What's for dinner? need ideas..

ESTH2000

I have to really get moving with cooking. Since I get home soooooo late, I find it impossible to cook. I do realize I need to start cooking some healthy food for DD, so I could really use some ideas. I know I can cook on the weekends for the week but even that seems so hard. I barelly have time to cook.....So...how do you do it and what do you make ? TIA

oct11bride03

Tonight I'm making pork paprikash over egg noodles.

It's easy for me to cook this week because I'm WAH. Next week, when I go back to the office, I'm going to start doing what I did when I didn't get home until 7:30 - prep everything on the weekends/the night before. I would take a recipe and break it down into what went into the pan together (i.e. onions, garlic, spices) and chop everything and put it into plastic storage bags. Then all I needed to do at night was dump everything into the pan and cook it.

MrsQueale

Roast beef is always the winner in my household! Get a slow cooker and put a frozen roast beef in it with some onions, then go to work. By the time you get home it will be ready and soo tender (soft enough for LO's teeth) add some veggies and you are good to go.

Pasta is always a winner too.

Pesky

Get thee a crockpot and good crockpot cookbook.  Right now, I have turkey chili mac n' cheese going for dinner tonight.  I've used the crockpot for pot roast, BBQ chicken, crockpot lasagna and so on.  Just prep everything the night before and then turn on the crockpot the next morning.  Otherwise, I focus on quick fix meals -- tacos, baked or grilled fish and so on.  You can marinade meat the night before and grill or saute or bake the next day.  There are pick up days and frozen mac n' cheese days but I am trying to introduce a wider variety of foods to DD as well so the crockpot makes it easier.

shouldbworkin

I'm reheating some chicken and stuffing leftovers and hoping DD will eat some too.  She loves turkey meatballs and spaghetti, so that is one of our standbys.  I make turkey chili over macaroni noodels, turkey meatloaf (I make 2 mini loaves and freeze one to reheat another day), salsa chicken in the crock pot, stiry fry chicken and rice, sloppy joes, etc.  All easy stuff that I try to make healthier by using lean cuts of meat.  I also make breakfast for dinner 1x a week, as well as soup and salad or sandwiches (DD likes soup sometimes, just not so much broth and she will eat some veggies out of a salad).  Those meals are lifesavers.  I don't have the time/energy to make big meals every nigth of the week.

Jenniepenny11

This is DH's favorite and I made it last night, so its fresh on the brain.  And its incredibly easy:

ingredients:

mild italian sausage, chicken wings and drumsticks, olives, sliced cherry peppers, and about 3-4 red potatoes(forget the name)

~Place meat in your baking dish

~Cut up potatoes and put them in

~Put the whole jar of peppers in, and cover the meat in the juices

~Put olives in, and do the same with the juice

~Bake at 375 degrees for 90 minutes

This dish makes your house smell incredible.  Make sure you get a nice loaf of italian bread for dipping.  Enjoy!

Jenniepenny11

just realized you said something for your DD....sorry, this one might be too spicy, but I'm sure you and your DH will love it!

BriAndSean

I go for easy prep or prep in advance meals as much as possible. I haven't decided what we will have tonight. It usually depends on what time I get home and how DD is doing. On the super easy side, French dip is an option for tonight. If I feel like a little more work, I have a pork tenderloin marinating that I could add some potatoes and veggies to as a side.

kgb1411

tonight we are having a bertolli's pasta frozen meal thing and side salads from Wendy's.

luvmagoldn

Tonight - salmon fillets with cous cous and this yummy canned zucchini in a tomato sauce.  YUM!  I buy frozen fillets and put them in the frige the night before to thaw.  By the time DH gets home he can cook them pretty quickly (he gets home before me so he cooks dinner).  Boxed cous cous takes literally 7 minutes and the canned veggies heat up in 3 minutes.  Voila!

 

Printergirl

Since last night was grilled cheese and tomato soup I think I'll mix things up with chicken breasts and stovetop stuffing.

I'm so taking a roast out of the freezer for tomorrow night's dinner though!

Printergirl

Also - We frequently have pancakes for dinner! We both love breakfast but never get to make it except for some weekends when we're actually home. Pancakes, scrambled eggs and fresh fruit. Yummy!

qw23fv09ij87tf23

Lamb chops and rice for Dh and I. Cheese raviloi's for the girls.

snickerdoodle27

Crock pots are great, you can make almost anything in a crock pot. One of my favorite things is bbq chicken. Add 1lb of chicken breasts, a bottle of bbq sauce and water (I just fill the bbq sauce bottle halfway and shake to get the rest of the sauce out) and cook on low. You can do this with pork chops too and the meat is so tender and yummy.

 I also love one dish meals like casseroles. If you buy campbell's soup they have some good recipes on them (try cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli).

ecu1995

I second the crockpot!  But, sometimes there just isnt time enough in the morning to get it going!

What I have found is easy is on Sundays, I usually will brown a couple lbs of ground beef or turkey and just season it very lightly.  I will do the same with chicken breasts.  That way I can use them throughout the week to make spaghetti, tacos/burritos, salads, etc....takes much less time when part of it is already prepared!