Simple Meals for a Tired Pregnant Mama.......

Here's a quick and easy one that will get you two nights of meals.

Day 1:
Pork chops with cream of mushroom sauce. Place pork chops in a skillet coated with cooking spray; cook fully. Add a can of cream of mushroom, plus about 1/2 c. of water, to skillet, cover and simmer til heated through. Serve over white rice. I always do a side of broccoli. *Boneless chops will be easier, but bone-in have more flavor!

Day 2:
Pork fried rice. Cook several pieces of bacon in a large skillet. Remove from pan and add leftover rice. Cook until warm throughout; add soy sauce. Then add leftover pork chop (really only need one or maybe 2) cut into small pieces, and bacon pieces. I also add a scrambled egg (can cook in microwave), sliced water chestnuts, can of bean sprouts (can't even taste them), and chopped green onion. Season with onion powder, garlic powder and pepper (don't add salt because there is plenty in the soy sauce).

My kids LOVE both!

our moms always made easy meals - they didn't do complicated stuff - we need to go back to that stuff.
Meatloaf - if you make enough freeze half for another day.
When ever chicken breasts are on sale I buy a lot, sprinkle with spices, grill them and freeze them. You can make sandwiches, add them to salads, eat them plain.
Hot dogs are not a bad thing once in a while - side of frozen veggies,
grilled cheese (or cheese toast as my kids call them- melted cheese on toast) with carrots sticks,
BLTs,
quick "quiche" If you like eggs mix up eggs, chopped ham or turkey, frozen brocoli & cheese. Spray a baking pan, put cubes of bread in the bottom and pour the egg mixture into a baking pan.
Chicken cacciatore - spray a baking pan, put chicken pieces, chopped peppers, onion and mushrooms in and pour tomato sauce over it and bake. Serve with a side of pasta or rice.
Frozen veggies are already cut and cleaned and they are more nutirious than fresh becuase they're frozen right off the field. Use frozen it's so easy.
Cut up red peppers (they are sweeter than green), small carrots, zucchini & cucmer slices, whatever's around and put them in a shallow bowl in front of the kids 1/2 hour before mealtime - use ranch dressing if you must. They'll be hungry and you'll get veggies into them without much efffort.

Have fun! Feel better!

First off, Congratulations! This recipe is a favorite and takes about 10 mintues from start to finish:

1 lb ground beef
chopped onion
spinach (frozen, chopped)
garlic (optional)
1/4 - 1/2 c. chicken broth

Saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add ground beef and cook all the way through. Add spinach and chicken broth. Cook for an additional 5 minutes on med heat. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. I have also placed the mixture into pizza dough kind of like a calzone.

This one is really, really good. And it looks (and tastes!) like you really knocked yourself out making it:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/wednesday-nigh...

Shoot, it's not showing the whole link. It's Pioneer Woman's Pasta with Tomatoes and Artichokes.

Refridgerator biscuit sandwiches (put meat and cheese between 2 flattened, uncooked biscuits, and bake.) I serve with soup or salad.
Pigs in a blanket (use croissants or refridg. bisquits)
Chili
Quesadillas (I bake them and with 2 pans can cook 4 at a time)
Nachos
Sloppy Joes

Have you tried the McCormick chili seasoning mix? It's super simple and you only need a few ingredients. I usually serve it over corkscrew pasta because the kids can use just a little for flavor and still have enough to eat. You could also serve it on a baked potato. I like to sprinkle some shredded cheddar on top. They have a crockpot version too.

They also have the bag and season recipes. I like the beef stew. Not too much work, and cleanup is easy too.

They have some nice recipes in their website too.

http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes.aspx

I know what you're going through- Hang in there!!! :)
And Congratulations!!!!!

They should totally have a place on here for recipes! That'd be awesome! A new recipe I tried a couple months ago that we really really like it this...
( I love that you don't really need any sides or anything and it doesn't require much prep!) I ues a pound of Hot sausage instead of the ground pork and chorizo and I also don't put the cheese on top in the skillet we just put it on tortillas and top with cheese if we want.

8 ounces ground pork
4 ounces uncooked chorizo sausage
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green Chile peppers, undrained
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
¾ cup water
1 small red sweet pepper, chopped
1 cup instant rice
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
flour tortillas, warmed
sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large skillet cook pork and sausage until brown. Drain.

2. Stir up undrained tomatoes, corn, water, and sweet pepper into pork mixture in skillet.

3. Bring to boiling.

4. Stir uncooked rice into meat mixture in skillet. Remove from heat.

5. Top with cheese, cover and let stand about 5 minutes or until rice is tender.

6. Serve in flour tortillas and top with sour cream

I liked to make casseroles and other crock pot ideas so that I could use them for at least 2 meals and not have to worry every night! You can google crock pot recipes or look up on kraftfoods.com for all kinds of easy recipes that only require basic ingredients. Also, keep some pasta and sauce on hand and that's always easy. You can throw in whatever else you have handy; chicken, beef, veggies, cheese, etc. Also since it's becoming warmer you could also consider doing more grilling. I find that to be the easiest of all b/c most of the time my husband will take over! ;) I do a lot of kabobs, which you can assemble earlier in the day, chicken breasts and parts, turkey burgers and veggies.

My husband lived on sandwiches during the first trimester of my pregnancy b/c I was just so tired... so here's what we did!
- Grilled sandwiches are so tasty and easy. Use whatever bread you have, spread some pesto (super easy and cheap to make and it freezes beautifully) on the bread, slice of cheese (provolone works well) on each side, several slices of deli meat and grill until the cheese is melted! Serve with a side of fruit, green salad or soup and it's a meal!
- check out realsimple.com they have recipes every month that are quick and really tasty! We have tried pretty much all of them and they are amazing!
** Make things that you can do in bulk and freeze**
- Pulled pork (takes all day, but is so tasty) with "southern sides"
- Turkey burgers with sweet potatoe fries (Orieda makes delicious ones)... make extra "burgers" and freeze them
- Pork chops (really cheap) with egg noodles, broccolli and apple sauce. You just bake them in the oven with salt, pepper and a little dried rosemary. Delicious!
- Homemade chicken cutlets/tenders
- You can make a well-rounded meal out of a salad by adding grilled chicken to it! When I "grill" chicken I do a ton of it and freeze what we don't use. It saves $$ to buy in bulk and time to do it in batches.
- Chili with cornbread
- Pasta with veggies, ground turkey and sauce

** The smartest thing we have done in the last year is to make a week-day recipe book. I have written on index cards all of our quick and easy meals and put them in cheap photo books. The little books come out every Sunday and we plan our weekly meals. It has kept us from getting into a rut and makes shopping easier and less expensive b/c we only buy what we need and will use!**

This recipe is soooo delicious and SOO easy! Throw some sour cream on top and you're set!

http://www.cookingcache.com/campbellsbeeftacobake.shtml?r...

I'm not sure if you will eat spaghetti squash, but I made a super great meal the other day in minimal time.

Cut a large spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds. Salt and pepper each half and microwave for 18 minutes.

While thats in the microwave, place 8 small chicken thighs, a package fresh of pre diced mushrooms, and one jar of your favorite marinara sauce in a generous sized pan on medium heat. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

Once the squash is cooked, let it cool for 5 ish minutes (until its cool enough to handle), and use a fork to scoop out the "spaghetti". Portion the "spaghetti" into your bowls. By this time, your thighs and mushrooms should be cooked through and ready to serve directly on top of your already portioned out "spaghetti".

I am 24 weeks pregnant with a 3.5 year old. I just started doing Dave Ramsey's E-Mealz. Once a week they post new meals with an attached grocery list. The meals are simple to make and not a lot of ingredients. I went to the store once got everything and they are really tasty. I love just to look at the list and decide what to make and not have to think.

www.e-mealz.com

Girl, I'm 9weeks too. And tired tired tired.
I feel your pain. We're tired of eating the same ol' rotation of menu items, but I haven't got the gumption to change it up much.
It's always nice to see what other people make so you can say to yourself "Why didn't I think of that!"

Here's what's on the menu for us this week.

1) Chicken Spagetti
2) Frozen Meatballs & veggie (this is a mainstay with us)
3) Mini Fritattas with custom ingredients per family member. I like hashbrowns on the bottom, mushrooms & cheese. Husband won't eat it, he's on his own during this meal! 4yr old likes his with pepperoni & cheese (uhhh, okay. Gag) I make them in a muffin pan. For some reason it makes it more appealing to the 4yr old.
4) Grilled cheese & spagettios. (I know, but I'm tired!!)
5) Frozen cheese ravioli & vodka sauce. Texas Cheese toast.
6) Chicken dish - Usually chicken strips, coated in egg & dipped in Captain Crunch crumbs. Baked. Sometimes bbq chicken, or chicken tacos.
7) Regular tacos, or taco casserole.
8) SLOP. We eat more slop than I care to admit. What is it? Browned ground beef, a can of ?? & a can of ?? all mixed together to make a mixture that can be eaten with tortilla chips, over cornbread, etc. Mmmm, slop!
Mine varies depending on what I end up with in the pantry. This week's variety was Ground beef, Ranch Style Beans, Rice & sharp shredded cheese. I ate mine in a tortilla, hb ate it with chips like nachos, 4yr old just ate it out of a bowl with a spoon. (From the CAN to the PAN to the MAN!!)
9) Some kind of soup. Last night it was sauteed mushrooms & 1/2 bag of spinach. Chicken broth. Noodles. HEALTHY and YUMMY.
10) Quesadillas - Rotisserie chicken, picked apart, refried beans from the can & tortillas.
11) Okay, I'll admit it - FROZEN PIZZA. God bless Tostinos & their 99cent pizzas!
12) Fried Rice. Chicken cut into small pieces, sauteed veggies (I use zucchini, yellow squash) Rice, pineapple sometimes. Cook all ingredients, then add rice (I use boil in bag x 2 bags). Add soy sauce & brown the rice a smidge. husband likes to put terayaki sauce in his. I find that too sweet, but to each his own.
13) Breakfast for dinner. Nothing is easier than throwing some batter on the belgium waffle maker!! It sure beats flipping pancakes. Sometimes I keep them as-is from the box, sometimes I add bananas, choc chips, whatever fruit I have (even apples). Always bacon bacon bacon as a menu item as well.
14) Mac & Cheese. Either the neon orange variety or homemade - 2cups mac, 2cups cheese, 2 cans cream soup (actually 1 can soup + 1can milk). Salt & pepper. Maybe some Ritz on top. You don't even have to cook the mac.

I hope this gives you an idea or two!! Good luck with your pregnancy.
- C. + baby gummy bear. (That's what it looked like on the sono so it kinda stuck)

Congrats and sorry to hear you are so tired!!

My first trimester my husband and I subsisted solely on the frozen bags of pasta. Just dump the contents of the bag into a skillet and 10 minutes later Voila! Dinner is done!

I buy the Safeway brand usually and still keep a couple on hand for those days when no one feels like cooking. I think PF Chang's just came out with frozen chinese food too. Good luck!