+1 for compound movements! My trainer got me onto exercises for functional strength, which included squats, lunges, bench press, and a variety of others that are centered on the core but that bring multiple muscle groups into play in a way that develops functional strength for activities. You can spend a lot of time on little wristy exercises and not have much to show for it.
I'd also say that unless you're pretty hardcore, you probably don't want to consider your strength training as a calorie-burning workout. Sure, it burns some -- and it can burn a lot depending on who you are and how you do it -- but the goal is to develop strength. If calorie-burning is the goal, there are more efficient ways to do it.