s/o of tired of cooking - share your favorite "I don't feel like cooking" recipe/meal

[StaceyinLA]

I thought maybe since so many folks responded to the being tired of cooking thread, we might be able to have one to share some recipes or meal ideas for those days when you just don't feel like cooking (but don't really have a choice).

 

Here's an easy one I've done over the years. The coolest thing about this is I grease the baking dish with a little olive oil then dump everything in it, stir it up, top with cheese and go. Serve with or without a side, but always with avocado or guacamole!

 

1/2 pound ground meat seasoned and cooked (I use leftover if I have it and, if not, I double the beans)

 

1 can beans of choice (2 if no meat - I usually use pinto but you can do any or combine any two)

 

Can of corn drained, or use equivalent frozen

 

1 can tomato sauce

 

1 tomato sauce can salsa

 

can green chiles (this is optional, but I'm obsessed with green chiles so I add them)

 

Appx 4-6 tortillas torn into small pieces. Flour or soft corn, but I prefer the corn. If you use flour, you may not need quite as many.

 

Mix all this together in the baking dish then top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 20 minutes or so - til bubbly.

 

Can serve with sour cream, guacamole, additional salsa, etc. It's flexible, but really easy, and one of the only things I make that uses canned items - perfect for a last-minute meal!

[mamiof5]

Frozen ravioli from Walmart (or tortellini) is my go to no cooking dinner. Boil them, drain, add pasta sauce...done

[alisoncooks]

 

1. Spaghetti:  1 pound of beef and two large cans of (Food Lion) traditional pasta sauce.  Serve with noodles (obviously) and frozen garlic bread.  (The only problem here is the number of dirty pans/pots...this works best if the dishwasher is ready for a load and I can shove it all in!)

 

Sausage and peppers:  Smoked Beef Sausage or Hot Links and cut it into small bites.  Pan-fry with sliced onions/peppers (I buy the frozen, pre-cut cause I'm lazy).  Sometimes we toss in drained kidney beans and heat through, then serve over rice (salsa on top is good).  If we don't do beans, we usually put them in halved pitas or rolled up in tortillas.

 

Frozen corn dogs or mozzarella sticks are always a popular start here.  I redeem that choice by adding fresh fruit and veggies. :p

 

Loose meat sandwiches!  :D  1 pound of ground beef, browned and mostly drained.  Add salt, pepper and flour (and a little water).  Sometimes add garlic powder and Worcestershire.  Serve on buns (I like mine plain with hot sauce; my DD adds cheese, pickle chips and ketchup.)

 

Edited August 4, 2016 by alisoncooks

[Guest]

Calzones....pizza dough, spaghetti sauce, fillings of choice and a side garden salad. Pretty simple and the fillings can be individualized. The current popular choice is ham and green pepper.

[BigMamaBird]

I like to have a box of garlic toast and a bag of frozen ravioli in the freezer for those days I just can't get it together.  I know it's carb loaded and not healthy, but the kids love it and some days I just don't want to deal with picky eaters.

[mom31257]

We love Perdue's Simply Smart gluten free chicken tenders. We don't eat gluten free, but my nephew does. We had some here for him and tried them. They are delicious!

 

Those and a couple salad kits are enough for us. 

[MercyA]

Steam-in-the-bag red or gold potatoes, steam-in-the-bag veggies, Rhodes frozen Warm N' Serve dinner rolls, breaded and baked chicken breasts or meatloaf

 

Baked hamburgers, tots, and a veggie

 

Pasta and sauce with garlic bread and salad

 

Soft tacos with chips and guac

 

Waffles or pancakes

[EKS]

Spaghetti, sauce in a jar (don't heat, just put the jar on the table), frozen spinach (microwaved), Kraft parmesan.

 

It takes a half hour from start to finish and requires at most 10 minutes of work.

Edited August 4, 2016 by EKS

[Guest2]

Insta pot convert here! Dump either a big pkg of frozen meat or a bag of dried beans, onions, spices, mushrooms and water or broth or tomato sauce in the machine. Usually I add wild rice. Set the timer ..dinner in 45 minutes. i get those 45 minutes to make salads and relax with a cup of tea, or whatever I want to do. A HUGE hit at my house.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Silver Brook

[kiana]

Baked veggies, tuna and egg omelet. 

[Amira]

For me, it also can't require a trip to the grocery store either (because I'd rather just cook than have to go to the store). The things I cook when I don't want to think about it are plov, kichree, Thai red curry, and chicken garlic spaghetti. I always have all of the ingredients for those meals.

[Katy]

I'm ashamed to say our family favorite sick of cooking recipe, that is neither healthy nor particularly fast, is a sort of hashbrown casserole.  Yep, in this sense at least I'm as bad as the Duggars.   :crying:   It works with all sorts of potatoes, but I almost always have at least one bag of those Ore-Ida Crowns in the freezer.  Whichever you choose, spread a single layer of them in two baking sheets. While they're baking, brown a pound of ground beef. Add in a bag of frozen veggies to the beef when it's cooked through (usually the onion & bell pepper mix), and whatever seasoning sounds good (usually cumin, smoked paprika, and a bit of ground chipotle pepper).  When the hashbrowns are browned, spread the meat & veggie mix over the top of the browns, add shredded cheese (usually sharp cheddar), and return to the oven for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is melted and starts to brown.

 

If you're really in a pinch and don't want to stand over a stove at all, you can nuke the frozen veggies and use any sort of pre-cooked meat instead.  I've used diced chicken, diced ham lunchmeat, and, on one occassion, even a handful of those "real bacon" bacon bits.

 

 

Another one, that's low carb, is Philly Cheesteak Stuffed Bell Peppers. My recipe varies, but is something like this:  http://www.food.com/recipe/philly-cheesesteak-stuffed-peppers-513064 Serve with rice (frozen cauliflower crumbles if low carbing it) and veggies.

[Cinder]

Panda Express

[zoobie]

How sick and tired are we talking? A bowl of IDGAF with a side of microwave fries? ;)

 

Quesadillas, beans, whatever raw veg I have prepped, fruit

Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit

Toast some bread (the tortas from Costco are nice), ham or turkey or roast beast, and cheese under the broiler, mash it together and call it a panini

Grab shredded meat from the freezer (BBQ, Mexican spiced, whatever--I make a bunch and freeze it in meal sized bags) and serve with appropriate sides. Or inappropriate sides.

Butterfly a chicken breast, season with whatever, cook 3 mins per side in a cast iron skillet, top with cheese, 3 more mins under the broiler while chopping salad

Pressure cooker mac and cheese with whatever veggies I pull from fridge or freezer

Tomato soup (large can of crushed tomatoes, shallot, broth, spices in the pressure cooker or slow cooker) and grilled cheese or salad

[DawnM]

Frozen ravioli from Walmart (or tortellini) is my go to no cooking dinner. Boil them, drain, add pasta sauce...done

 

Pot Stickers are mine. 

 

I have a rice maker so I just pop rice in the rice maker and press "start" and then cook up the pot stickers.   

[duckabell]

I usually precook ground beef and chicken then put it in baggies and freeze it. This way, when I want to use some, I can defrost it in the microwave and make a quicker dinner.

 

Meals that don't use the precooked meat:

French bread pizza

Homemade pizza

Frozen store bough ravioli

Frozen chicken nuggets (sometimes with pasta and sauce)

Quesadillas

 

 

Meals using precooked meat:

Stirfry: 1 bag of cooked, chopped chicken; 1 pack of stir fry vegetables, a little olive oil and soy sauce. Rice in the rice cooker.

Spaghetti: Boil noodles and use store bought spaghetti sauce with pre-cooked ground beef

Tacos or taco salad

Couscous with vegetables and chicken

Pesto pasta chicken with store bought pesto

 

I also use freezer crockpot meals a lot and will sometimes freeze soups or meats that have leftover (BBQ chicken, etc) to have quicker meals.

 

[Pawz4me]

www.pizzahut.com

 

;) ;)

 

As far as actual cooking (or something that resembles it) --

 

Meatball subs -- frozen meatballs heated in jarred marinara sauce

Chicken Philly subs -- saute onions and peppers and chicken strips (using fresh chicken or the frozen already cooked kind)

Chili in the crock pot

Hamburgers or grilled chicken on the George Foreman grill

Grilled cheese or grilled bacon and cheese sandwiches

 

Add in a salad or veggie and some fruit for dessert with any of the above.

[mellifera33]

Dutch Baby pancake:

 

Melt a stick of butter in 9x13 glass dish in a low oven. When melted, take dish out and increase temp to 425. Whisk together 1 C flour, 2 T granulated sugar, 1 C milk, and 4 eggs. Pour into dish. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serve with fruit. I usually nuke a few strips of bacon for my meat-loving husband. Easy. 

[zoobie]

Pot Stickers are mine. 

 

I have a rice maker so I just pop rice in the rice maker and press "start" and then cook up the pot stickers.   

 

Oh, I forgot pot sticker soup! My kids love that. A box of broth, a squirt of ginger and garlic from those tubes in the produce section, a splash of soy and sesame oil, then throw in frozen potstickers once it gets to a simmer. You can add a bag of baby spinach if your kids will eat it. Mine prefer it as salad. We call it Secret Ingredient Soup from Kung Fu Panda. I haven't made that in a while. Need to add to the list...

[pinkmint]

Skin-on chicken thighs. Cheap, hard to overcook and tasty.

 

5 minutes of prep time. 

 

Preheat oven to 350. Stick them in a baking dish lined with tin foil. Pat the skin dry with paper towel for crispy skin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (other stuff like garlic powder if you're feeling ambitious). Cook for about an hour. Broil for a couple minutes at the end (skin crispiness). Add bagged salad and/ or bread if you're into that. 

 

 

[Pippen]

Crock pot chicken with black beans and corn. Dump, cook, shred. Eat hot on flour tortillas or cold on salads. 

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-chicken-with-black-beans-cream-cheese-89204

[nd293]

Spaghetti carbonara - my quickest version

 

For the sauce beat 1 egg per person until frothy. Quickly drain the spaghetti and return to the pot so there's still a hint of cooking water. Add the egg and grated parmesan and stir with a fork for a minute or so.

 

Top with bacon, chilli flakes and pine nuts or walnuts.

 

I have a few standby meals using roast chicken - fried rice, pad thai, wraps, quick chicken curry (fried onion, curry powder and cream), pho, chicken and sweet corn soup to name a few.

[alisoncooks]

Crock pot chicken with black beans and corn. Dump, cook, shred. Eat hot on flour tortillas or cold on salads. 

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-chicken-with-black-beans-cream-cheese-89204

 

We love this.  We add drained canned mushrooms, and we eat it over egg noodles.

My kids call it Pink Stuff.

Edited August 4, 2016 by alisoncooks

[madteaparty]

Ommelets

Quiche made ahead of time, heated up and served with side salad

Bags and bags of trader joe frozen food

My issue is most convenience food isn't healthy and that's the main reason I cook...I mean I don't keep many cans in the house...

Edited August 4, 2016 by madteaparty

[LucyStoner]

Quesadillas made with (canned) black beans and spinach. Keep salsa on hand to jazz these moments up.

[rjand6more]

Frozen ravioli from Walmart (or tortellini) is my go to no cooking dinner. Boil them, drain, add pasta sauce...done

 

We spray a pan, throw in frozen ravioli, top with sauce and bake foil-covered.  Take off foil add cheese.  5 more minutes.

[kiana]

Dutch Baby pancake:

 

Melt a stick of butter in 9x13 glass dish in a low oven. When melted, take dish out and increase temp to 425. Whisk together 1 C flour, 2 T granulated sugar, 1 C milk, and 4 eggs. Pour into dish. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serve with fruit. I usually nuke a few strips of bacon for my meat-loving husband. Easy. 

 

This is also great savory if you leave out the sugar -- it's an old-fashioned yorkshire pudding then (not the individual ones you'll see in shops now)

 

Quick idgaf sides/meals with this as a base:

yorkshire pudding with fried eggs cracked into it after baking

yorkshire pudding with grated cheddar in the batter (chives are good here too, but very optional)

yorkshire pudding with precooked ground beef or any other cooked chopped meat in the batter

yorkshire pudding with breakfast sausages in the batter (toad in the hole)

 

Add a veg to any of these and you've got a filling meal. 

 

Works well in a 8x8 pan with a half-recipe, or an 8x4 bread loaf pan with a quarter-recipe. 

[happypamama]

Pork tenderloin in the instant pot. If I bend it when I put it in the freezer, it fits into the IP frozen.

 

Caesar salad with chicken or shrimp.

 

We love the simmer sauces from Aldi. Alfredo sauce with some sliced sautéed chicken and a bag of frozen broccoli, over pasta. The curry sauces with chicken or beef plus rice.

 

Spinach, egg, and cheese casserole. Beat a dozen eggs. Add bag of chopped frozen spinach (no need to thaw), a 32 ounce container of cottage cheese, and about 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Mix, pour into a 9x13 pan or a couple of 2 quart casseroles, and bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until set and slightly golden on top. All of my children love this. Goes well with an orange veggie and/or bread.

[Jenn in FL]

On those nights when there is nothing leaping out of the fridge and my enthusiasm for the project has left the building...

 

We generally have the makings for homemade burritos on hand:

 

Flour tortillas

Cooked rice (either white or brown)

Beans (either previously cooked or canned and drained)

Shredded cheese (usually sharp cheddar)

Salsa (of some sort)

Sour cream (if we're feelin' fancy!)

Shredded meat (either chicken or beef...IF there is some sitting at the ready in the freezer)

Mix the rice, beans and cheese together in a bowl and heat in the microwave.  After the mixture is hot, warm the individual tortillas on the stove top.  Add hot rice mixture to the warm tortilla. Top with salsa and possibly sour cream.  Roll up burrito style.  Done.

 

On days like this, a side of fruit is considered an extra bonus!  Ditto veggies. :tongue_smilie:

[Loowit]

DH's family had a tradition that Sunday night was ice cream and popcorn.  We do that once in a while.

 

Quick meals for us are often:

 

sloppy joes- brown meat and add prepackaged seasoning and canned tomato sauce

pancakes made with a mix

french toast

tacos

baked chicken with roasted veggies - pour olive oil over with season of choice and bake

creamy cheesy broccoli soup w/ hot ham sandwiches - 3 cups water with a chicken bullion cube, boil broccoli until soft, mash up and add in a can of evaporated milk mixed with 1/3 cup of flour, let it thicken add in 2 cups of cheese and melt.  The sandwiches are just sandwich rolls with ham and cheese wrapped in foil and baked in a 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes

crockpot roast.- shove it in with beef broth and onion soup mix in the morning and put on low.  Add in whatever veggies at around lunchtime or skip that and do baby carrots and bread at dinner time.

[Rebel Yell]

Ham (we buy the turkey ham from Aldi), potatoes just washed- small ones cook faster, in the oven for until potatoes are cooked and frozen peas cooked on stovetop.

 

Super salty quadruple-whammyPMS meal: (haha house with four ladies)

Box of Stuffing mix, usually just add boiling water

Jar of gravy, heated

Canned cooked chicken, heated in gravy

Needs ice cream and a side of Nutella.

 

Chicken thighs, boneless. Dump on bottle of garlic Parmesan wing sauce, cook low 275*F for 3 hours. Side of noodles.

 

Ramen noodles (we toss the msg flavor packs... But noodles cook so FAST!)

Add broccoli to boiling water to cook, drain w noodles

Can cooked chicken w broth from can

soy sauce, shake of garlic powder and ginger

[Amira]

This is also great savory if you leave out the sugar -- it's an old-fashioned yorkshire pudding then (not the individual ones you'll see in shops now)

 

Quick idgaf sides/meals with this as a base:

yorkshire pudding with fried eggs cracked into it after baking

yorkshire pudding with grated cheddar in the batter (chives are good here too, but very optional)

yorkshire pudding with precooked ground beef or any other cooked chopped meat in the batter

yorkshire pudding with breakfast sausages in the batter (toad in the hole)

 

Add a veg to any of these and you've got a filling meal.

 

Works well in a 8x8 pan with a half-recipe, or an 8x4 bread loaf pan with a quarter-recipe.

Thanks! I make the sweet version of this all the time (except we call them German pancakes) but I've never tried a savory version.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I love this thread. I've been on an "I'm so sick of cooking!" kick lately as well. These ideas are great. Here are a few of ours:

 

--Grilled cheese sandwiches

--Sliced roast beef on ciabatta rolls with a slice or two of cheese on top, toasted (topless :p) in the toaster oven until the cheese melts

--Eggs in some form

--Big salads with a variety of toppings

--"Hamburger Helper"--this is pretty quick and easy on its own, but it's even faster if you've precooked and frozen the ground beef and pre-prepared the spice mix. I add a ton of frozen peas or corn and serve with salad or sliced tomatoes.

--Quesadillas with just about anything in them (basically grilled cheese, but you can add salsa and guacamole and canned beans and healthy it up a little!)

--One-pot zucchini mushroom pasta--This is incredibly easy. I usually skip the zucchini (often don't have it on hand), and add lots of peas and extra cheese.

--Portobello mushroom "burgers"

--Beans and rice--beans from a can, heated up, over brown rice. Add salsa, guac, sour cream, tomatoes, onion, maybe scoop with a few corn chips or some torn up tortillas if you have them. 

--Baked potatoes with your favorite toppings. I also took this recipe and made it easier: I bake the potatoes in the toaster oven (or regular oven), cut them up on the baking pan, add cheese and beans while they're still hot, then add taco or nacho toppings as desired. Fantastic. 

--Pasta and steamed frozen broccoli. I usually make a "quick and easy" Alfredo that goes with it, but the easiest version is to just add butter or good olive oil and then sprinkle on Parmesan or Romano. 

Edited August 5, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Zinnia]

Scrambled eggs, grits

Fried egg sandwiches

Egg salad with crackers or toast "finger" (see?  That's a fancy one)

Aldi orange chicken.  Easy, easy, only have to make rice.

Spaghetti.

 

If I've got a tiny bit more care, I make hamburger steaks with brown gravy, rice, and lima beans.  It was a childhood staple, and I love it.  Brown hamburgers, remove.  Make gravy with flour and beef bouillon.  Slide the hamburgers back in.  Lima beans just the frozen ones thrown into a pot and boiled.  And rice.  Bam, done.  Supper with no thinking about it.  But I think we all have a childhood meal that seems super simple to us, but it's just because we've eaten it thousands of times.

[Baseball mom]

I try to keep browned ground beef and cooked chicken in the freezer. 

Also have been trying to cook up extra on several things and put in freezer for nights I don't want to cook.  Things like pulled pork (cooked in crock pot),  beef with AuJus sauce (crock pot),  extra grilled pork chops and hamburgers.  But I don't always have something in there.

 

Cereal -- we have been eating a lot of this lately  :blushing:   to hot to be cooking ;)

Pb&J sandwiches

Pancakes & if I am in a good mood maybe some eggs & sausage or bacon

French fries -- baked so I don't have to stand and watch them oh and they are better for you that way :p

Taco salad - if we have lettuce

 

Baked fajitas

slice beef or chicken or both into strips

put in a bowl with slices of bell peppers and onion

Toss with little bit of olive oil

Toss with some fajita seasoning

Spread on baking sheet

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

 

Chicken Rotel Spaghetti

Boil chicken breasts - or use some frozen cooked chicken from freezer

Take chicken out and drop spaghetti in and cook

Cut chicken into small pieces

Cut up some Velveeta

Drain spaghetti, put back in pot, put Velveeta in and stir & let melt

Add chicken and can of rotel. 

Stir and eat.

 

[fraidycat]

GF Pasta w/meat sauce or steak pan-fried w/butter, salt and pepper and a frozen veggie are my go-to meals. We eat a lot of steak, veggies, and pasta.

 

I'm typing as the steak is frying right now. At almost 8 pm. Lol, we eat late a lot, too because it takes me time to get motivated - and the kids aren't STARVING at bedtime.

Edited August 5, 2016 by fraidycat

[umsami]

This summer we've been going to Jersey Mike's for subs, buying a frozen Stouffer's lasagna and pairing it with a bagged Caesar salad kit, or picking up a rotisserie chicken and pairing it with Caesar or Greek salad. 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Baked chicken teriyaki. This is my all time favorite phone-it-in recipe. You just mix like 6 ingredients together and then pour over chicken and bake. I use boil in a bag rice because it's foolproof, and either steam some broccoli or use a steamer bag. It takes me about 5 minutes of actual work to make this dinner and my whole family likes it. We cut the sugar by a bit.

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/baked-chicken-teriyaki-186432

Edited August 5, 2016 by Sk8ermaiden

[Miss Peregrine]

Baguette, sliced tomato, sliced mozzarella and basil. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

[Miss Peregrine]

Baguette, sliced tomato, sliced mozzarella and basil. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

OK, I finally got to read the whole thread, and I just added a ton of recipes to my Plan to Eat database (including a bunch of the ones I listed, because I just don't tend to think of them on the fly, and having them in my PTE database under the tags "quick" and "easy" will make them more accessible). 

 

Oh, I forgot pot sticker soup! My kids love that. A box of broth, a squirt of ginger and garlic from those tubes in the produce section, a splash of soy and sesame oil, then throw in frozen potstickers once it gets to a simmer. You can add a bag of baby spinach if your kids will eat it. Mine prefer it as salad. We call it Secret Ingredient Soup from Kung Fu Panda. I haven't made that in a while. Need to add to the list...

 

 

This is genius and my kids will LOVE it. Thanks!

[Ravin]

Frozen pizza

Frozen lasagna

Bagged salad kit

[Garga]

Shrimp scampi with spinach and tomatoes over angel hair pasta.

 

Box of frozen shrimp scampi

Bag of frozen spinach

Can tomatoes (The Del Monte Garlic and Olive Oil flavor is divine!)

8 oz angel hair pasta.

 

Cook pasta.

Put frozen shrimp scampi in frying pan.  Heat until the shrimp is done.  (It has its own sauce so no butter spray or anything is needed)

Add some handfuls of spinach

Add the tomatoes

Add the cooked pasta

 

It is SO SIMPLE.  Just pop open boxes and cans and be done with it.  It feels like a gourmet meal, but it's all just a bunch of boxes and cans.

 

 

 

[StaceyinLA]

Shrimp scampi with spinach and tomatoes over angel hair pasta.

 

Box of frozen shrimp scampi

Bag of frozen spinach

Can tomatoes (The Del Monte Garlic and Olive Oil flavor is divine!)

8 oz angel hair pasta.

 

Cook pasta.

Put frozen shrimp scampi in frying pan. Heat until the shrimp is done. (It has its own sauce so no butter spray or anything is needed)

Add some handfuls of spinach

Add the tomatoes

Add the cooked pasta

 

It is SO SIMPLE. Just pop open boxes and cans and be done with it. It feels like a gourmet meal, but it's all just a bunch of boxes and cans.

Where do you get the frozen shrimp scampi? I don't think I've seen that anywhere.

[Garga]

Where do you get the frozen shrimp scampi? I don't think I've seen that anywhere.

Wherever your grocery store has frozen fish, like with the fish sticks. I'd never heard of it either until I went looking. It's in a box. There's usually only one brand of it in my stores. There used to be two, but the 2nd brand (I think it was Gordon's) disappeared one day.

[Zinnia]

My mom uses that frozen shrimp scampi to make shrimp and grits.  Just heat it up, serve it over grits.  It's really very good for frozen food.  The brand she buys is SeaPak.  

[Bluegoat]

Clam chowder is easy - I would use this more except my dd11 can't eat clams.

 

Sort of a veg mix with chicken - just chunked peppers, tomatoes, and red onions with chuncked chicken breast or thigh, or is also works with bone in thighs.  Toss with olive oil, a little garlic and balsamic, s&P, and if you want some herbs - for this if I am pressed I often use basil from a tube.  Cook it for an hour at about 375 and serve with rice or crusty bread.

 

Grilled cheese and canned tomato soup.  Not that healthy but very nostalgic, especially if the grilled cheese is cut into soldiers.

 

Breakfast for supper.

 

Pasta and tomato sauce with a side salad.

[MeghansMom]

Barbecue beef from Aldi's, only takes three minutes to heat. Aldi's seasoned fries on a baking sheet, I think twenty minutes and Aldi's coleslaw. Fresh fruit too.

 

I usually have shredded chicken and crumbled ground beef in my freezer, I just have to thaw it out.

 

So I can make smoky beef and brown rice chili, or spaghetti, sloppy joes, etc.

With the chicken, I can make chicken pot pie in a pinch.

I also usually have the ingredients for chicken broccoli cheesy rice mushroom onion casserole. :p

My Meg likes it for lunch sans the chicken.

[Malory]

I'm ashamed to say our family favorite sick of cooking recipe, that is neither healthy nor particularly fast, is a sort of hashbrown casserole.  Yep, in this sense at least I'm as bad as the Duggars.   :crying:   It works with all sorts of potatoes, but I almost always have at least one bag of those Ore-Ida Crowns in the freezer.  Whichever you choose, spread a single layer of them in two baking sheets. While they're baking, brown a pound of ground beef. Add in a bag of frozen veggies to the beef when it's cooked through (usually the onion & bell pepper mix), and whatever seasoning sounds good (usually cumin, smoked paprika, and a bit of ground chipotle pepper).  When the hashbrowns are browned, spread the meat & veggie mix over the top of the browns, add shredded cheese (usually sharp cheddar), and return to the oven for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is melted and starts to brown.

 

If you're really in a pinch and don't want to stand over a stove at all, you can nuke the frozen veggies and use any sort of pre-cooked meat instead.  I've used diced chicken, diced ham lunchmeat, and, on one occassion, even a handful of those "real bacon" bacon bits.

 

Well, aside from using those processed potato things your recipe actually isn't too unhealthy, unless you think using shredded cheese is shameful.  I might just try this myself when the weather gets cooler.  Thanks for the idea.