Quick Meals - Need Ideas

[Minnie824]

DH & I have been pretty busy lately, and when it comes to dinner, we don't want or have time to spend hours cooking, and have ended up with too much takeout. DH always complains theres 'nothing to eat' in the house. So, I came to you guys for some ideas. What are some quick meals we can have, and some foods that we can keep around the house, so there is something to eat? We'd like things that are simple and quick to make, but not too simple of a meal (for example, grilled cheese and/or soup is not a 'big' enough meal for DH). Anyone have any good suggestions? Thanks!

 

[JetMom]

I got a George Forman-Type Grill for Christmas and it is the greatest! I can grill chicken breasts in about 15 minutes. I add salad dressing or a bottled marinade to get different flavors. I usually make some rice or noodles and a salad (from a bag )for a quick meal.

 

[crazelion]

Great idea for a thread.

Steak on the George Forman Grill and baked potato in the mircowave.

I got to keep watch this thread baseball season starts next weekend. I really need quick meals to fix.

 

[Big V]

Make up a BIG pot of spaghetti on the weekend and freeze it for two or three meals . Add some frozen garlic bread, a salad and Whala! A nice meal!

 

[mommytotwo]

Pork Chops are easy. Just season them with flour and your favorite meat seasoning and fry. You can add cream of mushroom to it and bake it if you want.

Chili-Just make it in the morning or the night ahead and eat it with rice.

Baked Chicken-Bread crumbs, dried parsely and other favorite herbs, paramean cheese, egg wash, and chicken breast. Put the dried ingredients together in a bowl and mix it around. Get the chicken-wash first, then dip it in the egg wash, roll around in the dried ingredients, then put it on a baking dish at 425 for an hour or until golden brown.

 

[DemonLlama]

The Eternal Question.

My definition of a quick meal is one I can fix within 15 minutes.

Our favorite:

Tacos
Basics:
ground beef
taco seasoning
refried beans
tortillas
grated cheese
lettuce and tomatoes

Extras:
Spanish Rice (boil for ten minutes, so do it first)
Salsa or Guacamole (love the Avo-Guac stuff!)
Queso (velvetta and rotel)

A variation on the above is "The Whole Enchilada": just roll the meat, beans, cheese, rice, and queso in the tortillas, pour on a can on enchilada sauce and more queso, and bake for ten minutes.


We also usually keep fixings stocked for:
spaghetti
chicken and rice casserole
hot dogs
hamburgers

We will try to have veggies or salad makings on hand for every meal, too.

 

[rascalmom]

For a quick an easy occasional dinner - have breakfast! We got in yesterday from a short trip out of town - I wanted something quick and easy to make for dinner. I made ham and cheese omelettes. The family loved it. A few weeks ago I made pancakes and sausages, again, a big hit. Maybe because I'm not a morning person and day-to-day breakfasts are usually cereal and fruit, bagels, etc.

Do you have a local grocery that has fresh roasted chicken. We frequently pick these up when dd's have afterschool activities. Add a baked potato & some salad. Voila!

Do you have a crock pot? Lots of ideas there - pot roast, chili, gumbo

 

[mickeyboat]

Quesadillas

Make the filling in advance (I like chicken, peppers, onions, and mushrooms)

Spray the pan and a tortilla with PAM cooking spray. Add cheese anf the filling.

"Fry" the quesadilla and flip to fry the other side.

Yummy with taco sauce and sour cream.

Denae

PS You can make these pretty good for you with no fat tortillas and low fat cheese.

 

[Jasminesmommy]

go to www.delmonte.com for some quick meals.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by mickeyboat
Quesadillas

Make the filling in advance (I like chicken, peppers, onions, and mushrooms)

Spray the pan and a tortilla with PAM cooking spray. Add cheese anf the filling.

"Fry" the quesadilla and flip to fry the other side.

Yummy with taco sauce and sour cream.

Denae

PS You can make these pretty good for you with no fat tortillas and low fat cheese.

I bought a quesadilla maker from Target last year. It's awesome!! It only takes about 2 minutes and the quesadillas are yummy

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

I saw the quesedilla maker at Kohl's today and almost bought it. It sounds like it would be good for quick meals.

 

[Mishetta]

I'm going to a PTO meeting later & just making Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff & some fresh steamed broccoli.

My fave very quick meal is pre-made roasted chicken from Sam's club in a package...you'll find about 6 chicken breasts & all you have to do is warm them up. I serve them with warmed tortillas & a chopped medium tomato & either chopped cucumber or some shredded lettuce, some shredded cheese & a little ranch dressing to add to the rolled up tortilla ~ YUMMY!!!

I make fresh sauce but you can buy bottled sauce & just make a quick pasta with it. Salad from a bag & voila!

Breakfast was a great idea too.

 

[shortbun]

I keep lots of Idahos for microwaving. Many things go with
baked potatoes - broccoli, chili, cottage chese and salsa. We
keep cans of refried beans, packs of shredded cheese and
burrito wraps-voila! Scrambled eggs and salsa are also great
in burrito wraps as is shredded chicken and sauteed veggies
and on and on. I do my pork chops in worchestershire and cinnamon - yummy! broil, broil, broil! We do mushrooms, steaks,
chicken. I grill several chicken breasts when I'm making them for
a meal....voila-cut it up for chicken salad (from a bag), make
fajitas...the possibilities are endless. I buy Stouffers family size
meatloafs(about 6 to a pkg) and make potatoes and peas-easily
a 15 minute meal with a microwave and stovetop. I make double
recipe chili and freeze half for some other time. brown twice the
ground beef and save it for a few days for another meal.
This is making me hungry!

 

[noel]

I recently found a chicken recipe that we both like a lot - and I don't even care much for chicken!

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package of Good Seasons Italian dressing
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese(the finely grated kind, not shredded)

- place the contents of the dressing packet and parmesan in two seperate shallow dishes
- lightly moisten each chicken breast with water
- roll each breast first through the dressing and then the parmesan cheese and thoroughy coat each piece

Place the chicken in a greased baking dish and bake at 400º for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

This is one of the better quick and easy recipes I've tried and it's about a total of 30 minutes for prep and baking time. Because I'm eating low carb I serve this with salad and veggies, but any side dish would go well.
I also am planning on trying it with a packet of ranch dressing mix as well - that should be just as yummy.
Hope this helps!

 

[CajunDixie]

Baked Chicken-Bread crumbs, dried parsely and other favorite herbs, paramean cheese, egg wash, and chicken breast. Put the dried ingredients together in a bowl and mix it around. Get the chicken-wash first, then dip it in the egg wash, roll around in the dried ingredients, then put it on a baking dish at 425 for an hour or until golden brown.

Save leftovers. Place in oven safe dish add Prego and sliced mozzarella and heat until the cheese melts. Serve over pasta.

Cajun Chicken
In a ziplock bag add the following:

2 T Flour
1 t poultry
¾ t garlic salt
½ t paprika
¼ t pepper
1/8 to ¼ t cayenne pepper
Shake then add
1 ½ lb. chicken breast cut into fingers
Fry in non-stick skillet with a touch of oil for 8-10 minutes

 

[RobinMarie]

Here is what I do to keep the time element in cooking to a low:

Sunday - cook sauce with meatballs, sausage and whatever meats your fancy! Serve with ziti.

Monday - Meatball/sausage grinders + salad

Tuesday - Leftover macaroni with sause, add ricotta and mix - a slight change from what you ate on Sunday.

Cook once, serve thrice!

 

[Kallison]

My really easy pot roast recipe -

PUt in crockpot in AM one rumproast - one can of cola - one package of lipton beef onion soup.

Cook on low 8 hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes -- makes a nice au jus gravy

 

[Disfan1]

Sam's sells frozen pre-cooked hamburger patties that are DELICIOUS! Just a few minutes in the microwave & you have a hamburger ready to go! Tyson also makes pre-cooked seasoned chicken breasts that I buy at Sam's too. My favorites are Mesquite and Honey-Mustard. Oh, I'm getting hungry!

 

[MosMom]

I just found a recipe for Southwestern Chicken Bake - It has Elbow Macaroni, Velveeta (I am going to make my own cheese sauce though), canned Tomato/Chile combo, sour cream, salt/pepper, and chicken. I'm dying to try it because it looks so good! If you want the full recipe PM me as I don't have it sitting here and I'm being lazy at the moment.

 

[teh fish]

I always have boneless, skinless chicken breast in the freezer. I just pop one onto a skillet with olive oil, cook until it's almost done, and add spices; usually pepper, garlic, chili powder, whatever I think will be good.

While cooking the chicken, I microwave some sweet peas or green beans and some black beans, kidney beans, or navy beans.

If i'm really lazy, I microwave a Boca vegan hamburger. They don't taste exactly like a beef hamburger but with a toasted bun and ketchup, they're pretty close.