FROM DICK'S KITCHEN

My one pot slow-cooker dinner ready to do its thing in four hours. I have a lot of kitchen friends, but none better than my slow-cooker. I use it at least twice a week for complete meals, stews and soups. The nice part of a slow cooker is that you can dump everything in it all at once, turn on the timer for when you want your meal to be ready and then get on with the rest of your day. You just can't beat it...And food always tastes so good because you have retained all the flavors. I have started to use my slow cooker more and more for chicken instead of roasting or frying and, in case you hadn't noticed, chicken has remained the best buy in meat departments. I purchased four large chicken legs and thighs the other day for less than four dollars and that gave me enough for four meals over an equal number of days. I froze two of the legs and thighs, leaving the other two aside for dinner this evening in the form of my super dooper slow-cooker lemon chicken. And again, ...

T ypically, the other afternoon I spent too much time on the computer. It was well past 6 o'clock and I was starting to feel hunger pangs. I had to get my thinking cap on in order to come up with a quick plan for supper -- and before the opening faceoff of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game on TV. I knew that I had some fresh hamburger in the refrigerator and all I had to do was come up with a way to prepare it. I was not in the mood for a hamburger (didn't have buns anyway) and I wanted something a little different from my go-to goulash recipe which is always an ace-in-the-hole at times like that. First and foremost I had to take stock of what I had on hand. Why not try mixing the hamburg with seven-grains rice and topping it off with a mushroom-tomato sauce in a one-shot, main course dish? Wouldn't hurt to add a side of broccoli and cauliflower to go along with it...Might even have half an avocado drizzled with French dressing as a salad of sorts. Worked for me...S...

F or the better part of 30 years I have been the chief cook and bottle washer in the Wright household, not necessarily by design but the result of unforeseen life circumstances. In the process of keeping body(s) and soul(s) together, I have become pretty damn proficient and creative at putting food on the table-- if I do say so myself. Now that I am totally on my own, the challenge has been to prepare meals for one that are nutritional, satisfactorily filling and most importantly, within a fixed income budget. It helps too, if I can prepare a meal that is as simple as possible and to do it in 45 minutes or less. I am convinced that there are other single guys out there who could not only benefit from moral support, but from some suggested hearty meal menu ideas and recipes that appeal especially to the male taste. Nothing fancy, just good old fashioned sustenance that in a pinch on the rare occasion, can be served to friends and family too, just by adding to the ingredients. ...