OT dinner recipes to bake

[virginiamama]

Help, I'm tired of buying so many prepackaged foods, or making dinner on the stove top and having to babysit the dishes while they cook on the stove. Does anyone have any budget friendly dinner recipes that meet the following criteria:

-good for beginner cooks
-short prep time
-relatively few ingredients
-bake time of 45 minutes to an hour

This way I could pop dinner in the oven, make a salad or other side dish, and spend that 45 minutes getting other things done or playing with the kids.
TIA!

 

[It's A Small World]

Do you have a crock pot? My kitchen is currently being renovated. I've started using my crock pot again and I gotta say, it's wonderful! On Monday, I made a pot roast with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a packet of onion soup mix. On Tuesday, I made a pork roast with sauerkraut and whole potatoes. Tonight, I'm making boneless chicken with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a bag of frozen veggies. The guys working on my kitchen keep telling me how wonderful it smells!

Here's a site I stumbled upon last night: http://www.a-crock-cook.com/index.html

It lists a bunch of quick recipes.

 

[It's A Small World]

Here's some quick meals that I fall back on:

Chicken with stuffing:

Boneless chicken
1 can of mushroom soup
1 box of chicken stuffing
2 tbs of butter or margarine
1/3 cup of sour cream

-Mix the stuffing with a 1/2 cup of warm water and 2 tbs of butter.
-Mix 1/3 cup of sour cream and 1 can of cream of mushroom soup.

-Add stuffing mixture to the bottom of a glass backing pan.
-Place boneless chicken on top of stuffing mixture.
-Spread sour cream mixture on top of chicken.

Place in 350 oven for 45 minutes.

Pork Chops and Sauerkraut

Center cut pork chops
1 can of sauerkraut
1 can of whole potatoes

-Spread sauerkraut in bottom of glass pan.
-Place pork chops on top
-Spread potatoes around the pork
-Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Bake in 350 oven for 45 minutes. I always serve apple sauce on the side. My kids love it!

 

[perpetualplanner]

scalloped ham & cheese potatoes is pretty easy and cooks in the oven. You do have to babysit the "sauce" before you pour it on the potatoes but it isn't for too long.

6 c thinly sliced potatoes (about 4 large)

4 c cubed 1" ham (I buy a ham steak and use that)

1 c thinly sliced onion (I omit because my kids HATE onion)

1/4 c butter or margarine

1/3 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp pepper

2 c milk

3 c shredded cheddar cheese

2 tbsp chopped fresh chives (I omit)

Heat oven to 350. In 13x9 baking pan layer potatoes, ham and onion. In 2-qt saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour, mustard and pepper. Cook over med. heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly (1 min). Add milk. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened (2-3 min). Stir in cheese until melted (3-4 min). Pour sauce over potatoes, etc; sprinkle with chives. Bake for 60-75 min or until bubbly and potatoes are fork tender.

The baking time depends on how thickly you cut the potatoes.

HTH

 

[Faldred]

You can do a make-your-own "Shake and Bake" by putting in flour and/or bread crumbs and the seasonings of your choice in a bag. Dip the meat pieces (chicken and pork work best) into an egg wash, toss in the bag, and place in a lightly greased pan (nothing touching each other). Bake at 350 for 35-50 minutes, depending on quantity and thickness.

 

[suprgrlx]

I found the Campbell's soup website had a lot of recipes like you describe, so it might be worth checking them out.

And I also second the crock pot idea! Love mine!

 

[lulamc]

My kids like this, I call it cheeseburger casserole:

Press about a pound of ground beef / chuck / round (whatever you use) into the bottom of a 9x13 dish.

Top that with a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Top that with thin slices of Velveeta (I buy the store brand of this processed cheese and it's the same to me, also, this recipe doesn't use much so you can use the rest to make nachos on a taco night or something).

Top that with frozen tater tots, just line them up to cover everything.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. It's yummy and easy! My kids eat it with ketchup, but it's good without!

 

[DreamDelta]

My kids like this, I call it cheeseburger casserole:

Press about a pound of ground beef / chuck / round (whatever you use) into the bottom of a 9x13 dish.

Top that with a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Top that with thin slices of Velveeta (I buy the store brand of this processed cheese and it's the same to me, also, this recipe doesn't use much so you can use the rest to make nachos on a taco night or something).

Top that with frozen tater tots, just line them up to cover everything.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. It's yummy and easy! My kids eat it with ketchup, but it's good without!

Do you cook the ground beef first?

 

[tippy77]

Baked ziti! Yes, you do have to cook the pasta on the stovetop first, but once it is in the oven, you have time to get other stuff done.

 

[Darcy03231]

Brown 6 pork chops and layer them in the bottom of a 9 X 12 casserole dish, slice 6 medium/large potatoes thinly and layer over the top of the chops, slice 1 medium onion thinly and layer over the top of the potatoes. Add 1 cup water and cover with foil. Bake at 350° for about 40 min. When done, drain juice into saucepan and make gravy. Pour gravy back over the top of potatoes, chops & onions. Serve with salad or vegetables.

 

[Pigeon]

I buy chicken parts when they are on sale. I freeze them in dinner sized portions in large ziplock bags with about half a cup of marinade. We like teriaki the best, but I use other flavors, too. I usually make my own marinade, but store bought works just fine. Freezing them in the marinade infuses the flavor much more than just dumping in on chicken.

To cook, thaw the package and dump the contents in a pan and bake. Serve with rice or noodles.

 

[wovenwonder]

Google OAMC [once a month cooking] and you will find all sorts of recipe's to be baked. Best yet, they are meant to be prepared ahead and frozen for later. It really save's time to cook a dozen meals over the weekend and freeze - just pull out and bake during the weeks ahead when you need something quick.

 

[lulamc]

Do you cook the ground beef first?

No, it cooks through while it's in the oven baking...

 

[shelly3girls]

Stuffed chicken:
Butterfly boneless chicken breasts
dip in Italian dressing (I use low fat)
cover in mixture of bread crumbs with some parmesan cheese mixed in
Insert half a mozarella cheese stick and pepporoni inside chicken
Place in pan with open side of chicken pushed against side of pan (it is ok to put a breast in the middle, don't pack pan too tight)
Bake at 375, time will vary based on thickness

These were originally chicken roll-ups where you actually pound out the chicken, put cheese and pepperoni on top then roll. Use toothpicks to secure. Dip is dressing then coat with bread crumb mixture. I find this takes too long. The kids love them even when I take the short cut above.

I serve these with potatoes that I dice then microwave with garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a little parmesan cheese. Once fully cooked I toss in a little mozarella cheese and toss in the oven with the chicken. Obviously this is not a low fat meal. You can use low-fat ingredients for all of the cheese and you will not notice the difference.

 

[AnnaS]

Various chicken parts (legs, wings, thighs, etc.) or cornish hens - (sometimes I give the chicken a quick boil, cool, rinse and remove some of the skin - less fat).

I use foil to line my pans and spray with cooking spray. Throw in your chicken or cornish hens (cut in half) - add cut up potatoes, carrots, celery and onions. Add about 1/2 cup wine, 1 or 2 chicken cubes, salt, pepper, parsely, papirika (whatever spices you want to add). I also add about 1/2 c to 1 c. of water - depending on size of pan. I let foil come up on the sides so juices stay in. Cover and bake 375 - 400 for at least an hour (more if raw chicken) - I don't par-boil cornish hens.

You can prepare this early and refrigerate and throw in oven later on.

 

[lumpy08]

Here is one I got from AllRecipes that I use all the time. I usually make a salad to go with it. I would recommend going to the Allrecipes.com site. The reason I like it is alot of people go in and review the recipe and leave comments about what they would add or change. My other tip that I have started doing is when I print a recipe out. I flip the paper over and Cut and paste a few of the tips from reviewers on the other side. This way when I make again I don't have to look it up again.

Slow Cooker Pulled pork

1 (2 pound) pork roast (approx - I just grabbed a big piece of pork that was on sale. I have used one one the bone and off and both came out fine)
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted


DIRECTIONS
Place the pork in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 5 to 6 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker.

The recipes says to Drain well, BUT I kept some of the liquid aside. Take the pork out and put on a plate. Take two forks and shred. Should be easy to shred at this point. Stir in barbecue sauce. Then I added back in some of the liquid and mixed. Serve over hamburger buns