Easy Dinner Ideas????

I agree with others, anything and everything you can throw in a crock pot!

My 'go to' easy dinner is frozen meatballs, pasta and jarred sauce. I prefer to make my own sauce and meat balls, but this is quick and easy. I also keep a bag of frozen ravioli on hand all the time too. With a bag salad, you're good!

You can always make a few dinners at a time and then freeze them so all you have to do is throw it in the oven to heat up.

Cook a bunch of chicken and cut it up into pieces, then cook them in a frying pan and section it out and freeze it. Then when you want a dinner you could take a package out and make Chicken enchiladas, chicken soup in the crock pot, chicken alfredo.
Also can do this for steaks, or hamburger meat.

It saves alot of time.

One of our favorite easy dishes is just cream of chicken soup mixed into noodles. Pretty tasty! You can also go to campbellskitchen.com, that's where I get a lot of easy meal ideas.

The crock pot can be your friend. There are few feelings as good as knowing at 9:00 a.m. that you don't have to give dinner another thought.

spaghetti, meatloaf, baked chicken, roast. most of those you can make thru out the day or put int he oven on low and let it roast all day!!

I just made the most kid accepted meal the other day. Probably not the healthiest but it was one of those nights where it was this, or cereal.

It's chili cheese dog casserole :)

Put a can of chili on the bottom of a square casserole dish.
Cook the hot dogs til they are almost done
(I also cut them the long ways, twice, so they were in four long strips
Then put some cheese in a tortilla wih the cut up hot dog
Roll it up.
Stack them next to each other all along the casserole dish
Finish with another can of chili on the top and shredded cheese
back at 375 til bubbly and tortillas are cooking - maybe about 20 minutes
So easy and the kids loved it.

Fondue.
BBQ. (just marinate something for a few hours and then grill it).
anything in a crock pot
Sandwiches
Omelettes
Meat Loaf
Pasta

Rice, water, cream of mushroom soup, frozen broccoli, and an 8 oz bag of cheddar cheese...mix in a casserole dish. Put a large, boneless skinless chicken breast in a roasting pan. Cook both dishes together at 350 for an hour or a little more, depending on how hot your oven runs...then shred the chicken with two forks and mix it in. A totally delicious casserole (I mean it, I LOVE this casserole SOOO much!) and you don't even have to touch or cut up raw meat and it is so easy to shred and mix in after it's cooked. Seriously, prep time on this is five minutes tops.

Also, pork tenderloins are nice. I love the Hormel "Always Tender" tenderloins...the plain ones (not the flavored ones.) Sprinkle with what seasoning you like (I love Ya-Ya Greek seasoning) and bake in a roaster until done...and hour or more, depending on the size and the temp you bake at. Slice into half inch slices, sprinkle a little more seasoning, and serve with whatever easy sides you like...with this, we like a salad and ciabatta bread baked with tomato slices on top. Yum! This is also a "no prep" meal...you just throw it in and forget about it!

These may not be the most creative meals, but they are delicious, filling, and serve as a real meal on the table with hardly any effort. Both have been staples since we added another young one to our family!

Thanks for asking this, I am always looking for ideas too. One thing I've done a lot lately is buy the bagged salad kits (Like cesar or oriental) and then I bake some frozen chicken strips, mix up the salad, and then throw the chicken and the salad into a tortilla or wrap, and you have a yummy chicken wrap. Also I try to have one meal work for 2, for example on Sunday I made a pork roast in the crock pot, and then Monday we had pork sandwiches for dinner. Or I'll make spaghetti and french bread one night and the next night use the left over french bread and spaghetti sauce to make French bread pizza (just cut the bread length wise, add sauce cheese and any other toppings, bake at 375 until cheese is melted) I also always try to have a frozen meal, or a frozen pizza in the freezer for days when I just don't have time or engergy to cook (I work full time, so I don't want to spend all my family time in the kitchen, plus my family is always hungry at like 5:30 so i have to be able to get the meal on the table quickly)
another quick meal is grilled ham and cheese or turkey and cheese sandwiches, I usually serve them with baby carrots and sugar snap peas, and maybe some fruit, if you make it on wheat bread it's a pretty nutritious meal.

Good luck!

I have a word doc that I've collected some quick and easy dinner ideas. send me your email address if you want it. :o)

As an author of High Altitude cookbook-----how many recipe would you like.

I have many-----vegan, veggies only, meat and taters, razzle dazzle chicken.
and most only take a few minutes under 15 to prepare and pop into a pan or oven
Let me know, as the books are available at a significant discount

R./The Muffin Lady
www.themuffinlady.com

I often make this :
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/catherines-spicy-chicken-so...

you can add or exclude what ever you like and it always takes great, fiber, protein, freezable, kid friendly. I add a handful of frozen peppers from a bag and chunks of broccoli. It makes a lot so freeze some. great post partum food too.
I buy sauces from the health food store e.g Indian curry sauce, chop meat and veg throw it in a large saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes.
'Saag' sausages with pasta and jar sauce.
Pad Thai - kids love it (noodles, few veg, meat)
Whole foods also has different sauces, rubs and marinades that give new flavor to meat and veg. No they are not cheap but much cheaper than processed foods and take out. e.g coconut and peanut, satay, terriake, pesto, basil and x etc
Kashi wholewheat pizza's with extra BBQ chicken chunks (store bought pre-cooked) and left over veg from the night before.
Omlettes for dinner ! with a really good bread like an olive bread, raw vege plate with hummus and/or gaucamole (my kids think its a treat because we eat them uncooked and on the floor 'camping' - pinic style. Buy a pop up tent and a flash light and its a whole new game ;-)
My kids play kitchen is ofetn dragged into the kitchen as its the only way I can cook while keeping my son occupied. They will also eat the vegetables they are 'cooking' (same veg they refise to eat on their plate).
Cook double the veg when you make a meal so you always have left overs to reheat for the kids the next night. Chicken legs.
Packet of oriental frozen veg, can of water chestnuts, baby corn and bamboo shoots, noodles, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic and chile = 10 minutes (K+W brand ?) a piece of grilled meat cooking on the side.
Taco's ! kids love to make their own food.
egg and veg burrito's with gaucamole.
Just do your best. Some days just the effort of putting something on the table is more than enough. Your family will survive a thrown together meal and everyone will eat more and enjoy the time together if you just smile and say 'this is dinner, it's on the table now so please take a seat and tell me about your day '. Any complaints ? please write down your meal choice for next week on the pad by the fridge ;-)
take a look at my post re 'go to meals'. Lots of ladies wrote really helpful recipes.

I agree, the crock pot rocks. Another thing I've been doing since my second was born (I have a 3.5 year-old and a 10 month old) is prepping things in the morning or night before as much as possible - chopping veggies, cooking rice, trimming meat, etc. so that when 4:45 rolls around I can just throw everything together. I don't do the prep all at once, just bits and pieces as time allows i.e. the baby is napping or the boys are playing together well in the living room. I also plan my meals for the week on Sunday - it helps for grocery shopping (budget and time) and that way I'm not scrambling with the "what is for dinner?" dilemma!

For really quick meals when I'm too tired to cook I keep a couple of those frozen entree things like Bertolli or Wanchai Ferry - the ingredients seem really fresh and tasty - and much cheaper then getting take-out or burgers :)

In Maryland The "Perdue" family has a great product-it is a whole, marinated chicken that roasts in it's own bag-they are $7.98 at our local grocer-stick it in the oven for an hour and a half-and-voila-dinner! Add some carrots and potatoes in the roaster-saute some string beans-done! There is so much left over for sandwiches and chicken salad-it is the best product. I made two of them at Christmas and my children said they are never eating turkey again! Baked ziti is easy-with a salad-maybe some crusty bread. Meatloaf and baked potaoes. Slider burgers and oven fried sweet potatoes. I know how hard it is-with the first, my husband ate extravagant lunches out and I lived on Mermaid cookies and orange juice! With the second-you have this other little person at the table who needs nourishment! xo!