Quick, Easy Meals? - Santa Monica,CA

I recently found the easiest potpie recipie and it takes about 5 min to through together and everyone loves it!!!!!

shred a pre cooked rotisarry chicken
mix together chicken 1 can of cream of chicken soup and 1 can of cream of potatoe soup....through in a bag of veggies if you like....mix 1 cup of bisquick mix w 1/2 cup of milk and 1 egg...top w cheese if you like and bake it for about 30-40 min. I also season that you know what out of it just with like rosemary and garlic but some people like it a little plainer. We also do frozen pizzas, hot dogs and tater tots, pb and j w chips or veggies, not the healthiest but we have 4 kids and a wile schedule so its what we work with!

Hi Mama---I really work hard at avoiding all packaged meals as these do not contain adequate nutrition to keep my and my family healthy. There are tons of really healthy easy recipes out there. My 2 favorite sources:
www.vegetariantimes.com and
www.eatingwell.com (look for the section of quick and easy). I often go to these sites with a list of ingredients that I have in the house and put those in the search box to see what comes up. I like to cook so I usually have a lot of the staple ingredients in the house.

I have collected a bunch of our favorites and would be happy to send those. PM me with your email and I'll start sending those. Some of those include Egyptian Edamame Stew, Gnocchi with Swiss Chard, Tex Mex Bulgar with 3-bean Chili, Black-eyed Peas with Smoked Tofu. I can also help with tips and techniques that can make things much easier for you. Good luck. D.

Get a package of Julliene potatoes. (boxed with the instants) and follow the directions, but add ground beef and bake for 20 minutes. After it's baked, add a grand topping of shredded cheddar and some chives and bake for another 5 minutes. It's fast, it's cheap, and it's yummy! Try to make it with 85/15 or 90/10 beef though or it'll be a little greasy.

I have a Word doc with my favorite easy-ish meals. PM me if you'd like to have it. :)

Chili Corn Bread - 3 Trader Joes Turkey Chili cans, one box of Trader Joes corn bread mix (add milk, egg and oil), mixture poured on top of chili, bake until golden brown. (Some folks like shredded cheese on top, we don't.)

Another is Soup and Cheesy Bread. Either premade soups that I have bought or homemade -- sometimes I freeze them in small containers I got from bought organic soups I have from Panera (can get at BJs or Trader Joes soups) and melted cheese on rolls, toast or tortilla.

Add - Bag of baby carrots, ranch dressing, prewashed salad, sliced apple and ice water = Dinner, Fast

We also cook big healthy choices, once or twice a week and the rest of the week we reheat and eat.

Burritos!! All you have to do is brown the hamburger and add in the taco seasoning. If your family likes refried beans, open a can and warm it up too!! We keep tortillas, shredded cheddar, and sour cream in our house all the time, so this one's easy for us.

Home made pizza! I usually have home-made pre-baked pizza crusts in the freezer but you can use tortilla's or english muffins or bagelthins or a Pillsbury crust. It's a quick way to use up leftovers-- traditional pizza if you have leftover spegetti sauce; taco pizza if you have leftover taco stuff; BBQ pizza is awesome too, just shred up leftover beef, chicken or pork and add BBQ sauce; or (my favorite!) Sloppy Joe pizza!

If you don't have to make the crust from scratch home made pizza is faster than delivery!

Sandwiches and fresh fruit.
Pasta and jared sauce.
My kids love Tuna melts.
Grilled cheese sandwiches and Tomato soup.
Rice cooked in the rice cooker with gravy and ground beef.
Chili dogs. Just need buns or bread, hot dogs, cheese, and a can of chili.
Oven broiled steak, microwaved potatoes, and canned veggies.

I can go on and on. All of these take 20 minutes tops

Soup & Sandwich

Breakfast for dinner (eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes, french toast or if it's a REALLY busy day, cereal!!)

"Snack Plate" (my kids' favorite - a variety of healthy things like fruit, carrots, wheat crackers, peanuts, string cheese, granola bars, etc.)

Hope this helps!

I'm not trying to plug my blog, it's just where I keep all my recipes in an easy to access location;) Here are my easy and quick suggestions from the many recipes I have on my blog:

Super easy Chicken Tortilla Soup: http://www.yourlifevents.com/2010/01/11/coupling-easy-rec...

Tuna casserole:
http://www.yourlifevents.com/2010/02/27/feast-tuna-casser...

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas:
http://www.yourlifevents.com/2010/02/17/feast-sour-cream-...

Southwest Spicy Chicken (or Steak) Salad:
http://www.yourlifevents.com/2010/06/09/feast-southwest-s...

mac n cheese and hotdogs. pb and j. soup (from a can). corn dogs and french fries....

those are really horrible lol. honest, only once or twice per week! :)

Last night I made one of my family's favorites of Cheater Chicken Carbonara. Start a huge pot of water boiling & then I chop up 1/4-1/2 pound bacon & brown it in a huge skillet then remove. To the drippings I add 1 pound of boneless chicken cut in bite sized pieces & a chopped onion. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add 2 jars of alfredo sauce & swish the jars with about 1/2 cup white wine & add that to the chicken. I throw in a can of sliced mushrooms, drained & a can of petite diced tomatoes partially drained. Simmer on low while you cook whatever kind of pasta you like. Top each plate with a little sprinkle of bacon, serve with a green salad & Italian bread & butter. Ready in well under an hour & oh-so-fabulous!

chicken vegetable and starch.

Boneless skinless chicken breast
A bag of frozen vegetables
Instant Brown Rice or noodles

Those 3 things can be
Oriental stir fry.
Chicken fried rice
Chicken Alfredo
Blackened chicken and vegetables
Skillet chicken sautteed, seasoned with any dry seasoning in the cabinet.
Chicken Parm