Easy meal ideas, please!

[nickyd2006]

I need some Easy meal ideas for me and dh. Dh is now working from home 4 days a week, and I'm ok with him buying his lunch(his budget allows for lunches out and coffees) but I'm not used to him being home for dinner too. That is what's blowing our budget right now. We get take out way more than I'd like to admit. So that said, I'd like some inexpensive meal ideas if you want to share! Please share your ingredients and average cost for the meal too if possible.

[glitzy07]

I don't have any kind of cost breakdown, but here are a few quick things I did this week.

I bought a family size package of boneless skinless chicken breasts last week and cooked them for about 3 hours on high in the crockpot with a little bit of chicken broth. After making sure they were cooked enough (to 160 degrees), I shredded all of the chicken and put it in a container.

The next night I made these: mexican.food.com/recipe/simply-sour-cream-chicken-enchiladas-129926

Then a few nights later I made chicken quesadillas using some more of the chicken, frozen corn, black beans and shredded cheese. Super simple and I still have some chicken left over that I have frozen for future use.

[mbcdefg]

Tacos and burritos are really quick and easy.

Make a big batch of meatballs when you have the time, freeze them, and use them for meatball subs, or spaghetti and meatballs.

A big batch of chili will last you a while. Add it to hot dogs or chicken sausages for chili dogs. Or make a big batch of chicken soup and serve with sandwiches.

Drizzle a London broil with Worcestershire sauce plus S&P, and broil for about 7-12 minutes per side. Serve with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. (I stock up on frozen steamer bags of veggies when they're on sale for 99 cents.)

Last night I diced onions and garlic into a big pan with olive oil, then added sliced mushrooms, broccoli florets, spinach leaves, and a can of diced tomatoes. I deglazed with some white wine and added salt and pepper. I boiled some penne pasta, drained it, added it to the pan and mixed. I added some goat cheese to my bowl and stirred it up to melt and get creamy.

Penne vodka is easy ... onions and garlic browned in olive oil, a little vodka (optional), add a can of tomato sauce, S&P, add some half and half, mix and taste, pour over pasta, add cheese. Serve with salad and bread.

Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs are really cheap at my supermarket, usually 12 for $4. I use four per meal. This is my favorite chicken thigh recipe, and it's for a crockpot to boot: iwasborntocook.com/back-to-school/

And this one isn't difficult, you just have to be around to babysit the stove: sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com/2011/09/beer-braised-chicken-thighs.html

You can do chicken and dumplings in the crockpot using chicken thighs, plus diced carrots, onion, potatoes, celery, maybe peas if you want. Add some chicken broth whisked together with a little flour to thicken (some people use cream of [whatever] soup instead), and add salt and pepper. Four hours on high or eight hours on low, then pull out the chicken thighs, carefully remove the bones and skin and then shred the meat and add back to the pot. Put it on high for another 30-45 minutes, and add some ripped-up pieces of biscuit dough from a tube.

[chessie]

I would check out emeals.com. I love them for paleo recipes. Set everything up on Sunday- if he can follow instructions should be good to go.

Heres a few I use..

Spicy chicken stew
cutandjacked.com/Slow-Cooker-Recipe-Spicy-Chicken_Stew

Beef Tips with
Mushrooms and Onions
Over Rice
2 lbs beef tips
(1 t salt)
(1 t pepper)
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed French onion soup
(1 T Worcestershire sauce)
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed mushroom soup
8 oz pkg fresh sliced mushrooms
¼ c chopped onion
Rice
Season beef tips with salt and pepper. Place beef tips,
French onion soup, Worcestershire sauce, mushroom soup,
mushrooms, and green onions in crockpot. Cover and cook on
low 7-8 hours.
Cook enough rice for your family. Serve beef tips over rice

Easy Italian Chicken
Over Noodles
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz bottle Italian dressing
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 c chicken broth
8 oz cream cheese, softened
(½ t dried basil)
(½ t dried thyme)
(Salt and pepper to taste)
Egg noodles
Place chicken in crockpot and pour Italian dressing over
chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Drain off most of
Italian dressing and discard. Combine soup, broth, cream
cheese, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Pour mixture over
chicken and cook on low 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Cook enough noodles for your family. Serve chicken over
noodles.

Crock Pot
Slow Cooked Asian
Chicken
Steamed Snow Peas
3 lb whole fryer chicken
(1 T olive oil)
(1 T five spice powder)
(½ t kosher salt)
(¼ t cayenne pepper)
(¼ t black pepper)
½ c organic chicken broth
½ c organic chicken broth
½ c rice vinegar
2 c snow peas, trimmed
(¼ t kosher salt)
(¼ t black pepper)
Rub chicken evenly with oil, five spice, salt, cayenne
pepper, and black pepper. Transfer to a slow cooker; pour
broth over top. Cook on low 6 hours or until done.
Boil broth and vinegar in a large saucepan over mediumhigh
heat; place peas in a steamer basket and steam 4 - 6
minutes. Drain; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Jamie Eason's site has a few recipes you can use to make protein bars/snacks.
www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-recipes-main-page.html

www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=15_new_ways_to_use_protein_powder

[Deleted]

I get no money for this - promise.

I recently signed up for the Fresh 20 and love it. It gives you a shopping list and 5 meals for the week. All the food has been really good. And, because there is overlap in the ingredients between meals there's little waste.

[Deleted]

We've been on a chicken pot pie kick--the recipe off the bisquik box is really easy. We double the veggies.

We also made a whole bunch of freezer meals--lasagna, enchiladas, beef stew. It takes a while to prep them, but then it's just a matter of defrosting and putting it in the crockpot/oven at the appropriate time.

Another favorite is to pan fry prorkchops, steam some broccoli, and make stovetop stuffing. Cheap and easy.

[ijack]

I made this last week and it was so good and easy!
www.endlesssimmer.com/2012/04/04/cornerstone-cooking-crunchy-black-bean-tacos/#more-33746

[cricketwife]

I'm not sure if you're asking for easy meals or cheap meals....none of these is especially hard or expensive, but I've sort of categorized them..


EASY :
www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-enchiladas-50400000117920/  (esp. quick if you have precooked chicken in your freezer)
crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/salsa-chicken-and-black-bean-soup.html
The crockpot is your friend for "easy"...search and see what your family would like

www.myrecipes.com/recipe/coriander-crusted-tuna-with-black-bean-salsa-10000001723409/  (if you just do the fish rub and skip the salsa, you'll have dinner on the table in 10 minutes or less.)  FISH is also your friend for "easy" -- you can pretty much pan fry/broil a piece of fish in about 5 minutes.  Serve with a salad. Done.


CHEAP :Y::
www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-burrito-bake-10000000431064/
www.myrecipes.com/recipe/winter-lentil-soup-10000001151425/
www.myrecipes.com/recipe/orecchiette-with-kale-bacon-50400000108345/
www.myrecipes.com/recipe/baked-chicken-rice-with-black-beans-10000001873369/
www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fiesta-chowder-10000000393000/


Stretching meals with more rice,beans, pasta, etc. will make it cheaper per serving.

[bluelikejazz]

Salsa chicken: we buy chicken at costco and fill the crockpot 1/2 full. add a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, a pack of frozen veggies, and some cumin. cook on low all day. shred the chicken and use for tacos, on rice, in burritos, whatever.

Chili (and most soups) are usually inexpensive

[mbcdefg]

Also easy:

Saute shrimp in a pan with butter and garlic, and pour over spaghetti.

Brush pork chops or chicken (boneless works, but I like bone-in skin-on better) with a blend of Dijon and maple syrup (cut with a little apple cider vinegar or apple juice), and bake until done. This is really good on a boneless pork loin, too, but that'll take about an hour.

Dip chicken breasts in beaten egg, coat in panko (add some S&P and maybe grated parmesean to the bowl of bread crumbs), pan-fry until cooked through for easy chicken cutlets. Make a honey mustard sauce, or Dijon maple, or use bottled BBQ sauce, for dipping. Or top the cutlets with mozzarella cheese and broil to melt, then add tomato sauce and serve with pasta for chicken parmesean.

Make pizza dough when you have a couple hours, freeze it, and put it in the fridge to thaw in the morning. Top with whatever you want, and bake at 400 degrees F for maybe 15 minutes.

If you have a grill or griddle pan - marinate some chicken breasts in Italian salad dressing, then grill. Eat on a sandwich or a salad.

Quesadillas

I buy a whole chicken and I make a rub from salt and pepper, butter, chopped garlic, and some lemon juice, and rub it inside and out and under the skin. I slice off thin circles of lemon and tuck under the skin, and put the rest of the lemon into the cavity. I roast it using a digital thermometer to tell me when it's done. That day we'll have the roast chicken with mashed potatoes, veggies, and gravy. The next day or two is something like enchiladas, chicken salad sandwiches, roast chicken over green salad, whatever. When the meat is all gone, I put the bones in a crockpot with root vegetables (I save the scraps in a freezer bag from when I'm cutting up carrots, onions, celery), herbs, salt and peppercorns, fresh garlic, and water, and then I have broth that I can use in soup or to cook with.

Lots of crockpot recipes here: crockpot365.blogspot.com/

[halfpint]

Super easy:
Archer Farms frozen pizza from Target, serve with salad (I buy it pre-washed and ready to eat, just add some parmesan cheese and dressing!)

Pasta and sauce, mix in veggies or serve on the side

Buy a rotisserie chicken, use meat for chicken sandwiches, soup, garden salad with chicken, or just eat with a steamed veggie

Costco ready-made soups are tasty! Chicken tortilla is a favorite.

Tacos/burritos/fajitas/quesadillas. If I do these, I plan to do them twice in one week. Then I can chop up some onions, tomatoes, peppers, whatever, just once, cook one batch of meat, and it covers two meals.

Chili is so easy, and makes at least a couple of meals plus lunches. I do it in the crock pot - brown the meat in the crock pot, add onions, then dump in a bunch of canned tomatoes, beans, etc., add seasonings and let it go all day!

I am especially lazy right now, as most food prep makes me sick. I'm normally a little less pre-made/lazy with my cooking. Tonight we are having Barilla pasta skillet meals for two

[Deleted]

I made a cheesesteak stromboli Sunday night - very easy and really good. It made 2 nights' worth of dinners.
- pizza dough (Trader Joes is dirt cheap - I buy Pillsbury thin crust in the can)
- 1 package chip steak
- sauteed onions
- American cheese
Cook the chip steak and allow to cool enough to handle - then chop it up. On a sheet pan, roll out the dough to a rectangle. Add a layer of American cheese. Evenly spread the steak and sprinkle the onions on top. Roll it up and seal the ends - place it seam-side down. Bake for 20-ish minutes on 400 until golden brown. Let it sit for a few minutes before slicing.

I also throw together Italian sausage, potatoes, onions and asparagus into a pyrex dish - toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and othe random seasonings. Bake at 425 for 30-40 mins.

Drumsticks are cheap - we do those a lot, too. Usually with a frozen veg and potato/rice.

I am prepping chili tonight to cook tomorrow in the crockpot. It will easily be 2 nights' worth of dinners with some leftover for the freezer. I also will make some cornbread.

Whole chicken in the crockpot is awesome - I will do that and shred the meat to use for soups, quesadillas, enchiladas, pasta, chicken salad, BBQ chicken pizza (with some red onion and smoked gouda), salads, chicken pot pie...

[ally]

There are lot's of great suggestions here.  Easy stuff on our menu this:

shepherd's pie www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/30-minute-shepherds-pie-recipe/index.html  Makes enough for dinner and two lunches

grilled cheese and tomato soup

homemade pizza www.crumblycookie.net/2009/11/28/traditional-pizza/

pasta with tomato sauce www.preventionrd.com/2011/02/crock-pot-spaghetti-sauce/   I will freeze some sauce (it makes a lot) and use some to make a lasagna to freeze - ready to go when I know it will be a busy night

pork chops in the crock pot with a can of black beans, can of corn, jar of salsa, cooked all day on low.  I serve it with a veg and brown rice.