Lena's Diet Matrix

Short Ribs	Chicken Thighs	Pork Shoulder, cubed or Spam	Bulk Pork Sausage or Ground beef	Chuck Roast, cubed	Beans
Onions	Carrots	Celery	Garlic	Cauliflower, zucchini,  turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, carrots, spinach, or Broccoli	Mushrooms (add last)
Red Wine	White Wine	Beer	Vinegar	Soy Sauce	Beef or Chicken Broth (Homemade is best)
Diced tomatoes	Dried mushrooms	Bay Leaves	Fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, and parsley	Honey	Ginger

This matrix is my not-so secret list of "throw together" meals. Be aware you can vary the liquids, but if you won't drink the wines or beers, don't cook with them. For example, I happen to be very fond of a Reisling (white) wine that comes in a blue bottle with a sun on the logo. It cooks well. OTOH, I can't stand most pinot grigio, so I don't have it in my food. Same goes for the beers. This year, I'm going to try some of the Samuel Adams flavored beers. However, don't overlook the stale beers left when someone throws a party. It's free flavor.

Same goes for the vinegars. Don't forget herbal vinegars. I keep white, cider, sherry, balsamic, wine vinegars and rice wine vinegars on hand.

Simply choose your meat (Row 1), choose your veggies (Row 2), choose your braising liquid (Row 3), and choose your flavor enhancers (Row 4).

Prep: Chop up everything in advance. Measure your ingredients or have them standing by. (Salt and pepper are always welcome, but be sparing.)

You may use a deep frying pan and a crock pot or (my new favorite) the electric skillet.

1. Braise your meat. Fully brown it in a splash of oil. The more carmelization, the more flavor. Remove the meat and either put it in the crock pot or bowl to add back to the skillet later.
2. Throw in the veggies and give them a stir-up to help scrape up the brown bits. (You can add mushrooms in the last few seconds, since they cook so quickly.) Throw the veggies in the crock or put in the bowl on top of the meat.
3. Now throw in the liquid, enough to cover the bottom and give you enough to give you some sauce. Scrape up the last of the brown bits and flavor from the pan.
4. Add the herbs/flavor to the sauce. Now, if you're using the crock pot, pour the sauce over the meat and veggies, slap on the lid, turn on the crock and walk away. If you're using the electric skillet, add the meat and veggies on top of the sauce and stir it well. Turn the skillet to low, slap on the lid, and check it every ten minutes until done.

The rest of your groceries are your snacks like eggs (for boiling), bacon and sausages, vegetables (see above matrix), chicken strips, sliced cheese, canned tuna/salmon. You can have mayo, but beware the calories. Mustard is better.

If you must have a carb substitute, try quinoa. It cooks like rice in a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa, and keeps very well in the fridge. It can be eaten as a hot cereal or used like rice or pasta.

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(¸.·*  Lena Austin
http://www.LenaAustin.com
http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com