your easy go-to meal

[Frances]

12 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I guess there are two types of emergencies, ran out of food vs ran out of time?  I have more of the latter.

But I also pretty much always have extra bread in the freezer.  I’m no more likely to be out of bread than frozen vegetables or Parmesan or eggs or other things people are mentioning. 

Same. We refrigerate or freeze all of our bread. We go through it so slowly that it will invariably get moldy if left out.

[Kassia]

3 minutes ago, Frances said:

Same. We refrigerate or freeze all of our bread. We go through it so slowly that it will invariably get moldy if left out.

We freeze all of our bread.  I've read not to refrigerate it because it dries it out but don't know if that's true.

[ktgrok]

20 hours ago, Corraleno said:

 

"Eggsadillas" — quesadilla with a fried egg inside

 

Explain, please! I love fried eggs. I love tortillas. Make me understand how to do this, please!

[ktgrok]

Our fastest I just don't want to cook meal is frozen waffles thrown in the toaster, frozen sausages heated in the microwave (or air fryer if I have slightly more time) and an apple sliced up. Carb, protein, fats, fruit/fiber. DONE. 

 

[fraidycat]

Pasta, sauce, and either ground beef for meat sauce or sausages.

Quesadillas

A hunk of meat - pork chops, steak, chicken with rice & frozen veggies.

Frozen pizzas or chicken strips/nuggets with fries.

Chicken caesar salad.

 

[Corraleno]

34 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Explain, please! I love fried eggs. I love tortillas. Make me understand how to do this, please!

Lightly butter one side of a flour tortilla, drop it in a frying pan (butter side down), cover with grated cheese, salsa, and anything else you like (beans, ham, crumbled sausage, onions & peppers, etc), then when the cheese is melted and the bottom is crispy, slide it onto a plate. Then crack an egg into one side of the pan and slide it around a little so its sort of a half-circle shape that will fit well on half a tortilla. (I usually break the yolk and push the egg around with a spatula into a half-moon shape, because DS doesn't like runny eggs, but you could leave it sunny side up if that's your preference.) Slide the egg onto one half of the tortilla, fold the other half over the top, cut in half or into quarters.

It's one of my son's favorite quick meals, so I'm usually just making one. But if you want to make a bunch for a family, you could cook the eggs in a separate pan while you cook the tortillas to make it faster. You can either make them individually, with whatever fillings each person prefers, or make one big one and serve wedges of it. To make one big one, fry a large burrito-size tortilla with cheese and other toppings in one pan, fry 3-4 eggs in another pan (so they fill out the round shape of the pan), then put the first tortilla on a plate, slide the eggs on top of it, fry another tortilla (with cheese) and put that on top (cheese side down, crispy side up), cut in wedges, and serve.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Corraleno

[fraidycat]

5 hours ago, Bambam said:

We have a restaurant here that makes a variety of chicken salads. My favorite is avocado. I don't know what the recipe is, but they use avocado in place of the mayo. So yummy. It will slightly discolor the next day, but it is still delicious. 

I mix canned chicken with pre-made guacamole and eat it as a "dip" w/ gluten-free crackers. Yummy and super filling!

[Clarita]

I need to start looking for this "canned chicken" stuff. I'm only aware of Spam, mini hotdogs and tuna as shelf stable meat...

Edited October 25, 2021 by Clarita
add tuna

[bibiche]

1 hour ago, Kassia said:

We freeze all of our bread.  I've read not to refrigerate it because it dries it out but don't know if that's true.

Yes, this is true. Refrigerating bread will stale it.

[madteaparty]

I’ve been stocking up on bagels when I’m in NYC. They’re warm when I buy them. I freeze them and then thaw and toast them as I need to. With butter/jam/cream cheese/ or if not totally drained I make an egg and cheese bagel sandwich. I already have eggs bc chickens, and basically all my easy meals involve eggs. Pancakes for dinner too.

DS makes himself avocado toast.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by madteaparty

[Kassia]

4 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

I’ve been stocking up on bagels when I’m in NYC. They’re warm when I buy them. I freeze them and then thaw and toast them as I need to. With butter/jam/cream cheese/ or if not totally drained I make an egg and cheese bagel sandwich.

 

 

Bagels are a big trigger food for me - I couldn't resist warm bagels and they would never make it to the freezer!  I'd eat them all with either butter or cream cheese.  Yum yum yum.  

 

My kids LOVE bagel/eggs/cheese/sausage sandwiches.  This is they want for Christmas breakfast.  Easy for me and everyone is happy.  🙂 

 

[Storygirl]

1 hour ago, Clarita said:

I need to start looking for this "canned chicken" stuff. I'm only aware of Spam, mini hotdogs and tuna as shelf stable meat...

Look for it near the canned tuna.

[Elizabeth86]

On 10/24/2021 at 8:31 PM, Anne said:

Taco cabbage is our favorite fast meal.  Sauté a pound of ground beef (throw in frozen chopped onions if available).  Drain.  Add about 3-4 cups chopped cabbage.  Add taco seasonings and a little water. Cook until done.

Easy, cheap, and good.  

Anne

 

 

This is brilliant. My 2 favorite things cabbage and tacos!!! Dinner tonight!!

ETA I think I already replied to this earlier: I’m tired.  

I just made this for dinner. It was ever bit as good as I thought it would be. Thank you so much!!

Edited October 26, 2021 by Elizabeth86

[HS Mom in NC]

I have a few others:

1. Burritos: protein (canned beans, chorizo, eggs, leftover lentils ) shredded packaged cheese, tortillas, salsa,    optional: spice packet, leftover rice, leftover potatoes

2. Tuna salad: canned tuna, lemon juice, garlic salt, diced avocado, crackers/bread, fruit on hand

3. Tacos: protein (leftover meat, lentils, eggs, canned beans) spice packet, packaged taco shells, packaged pre-washed greens (spinach, salad, cabbage) shredded packaged cheese, salsa

4. Canned/frozen bulk cooked soup, packaged salad, and/or packaged crusty bread (I keep several in the freezer)

5. Scrambled or fried eggs, toast, jam, fried or baked bacon

Edited October 26, 2021 by Homeschool Mom in AZ

[alisoncooks]

16 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Explain, please! I love fried eggs. I love tortillas. Make me understand how to do this, please!

Have you seen this from Nadiya (of Great British Baking Show fame)?  I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks yummy and adaptable (ie no mushrooms or different add ins).

 

[marbel]

54 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

Have you seen this from Nadiya (of Great British Baking Show fame)?  I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks yummy and adaptable (ie no mushrooms or different add ins).

 

Oh this looks fantastic. She has another recipe, though I can't find it now. It's eggs, stale bread, onions and peppers... maybe some other things?  I can't quite remember but it's very adaptable. I dice red onion and jalapeno and saute for a bit, then add some ripped up bread and toss that around till it gets a bit crusty from the hot oil. Then, add beaten egg and scramble it all up. Would be good with mushrooms, greens, anything one likes really. A little feta on top never hurts. The bread really makes it interesting. 

[DreamerGirl]

Pantry, freezer, prep work and gadgets. 

I went to my country of origin recently for a month. DH was on his own with the kids so needed fast and healthy things. We brainstormed and came up with things to do.

Rice will always be there, in the instant pot first thing in the morning. That made so many options. His go to was Stir fry. Seasoned meat from the freezer, cut up veggies again from the freezer, everything from onions to ginger to garlic. Toss and serve.

Frozen coconut milk as ice cubes. This stir fry could be adapted as a curry over rice for variety.

Soup. Again meat, veggies, leftover rice and toss in the IP with stock.

Cooked and frozen dried beans. We had 4 kinds of beans soaked, cooked and frozen. Pull them out as needed and make a side.

Lentils. Toss a few seasonings, onion, ginger, garlic and spices in the IP first thing in the morning, something healthy to eat.

IP in the yogurt consistently. It gave many options for breakfast, to make a curry, as a side dish.

Boiled eggs, we bought yet another gadget that does only that though IP could be used. But when you usually have 2 IPs going at the same time and the bulk of work is done in the morning, this gadget helped.

Bread machine. We eat a lot of flat breads which is labor intensive and there was no bandwidth for that, so we bought a bread machine and it made wheat bread consistently. Serve over curry, sandwiches. 

Sheet pan supper. Again toss seasoned meat and veggies with rice.

He could manage it all on his own with a FT job, DS at school, DD at home (we did not HS her the month I was gone) and they rarely went out and we had friends drop off food. But we did not want to go out because DD is unvaxxed so that really lessened a lot of the options of take out or going out to eat.

Prep work and gadgets helped tremendously. Seasoning meat, making our own spice powder which is really a combination of spices we already had but that would mean a pinch of this and that usually. Making spice powder combinations simplified that.

I froze muffins

We had a list of go to meals which were easy to make because of prep and gadgets that are plug and go, not stand over a stop top waiting for them to cook. 

[Zinnia2]

Canned chili beans and rice

A can of refried beans, tortillas, and/or cheese.  We often make these just tortillas and beans, but cheese is good, too.  Corn or flour works.  Smear on the beans, fold over, toast like quesadillas.  Super easy, and we eat them dipped in salsa or hot sauce

Edited October 26, 2021 by BetsyT

[PeterPan]

20 hours ago, Condessa said:

Chicken Pot Pie-store bought refrigerated pie crust, can of cream of mushroom soup, leftover precooked chicken or 1-2 cans chicken, can of mixed veggies, can of cream of chicken soup, 2nd pie crust on top.  5 minutes prep time, but it takes 45 minutes to an hour to cook, so only useful in certain situations.

Whoa, you mean it was that easy? I've never made one, so I just got the ingredients to make https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/jack-o-lantern-chicken-pie/c1bfcebb-5c09-45eb-bcbc-d28513d3f8dd?epik=dj0yJnU9cGJJaExia3JnNXZpUVl4S2xXOWdkUi1nNVJPRnItU2kmcD0wJm49MFNlZl9yVjZTMUhqVkc4bUFSTUxOQSZ0PUFBQUFBR0Y0UzJj  You cut a jackolantern in the pie crust on top, so cute. They wanted you to have mushrooms and pimentos and dry sherry and dance a jig. I'll do it, but I think maybe next time your way. 😄 

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, DreamerGirl said:

I froze muffins

Mmm, I like this plan. What is your best way to heat them up? I tend to put frozen baked goods in my toaster oven. It's spacious, but still they can singe on top. My technique is clearly off. 

[DreamerGirl]

4 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Mmm, I like this plan. What is your best way to heat them up? I tend to put frozen baked goods in my toaster oven. It's spacious, but still they can singe on top. My technique is clearly off. 

Well, I would thaw them and microwave. Not good.

DH air fried them frozen. 😆

He said 300, 3-4 minutes. 

[Teaching3bears]

On 10/25/2021 at 7:43 AM, mmasc said:

Do you have a special way of keeping your lettuce/greens fresh? Ime, some lettuces tend to get brown quickly and the darker greens tend to get sort of slimy too quickly. I’d love to know how to keep them fresh for several days! I eat salad every day, but I always make it fresh at lunch bc of the lettuce issue. Pre-prepped would be awesome. 

Wash them AND dry them.  Don’t cut them with a metal knife.  Either rip them or use plastic.  After they are dry, I put them in a very large plastic container that I got from the dollar store.  The lid is not that tight.  If I do this, they usually last over a week.  It just takes time, so I don’t always do it.  

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, DreamerGirl said:

DH air fried them frozen. 😆

He said 300, 3-4 minutes. 

Ok, that's a marvel. That would not have occurred to me, lol.

[bibiche]

9 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

Wash them AND dry them.  Don’t cut them with a metal knife.  Either rip them or use plastic.  After they are dry, I put them in a very large plastic container that I got from the dollar store.  The lid is not that tight.  If I do this, they usually last over a week.  It just takes time, so I don’t always do it.  

FYI: The tearing lettuce vs cutting is purely a matter of aesthetics. People think that cutting with a metal knife causes the lettuce to brown faster but this is a fallacy. 🙂

[DreamerGirl]

16 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Ok, that's a marvel. That would not have occurred to me, lol.

He said he googled. Apparently there is a way to make muffins from scratch in the air fryer. So he wants to try it now.