Lazy cooking

I don't know about you but there are some days that I just don't feel like cooking.  And there's also that little thing called a budget that REQUIRES me to cook on a regular basis.  It's hard to force myself to make an actual meal...something more than frozen pizza or corn dogs.  Both of which have soy bean oil, which means the littlest can't even eat with us without large doses of Benadryl and Orapred.  So, it's really best for ALL of us if I cook.  But sometimes cooking meals like spaghetti or tacos seems so intimidating.  Which is really stupid because they are really fairly quick and simple.  I think what gets me with spaghetti is browning the meat, then adding the store bought sauce (because who am I kidding-there's no way I'd take the time to make my own sauce though I love the IDEA of it), warming it, making the noodles and then making any other sides, though in my house we rarely have sides.  It's usually just noodles and sauce here.  And yet, as simple as that IS, I make it complicated in my mind.  I think of all the different steps and somehow manage to convince myself it is actually difficult or time consuming.

But what do you do when you have hamburger that has been thawing in the fridge for four days that just HAS to be cooked?  Kris nixed the easy and delicious Velveeta/Salsa dip and I nixed tacos because I just didn't want them.  So he convinced me to just make the sauce (so we didn't have to throw out the meat) and we'd have spaghetti later in the week.  So I sat there trying to muster up the strength to get in there and just do it, knowing once I got going I'd be fine and it would be over soon.  When I suddenly remembered the EASY way to cook the sauce.  OK, the EASIER way.

It's no secret that I love all things Pampered Chef.  My entire kitchen is outfitted in PC gear, including the cookware.  BEST.COOKWARE.EVER!  My dishes are even PC, because when I obsess about something, boy do I OBSESS!  A few years ago, a friend of mine who also loves PC taught me a simple trick to browning hamburger.  It requires two tools (that SHOULD but don't have to be PC).  The large micro cooker and the food chopper.  Put one lb. of hamburger in the large micro cooker (or large microwave safe dish with a lid).  I prefer the micro cooker because the lid has holes in it so once the meat is cooked, you can just drain it right there without moving the meat to a strainer/colander.  The fewer dirty dishes I have, the better.  Oh yeah, I also season my meat with Italian Seasoning and some fresh garlic before I cook it.

Cook the hamburger in the microwave for 5 minutes (for more than 1 lb. increase the time-mine was about 1 1/2 lbs. so it took 8 minutes).  Remove from microwave and drain off the excess grease.  Now it's time to use THIS.  I love this food chopper!  For so many things.  While it probably isn't the best thing to use in the micro cooker, and may just void the one year warranty (mine is years past the warranty anyway!), it is possible to chop up the hamburger right in the micro cooker; your cooked hamburger will then look like THIS: 

Simply add your sauce and mix well.  Cover and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.