Cooking Need 14 easy cheap delicious dinners

[dinah439]

My family really likes these flatbread sandwiches:

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 chicken breast
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 piece of pita bread
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
shredded mozzarella cheese
crumbled feta cheese
2 or 3 leaves iceberg lettuce
pico de gallo or salsa

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450. Shake steak seasoning over chicken breast on baking sheet; bake 20 minutes.

2. Cut chicken into strips.

3. Spread mayo on pita; sprinkle garlic on to taste.

4. Add chicken strips and a handful each of mozzarella and feta.

5. Put sandwich back in oven for five minutes.

6. Pile on shredded lettuce and pico de gallo or salsa to taste.

We eat them as just flatbread sandwiches but you can also roll them up to eat as wraps.

We also make some substitutions from the original recipe. I use chicken seasoning instead of steak and don't add the garlic or pico.

They're really good and very, very easy.

We also like Lasagna Roll-ups:

Ingredients:

8 curly regular lasagna noodles (not no-boil)
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
2 cups shredded Italian-blend cheese (8 oz)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375. Coat at 11 x 7 x 2 baking dish with nonstick spray. Cook lasagna noodles following package directions. Drain and rinse with water to cool.

2. While the noodles are cooking, carefully combine ricotta, basil, salt, pepper, egg, 1 cup Italian-blend cheese and grated Parmesan cheese in a food processor or blender. Puree until well combined and basil is chopped.

3. Spread 1 cup of the pasta sauce into bottom of prepared pan. Once noodles have cooled, place one flat on work surface. Spread with slightly rounded 1/4 cup ricotta filling, then roll up from short end, enclosing filling. Transfer, seam side down, to sauce-lined dish. Repeat with remaining noodles and filling, forming an assembly line.

4. Top roll-ups in pan with remaining 1/2 cup sauce (1 tablespoon per roll-up). Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup shredded cheese.

5. Bake roll-ups, uncovered, in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Note: If preparing this with children, have them combine the ingredients in step 2, spread the sauce in the pan and fill and roll up the lasagna noodles. They can also top the roll-ups with sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

 

[knitdiva]

Suscribing

 

[toodycat]

pasta with southwestern ground turkey sauce
Saute 1lb.ground turkey with 1/4 cup minced onion, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon chile powder and 14 oz can pureed tomatoes. Serve over pasta. Top with shredded monterey jack.

sauteed garlic-sherry shrimp --- Defrost about 15 frozen shrimp by running warm water over them. Heat up olive oil and butter in skillet. Saute two cloves chopped garlic. Add 1 cup cooking sherry. Bring to boil. Add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes or until shrimp are no longer translucent. Serve on a bed of couscous.

Stuffed shells---Boil 12 large shells. Stuff with a mix of 8 oz ricotta, two beaten eggs, a tablespoon oregano, a tablespoon basil. Place stuffed shells in casserole. Top with marinara sauce and mozzarella. bake for 25-30 minutes at 350.

chicken fajitas--heat oil in skillet. Saute 1 clove garlic, 1/2 c chopped onion. Add about a pound of chicken breasts, cut into thin strips. Fry for about 4-4 minutes. Add 1 cup multi-colored pepper strips (can be chopped at home or purchased frozen) Fry another 2-3 minutes. Add one chopped tomato. Fry another 2-3 minutes. Serve with warmed tortillas, shredded monterey jack and sour cream.

Buffalo chicken (from Cooking Light) Take 4 chicken breasts and put them in a heavy duty ziploc bag. Make a marinade of 1/4 c beer, 1/4 c hot sauce, 2 T white wine vinegar and 1/2 t. cracked pepper. Pour marinade into bag with chicken. Refrigerate/marinate 10 minutes. Drain bag and grill chicken for 5 minutes on each side. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery.

Hope these help.

 

[Mic]

Well, I can give you recipes for 4 easy meals I made this week to save money. In our case, I was throwing away so much food that I've started planning meals around my leftovers! We are a family of 6(2 adults/4 teenagers), and I never know how many will actually be home for dinner, so I end up wasting a lot of food. But the minute I cook dinner for four, four more will show up, so I have to be prepared. Anyway, here's some ideas:

Saturday night--I took a roast I had bought on sale(London Broil, but cheaper cuts work fine) and stabbed small holes in it. I placed fresh, minced garlic in the holes, and coated it with a homemade seasoning made of seasoned salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and 1 tsp. of oil. Any seasoning will do...Mrs. Dash, canadian steak seasoning, etc. I put the roast in a large ziploc baggie to marinate overnight, and then cut up some celery, carrots, and onion, and placed them in a separate baggie in the refrigerator. After I finished with the roast, I took out a large, whole chicken, and washed it. I took the "stuff" out of the bird's cavity, and placed it on the stove to boil, and coated the bird with a similar homemade seasoning(all the original ingredients I used for the roast, plus some fresh basil, oregano,parsley, and a drop or two of apple cider vinegar). I placed the chicken in a large plastic bowl, and placed it in the refrigerator. I also placed the chicken broth in the refrigerator in a smaller bowl.

Sunday morning---I placed the roast in the slow cooked(oval), and covered it with 1/2 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of worstershire sauce, and turned it on high. When I returned home Sunday afternoon(about 5 hours later), I added the vegetables from the baggie, in addition to 2-3 potatoes(cut-up) to the slow cooker. I cooked some green peas(frozen), made a salad, and a noodle side-dish(Lipton sides). After dinner, I saved the leftover roast and green peas(there was enough of each for 2-3 more servings).

Monday morning---Placed the chicken in the slow cooker---DID NOT add any water---and turned it on high. I made mixed vegetables(frozen) and a homemade pasta salad, and steamed some broccoli that evening. After dinner, I picked the leftover chicken off the bones(I ended up with abou 1/4 of the chicken left, as only 4 of us were home), and saved the leftover mixed vegetables. I washed my slow cooker, but I didn't put it up.

Tuesday morning---I cut the leftover roast into small pieces, and put it in the slow cooker, along with it's juices and leftover vegetables(carrots,celery, potatoes, and onion), and added the leftover peas and mixed vegetables from the last two evenings. I also added a can of diced tomatoes, and a little bit of fresh basil. I cooked it on low all day, and made ham and turkey sub sandwiches to go with it for dinner.

Wednesday evening--I took 1.5 cups of uncooked rice, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, and the chicken broth from the refrigerator, and put it all in a 9x13 baking dish.( If you have less than 2 cups of chicken broth, add water to make it 16 oz.) I then added some broccoli florets, some small carrots, 1 stalk of celery(cut small), and a little bit of diced onion, and added some italian seasoning to all of it, as well as a little bit of fresh basil. I then added the leftover chicken, stirred it a little bit, and added some shredded cheddar cheese. I covered it, and baked it for @35 minutes at 350 degrees. I made some green beans(fresh), a salad, and cut up a cantaloupe while the casserole was cooking.

I am pretty proud of myself...I was able to get 4 meals out of the ingredients I usually use for just 2! I even had enough soup left over to send to my SIL on Wednesday for her small family.

 

[kellig]

Wow, Mic, that was great planning of your meals!

 

[semo233]

Bump, bump!

 

[RLccweems]

Here is a great crockpot dinner.

Crock Pot Enchiladas
1 can cream of chix soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chilis
few B/S Chick breasts (or leftover chicken!!)
Cook all day on low temp, then turn off & remove chicken.
Shred the chicken in the separate bowl & add some sauce to it - I sometimes add tomato sauce to the chicken.
Put a couple ladles of crockpot sauce in the bottom of a baking dish to prevent sticking.
Dredge your tortillas in the crockpot sauce - both sides of tortilla.
Put a couple scoops of chicken in each tortilla & roll up.
Fill up your baking dish with rolled tortillas.
Ladle some sauce over the top
Top with your choice of cheese
Bake for 15 minutes at 3:50, just to crisp the shells a bit & melt the cheese.
I serve with rice - whatever kind I have!

Ohh...my...this sounds so good!! I'm going to give it a try tonight.

 

[wdwmom2]

This thread is making me hungrey

 

[hinodis]

Too many choices here! Now I can't decide what to make for dinner tonight. Thanks everyone for all the great ideas.

 

[Nicholfamily5]

I just bought the book 'Skinny *****' though, and from what I hear - I won't ever want to eat meat again! So my menu's are bound to change!

That book was the one that propelled me into vegetarianism!

I was sort of on the edge, kinda not caring either way, then read that and haven't looked back!

 

[wickywinn]

spaghetti
cheesy chicken enchilada casserole: spray pan w/ pam, mix together 1 drained can cooked chicken, 1 can cheddar soup, 1 can cream mushroom (or chicken or celery)soup, 2 cans diced green chiles and 2-3 handfuls tortilla chips, pour in pan and top with shredded cheese. Bake for 20-25 on 325.
pork tenderloin rubbed with olive oil and cumin baked and served over yellow saffron rice and a premade salad (we like the oriental one in the salad section - I add mandarin oranges to it).
pork chop potato casserole: dredge pork in seasoned flour and brown. Line bottom of 9X13. Slice potatoes and boil a few minutes. Layer on top of pork. Mix cream celery soup and a little milk and pour over casserole. Bake 25 minutes on 325.
Tilapia (buy bag of in fish section at Wal Mart) with canned pesto spread on top and bottom. Bake in oven and serve w/rice or baked potatoes.
crock pot quick stroganoff 2#s stew meat, 1 packet dry onion soup mix, 1 can cream mushroom, 2 C water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and serve over egg noodles or rice.
Chicken rice:saute medium foil packet of yellow rice in evoo, add 1 can rotel(for Mexican) or Italian diced tomatoes, 1 can drained cooked chicken, 1 1/2 can water. Bring to boil then simmer covered for 20 minutes and sprinkle with cheese.

 

[kellia]

Subbing!