Lately, I’ve been wanting to try the “challenge” of the 30 minute Rachel Ray meal.  She seems to inspire strong emotions in people — rabid fans and equally rabid detractors.  Those that hate her complain of any number of things — her bubbly personality, the annoying abbreviations and catchphrases sprinkled through her speech, and most often, that her meals really can’t be prepared in 30 minutes. 

Personally, I can take her or leave her.  Yes, hearing her say “EVOO” and then immediately following it up with “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” a half dozen times even in the same half hour (really, whats the point of an abbreviation if you have to explain it more than once!) gets on my nerves, and I don’t watch her talk show or her travel shows, but I do still watch the original “30 Minute Meals”.   I appreciate that she is enouraging people to get back in the kitchen and cook when eating out seems the norm these days.  So anyway, I do own a few RR cookbooks and I thought I would randomly pick a recipe and see how I fared.  It came up 34 which is Sweet Sausages Braised in Onions with Horseradish Smashed Potatoes in 365: No Repeats.   I knew that wasn’t ideal for my family (peel on potatoes did not go over well, and I left the horseradish out of the potatoes, adding in a little parmesan instead, and the kidlet hated the chicken sausages I picked), but I finished the meal (and even added a green vegetable) in 32 minutes.  And that was with being interrupted in the middle for a potty break for the kidlet.  There was enough time even to clean up as I went so there was nothing left except the actual cooking and eating vessels.

I’ll try another again soon.  Maybe next week.  The hubby gets traumatized by my forays into different foods and recipes and healthy cooking (he’d be thrilled to eat the same thing 7 nights a week!), so I have to space them apart 😉


Posted by in Brain Dump, Cooking