Working Moms
kgb1411
member
forget easy to cook. Give me your no-cook dinners.
kgb1411
member
in Working Moms
I'm getting a little sick of cooking. We have had spaghetti and breakfast for dinner (and by that I mean cereal and fruit, not eggs and pancakes) too many times. Anyone have any good no-cook suggestions?
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Re: forget easy to cook. Give me your no-cook dinners.
CROCK POT
you can throw in a roast with onions cook it all day
pork chops with cream of mush soup
round steak with onions, green peppers, cream of mush soup, and tomato sauce for swiss steak.
you can throw everything in frozen, turn it on low and FORGET IT, fifteen min prep MAX
Rotisserie chicken, frozen bag of mashed potatoes
ham steak (just fry up for a few minutes)
-- bread and cheese (plus a bag of salad or some fruit). if my husband approved, I would eat this 4 nights per week!
-- hummus and pita (add cucumbers, tomato, and feta if you want).
-- soup (I like progresso).
-- lean cuisines.
-- apples and peanut butter (add yogurt and granola?).
soup and salad
salad with tuna or grilled chicken (tyson ready to eat) on top
I seriously can't believe I am writing this, but Pampered Chef has a big covered casserole dish. I throw frozen chicken breasts in with some seasoning and maybe some veggies, 9-11 mintues in the microwave, and dinner is ready. If I plan ahead the night before we will have already cooked rice or pasta with dinner. If not, tortillas can be served.
So far I have used seasoning, salsa and spaghetti sauce. I have also added BBQ sauce after the chicken was cooked. All have turned out very good. And no, you can not tell it was cooked in a microwave.
** I am not a Pampered Chef consultant. Actually, I'm the one in the back of the party enjoying the wine making fun of the consultant with all her gadets. But, the covered dish has been fantastic for this time crunched cook.
I do a lot of crock pot stuff on Sunday so we can re-heat it on Monday. I do enjoy cooking and usually cook full meals, but my easiest things I make for crazy nights are:
sandwich roll ups - I use wheat tortillas and add in lots of veggies or spinach
frozen ravioli - I do freeze homade sauce, but you could do jarred sauce
Chopped salad - I buy a rotisseire chicken at the store make a huge salad with tons of veggies and add in cut up chicken.
ommelettes
english muffin pizzas - just add mozz cheese, pizza sauce and toppings...done in a few minutes
pannini sandwiches
I think a lot of gals also buy a lot of prepared frozen things from Trader Joes. I always read that on here, but I prefer to cook so I have not checked that out much.
Right there with ya, sister. I consider myself semi-organized, but I don't see how all these ladies make full meals every night, even with the crock-pot!
I am definitely a Trader Joes gal - my freezer is stocked with quick meals. I don't know if you have one near you but we get the frozen quiches, frozen steamed rice (ultra-lazy), teriyaki chicken, small pizzas, cooked chicken, cooked pot roast and carnitas, natural hot dogs, etc...Something quick that we have with a salad.
Other stuff we eat regularly:
Quesadillas - I get frozen cooked carne asada from Traders but more often we just do cheese ones stuffed with lettuce and salsa and veggies.
I'll eat hummus with pita bread and a salad any day.
Appetizer plate - cheese, fruit, bread, veggies, etc.....I'll put it on a platter for Dh and I to share.
Cheese toast with a salad. Sourdough or rye with a sharp cheddar sprinkled with chopped green onions.
Can of chili over rice.
I buy bags of salad lettuces and spinach which we will have with cooked chicken and a "Asian" dressing.
My go-to cooked veggie is spinach saut?ed with a teeny bit of oil and garlic. It takes literally two minutes to cook it.
Pasta with pesto or a can of seasoned chopped tomatoes - throw in a little wine and a pat of butter if you want to go craaaaaaaazy.
Sandwiches - always good and easy.
I like Bisquick Impossible Pies. Once you get the basic recipe down it is easy to improvise. You can make two one night and save it for later in the week or for work lunches. I like cheese and green chiller and the hamburger ones.
https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/impossibly-easy-cheeseburger-pie/8c78aa78-c368-40fa-8a88-1654640c7525
I buy frozen chopped onions. This one step makes cooking so much easier and faster!
Seasoned couscous - all you need is to boil water. A quick alternative to rice or potatoes.
Olive tapenade makes everything taste better. I get mine from Traders (black olives) and you can use it on sandwiches, quesadillas spread on crackers or bread, as a pasta sauce......I could eat this every day.
Frozen Chicken Kiev.
Bagged frozen fried rice
Take out .
(A personal favorite)
My baby is two!!! Baby girl 9/17/09
My other baby is still a baby! Baby Boy 11-30-11
Preaching to the choir sister! Most nights I make all meals in the microwave. Steam-in-bag frozen veggies -- peas, corn, corn on the cob, green beans. If it wasn't for those bags, my kids would never eat veggies.
Amy's Organic canned Chili -- just heat & serve with bread.
Amy's Pizza -- actually anything by Amy's is great. Organic, mostly-healthy, lower in sodium than the competitors, tastes great.
Ditto shopping at Trader Joes. I don't know the brand name, but they have a box of organic pasta & sauce to which you add tuna. Super easy to cook & my kids love it. Plus the sodium isn't too bad.
Yup, that's us! Mon-Fri, almost everything is microwaved. It's just the reality of the time restraints we have.
Frozen veggies/rice/pasta, those steam-in-bag ones actually turn out really good and only take about 6 minutes.
I buy frozen pre-cooked chicken and nuke it for DS and DH. I'm a vegetarian and always have some Boca chicken patties that can be nuked.
If we have good bread, we make paninis with our Foreman Grill.
We have quesadillas at least once a week - can of refried black beans, some shredded cheese, and some olives.....our quesadilla maker makes it super quick and easy.
We tend to rotate through the same meals each week, but with DS going through his picky eater phase and not a lot of time in the evenings, it's not a big deal to us. And it makes weekend meals that much more special.
Sandwiches
Soup & sandwiches. Grilled cheese usually
Sometimes on Sunday I'll make a large tray of baked ziti & or homemade mac & cheese for the week.
A simple go to semi cooking meal is Chicken parm & speghetti baked.
1 package of prepared Perdue breaded Chicken Italian
1 package of Mozz Cheese
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 box of speghetti
Cook speghetti according to package
while spaghetti is cooking heat up chicken on cookie sheet.
Heat sauce if you like. I like to so I can add my own spices & cheese.
Drain spaghetti and place in 13x9 dish. add enough sauce to coat the pasta. Mixing pasta & sauce well so that all the pasta is coated evenly. Place chicken ontop of that. Pour enough sauce over chicken to cover. Sprinkle as much cheese as you like on top of that. Bake in the ovent ill cheese is bubbly & or browned to your liking.
Serve like a casserole. It's so easy & so yummy.
You can also make a batch of pancakes ahead & freeze. Nook for 1 minute & serve for dinner.
Chili in the crockpot is another great idea.
Most things I cook at 5 ingrediants or less & no more than 3 pots. If it's mroe than that I don't make it.
I also always keep a large bag of frozen organic mixed veggies in the freezer. As well as frozen broccoli, corn & peas. Steamable.
Quasadillas are easy too. Keep some chicken shortcuts on hand or pick up a rotiseri chicken. Tortillas w/ chicken & cheese. Heated in a large skillet till the cheese is melted & chicken is warm. Serve with salad, sour cream & salsa on the side. I keep chopped frozen onions & green peppers on hand for this too.. Throw on the tortilla.