The last 2 months have been rough for me as you all know...feeling sick, working a ton, trying to be a good member of the family. I find many nights I just need something EASY (and "homemade") to make for dinner. I'm so sick of take-out and don't like super processed foods, but cooking isn't so easy for me right now. The other night when I just didn't know what to make, I went to the store and grabbed those frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu packs, a box of Rice-a-Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice and a bag of carrots to steam. EASY and YUMMY. Definitely my yummy easy peasy meal.
So, time to share your most favorite, most yummy, EASY recipe or dinner idea (note, mine above is certainly not a recipe!). I've been wanting to ask you this question for days...bring on the great ideas! :)
17 comments:
my easiest meal is:
crock pot salsa chicken
place frozen, boneless chicken breast (i do about 1 per person)
in crockpot. cover with a jar of salsa... any kind will do. cover and cook on low all day long. prior to eating use two forks to shred. and viola! the best chicken. we use it in tacos or burritos, for taco salad... basically anything. tonight i just put some leftovers in a bowl,and topped with sourcream and cheese.
I learned this one in Italy...
Pasta Bianca (White pasta)
Boil a bunch of spaghetti noodles, drain, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, (red pepper flakes if you want a kick) and lots of fresh grated parmigian cheese. It is so fast and Hannah inhales it. Sometimes we throw in chopped tomatoes & chicken or add some sauteed garlic. Make a salad on the side and you're done. So easy.
Italians make this a lot when they're sick because tomato sauce can be acidic or they make it for their little ones.
thanks guys!
kelly - adrianne does the same exact thing and has been telling me about it for some time - I need to try it!!
adrianne - that sounds delish. I want to move to italy.
more ideas people! I know you're got 'em! :)
HI!
Ok, here are my 2 faves:
bbq chicken for 2 meals--stick 3 chicken breasts in the crockpot with a couple of squeezes of bbq sauce. Let cook on low all day and shred around dinner time. Put chicken on a hogie bun with some grated cheese--done!
And later that week....you can use the leftover chicken for bbq chicken pizza: we buy dough at the pizza place here for $1 (!), and I put bbq sauce first, then white cheddar cheese, than chicken, than some sliced red onion, a little parm cheese and cliantro to look fancy. Easy as a pizza pie.
Also, I love this fake-out: I heat up some quality beef stock and sliced roast beef in a saucepan. Once it's nice and warm, I put the roast beef on a nice roll, pour the broth in a bowl and voila, au jus! It's just crazy how easy it is!
Pesto pasta! I love into make it with the fresh pasta from the fridge section in the grocery store. It takes only a couple minutes to cook! Grab some yummy pesto sauce, whatever your favorite, stir into cooked pasta. Chop up some fresh tomatoes and canned artichoke hearts to add to the top. Walla! Also, you can add some cooked chicken or shrimp if you like a stir in. Yummy nummy and easy peasy!
Another easy pasta recipe. Ravioli with meatballs. Frozen cheese ravioli from Ralph's, a can of the .99 pasta sauce from Trader Joes, and frozen meatballs from TJs. Boil ravioli for only 2-3 minutes and it's done, place 4-5 frozen meatballs in the microwave, done. Warm up the pasta sauce. Throw it all together. YUM!
Baked ziti is our fast, easy meal.
1/2 box of cooked penne
1 jar spaghetti or marinara sauce
1 container of cottage cheese
shredded parmesean and mozzarella (1/2 c or so)
Mix it all together in a 9x9 pan or in an oval corningware dish, sprinkle with some cheese. Bake at 350 covered for 20 min and then uncovered until cheese is melted.
You can obviously vary it with cheese and seasonings and veggies however you want. Sometimes we stick pepperoni or spinach in it and mix salt and pepper into the cheese.
I make alot of the things already listed, and all are yummy, quick and easy.
Another thing I do is, Mix rice, water and a can of cream of mushroom or cream of whatever and pour in a greased casserole. Then I add a few (2-3) chicken breasts (frozen if your in a real hurry) and cover with foil. Cook for an hour at 375. Great!
OR I mix up some ground turkey, some oatmeal, an egg, salt, pepper, worsteshire sauce, some bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese, even a spoonful of ricotta occasionally, and a can of tomato sauce put into a loaf pan and bake in a 350 oven for about an hour. Serve with mashed potatoes, salad, and ketchup. Everyone loves this at my house.
We are Midwest meat and potatoes people, so most easy meals use the crock pot, and this is one of my favorites. I'll be making it for my dad in a few hours as he loves it so much, even in hot weather! He chose it over grilled filet mignons today! I like it because it's good on a sensitive stomach.
Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast via Allrecipes.com:
INGREDIENTS:
2 (10.75 ounce) cans
condensed cream of
mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water
5 1/2 pounds pot roast
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.
(Steph's note: I also add fresh sliced mushrooms and baby carrots; sometimes small/new potatoes if I don't want to mash potatoes with a couple hours left to cook, but I prefer to eat this with mashed potatoes as the gravy it makes is quite yummy.)
And this is one of the best, truly easy meals ever in my opinion....
Impossibly Easy Chicken Pot Pie
via Bettycrocker.com
1 2/3 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Stir vegetables, chicken and soup in ungreased 9-inch pie plate.
2. Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
(Steph's note: I use Trader Joe's cooked chicken, and baking mix. I didn't believe it would be so good until I tried it, it's amazing and fast!)
And finally for a great snack, if you like asparagus, a few times a week this fantastic asparagus season we've been snacking on marinated asparagus per Paula Deen's Marinated Asparagus Salad recipe via foodtv.com:
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cooked, or 1 1/2 (15-ounce) cans whole green asparagus spears
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (0.7-ounce) package Italian salad dressing mix, prepared according to package directions
1/4 cup tarragon vinegar
Lettuce leaves
Mayonnaise
Drain the asparagus and layer it in a shallow glass dish. Sprinkle each layer with some crumbled tarragon, pepper, to taste, and garlic salt. Pour the salad dressing and vinegar over the asparagus, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled asparagus on lettuce leaves, topped with a dollop of mayonnaise flavored with a little of the dressing.
(Steph's note: I blanch the asparagus for 2 or 3 minutes depending on size, then put it in ice water to shock before draining. I also use garlic powder instead of salt, and use kosher salt. We usually just snack on the asparagus, but it's great as the salad too.)
Happy Father's Day to Mr. This Week For Dinner! :-)
Oh yeah. Taco soup in the crock pot has got to be one of the easiest meals in the planet. The recipe where you add 2 cans of all the ingredients and then a packet of taco seasoning. If you don't have this recipe let me know. I thought I was the last person on the planet to get one.
And then grilled cheese and canned tomato soup is another personal favorite when I feel under the weather. Obviously you don't need a recipe for that...
Chicken is also my go-to meal when I don't feel like cooking. A couple of thawed chicken breasts in a 8x8 baking dish, top with a sauce you have on hand (spaghetti sauce, salsa, barbeque sauce, italian dressing, etc.) and bake in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes. I usually add cheese near the end of the cooking time.
We also do "Make Your Own Pasta." I boil a big pot of penne or macaroni or spaghetti. Everyone dishes out a portion and tops it with whatever they can find in the pantry that sounds yummy. This worked really well when I was pregnant because my husband could flavor his up with seasonings and sauces and I could just have mine plain or with a dash of olive oil and parmesan.
My boyfriend calls this my white trash shepard's pie, but he inhales it...Made per instructions it will serve two, so multiply by however many you need.
Take a can of roast beef with gravy, mix it with a cup or so of frozen peas and carrots and place mixture in 2 ramekins, then top with prepared instant potatoes and then bake in the oven for about 15-20 mins until heated through and potatoes begin to brown a tad. Then eat! We normally have some veggies or a salad on the side as well
thanks for all your ideas, everyone! where to begin?!?! please feel free to keep posting. :)
When I don't have time to think about dinner I do Parmesean chicken (I always have the ingredients on hand--you can see the recipe at www.mudpiegourmet.blogspot.com/2007/03/parmesan-chicken-sticks.html
or chicken taco salad--Fry small pieces of chicken in a little olive oil, and chili powder. Serve with romaine w/ canned black beans, tomatoes, chips and cheese. The dressing is salsa mixed with Ranch dressing.
Thank you Stephanie! Hope your dad had a good fathers day out there in meat and potato country. I had a blast (i.e. long afternoon nap). Cate kept us occupied/entertained the rest of the day.
I know I'm kind of late but I still wanted to contribute to this post since this recipe is truly EASY and truly YUMMY and I'm just excited to share it. I got it from one of those recipe exchanges:
Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 pkg. Good Seasons Dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
Put first three ingredients in the crock pot and cook on LOW all day (about 8 hours). One hour before serving, add the last three ingredients. Cook until all ingredients are melted and have the consistency of gravy. Use a fork to shred the chicken. Serve over rice (my favorite!), mashed potatoes, or pasta.
This recipe is very flavorful and your apartment, house, whatever, will smell so good all day while it cooks!
This one is great - the easiest ever - A little taste of a Hawaiian luau feast whenever you like :-)
** KALUA PORK **
1-2 lbs pork roast
2 cups apple cider
~1 TBSP rock salt
~3/4 cap-full liquid smoke
Put all ingredients in your crock pot the night before and cook on low ~20 hours.
Shred meat with fork and tongs (remove bones or fat if the roast included that stuff). Serve over rice and enjoy the tender flavorful meat and the yummy juice/sauce!
Serve with a salad or green veggie.
I'm a little late here, but I LOVE to do the following. So easy and yummy.
I make "quesadilla's"
Tortilla on a skillet layered with black beans, salsa and cheese. Heated on medium heat until the cheese is melted.
This tastes different depending on what kind of salsa you use. You can also put in corn, refried beans, mexican rice, whatever you have around.
easy peasy.
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