Your Fave 30 Min or Less Dinners

Well my fall back meal (which we had last night) is chicken teriyaki.
A bottle of teriyaki sauce (i like a honey ginger one from KC masterpiece), chicken, and white rice. Depending on the day I decide what vegetables to add (that way I can have it twice in one week and feel it's different, lol).
So I will throw shredded carrot, small bits of broccoli, peas, pineapple, etc.
When the rice is on no heat and just steaming.....I throw the vegetables in to soften them a bit.
If the chicken is thawed it usually only takes ten minutes to get it all cooked and sauced (just throw it in a hot pain, maybe a little olive oil and the sauce) and you can steam the rice at the same time). Hope this helps.

One tip that might help:

I brown large batches of ground beef/chuck/round, and divide into meal portions and freeze. So, the step of browning the meat is all done and all I have to do is grab it, thaw in the microwave & carry on with the recipes as-is, saving time.

I do the same with chicken--buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and bake or cook them in the crockpot & then either dice or bag up as a whole breast, and freeze. Then, I'll throw them in a casserole that I put together the night before, and ask DH to put it in the oven for me while I'm driving home.

If I don't have time to brown the meat, I throw it in a large pot and cover with water & simmer until it's browned.

On a non-busy day, I will cook 2 chickens at the same time in the oven, take all the meat off the bones, and then use the bones/carcass to make homemade broth. THEN, the rest of the week is easy. We'll eat on the chicken. A few things we make that are quick:

-- chicken enchiladas (made the day before, it can either be microwaved or put in the oven till bubbly, about 20-30 mintues)

-- chicken tacos (we have cheese shredded ahead of time, I will cut some lettuce, reheat chicken in a pan with some salsa on top or salt/pepper, toss tortillas in the toaster oven or do corn chips and make nachos. Sometimes we'll open a can of beans and eat that with our tacos too).

-- chicken salad (made mostly for our lunches. Celery, hard boiled egg, pickles, seasoned mayo, etc. We put ours on sourdough bread and it's even yummier).

-- "Mexican Noodles" is what I call it. I got it from a cookbook where there are 100 recipes of what to do with rotisserie chicken (ie, precooked). Mexican noodles requires two pans - one big one that will hold a lot of pasta and the sauce, one to cook the noodles. In the big pan, sautee garlic in some olive oil for one minute, add one red bell pepper, add one or two fresh tomatoes if you want, cook for 2 minutes or so. Add almost a whole jar of salsa and maybe a cup of chicken broth (I use chicken stock that I made from the carcass). Add one can of white kidney beans (cannenneli) or whatever beans you want. Add a cup of precooked chicken. Basically that's your sauce. Just toss in the noodles when they're done cooking. They'll soak up a lot of the sauce. Stir and add more salsa or chicken broth depending on how 'wet' you want it. Sprinkle mexican cheese on top.

-- Fried Rice. Lots of recipes online, so I won't bore you. Cook the rice the night before though. Then add items such as scrambled egg, chicken, carrott, peas, green onion, etc. We have had it one time with a can of pineapple in it and it was pretty tasty.

That's my tip - to get chicken cooked already. Then you only have to reheat it with whatever seasonings you like.

Here is a really quick recipe that I love, it is evern faster to make if you prepare the glaze ahead of time and have the chicken defrosted in the fridge. Doing prep work in advance is the best way to make quick meals.

Broiled Chicken with Spicy Apricot Glaze

½ cup no sugar added apricot jam (Smucker’s Simply Fruit works well)
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
About 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins
½ teaspoon salt

Spray the rack of a broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray; preheat the broiler.

Whisk together the jam, mustard, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt. Place the chicken on the broiler rack and brush with half of the jam mixture. Broil 3 inches from the heat, brushing periodically with the remaining glaze, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes on each side.

I like to serve this with a salad and some homemade french bread, yummy!

I am the QUEEN of this...I don't get home from work until 7pm and my 16yo and husband expect me to take the baby, feed the baby, bath the baby and get him ready for bed, get him to bed, AND make dinner at the same time! So I make Tacos..brown ground beef, add taco seasoning and cut up lettuce, tomato and shredded cheddar; Heat a pre-cooked ham slice in broiler and make boxed au gratin potatoes and steam veggie in microwave; Chili-brown ground beef or ground turkey, add chilli powder, garlic salt and use hot sauce to make as hot or not as you like, add tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, add different kinds of beans, and a 1/2 pkg of frozen corn; put Boneless chicken breasts in crockpot with 1 can of cream of mushroom, 2 cans of canned mushrooms/or fresh, look on low all day; If it needs to be REALLY quick..we make grilled cheese and tomato soup! Or we make breakfast for dinner!

Recommended website: www.allrecipes.com (has an "ingredients" tab that you can click on and enter whatever ingredients you have/want to use and it pulls up recipes with those items in them) This works great when you're short on groceries and the meals are mostly quick and reviews are given with suggestions!

We loves tacos. I can get everything on the table in about 10-15 minutes.

Whole wheat fetuccini noodles (I use about half or 2/3 of the box for my fam of 4 eaters)
about 5-7 diced fresh tomatoes (you can use canned if necessary, I like fresh) ( I use hydroponically grown tomatoes if possible, best flavor!)
block of mozzarella cheese
fresh basil (dried if you have to, and some dried oregano)
a little Italian dressing
fresh garlic

Cook noodles to al dente - in separate bowl, mix together your diced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese diced into bite size pieces, about 1/5 cup olive oil (I eyeball it till it looks good), a little Italian dressing (just enough for flavor), and chopped basil (or dried oregano, basil, whatever you have on hand), and one or two cloves of minced garlic (don;t use jar, use real fresh for best taste).

Add the COLD mixture to the hot pasta - serve immediately w garlic bread

I have TONS of other recipes - I work full time and have a family and I love to cook - and we rarely eat out, so I have tons of items I cook after work daily. PM if you want more!

We too eat tacos (or taco salad, or burritos) alot, but instead of the meat I use a bag of the Boca meatless crumbles. When made with a packet of taco seasoning, even my "meat and potatoes" husband likes it just as well as hamburger, and it's a fraction of the calories and no fat. Another quick one is english muffin pizzas-just put sauce, whatever toppings and cheese and bake until the cheese melts. We also like pasta-one favorite is mixing a jar of pre-made pesto sauce with some sauteed mushrooms and serving with whole wheat pasta. Another easy pasta recipe is this: sautee one package of fresh, pre-sliced mushrooms , 1/2 diced white onion and a Tb of minced garlic in olive oil. Add one can of condensed crm mushroom soup, one can of condensed tomato soup, and one package of dry italian dressing mix. Simmer for a few minutes, then add a package of gnocchi (or just regular pasta of some kind of your family doesn't like gnocchi) that has been cooked according to the directions on the package. This one sounds kind of weird but is very good!

Chicken Chow Mein just fry boneless skinless chicken breast (or use already cooked from the store) then put in chicken broth I also put in celery and onion simmer it till the vegetables are tender then thicken the broth with corn starch then put in the chow mein vegetables put over rice that you cooked the night before or while the chicken is cooking. I use Chicken either fried myself or store cooked and make pasta (whole wheat pasta) throw in brocoli, carrots and peas and then alfredo sauce my family loves it. Our favorite is Nacho Dip, brown one pound of ground beef (can use turkey or chicken if you want) 1 pack of cream cheese, 1 large chopped onion, a pound of velveeta, 1 or two cans of stewed tomatoes this can all be place in the frying pan (just let everything melt and get warm and you are ready to eat) but I put it all in the crock pot and serve with nacho's this a party favorite too but we eat it as a meal. I make a lot of crockpot meals roast, stew, turkey breast, kraut and keilbosa with potato and onion, spaghetti sauce all you have to do is boil the pasta. I love the crock pot it is ready when you are.

This might be an obvious answer, but a slow cooker is great for having meals slow cooked all day, and ready to eat when you walk in the door. I am a terrible cook, so I have a slow cooker recipe book, and I just look through that from time to time to get ideas... sorry, but I don't know any by heart (I know you were looking for recipes, not being told to go look through books... )

Jessica Seinfeld has a recipe book about healthy dinners for the kids and family. My favorite recipe that she has right now is the turkey meatloaf. It says five min prep and it takes about 10 if you don't have the puree that she uses. It is deliscious and healthy and cooks for 55 min when you get home but it is great for leftovers on a sandwich. All her recipes are good and kid friendly.

I always have a box of Zataran's Jumbalaya mix on the shelf. It cooks in about 20 minutes and we add shrimp or leftover chicken to it. Pair it with a salad (I splurge on the bags of premixed lettuce, but I still wash it first) or some fresh fruit and voila! Dinner is served!

Looking forward to seeing some of the other answers- I could use some fresh ideas, too.

One of our favorite speedy meals is Broiled Tilapia Parmesan, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broiled-Tilapia-Parmesan/Det.... My 12-year-old son even helps to mix the topping sometimes. We generally pair the fish with jasmine rice and steamed edamame. It is one of the best ways I have found to get my kids to eat fish and I can easily have it all on the table in 30 minutes or less.

cook extra when you do cook and freeze. That's what seems to take the time... the meat. For example, strips of chicken breast that are frozen can be thawed and turned into fajitas, nachos, chinese stir "not so fry," etc, by easily adding something simple (cheese and corn chips/tortillas, beans, vegies).

One more tip. After about 20 years of marriage I finally gave my husband a duty. (I know, what was i waiting for?) As soon as he gets home, he washes up and then makes a salad (sometimes that is guacamole). That one thing makes a world of difference for me!

See the Cookbook

Sharing Mountain Recipes, there's lot of fabulous quick meals for dinner, and lunch/breakfast too; including those for fussy eaters!

www.themuffinlady.com

My family's favorite 20 minute meal - Chop up onion, carrot, zucchini or yellow summer squash - saute in olive oil. Add one can of chopped tomatoes. Then last add one can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained, and once those have heated through, turn off the stove. Serve over couscous or rice. Also good topped with parmesan cheese. Leftovers can be pureed and added to jarred spaghetti sauce for a little "stealth nutrition." You can also change it up a bit by adding cilantro at the end, or by adding mild curry powder (sparingly).