Dinner Time Meals

If you like shredded beef sandwiches (like roast beef on a bun)...this recipe sounds gross...but is amazing...and great for potlucks and relatives coming over.
Take a chuck roast (any size), put it in the crockpot in the morning on low. Put a can of Coke and a package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix (or generic brand dry soup mix package)...if it is a big roast you may need two cans and two packets to cover it almost completely in liquid. The Coke tenderizes the meat, and mixes with the soup mix to make a CRAZY tasty meat (I know how gross it sounds). Leave it on low all day in the crock pot, and that night you will have shredded beef for sandwiches (we add cheese and a bun) and serve it with a veggie and fries.
I make a seasoned fry with frozen crinkle cut fries where I sprinkle them with dry Ranch dressing powder and bake in the over (then I use less salt, too)...They go great together.
You can then use the beef leftovers for vegetable soups and stuff.

Amanda's recipe for Salsa Chicken in a crockpot sounds fabulous...that and a dried packet or two of Spanish or Mexican Rice, and my kids will be in heaven tomorrow night. Thanks for the recipe!

I was looking for something a bit different one day and came up with a chicken dish that my family LOVES. I make it in the crockpot and it is super easy.

Chicken Salsa Crockpot

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar chunky salsa
1/2 envelope of taco seasonings

Put all items in the crockpot and let go for a few hours. Shred chicken with a fork and stir back into salsa. Serve on tortillas (corn tortillas are my favorite) with sour cream, avocado, and shredded cheese. Super yummy!
Thanks for posting this, by the way. I've been looking for some new, easy meals to serve!

Swedish meatballs because my kids also LOVE it! [I had almost completely typed this out in a paragraph when my husband pointed out that I had it saved into a document on the computer and could just COPY/PASTE it. What would we do without them????] =D

I double this for a family of 4 and we usually have a little bit of leftover sauce. Use as many meatballs as you know you will eat--I use more now since my kids eat a lot of them.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 T butter
2 T flour
Minced onion
1 cup beef broth (1 cube bouillon dissolved in 1 cup hot water)
½ cup ketchup
Italian meatballs (frozen, as many as desired)
½ cup sour cream

Egg noodles

1. Melt butter, add onion, salt, and pepper as desired. Add flour and stir until bubbly.
2. Add beef broth and ketchup, stir until well mixed and heat to boiling.
3. Add meatballs and stir. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until meatballs are done (usually 40 minutes to an hour).
4. When meatballs are done, boil egg noodles. While boiling, add sour cream to the sauce and stir, but do NOT allow sauce to boil again.
5. Serve.
Can be doubled for small family/2-4 people, etc.

Honestly, I found broiling some beef or baking pork wasn't that demanding and took less effort than "easy recipes" that involve Campbell's soup or or pre-made canned food--plus less fat, calories and sodium (because I barely have time to cook; I've got even less time to exercise! I can't get into the habit of eating high fat content foods).

Below is super easy--although it's not a quickie dinner.

I put my 8 week old down for 5 minutes... Baked pork tenderloin-- take it out of the package, dribble some olive oil on top, sprinkle with salt, pepper, parsley & paprika; pop it in the oven (350 for roughly an hour). Seriously, 5 minutes prep time. While it cooks, I'm tending to the baby... Boil water, add egg noddles or vegetable pasta (9 minutes cook time; held baby while doing it; making rice can also be done while holding baby.) We had leftover fresh green beans from last night--whenever you cook vegetables, make extra so you can have an already cooked vegetable in subsequent meals. That was our dinner: meat (baked pork, chicken, beef, etc), carbohydrate (rice, pasta, potatoes), steamed vegetable (steamed baby carrots are particularly easy because you buy the baby carrots already peeled in the bag and can boil water/dump carrots into steamer while holding baby.)

An easy meal for us usually consists of chicken (we like boneless thighs) or fish baked at 450F, along with a dish of potatoes or zucchini (diced). Top each with butter or olive oil, and whatever else you have on hand, garlic, parsley, dill, lemon and onions are all good. Bake 10-20 minutes (the fish takes less time). In the mean time, steam broccoli on the stove top, serve with butter and salt.

My husband's favorite:

Sautee 1/2 an onion, 1 jalepeno and 1 package (13-16 oz) Eckerich sausage (we like the Skinless). Add a little 'bean water' from two cans of black beans so nothing sticks to the pan. When onion is done, add the two cans of black beans. Let it all heat up and get flavors to merge and some of the bean juice to evaporate. Add tabasco if you like spice. Spoon onto hot rice (white or brown you choose). We make about 1.5 cups dry rice (3 cups cooked) Voila! Dinner is served. Makes dinner for me, husband, 2 yr old, plus one leftover lunch.

note: it takes longer to cook the rice than it does to cook the rest of the dish! Start the rice first, esp if you make brown rice which cooks longer. Also, I have started to get a cheese grater and grate some carrot in with the onion for added "hidden vegetables." You don't see or taste it, but I like to think I'm getting some veg in my dinner.

Turkey tacos
1 package extra lean ground turkey
1 box of those bigger taco shells
Light sour cream
Shredded lettuce
Herdez salsa verde
Shredded Mexican blend cheese
Diced tomatoes

Brown turkey in a skillet with a tbls oil and minced garlic
Add one cup low sodium chicken broth to soften meat and flavorize
Add salt and pepper,ground cumin, taco seasoning until meat tastes right
Leave lid off and cook until liquid boils off
Taco shells should have been warming on a cookie sheet at 300
Take out hot shells, load with meat, shredded cheese, salsa, sourcream, tomatoes and lettuce.
My family loves these and you can serve with a side of knorr spanish or taco rice.

The secret is that when you make anything you make 2 or 3 times as much as you need - put stuff in freezer bags and store for future use. My favorite thing to do is to grill chicken cutlets and freeze for future use. Whenever chicken cutlets are on sale I'll buy 3 - 4 packages. I spray both sides with cooking spray then sprinkle either montreal chicken spice mix or "jerk chicken" spice and grill then. When i have frozen, already grilled chicken i can easily add them to anything - salad, pasta, sandwhich, omlette. It makes for a low, fat, healthy alternative.

Other options - meatloaf, chicken cacciatore (chicken pieces, cut up onions, peppers & mushrooms in a baking dish, pour tomatoe sauce over the top, cover and bake for 45-60 minutes - serve with pasta or rice)

Take out is another easy & quick alternative! hahaha!

Easiest dinner you'll ever make: cook up a package of egg noodles, drain and return to pot. Add a can of cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup, can of drained tuna and some shredded cheese. Heat the whole thing through. Easy peasy :)

Lilly0329 here is an easy recipe. Mock sheppards pie.
1 lb. brown ground meat ( I use turkey or chicken calls for beef.
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies
1 can of cream of mushroom (I have used cream of chicken or celery)
3/4 of a cup of grated cheddar cheese
mix above ingridents
Salt and Pepper to taste.
put it all in an oven safe dish
Cover with mashed potatoes and bake @ 350 for 20 to 25 mins. ENJOY

ANOTHER QUICK GOOD MEAL

1lb of ground meat browned
1 lb of elbow macaroni
2 small jars of Spaghetti sauce

boil mac mix with browned ground meat add sauce all in one pot. kids love it and it is very easy....

Spaghetti
Tacos

Crock Pot Meals
Chicken with cream of chicken soup serve with mashed potatoes or rice
Beef Roast with Golden Mushroom soup serve with egg noodles
Pork Roast with bbq sauce serve with rice

With three boys-8, 2 and 10 months, I know exactly what you mean for making an easy dinner.

I like to buy prepackaged meals like Stir Fry and then I mix in some other veggies or frozen shrimp and then make a package of instant rice, quinoa or couscous. Super quick, easy and there are usually enough leftovers for us to have it for lunch the next day.

Also for easy chicken I buy a bag of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts and seperate it into a few freezer bags and toss some sauce like BBQ or teriyaki into it then you can either cook it and freeze it or just freeze it like that then your sauce is already with it when you cook it in the future. I just add a bag or can of veggies and some noodles for a meal.

You can also substitute ramen noodles instead of rice for many dishes if you don't have instant or are rushed for time-plus its a great CHEAP option, too!

if you have a rice cooker it's the BEST appliance I have in my kitchen.
I cook rice in it (obviously), but then like tonight I added little smokies to it.
I've also added broccoli , pieces of left over chicken, etc,
I also make something we call "taco rice"
Get some of those lipton sides rice ( taco flavor) , combine with browned ground beef ( I keep it in the freezer) and a can of kidney beans . cook it all together by the normal directions on the package. It's really yummy and easy to do.

Meatloaf is pretty easy. I know most people are afraid of it though. My kids loved it when they were tiny :)

I mix hamburger meat with fresh bread crumbs (in the processor sp?), an egg, ketchup, chopped onion and salt and pepper. When you are done making a loaf, i coat with a little ketchup and salt and pepper. I line a glass pan with tin foil and bake.

Some of my kids like ketchup and some like brown gravy on top :)

Rotisserie Chicken is my go to for quick meals, as you can pick up one at the grocerie at the beginning of the week & use for multiple meals. Alternatively, anytime I make pasta, I make enough for 2 nights, same with grilling meat or veggies. I always keep a few fun items in the fridge that can change the same meal from one "taste" to another - things like oregano, greek yogurt & kalamata olives make it greek, vs. basil, mozzarella, zucchini make the same dish italian. Salsa, avocado & tortilla chips can take a basic chicken soup & make it tortilla soup the second night. This means, I can cook (or assemble) one night, and have it count twice without feeling like I'm eating leftovers.

Here are some of our favorites for healthy & quick meals:
First night, Chicken Piccata w/ pasta & broccoli - use the chicken breasts, boil some pasta and add some broccoli to steam about 1 minute before the pasta is done. Add a teaspoon of butter, squeeze of lemon & capers.
Second night, use all of the rest of the meat, plus any left over pasta, add chicken broth, and some veggies (carrots, celery, onion OR salsa) for chicken noodle or tortilla soup.
OR First night, slice chicken breasts and put in pitas with tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumbers & some greek yogurt.
Second night, use all the rest of the meat in tortillas for quesadillas - just add shredded cheese & salsa.
OR First night, make pasta, chop in fresh tomatoes, basil. Add a salad on the side
Second night, use the same pasta, add chicken, roasted red peppers, crumbled feta & vinaigrette for a quick greek pasta salad.
OR First night, saute' onion, peppers, and chicken or steak for fajitas.
Second night, use the veggies tossed with pasta.

Enjoy!