautifully. That cuts almost 10 minutes of prep and cooking time right there. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/27 "2013-03-06T09:42:41Z")
Another vote for pressure cookers. I did a meal today where you just pop the chicken in the cooker with some sauce (ketchup, soy sauce, honey, garlic) and the whole thing is ready to eat in 15 minutes. While it’s depressurizing I just steamed some broccoli to go with it. Honestly our pressure cooker has been so worth it. The electric ones can be expensive - we just use a stovetop one with no problem. As for reheating cooked rice, IME it reheats better if it’s frozen rather than stuck in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/28 "2013-03-06T10:46:34Z")
Fwiw, Jamie Oliver (you may not know him but he is very popular here) has some ideas. He did various tv series on 15-minute and 30-minute meals. Obv. Google if interested. Personally, I’d take this as an opportunity to really, really explore all kinds of fish cooked all kinds of ways. Anyway, a general overview: > **[Jamie's 30-Minute Meals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie%27s_30-Minute_Meals)** > > Jamie's 30-Minute Meals is a series of 40 episodes aired in 2010 on Channel 4 in which Jamie Oliver cooks a three- to four-dish meal in under 30 minutes. The show premiered on 11 October 2010 and aired over eight weeks, ending on 3 December 2010. > On the day the final episode aired, a cookbook of the same name was released. It became the fastest-selling non-fiction work of all time, selling 735,000 copies in its first week on sale. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/29 "2013-03-06T20:58:45Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > What’s the best way to reheat cooked rice without making it too clumpy or dry? > [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Microwave IMO, with a tad of extra water, then break it up a bit with a fork (or break it up beforehand). This. If it’s the Chinese takeout type of rice, I drizzle about a tablespoon of water over the rice (I cup a bit of water in my palm and sprinkle it over; measurement is definitely not precise), then cover the rice with a damp paper towel and nuke it. Works a treat. I’ve not tried this method with rice I cooked at home, but it’d probably work there too. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/30 "2013-03-06T21:09:50Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Sadly, we take the train. Hmm, there ought to be a lot of heat produced somewhere on that train… > [@](#): > > I will check out pressure cookers. Thanks to those who suggested them. It’s always a good idea to have a pressure cooker around, even for some things that don’t take that long to make, like clams and lobsters. But for cooking meats, stews, soups, and such, you’ll get about the same results from a crockpot, and you can get that entirely prepped the night before (although I guess you could load up the pressure cooker the night before and leave it in the fridge). Anyway, avoid cheap pressure cookers. They’re probably structurally sound, but the cheap valves and locking mechanisms don’t last long. The larger the cooker, the longer it will take to come up to pressure, but you have to avoid overfilling a pressure cooker also because the valve can get clogged. So figure out how large a meal you’ll typically make, that shouldn’t fill a pressure cooker more than half way. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/31 "2013-03-07T16:26:26Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > This. If it’s the Chinese takeout type of rice, I drizzle about a tablespoon of water over the rice (I cup a bit of water in my palm and sprinkle it over; measurement is definitely not precise), then cover the rice with a damp paper towel and nuke it. Works a treat. I’ve not tried this method with rice I cooked at home, but it’d probably work there too. Sorry for the hijack, but does anybody know if the above works with brown rice as well? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/32 "2013-03-07T18:25:18Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Sorry for the hijack, but does anybody know if the above works with brown rice as well? Sure. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/33 "2013-03-16T04:53:20Z")
Re **WhyNot** ’s frozen mushrooms and onions: This works for other vegetables too. Use a food processor to slice carrots, celery, etc., and freeze portions in muffin pans overnight, then stack the blocks in bags or plastic tubs. (If the blocks won’t come out of the pan, set it in an inch or so of hot water for 10 or 15 seconds and flip it over onto a board.) Re Microwaving leftover rice: Cook it in the microwave too. Put rice, water (or stock) and salt in a bowl (with a block or two of frozen veggies if you like), cover loosely, and give it 5 or 6 minutes at full power to boil, then 15 at 50 or 60% to simmer. (Brown rice needs longer - is it 45 minutes?) The frozen stuff will add a little more time on full power to reach a boil. The boiling time and the simmering power will vary depending on the microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/34 "2013-03-16T07:06:16Z")
I really like my rice cooker for this. Toss some rice and water in the pot, put some fresh broccoli and chopped chicken or pork in the top steamer, then hop in the shower. Dinner’s ready when I get out. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051/35 "2013-03-20T21:18:46Z")
Followup to all of the great suggestions. I bought a wok and a pressure cooker and a food processor and have been playing with them this week. The pressure cooker is fabulous and I love it. I had no idea what I was missing. I made a curry and some soup and it really does beautifully. My only problem with it is that I have yet to get it to go into high-pressure mode right off the bat. I lock it and set it for pressure and it doesn’t work. Then I undo it, unlock, reset, and it works. I don’t know if I’m just blind or if I’m missing something. The wok is a little more difficult. I bought a carbon steel one and am having trouble with the seasoning, but I made lomo saltado last night and it was awfully good. More stir fry tonight! Well, actually fajitas which seem very anti-wok, but work with me, people! 🙂 Thanks again for the good advice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frustration-with-long-commute-and-cooking-dinner-help/652051.md?page=1)