So, I had this really cool list on my fridge.
It was a hand written (like cavemen!) catalog of every meal in my arsenal. So, when I had no idea what to make, I could look at that master menu and get some kind of idea.
In our last move, one year ago, I lost the list.
LOST THE LIST.
I also lost the ashes from our cat and my favorite scrunchie.
I’d blame Andy, because honestly, that is way funner than looking inward and assigning fault to myself, but honestly, I think he is just as sick and tired of eating so many Ramen noodles and frosting sandwiches for dinner.
I need help. I need go to dinner ideas. I need your lists.
Because, if I serve Dorito Surprise one more time (the surprise being a bottle of wine), Andy might punch me.
In every romantic, metaphorical sense of the word.
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You know that annoying commercial of, “It’s dinner! I’m making French’s crunchy onion chickeeennnnn!!!!” ? They don’t lie, man. This is the somplest, best tasting thing I’ve ever made – and I have subscriptions to Fine Cooking and Gourmet magazines.
Buy a big can of French’s fried onions. Put them in a bag and smash ‘em up. Scramble up an egg with a fork in a bowl. Take 6-8 chicken breast tenderloins and drag ‘em through the egg. Roll ‘em around and coat in the smashed onions. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.
SO simple and tastes fab. Seriously.
I don’t have a list, usually I just throw random things together and hope it doesn’t taste like barf. BUT I do use this http://www.recipematcher.com/ and this http://www.supercook.com/ sometimes. You just type in the stuff that you have in your pantry/fridge and it will be like, “Oh my god, Brittany. You are a genius. Here are some ideas for dinner that you can make with this, this, and this. You’re just missing this one thing, so make your husband go and get it from the store.” It’s GREAT, I love it.
This is one of my all time favorites. It’s so quick, easy, and oh so good:
Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice Casserole
(From: For the Love of Cooking)
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/11/chicken-mushroom-broccoli-and-rice.html
I usually leave out the water chestnuts, not because they’re not great, but because I never have them around and I don’t want to go to the trouble of going out and buying them when I’m making something as simple as a casserole.
Seriously woman do you own a crock pot? There is like nothing you can’t throw in a fucking crockpot and make it dinner. My mom would throw like old shoes and twisty noodles with Cream of Mushroom soup ( cuz everyone knows Cream of Mushroom is the secret to every hellatious dish) and call it a meal!
I am pretty sure one time she even made like goddamn Soylent Green in that thing!
i LOVE this website. it’s devoted to the easiest way to make AWESOME stuff…CROCKPOT!!!!!!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
you can even search by different catagories
My go-to recipe is ride with peas and corn. Melt a chunk of butter in a saucepan, then toss in a cup of rice (in your case, possibly more). After about a minute, I toss in a cup each of frozen peas and rice, and 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth. Keep it on high heat while the chicken broth boils until almost all the liquid is absorbed, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Let that simmer for about 15 minutes. I find you have to stir every so often, maybe add a little more water or chicken broth, to keep the rice on the bottom from getting crusted to the pan. After 15 minutes you have a HUGE pan of tasty tasty rice with lots of veggies in it.
Then I toss on any kind of protein – shrimp, scallops, beef, chicken, whatever you want, cooked any WAY you want, and you have all you need. I like to buy vegan chicken from whole foods that’s pre-cooked and just heat it up and toss it in.
Here’s the recipe I based it off of – it’s easy to modify for larger portions, or adding veggies, or lower cal, and any kind of protein source you want: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/05/shrimp-peas-and-rice.html
Cook up some chicken breasts.
At the same time cook up your favorite pasta.
When the chicken is done, cube and set aside. In the same pan pour in your favorite jar of marinara sauce. (I LOVE Newman’s Garlic sauce). Cube 1/2 block of Nueftshel (or however the fuck you spell it) and throw it in with the sauce.
Stir occasionally until Nerfshitel is melted.
Add chicken and cooked/drained pasta.
I add some spices in with the sauce and I also cook my chicken in different Kraft dressings to chenge it up slightly….but I’ve done it plain too and it’s still yum-o-licious.
I also am not a fan of savory/bitter sauce so sometimes I cut it with a tiny bit of sugar BEFORE adding the Neftshimmal stuff.
Serve with a bit o’salad (less Doritos) and lots o’wine.
YUMMY!
I make a great taco casserole – you layer shredded chicken breast (I cook it in a crock pot but you could just boil it on the stove for a long time. It doesn’t need to be fancy chicken!), refried beans (stir in some taco seasoning and salsa for extra flavor before you start layering!), tortilla chips, and shredded cheese. You throw it all in the oven like you would a normal casserole (i.e., I never remember for how long, I just google some similar recipes and then do that!) Serve it with salsa or guacamole or whatever you like on tacos
DELICIOUS!
I made fried rice the other night, with leftover “iffy” veggies, and even the kids ate it.
we had onion, mushroom, carrot, and zucchini, two eggs, long grain rice, some soy sauce, and curry powder (which is not necessarily spicy). Oh, and butter. Saute the lot in butter. Real. Butter. Not margarine, euchh. Cook the rice separately, and toss in at the end. Push all of it to one side and cook the eggs separately, doing a rough scramble job. When the eggs are cooked, mix the lot together. The beauty of this is that you can make it as simple or as complex as you want. Experiment with different veggies, meat (I’ve been known to use bacon), etc.
The other thing which is always a hit here and doesn’t take a lot of time is risotto. I don’t know how authentic it is, but again, my kids eat it – and they’re 4 and 2. We use mushroom, pumpkin, spinach, and chorizo. and loads of parmesan cheese. We don’t use wine, but mostly because I only drink dessert wine and hubs is a fan of the reds.
This recipe is a real winner, it has bacon. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Beef—Bacon-stroganoff.
Beef & Beer Stew:
Chunks of beef
Carrots
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
2 cans of beer (Guinness tastes awesome, but anything else will be just fine)
Put it all in a slow cooker, turn it on, and then eat it a few hours later. You can put other veggies in, and maybe add barley, but I usually forget.
A super simple recipe I discovered a couple months ago. Super easy chicken enchiladas. I found the recipe on the back of an Old El Paso green chile enchilada sauce can. I was amazed at how good it was. Since I always have chicken breast in the freezer I just stock the rest of the stuff regularly. We eat it about twice a month & it’s wonderful.
1 package chicken breast (3 breasts or 1.5lbs)
1 8oz package regular cream cheese
1 4.5 oz can of chopped green chilies
2 10 oz cans green chile enchilada sauce (we use the mild)
10-12 6 in floor tortillas
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a glass or stoneware 9 x 13 pan. Cube cream cheese. Chop chicken and fry in an 8in skillet. Once chicken is cooked through add the can of green chilies and the cream cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and ingredients are well incorporated. Spoon delicious gob fulls of chicken-cream cheese-chili mixture into 6in tortillas. Roll and place tortillas in pan flap down. Pour enchilada sauce over finished tortillas . Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 15-20 min. (I broil an extra 2 min to brown cheese a little).
This is super easy, super quick (35 min or less), and super delicious. The recipe says it makes 12 enchiladas mine usually makes 8-10 and only 10 if I really stretch the stuff thin, but they are super filling so 8 is usually good for four people. Enjoy!
Try the real simple app for iPhone/iPad, or I am sure they have a website you can subscribe to… All the meals take less than 40 mins, huge variety, all you have to decide is what kind of protein you’ll be using. Huge help for mean planning, and a lot of it is kid friendly.
this is an all time fav here in our house and i have some picky eaters!! http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/buffalo-chicken-chili/
you can change it up as you want-i leave out the celery, sometimes leave out the carrots (just depends if I have any), I have used ground chicken and ground turkey and I also add chili beans to mine (the kind that has chili sauce in with them)
Two very easy meals:
Fettucini al Gorgonzola:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
heavy cream
1 pkg. gorgonzola (or blue cheese)
1/2 stick of butter
Melt it all together. Stir in parmesan cheese until you have achieved the desired thickness. Season to taste (I generally go with garlic and black pepper). Pour over cooked fettucini noodles. (This is also very, very tasty with shrimp, which is how my husband prefers it.)
Chili Pepper Penne
1 pkg. Chicken breast
butter
heavy cream
parmesan cheese
crushed red pepper flakes
Cube the raw chicken and sautee it in butter until it is cooked. Remove from pan. Add heavy cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add parmesan, stirring until desired consistency. Return chicken to pan and add seasonings (red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, pepper, etc.) Mix with cooked penne pasta.
Now my kiddo (who is 2) loves both of these recipes, but they might be a little strong for some kids. Also, I second whoever mentioned the Pioneer Woman. I love, love, love her recipes, as does my husband.
I make tater-tot casserole all the damn time and my daughter LOVES IT!!
Its super easy…
1 lb ground turkey cooked, seasoned, drained
1 Lg bag tater frozen tots
1 cans cream of mushroom (or cream of anything really, I have used a lot of different soups for this. I found that the one that has the garlic seasoning already in it is SO YUMMY)
1 can corn or green beans
Brown meat.
In sauce pan heat up soup as directed with about 2/3 can of milk till warm and not lumpy & add in veggies. Add mixture to the meat.
Pour meat & soup mixture in to a 9″x13″ pan.
Cover mixture evenly with tater tots.
Bake by what the directions say on the tater-tots, and bake until the tater-tots are done.
Sprinkle some cheese on top and TA-DA….YUMMYNESS!!!
ENJOY!!!
This recipe is always a huge hit. It makes enough for two or three meals. We usually eat it for dinner, then lunch the next day, then I freeze the rest for a quick dinner down the road.
2 pork tenderloins, about 1lb each
1 jar green salsa
1 4oz can green chiles
1 lg onion, chopped into lg pieces
Salt and pepper tenderlins and place in crock pot. Top with onions, green chiles and salsa. Cook over low 7-ish hours, then use two forks to shred the meat. Stir and allow to cook another hour. Serve in tortillas with your favorite toppings (my favs are tomato, cheese and avocado) or serve over rice with or without a sprinkling of cheese. So very good either way.
I think you should make this a new section of your website, where you try a new recipe from this list each night and then get your family to review it and give us their verdict!
My computer was acting up and didn’t want to load your page, so my response is a bit late. However, I have since shared my planned comment with my readers, so now you get a nice little link instead of a huge comment. You’re welcome. http://tinyurl.com/4w7qnr9
Don’t starve! Do this, SO simple and SO yummo…
Crock Pot
Frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
Jar of Salsa (spice of salsa will determine spice of chicken. I do mild because I don’t want to have to make my daughter something else to eat when she complains the food is burning her mouth).
Throw it all in the Crock Pot, make sure you have enough salsa to cover all the chicken.
Cook until it falls apart, about 4 hours.
Pull the meat apart with a fork, so it’s shredded.
Grab some tortillas, cheese and other fixings and you are done!
This can also be made with BBQ sauce instead of salsa and you have BBQ chicken sandwiches.
My favorite is honey mustard pretzel chicken. http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1086
Enjoy
My go to meal that’s always yummy is called Chicken Pot Pie in a Pot. It’s based on a recipe from 30 minute meals with what’s her face.
1. Throw some frozen chicken breasts in a big pot and boil them until cooked through. Pull them out, let cool and cube them up.
2. saute up some chopped celery, onion, garlic, and carrot in butter and olive oil. Towards the end add some thyme.
3. sprinkle 1 or 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour over it once the veggies are softened a bit
4. cook the floured veggies for a minute and then add a few cups of chicken broth until the sauce is as thick as you want it.
5. stir in some frozen peas, the chicken and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until everything is nice and hot.
6. Serve with biscuits or bread and butter!
This recipe always gets my kids and baby daddy to eat some veggies and it doesn’t require me to remember to defrost anything the night before!
Egg drop soup – the BEST comfort soup ever!!
Ingredients
1 can chicken broth
1 can creamed corn
1 egg
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded (optional)
Pour the can of chicken broth and the can of creamed corn (juice and all) into a saucepan and heat on medium-low heat. Don’t let it boil, but you want a light simmer. Once it’s simmering, add the chicken (if you were feeling adventurous and got around to cooking it, otherwise a can of shredded chicken from Costco works pretty damn well, too! Hello no cooking!) anyway…so you add the chicken….then comes the fun part!
You crack the egg…INTO the soup (hence the name “egg drop”) and watch it cook inside the broth. You can stir it in or let it cook whole, either way. I like to stir it around and watch it cook as I do that….
Once it’s fully cooked (this takes no more than about 2 minutes), it’s all done and ready to eat. And oh MAN is it so good. If you have some leftover fried rice to go along with it, great! If not, it’s pretty amazing on its own.
Have fun making the new list!!!!
Okay, so I get updates from this post and one was for like a stew with Guinness beer in it. I thought, I keep hearing about using it to cook so why not. AND it’s for the slow cooker: yeah, gotta try it. Halfway thru cooking I tasted the broth and thought: well shit, I hope the end result is better than this b/c it sucks! Ha-ha! It did. Suck I mean…..and taste better in the end. In the end, that slow cooker beer stew rocked!!! So just in case you haven’t tried it yet: I was your guinuea (sp?) pig and it is so good!!
I have a cooking blog of yummy, sometimes even healthy recipes. Most are easy to prepare, and 100% kid and hubby approved. Enjoy! http://www.cookingpink.blogspot.com
I recently found Gina’s Skinny Taste, and this chicken spaghetti with chicken and grape tomatoes has become a go-to dinner. It’s SO tasty.
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/08/spaghetti-with-sauteed-chicken-and.html
We also often eat Mexican chicken and rice. Brown rice, then we just cook up chicken breasts with taco-y seasoning, onions and bell peppers. It’s super easy and tasty.
I have a cookin’ blog myself. Almost everything I make is (sometimes) healthy, definitely tasty, usually cheap and always quick. Not going to pimp the link out in your comments, ’cause I would feel rude, but I think if you just click on my name it will take you there.
Here are two of my easiest go-tos:
Black Bean Soup
2 cans Goya Black Beans
2 cans Goya Black Bean Soup
yellow onion, diced
red or yellow peppers (1 or 2), diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
cumin, salt, pepper, hot sauce
optional garnishes: shredded cheese, tortillas, sour cream, diced avocado
Saute onion and peppers in olive oil over medium heat, until fragrant (about 5 or so), add the garlic and saute another minute, add the beans and the black bean soup, stir everything together and add some cumin. I use a lot, because I like things to taste very mexican-y, season with salt and pepper and hot sauce if you’d like. Lower heat slightly and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Serve in a bowl, garnished with whatever you’d like. I personally like all four.
Tomato, Artichoke, Goat Cheese Pasta
pasta (any kind I pref. rotini or spaghetti)
one can whole tomatoes in sauce
1 jar artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
salt, pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed red pepper
3-4 tbs. goat cheese, crumbled
grated parmesan: optional
Bring a pot of pasta water to boil. Heat a few tbs. olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, saute about 5-6 min, add garlic, saute another minute, add tomatoes and their sauce as well as the artichokes. Use your spoon or another device of your choice to mash up the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Season with about 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp basil, 1 or 2 pinches of crushed red pepper and plenty of salt and pepper. Reduce heat down to a simmer while your pasta cooks. Drain pasta, toss with sauce, add goat cheese and maybe some parm, toss again and then take it to your face. This tastes fancy but takes all of 20 min. to prep.
The easiest most delicious super fast meal of all time
CHEESY SALSA CHICKEN AND RICE
1 c water
1 c chicken broth
1 c salsa
1 c rice
2-4 chicken breasts
dash of garlic powder or garlic salt
CHEEEEEEESE
Throw liquids in pot – cook on medium till boiling. Add chicken breasts and spices. Cover and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Flip chicken breasts, cover and cook 10 min more on medium. Add in cheese and let melt. Serve. Eat. Tweet me (@missycj03) and say thank you for my awesomeness!!!
This is my fast and easy, I need to eat, it needs to taste good, but I’m too lazy to be fancy, go-to recipe:
1 box penne pasta
1 jar (good quality) pasta sauce
2-3 c. mozzarella , parmesan, etc. (you can go all fancy with the sliced handmade mozzarella and freshly grated wedge of parm, or go with the bagged, pre-shredded stuff)
in a bowl, mix the pasta (uncooked) with the jar of pasta and one jar of water and the cheese. dump into a 13×9 casserole dish. add more cheese on top if you like. cover tightly with aluminum foil. bake at 350 for one hour or until pasta is tender.
(naturally, you can add whatever you like to the basic recipe, meat, veg, what have you, but this is my quick and dirty – and cheap – meal. it is awesome because you don’t have to pre-cook the pasta.)
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