GTKY: Favorite quick and easy meal

melanier26 · May 2019

Meal Plan Monday isn’t always the most popular thread so I stole this idea from the August board.

What’s your go-to meal to throw together when you don’t feel like cooking?

Bonus points if it’s not something like spaghetti and meatballs or grilled cheese 😉 The idea is to give others new ideas they maybe haven’t tried before

melanier26 · May 2019

My go-to is sheet pan shrimp and chicken fajitas. The only prep is cutting chicken and slicing onions and peppers...but if you’re looking for zero prep you could buy those items pre-cut!

https://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/sheet-pan-chicken-and-shrimp-fajitas/d12b77aa-f64d-469d-ad1c-f94e8b78d4e1

For a zero-prep side I serve it with chips and fresh salsa

prpl11butterfly · May 2019

Really, anything I can throw in the slow cooker. I've learned there's a lot I can do. Pork roast, pot roast, Turkey tenderloin, chicken. Its great. I don't generally use recipes, just throw in whatever looks/sounds good (there's the Italian heritage kicking in 🤣).

galentine · May 2019

Agreed with @prpl11butterfly - lots of slow cooker meals are super easy/low prep. My fav is easy taco chicken:
Put chicken breasts, taco seasoning, and salsa in slow cooker and cook on high 5 hours. Shred chicken and serve with taco fixings.

kindbytealikat · May 2019

Hmmm good question. Beside the obvious spaghetti, grill cheese/soup, frozen stuff. I always keep kielbasa and ground beef on hand. I’ll fry up the kielbasa with peppers, onions and potatoes if I have them, which I generally do. If I don’t have those I’ll do a breakfast spin and fry it up and make some eggs and pancakes-if I’m feeling fancy lol. My ground beef quick go to’s are tacos, sloppy joes or hamburgers.

kindbytealikat · May 2019

Slow cookers/IP meals should get their own thread

nachellebeck13 · May 2019

It's not really a recipe, but I buy the preseasoned pork chops & frozen veggies since it only takes 1 pan and a microwave. I'll also add in a salad (my grocery store sells premade salad kits) to add extra veggies.
It's quick, easy clean up, and everyone is satisfied.
Cooking anything elaborate is hard with 1 hot plate to cook on.

DS lives on grilled cheese and PB&J sandwhiches so I make those while I'm cooking.

#thanksHarvey

Cass005 · May 2019

If I don't feel like cooking, I just let my husband do it....

In all seriousness probably spaghetti and meat sauce

trapperkeeper87 · May 2019

So I realize this is close to spaghetti, but I think? it's different enough to not be classified as that. I like making cheesy spiral pasta. You basically boil your rotini to your liking, add your sauce (something with a garlic or spicy taste to it works perfectly), sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and crunched up Italian croutons, cover, and let it sit until the cheese is melted. I do it all in the same wok/skillet to cut back on dishes and my husband loves it.

A spin on grilled cheese is to buy a loaf of French bread, cut into slices, coat in a little butter and a little garlic salt, use sliced mozzarella and provolone, and put in the oven on broil for about two minutes. It's a little more grown up than the traditional style, and so delicious! You can obviously skip the garlic salt, or do a whole loaf with more garlic salt and use it as garlic cheese bread to go with your pasta dish.

jenferlee82 · May 2019

Our go-to during grilling season is kabobs. There's some chopping involved but it's pretty quick. We take a small steak, jalapeno cheddar brats, red onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini - chop them all into big pieces, skewer, drizzle with olive oil and season (I like to use my own steak seasoning blend on the whole shebang), grill em up and have at it!

prpl11butterfly · May 2019

Paninis is another quick one! So many options. We buy the presliced Italian bread so it's even easier. I'm not sure it heats up the lunch meat to a "safe" temp but I've been eating lunch meat right along anyway so.....

greenbean-2 · May 2019

We eat quesadillas pretty often. It’s not exactly grilled cheese

. Easy to add some beans or veggies. I like mine drenched in guacamole.

A summer staple is grilled brats with sauerkraut and mustard.

An easy pasta dish: while noodles are boiling (we typically use egg noodles for this), sauté some diced onions and microwave some frozen peas. Mix up the onion, peas, and a can of chicken (you could use tuna instead) with the noodles. Season with tarragon. Right before eating, stir in some Greek yogurt to make it creamy (we add the yogurt to individual servings because the leftovers heat up better without the yogurt). You could do mayo or sour cream instead of the yogurt.

We do big salad days too: lettuce, whatever veggies we have, avocados, and a can of chickpeas.

cluckymama · May 2019

Yum these all sounds delicious!! We do hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes a lot. Or a quick stir fry!!

obsessedwithoranges · May 2019

shrimp tacos with chipotle lime crema (easier than it sounds). defrost frozen shrimp and saute with whatever spices you have on hand... mix up yogurt, chipotle in adobo sauce (from a can, and it keeps well in fridge) and little lime juice... you have your sauce! now put it all on a tortilla. bonus points if you have any crispy veg in the fridge like cabbage, but works just as well without.

greenbean-2 · May 2019

@obsessedwithoranges I love fish tacos and that sauce sounds perfect!

marbellie · May 2019

Sloppy joes! All they take are ground turkey/beef, onion and bell peppers (and for the sauce I usually do a combo of BBQ sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup and mustard). I'm a fan of anything that can be done in one skillet.

obsessedwithoranges · May 2019

@greenbean-2 it's so easy and it can go on so many things! you can even add a dash of cumin if you're feeling fancy. i've been all about the fish/ shrimp tacos because I'm still having a huge aversion to red meat.

emily1052 · May 2019

I’m with @greenbean-2 we do a lot of quesadillas, just add in what ever we have in the fridge as far as meats and veggies.

sammygirl18 · May 2019

There’s premade beef tips in gravy at the store. You can either microwave or warm on the stove. That over bread is super yummy. If I’m feeling ambitious I’ll make some mashed potatoes too.

Beef was one of the only things that didn’t make my stomach churn for awhile, so it was baby approved too!

My husband and I eat like children, so nothing we have is super out of the box! We’ve been going out to eat a ton lately...

dogmom5 · May 2019

I’ll just take chicken breasts or pork chops, put some olive oil and other seasoning on them in the Dutch oven pan and throw them in the oven and have some frozen veggies as a side. I also buy the bag of onions and green,red,yellow peppers from aldi, cut them up and freeze them (separately) so if I ever need some onion or pepper to cook with, it’s already cut up and ready to go.

geminigirl16 · May 2019

One of my fast, easy meals with minimal/pantry ingredients is pasta carbonara. Eggs, bacon, freshly grated parmesan and spaghetti. Delicious as is and lots of various modifications for what you ha e on hand, peas, kale, grated lemon zest.

cheznet · May 2019

I'm a big quesadilla person, and put peppers or basil or tomatoes in them. But I've also been liking leftover burritos. If there are leftovers in the fridge that would make sense in a burrito or a wrap, plus grated cheese (we don't buy grated cheese, we grate the block), heat the leftovers up in a pan, maybe add a can of black beans and wrap it up in the tortillas. I don't usually like leftovers unless I do something to make them more interesting.

mrsinterweb · May 2019

This is my go-to quick, easy and healthy, one-pot meal. I make it in the instant pot, and use a different noodle (orecchiette sticks together in the instant pot), but other than that I pretty much follow it to the letter.

https://www.skinnytaste.com/orecchiette-pasta-with-chicken-sausage/

cooaladolly · May 2019

Definitely tacos or meat loaf are my favorites but SO won't eat the meatloaf so I have to make it small.

+1 on simple quesadillas, shrimp or chicken with refried beans, maybe peppers and onions and cheese, topped with sour cream. @obsessedwithoranges I'm definitely going to try that chipotle lime crema. It sounds delicious!

I also love that my grocery often has the pre-marinated fish, pork or chicken portions you can just throw in the oven or on the grill. A side of mac n cheese or smashed potatoes with frozen veggies are quick go to's in the household as well.

greenbean-2 · May 2019

@obsessedwithoranges we’re trying that sauce on fish tacos tonight! I made the sauce last night, but added in way too many peppers and had to split the sauce in 2 and add a bunch more yogurt to my half to make a sauce that isn’t too spicy for me (DH can eat the too spicy one). But it tastes really good!

telicious2 · May 2019

@cluckymama We also do hamburg gravy (that's what we call it too!), but ours is over "pasta ribbons" (egg noodles, but no cholesterol) and add in some corn.

@marbellie I recently made sloppy joe pasta DS loved it so much that he had 5 servings (probably more like 1ish adult serving)!

I definitely love stuffed pepper casserole. https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/one-pan-stuffed-pepper-casserole/

sweetteaandswingsmama · May 2019

Costco’s pre made street taco kit...

Also sous vide steak or chicken- throw chicken or steak in a ziplock with seasoning over night, throw bags in a pot with the sous vide stick at 3pm, finish on the grill or skillet for 3 minutes a side around 6-7pm... I usually do these with asparagus or mashed cauliflower.

geminigirl16 · May 2019

@sweetteaandswingsmama I’ve looked at the sous vide stick for my IP in the past. Do you mind sharing what brand you have and would you recommend it? Does it work well?

sweetteaandswingsmama · May 2019

geminigirl16 said:

@sweetteaandswingsmama I’ve looked at the sous vide stick for my IP in the past. Do you mind sharing what brand you have and would you recommend it? Does it work well?

We have a Anova Culinary one from Amazon and it is amazing. Our friends recommended the Joule but it’s not as budget friendly unless you get a decent sale so we ended up getting the Anova and it’s great!

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker | Bluetooth | 800W | Anova App Included https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UKPBXM4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UJx3Cb5PVCYA3

cluckymama · May 2019

@telicious2 yum! I’ll have to try it over noodles!!

geminigirl16 · May 2019

Thanks @sweetteaandswingsmama!! I’ll take a look at those. I’d really like to get one.

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