Stove Decoration Meal Request

[twinglefam]

I hate to cook.....but.....we're going to TRY and go out to a few NICE dinners and have the rest in room. Got any good suggestions for a special meal that we won't have to get too many ingredients for but will still beat mundane things we eat at home?

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

Hamburger helper, Chicken Helper, Tuna helper....

There's a number of nice Chicken meals where you add in some boneless/skinless chicken breasts to the meal and you are ready to go. Our kids will eat all of them (though they prefer solid albacore packed in water with the tuna helper meals).

Others - quick and dirty spagetti (can of sauce, can of diced tomatoes, burger, some seasoning and noodles).
Hamburger pot pie - 2 cans of sauce, burger, spices, green beans and mashed potatos over the top - finosh by broiling in oven until potatos start to turn brown.

Mac & Cheese with burger or canned chicken and veggies.

Get some refridge biscuts; make a sauce, add some meat and maybe a veggie, put biscuts on top and bake.

Make your own pizza - get the boboli crusts and just have fun.

Lots of options!

Even fancy meals can be easily prepared. Our kids like tenderloin pork roast - one hour in the oven in a sauce, then rice or potatoes on the side and maybe a veggie or salad.

Broil a flank steak with side dishes.

Fajuitas (see flank steak above, along with chicken breasts).

Use the bar-b-que available at the pools - burgers and dogs along with baked beans or potatoe salad - or, steaks and shrimp (yum, yum).

 

[Geubux]

I used to work in a restaurant. Try marinating the flank steak in Italian dressing. It will keep in the fridge for a week and the longer the better.
Also, buy a coating mix called fry magic. It is great on anything including fish, porkchops, chicken and probably cube steaks. Grill some steaks outside, they'll go great with anything.

Here's a nice side. Cut some french bread about an inch thick and brown it slightly in the oven on one side. Mix up some tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar(more oil than vinegar) basil, onions, salt and pepper. Let the tomatoes sit in the mixture a few hours. Then, put some of the tomato mixture on top of the browned bread, sprinkle some cheese on top, I use mozarella or provolone, and heat under the broiler until the cheese just melts. My kids like the bread without tomatoes, just cheese.

 

[robinb]

Get a pre-stuffed chicken at the market, some green beans (or whatever veggie you like), a loaf of bread, pre-washed salad mix and a bottle of salad dressing. Pop the chicken in the oven, toss the salad, cook the beans on the stove and warm the bread while the chicken is resting.

Yum! As an added bonus, you get to use the top of the stove decoration as well as the inside .

 

[MinnieMe2]

I hope I remember these ideas the next time we go home...

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Hey Robin,
Make it two veggies plus the salad, and you can nuke on, soooo....you have use of the top and oven of the stove decoration and...................use of the microwave decoration.
That would be a banner day!!!!
The only thing better would be using the vaccuum decoration to clean up the crumbs from the bread, which will be crispy from heating.
I made French Toast and pancakes, nuked the bacon. Does this count?

 

[robinb]

I made French Toast and pancakes, nuked the bacon. Does this count?

Yes, but only if you kept them warm in the oven .

For some reason my DH really wanted to cook when we were at OKW in August. We compromised ... he grilled the steaks at the pool. Of course, I was left in the room to get everything else ready. I think we used every appliance in the place that trip when my sister and her family joined us in a 2 BR. Even the blender.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Ah, darn,
Well, I did broil steaks in the oven. But, not at the same time as the pancakes and FT. Well, next time.

 

[bres@westernMA]

On our last trip home, we went to Goodings and bought a couple of store made chicken pot pies with a small box of whipped potatoes. We also had a couple bags of salad and some ranch dressing. 6 adults enjoyed this simple to fix feast.
I'd also suggest chili, get the mix (and a can of tomato sauce), some ground meat, a can of beans, cook it up in one pot, then top off with some oyster crackers and shredded cheese. Both of these meals are better when the weather is cooler. I don’t think that either would be appropriate if the temps were in the 80s.

 

[sixcats]

In a skillet brown sausage and new potatoes spice with garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Last 15 minutes add red onions and green peppers. It makes a hearty meal and the you can save the leftovers for a quick and tasty breakfast omelet.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We like to do Lasagne as a quick easy meal. I put it together in the morning while everyone is getting ready. When we return to eat, it just has to be thrown in the oven while the others swim or relax. A salad and some French bread is all we need to add.

Another thing we have done is made fixings for a baked potato bar. We put the potatos in the oven with the timer and when everyone returns, we put all the fixings out and cheese can be melted over each in the Microwave if needed.

Another quick but nice meal we do is marinate pork chops in Italian dressing while we are at the parks. When we return, someone takes them down to the grill while someone else does a quick salad, veggie, and anything else. A quick but delicious meal!

 

[TrudyZ]

Boy, I got hungry just reading this thread.

All I could think of was "I wonder where Dublin, Ohio is? Sounds like Geubux is one heck of a cook. (and what time is dinner at his house...)"

I see that your an engineer. Would you mind giving my engineer husband a lesson or two?

Trudy

 

[Niagara2]

All of the above are gourmet meals at our real home - this working mom says thanks!

 

[Dancind]

I thought about actually cooking, but then thought about all the stuff I would have to buy to make it work. Like oil, salt, pepper, etc. So we went with prepared frozen meals on about three nights, from Publix. Next time, we will try some of the ready-to-cook meals from the deli at Goodings. They looked pretty good. Not cheap, but still less expensive than a restaurant. And, we get to enjoy a decent bottle of wine, also from Goodings (great selection) that would probably cost us $50+ if we eat out.

 

[Geebs]

here is a great one that we just did....and it fed 15 people. We made Tacos...all you have to do is brown up some hamburger meat and add a package of seasoning for tacos (which we bought there) This one was really easy.. we had already shredded cheese, onions, lettuce for fixings. It took very little time and everyone liked them...plus we fed 15 people for about $50 or maybe even less

 

[dianeschlicht]

WE did enchilades much the same way you did tacos. Everyone got very well filled.

Another trick for those days you eat out is to have your main meal midday (around 2) and just light snack for supper. We usually have a good breakfast in the villa, eat at our favorite dinning place midday and then maybe go to Beaches and Creams for "dessert" after Illuminations.

 

[Geubux]

Hey trudyz
Send your husband down for some cooking lessons. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus and I just happened to cook my way through college. Maybe I should change my moniker to fat engineer.

 

[connie7185]

Here is but another quicky chicken recipe:



Using a disposable 13x9 pan:

Place boneless chicken breast on the bottom
Place whole white potatoes from a can aroung the chicken
On top of everything, place can of stewed tomatoes or maybe 2 cans to keep the chicken moist.
Fill pan 1/2 full with water and bake at 400 for 1 hour


I always add cut up onions, but not everyone likes them.


Quick and easy add bagged lettuce and the meal is made.

Clean-up: throw the pan away and go enjoy the parks



connie