Quick & Easy Meals

[lhall]

As a working mother of 2 I like (read NEED) to make meals that are quick and easy to prepare, but not in the microwave. I don't believe in cooking in the microwave mainly because I really do enjoy cooking. I've tried some of the things in the new superfast column, but does anyone have any other ideas? I'm just tired of doing the same old things and am looking for more variety.

Thanks,
Leigh

[Chefzhat]

This will probably sound boring , but my family will eat this every time I put it out - and it takes only the time to cook the pasta:

Gemelli Noodles - cooked
Shelled peas, or sugar snap peas (or both - I love peas!)
cooked bacon, ham pieces, or canadian bacon or turkey bacon - crumbled
A little sauted garlic if you like, or jarred
Olive oil

Cook pasta and meat (separately!) drain pasta over peas, mix with meat, add a dollop of olive oil, parmesan and asiago cheese (grated), salt and pepper - viola!!! Yum in a dish - serve with rolls or crusty bread.

Debie

[KValley]

Leigh,

I highly recommend Cooking Light's 5-Ingredient, 15-minute Cookbook As I posted on another thread, my husband and I discovered this cookbook at a particularly hectic time in our lives; it got DH to try his hand at cooking and provides a very wide range of inexpensive, nutritious, and easy to prepare, quick meals.

There are several copies available through www.half.com a discount book seller.

[BlueMoose]

Pillsbury's Fast and Healthy Cookbook is good.

[Kristi]

For really quick dinners/lunches, I often mix together a can of black beans and one or two cans of Rotel tomatoes and chiles; heat the bean/tomato mixture in a skillet (only takes a couple of minutes); serve it over white rice with cheese/sour cream/onions/...really whatever we have on hand. You could throw in some cooked chicken or beef or perhaps leftover grilled peppers or corn. Now that i think about it, I think this is actually one of my favorite meals!

[BlueMoose]

Here are a few recipes that are really quick. I usually keep the ingredients on hand to make them for when I'm out of ideas for what to make!


* Exported from MasterCook *

Bowtie Pasta with Mushrooms and Roasted Red Peppers

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Vegetarian

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
16 ounces large bowtie pasta
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce with mushrooms
2 (4 oz)cans sliced mushrooms -- drained
7 ounces roasted red peppers -- drained and chopped
1 container light ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 cups provolone cheese -- shredded

Cook and drain the pasta. Add the spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, and the roasted red peppers to the pasta; toss gently until combined. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, garlic powder, and 1 cup of the provolone. Place 1/2 of the pasta in a 2-quart baking dish. Spread the cheese mixture over the pasta; top with the remaining pasta mixture. Cover with foil and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of provolone. Return to the oven for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cheesy Rice and Beans

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Vegetarian

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1 can black beans -- drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans -- drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes -- drained
1 can corn -- drained
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
3 ounces cheddar cheese -- shredded

Cook rice according to package directions. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients in a baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring once, until hot and cheese is melted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


* Exported from MasterCook *

Meat and Potatoes Casserole

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Poultry

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 lb ground turkey
1 pkg (7.8 oz) Hungry Jack Au Gratin Potatoes
1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce
2 cups water
1 cup milk
1 can sliced mushrooms -- drained
4 oz mozzarella cheese -- shredded

Heat oven to 400 F. Brown turkey in a large nonstick skillet until thoroughly cooked. Meanwhile, in a 2 quart baking dish, combine potatoes and contents of sauce packet from potatoes. In a medium saucepan, combine pizza sauce and water. Bring to a boil. Pour over potato mixture; mix well. Add milk, mushrooms and turkey mixture; mix well. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven; stir gently. Sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven; bake another 10 minutes until potatoes are tender and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken sauce.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From Minnesota "The Casserole State",
Chrisi
:)

[DmOrtega]

I cannot stress the importance of leftovers. I cannot and will not spend more that 1 hour preparing and cooking during the week. So, I cook enough on the weekends to carry us through at least 3 days of the next week. I will freeze the food, if we won't be able to finish it the next week. We fill in with things that are fast and that we all like, the rest of the time. Fast for us is pasta, tacos, soup and quesadilla's. There are alot of ways to prepare these. That gives us the best variety. Remember: leftovers.

[lindrusso]

Here's a couple of links that might help out:


http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7150&highlight=quick+and+dinner

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6145&highlight=quick+and+dinner

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4286&highlight=quick+and+dinner

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3406&highlight=quick+and+dinner

[suziking]

I will have to second KValley suggestion for 5-Ingredient, 15-minute Cookbook. There are defintely some I use over and over.

They have a lot of pork chop recipes - yummi!

Suzi

[laden]

I too love leftovers and the 15 Minute/ 5-Ingredient cookbook.

[Linda in MO]

We like to cook breakfast foods for supper ocassionally. Making pizza using french bread cut lengthwise is good and easy. Spaghetti using jazzed up sauce from a jar and ground beef I've previously cooked and frozen is what I cook when there's "nothing to cook".

Here's a simple and delicious chicken recipe. It's surprisingly very good...

* Exported from MasterCook *

Easiest Chicken Ever

Recipe By : Linda in MO
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chicken , Main Dish


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half for
EACH person
1 tablespoon mayonnaise for EACH piece of chicken
1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese for EACH piece of
chicken (not the powder kind)
salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder

Season chicken lightly with salt, pepper, garlic powder.

Combine mayo. & cheese, and coat breasts with mixture, putting more on the top.

Lay in a lightly greased, foil-lined (for easy cleanup) pan.

Bake at 400 deg. until done (about 20 - 25 min.?). It will be golden brown and bubbly on top.

Note: I always use regular Hellman's mayo when I make this. I don't know if the low-fat would work, but I definitely wouldn't try it with fat-free mayo.

[lhall]

Thanks for the ideas. I've been reading CL for years, but I hadn't heard about the 5 ingedredient/15 minute cookbook. I'll look into that.

I do use leftovers too! I won't cook every night, even when my husband is home. Well have what my mother used to call "if you can find it you can eat it!" I try to make sure I have at least something for us to take to work for lunch the next day, and that I can have one or two nights of at least partial leftovers. If I don't have any chicken leftover, but do have some extra sides I'll just cook one main dish and use the leftovers, and I always keep hotdogs and chicken nuggets in the freezer for our 3 year old. Those and canned green beans are perfect for her!

Leigh