Real men don’t **EAT ** quiche…there was never anything said about them making one.
Yer’ off the hook mate. 
Ever since I learned the right way to make chilled green tea, I don’t buy any other beverage. When I say the “right” way I mean like this:
- Extract with boiling water in a pot for a very short time, like 30 seconds, using a high leaf-to-water ratio
- Ice immediately and cool to room temperature
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so
- Strain and bottle. Dilute with water to taste.
- Enjoy
If you do it like so, then it will stay green for a week or so before turning yellow and losing its taste.
Another tip I find useful is instead of using just sencha (dried green tea leaves) like one usually would, I mix sencha with matcha (pulverized green tea). You can buy this already mixed or mix it yourself.
Perhaps it is all in my head but I feel like I can taste the antioxidants and phytochemicals going to work in my bloodstream to help me live longer. Plus, I get a helpful dose of caffeine that doesn’t upset my stomach.
Biscuits.
Although that’s not quite the case described in the title, since I’ve probably been making biscuits from scratch since before I knew there was such a thing as biscuits in a can.
I’m not sure I’ve ever bought canned biscuits just to eat as biscuits, but I have this little cookbook-one of those “Hey, while you are standing in line, why don’t you browse this book and then toss it in so you have these quick soups and biscuit meal recipes?” type impulse buys. A couple of the soup recipes are good, most of them are a little heavy on the convenience foods.
Anyway, it has recipes for making meals using canned biscuits as part of the recipe. I have learned the hard way that if I make my biscuits from scratch rather than buy them in a can, it doubles the amount of effort involved, but it goes from “Well, this looks interesting, but just isn’t that tasty” to “Wow!”
If there is anything that doesn’t taste good when served with homemade biscuits, I don’t know what it is.
Yeah, biscuits, too. I just made scones. They took about two minutes to put together (heat oven, rub butter into dry ingredients, add milk, mix, bake) and they didn’t taste like crap. It takes almost as long to read the ingedients list on the boxed mix, and they’re twelve thousand times as good.
Frozen burritos.
Ingredients:
[ul]
[li]Can of refried beans[/li][li]Can of (black, kidney, whatever) beans[/li][li]1/2 to 1 lb cooked hamburger or breakfast sausage[/li][li]Can of tomato sauce[/li][li]Can of diced tomatos[/li][li]Can of diced chilis[/li][li]Large flour tortillas (10-12 inches diameter)[/li][li]Shredded cheese[/li][/ul]
Mix everything but the tortillas and cheese in a pot. Heat to a boil, reduce temperature and simmer until it’s a paste (usually takes me about 2 hours.) About 2 spoonfuls plus a half handful of cheese per burrito, not so much that you can’t roll it up tightly. (The important thing is to not have the filling ooze out. I find that if I sprinkle cheese on the bare tortilla and microwave for about 20 seconds, it becomes pliable enough to roll without breaking.)
Individually wrap the burritos in plastic and store in the freezer.
Usually makes a little more than a dozen burritos. Adjust ingredients to taste.
Before serving, microwave them for 1 to 2 minutes per burrito.
Yummy, great for lunch at work, a single burrito will fill me up. A single burrito probably has enough grease and cholesterol to stop Dick Cheney cold. :eek: But at least I have a better idea of what’s in it.
Many of the things people have already mentioned; pesto (in fresh basil season, anyway, which is when it’s best), hummus (I like mine much more garlicky and lemony than store-bought anyway), salsa, salad dressing (though I’m usually not much of a salad eater.)
Also:
Baba ganouj (for same reasons as hummus, only more so; there is an even bigger difference between fresh/refrigerated eggplant than between freshly cooked/canned chickpeas)
Anything leavened with baking powder/baking soda: quick breads, most simple cakes, and especially muffins (though every once in a while, I wish I could frost/decorate a cake in such a way that it didn’t look like it was done by a 6-year-old - someday I will take a cake decorating class)
Just about any kind of soup - it’s insanely cheap to make yourself, and sooooo much better than canned, or even frozen
And I cannot contemplate eating canned chili or beef stew; call me a food snob if you must. And Pour-a-Quiche is a concept that makes me want to vomit. Come to think of it, maybe that’s because Pour-a-Quiche kind of looks like vomit.
Two things
Mayonnaise - mmmmmm when homemade, especially when I can flavor it myself.
Beef Jerky - no more paying that 3000% markup
I agree that homemade tomatoe sauce is cheaper, tastier, and not that time consuming. Heck, it takes longer for the water to boil and cook the spaghetti than it takes to whip up a wonderful tomatoe sauce!
Other than that, I have to add fajita seasoning. I found a recipe once, elaborated upon it, and oh my it was wonderful! I always keep a little lying around, since fajitas are relatively cheap and easy to make, and often a spur of the moment decision.
I often do it in a Mason jar like that (especially handy as it has measurements marked). It does emulsify if you’re using mustard; wouldn’t try it with just oil and vinegar though.