Refrigerated tortellini, sauce from a Knorr packet (creamy pesto is our favorite). I usually add a bagged salad and frozen garlic bread. Rotisserie chicken, flour tortillas (our grocery stores make them fresh), pre-made guac and shredded cheese. We do caprese as a meal or side a lot - pre-sliced fresh mozzarella, slice a couple of tomatoes, add basil and it is done. Everyone adds olive oil/balsamic to their own taste. My favorite quick meal combo is to add Italian sausages.
Most of mine come from Costco and aren't fast exactly, so much as easy and require little to no pre-planning:
Frozen chicken cordon Bleu. Takes 45 minutes to bake, but is easy to throw in the oven and pair with frozen broccoli steamed in the microwave, and rice (or pasta or any random leftover carb). They also sometimes have a bacon wrapped fontina stuffed version.
Frozen orange chicken, paired with a bag of frozen chicken fried rice. I actually like the sauce from Trader Joe's version a lot better, but the chicken from Costco is nicer.
The chicken & mozz ravioli, or the cheese & spinach ravioli, (but NOT the lobster ravioli - it's gross) in pesto. Garlic bread if my H will make it. Salad kit if we have it.
Flautas. I fancy up a can of black beans to go with them, but if I wanted to save even more time I'd just do a can of refried beans.
Other non-Costco things: Cold cereal and milk Oatmeal and toast PB sandwich Cheese sandwich Cheese and crackers Shin ramen with an egg thrown in (sort of poached in the broth)
Love this thread, will be looking for some of these things. I like cooking, but especially when DH travels I lean hard on quick and/or easy clean up meals.
Most of my convenience meals are from Costco, many from the refrigerated aisles and I keep them on hand in the freezer: - pulled pork and carnitas as tacos, sandwiches, nachos, etc. - mediterranean chicken skewers or beef kebabs/gyro meat and naan (and tzatziki, but I don't usually buy that at Costco, not enough people in my family eat it to need that quantity) - frozen dumplings - chicken tikka - ramen kits - frozen salmon burgers served with pasta, rice, as sandwiches - frozen fully cooked sausage patties, super easy with scrambled eggs, tator tots, and fruit for breakfast or breakfast for dinner
From the grocery store I like steam in the bag fresh broccoli and green beans and frozen edamame too for easy veggie sides. Smoked turkey sausage/kielbasa roasted with potatoes and broccoli is a quick one with nearly zero clean up. Frozen meatballs, jarred sauce, and pasta are a go-to as well.
I'm so glad this thread exists. I'll be bookmarking this for sure. And picking up the red and/or green bag frozen chicken at Aldi.
Some of our quick meals are:
Soup and sandwiches (we like the cartons of tomato and roasted red pepper/tomato soup from TJ's). Yesterday we had turkey clubs and a bag of frozen sweet potato fries.
Rotisserie chicken used in multiple ways. Tacos, salads, fried rice, added to soup etc
H and DS love those frozen stuffed chicken breast with the cheese and broccoli.
Wegmans is our main grocery store and they have great premade meals. They are a bit expensive, but they often have coupons on the app and it's still cheaper than takeout.
- Frozen Chinese meals - we get the General Tso or the Orange chicken, we pair it with rice (my rice cooker takes almost the exact amount of time as the chicken takes to bake) and microwave steamed veggies. I like that the sauce is in a separate pouch because kid won't eat it and then I can choose if I want that sauce or a bottled sauce.
- Bagged salad topped with the chicken then sell by the lunchmeat - they have a grilled one or a southwest one
- Frozen ravioli - sometimes I'll mix it with chicken and steamed veggies and use italian dressing as the sauce and it's really good.
- Kid like the tortellini in the fridge section
- Red bag chicken - we usually make sandwiches with it
- Honey batter chicken tenders - so good but my store has been out of them for a while
- When they have the frozen shrimp tacos a couple of times a year I always buy multiple packs and stock up - they're probably my favorite.
We used to get their take and bake pizza but the last few times it's been sorta meh - I think they changed their crust.
The containers of pulled pork in the refrigerated section - really easy to throw on sandwiches or whatever Aldi has some decent fish and chips - I prefer the Scottish haddock, but both kinds are good Ditto Aldo crab cakes Aldi also has a gyro kit in the frozen section. Might be seasonal. It comes with tzatziki - I added some lettuce, tomato, and feta. Trader Joes mushroom truffle flatbread with a salad on the side Trader Joes dumplings/pot stickers that we either steam or use in soup Costco street taco kit Costco lasagna, enchiladas, or pasta bakes (chicken alfredo, sausage and white wine pasta)
Quick meals: Panzanella salad with a grilled protein (wegmans has some pre-marinated proteins that are good) Fish tacos using frozen breaded fish filet, avocado, jarred salsa, and a bag of coleslaw mix Eggroll in a bowl using the instant pot Spaghetti carbonara shrimp and grits w/ tomato oil
I love things that I can just throw in the oven or microwave and have dinner made with low effort.
I wish we had a Costco closer because their prepared foods are really good. We usually grab a meatloaf and street tacos kit when we are there. I also really like their Chicken Tikka Masala (even DD1 likes it!) so we usually keep one in the freezer.
TJs is also great. I love their meatballs, super easy with jarred sauce. My kids love their mini-pizzas and mac & cheese so sometimes we do that for them and takeout for us. Their frozen dumplings make a quick dinner with rice and a steamed veggie.
During Covid we started stocking up on frozen vegetable bags and we use those as sides a lot. Super easy to microwave and kids eat them. We rotate between frozen peas, green beans and broccoli.
H was out late for work the other day and I didn't feel like making a complicated dinner, so we did breakfast for dinner. I've never really done and it was surprisingly easy. I made pancakes, frozen sausage and baby carrots with hummus. Kids loved it! I'm adding that to the rotation.
I also like Wegmans frozen family meals. The lasagna and chicken alfredo are really good. For the alfredo, I boil up some extra penne and throw in frozen broccoli, then mix it in with the frozen meal. It pretty much doubles the size of the meal (feeds all 4 of us plus leftovers for lunch). The sauce is really salty, so I actually like it better diluted anyway.
My kids love the frozen meatballs in a crockpot with bbq sauce and grape jelly. And we serve it over rice.
I also take smoked sausage and veggies and cook in the oven on a cookie sheet, and serve it with rice.
I also have an instant pot Mac and cheese they like that’s super fast.
Those are prob their fave fast meals.
Can you share your mac and cheese recipe? My kids love the boxed Annie's mac and cheese, but the price has doubled and I need 2 boxes to feed my minions! It's no longer a cheap and quick Saturday lunch!!!
My kids love the frozen meatballs in a crockpot with bbq sauce and grape jelly. And we serve it over rice.
I also take smoked sausage and veggies and cook in the oven on a cookie sheet, and serve it with rice.
I also have an instant pot Mac and cheese they like that’s super fast.
Those are prob their fave fast meals.
Can you share your mac and cheese recipe? My kids love the boxed Annie's mac and cheese, but the price has doubled and I need 2 boxes to feed my minions! It's no longer a cheap and quick Saturday lunch!!!
My go-to fast meals are those Voila! Chicken with veggies and cheese sauce. We also do waffles and/or French toast a lot to use up fruit and eggs (we have chickens).
Can't find the recipe now, but there's an enchilada skillet recipe that is super fast and filling. Then the kids can scoop it with tortilla chips to make it more like tacos. Basically, I'm a BIG fan of a complete meal in 1 pot/pan/cookie sheet. LOL.
TJ's frozen gnocchi (we love the sweet potato one) -- sauté in a pan with some sausage. If I have some spinach I'll throw that in too.
Also TJ's -- vegetable fried rice and I throw an egg on top and call it good!
I'll also grab some Whole Foods soups. Sometimes if I'm ambitious, I'll get the broccoli cheddar soup, add it to a pot, add some broccoli and bone broth. This makes it a little healthier per serving and also stretches it a bit more. You could also add some collagen for more protein, too.
Wait, we just got an Aldi, is it red or green bag chicken??
I'm in an Aldi Facebook group and it is the red bag that people go bananas over. We get the blue bag chicken tenders and my son loves them. They've both gotten expensive. :/ I've never seen a green bag!
Costco stuff that I always have on hand: - any of their tortellinis or ravioli with (part of) a jar of pesto or marinara sauce - AmyLu chicken meatballs with spaghetti (often from a jar from whereever) - the salmon burgers are good, we often have these with frozen tater tots and some kind of veggie, which is often just slicing something up and roasting it in the oven along with the tots. - the chicken bratwursts they sell are also good as part of a meal similar to the one described above - a lot of their fish filets can be baked from frozen, so I buy them a lot. My favorite is the garlic salmon, but I've also enjoyed the miso cod, the mahi mahi with some kind of garlic sauce on it (though I haven't seen this one recently), and the parmesan crusted - tilapia? - They recently started selling gyro meat and it's actually pretty good - I used to LOVE their pulled pork but they changed it to a different company and it's not as good. - There are some decent soups in their prepared section. I really like the tomato and the broccoli cheddar, but chicken enchilada is decent too. I haven't liked their shellfish soups as much.
I also do like both their fresh and frozen lasagnas, and rarely buy their other prepared stuff but I don't think I've gotten anything that I didn't like there.
Trader Joes: - turkey burgers - orange chicken - kung pao chicken (I usually add red peppers from a jar and some onion) - the teriyaki chicken from the Asian food section - I add mushrooms. All of these served with rice. - Fried rice and the pot stickers are both good for lunches - I also get some of their random frozen pastas here and there. We sometimes have those for lunches.
I buy a lot of stuff at Aldi but I can't think of any convenience foods, so I'll have to do a better job of shopping in that section! I usually do 1-2 convenience meals a week and try to cook more from recipes the other nights. Or we get takeout or go out around once a week, too.
So many things from TJs…I follow this woman who shares recipes using 5 TJs items or less on insta. This week we did a ramen and dumplings thing, penne and chicken dish, steak and potatoes with green beans.
I have never grabbed any of the colored bags from Aldi, but we do like their broccoli stuffed chicken. DH likes theirs better than Costco's version, when they have it.
Mostly Costco stuff from the frozen food section: Spinach egg white frittatas for breakfast Tortilla encrusted tilapia for fish tacos Spinach ravioli Panko breaded chicken Lasagna 2-packs Italian meat balls for pasta or meatball subs
Non-frozen: Gyro meat and mini naan breads for gyros, add lettuce, sauce, tomato’s if we have them. Chicken apple sausage or chicken mozz-artichoke sausage (second one is good in a soup I make, both are good grilled)
So many things from TJs…I follow this woman who shares recipes using 5 TJs items or less on insta. This week we did a ramen and dumplings thing, penne and chicken dish, steak and potatoes with green beans.
A rotisserie chicken + microwave-in-bag fresh green beans + microwave-in-bag red or Yukon gold potatoes is my go-to easy meal. It's like 13 minutes of microwaving annnnnd, done.
Frozen meatballs are also a good one. I toss them in the slow cooker with a jar of sauce and then either do meatball sandwiches or spaghetti if I feel like cooking pasta.
And the bag salads with all the fixings (nuts/seeds/dried fruit + dressing) are usually pretty tasty, too.
I don't remember the brand, but there are some chicken-only taquitos (no dairy, GF) that I pair with a guacamole cup (perfect serving size and don't get brown!) for lunch or a lazy dinner.
Post by fluffycookie on Feb 9, 2023 13:35:44 GMT -5
Costco street tacos tacos with hard and soft tacos Just bare chicken nuggets pasta and sauce with frozen precooked meatballs ravioli or tortellini with roasted broccoli and garlic bread chicken enchiladas (cook the chicken in the crockpot so they just need to be assembled and cooked)
So many things from TJs…I follow this woman who shares recipes using 5 TJs items or less on insta. This week we did a ramen and dumplings thing, penne and chicken dish, steak and potatoes with green beans.
Aldi red bag chicken (made into sandwiches) and their wild caught fish sticks are pretty good.
Pierogi
Red beans and rice mix (also Aldi) that we add sausage and veggies to
Refrigerated ravioli boiled with spinach and drizzled with bottled pesto
This is an area of food my husband keeps saying we need to explore more lol We do too much from scratch cooking and get burnt out but our take out options aren’t great. A lot of convenience food is $$ and not very tasty though so I’m always nervous about trying new things.
At your recommendation, I bought the wild caught fish sticks today. The kids loved them for dinner tonight. Thanks for the tip!