Your Favorite Easy Meal

[Amiens]

I thought it would be fun for us to post our favorite Easy Meal, and when I say easy meal- it can be cooked and on the table in 30 minutes.

Crystal

Broccoli and Sausage Cavatelli
Hot and spicy crowd pleaser! Prep Time: approx. 5
Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 30 Minutes. Ready in: approx. 35
Minutes. Makes 8 servings.
Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Susan
1 pound spicy Italian sausage
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (16 ounce) package cavatelli pasta
1 (16 ounce) package frozen broccoli
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1 In a skillet, fry sausage over medium heat until no
longer pink; drain, and reserve.
2 In the same skillet, cook garlic in olive oil until golden.
3 Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to
a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes
or until done; drain. Three minutes before the end of the
cooking time, add broccoli; drain with pasta.
4 In a large serving bowl, toss together the sausage,
olive oil and garlic, cavatelli and broccoli, and Parmesan.
Season with red pepper flakes.

The kids won't eat it, but dh and I love it.

[DCJenn]

My favorite- which I've posted before is "Fried Rice"

This is a last ditch, your brain is fried, your spouse is late and you and any children you might have are starving and cranky.

Ingedients:

2 bags boil in a bag rice (I usually get brown)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies (either the regular corn, carrots, broccoli mix or whatever you happen to have)
1 egg
Whatever fresh veggies are about to go bad in the frig.

Make the rice according to pkg directions, heat up as much of the frozen veggies as you'd like, scramble an egg, cut and stir fry any left over fresh veggies that you happen to have around.

Mix together- if you happen to have any asian sauces, feel free to stir those in, otherwise we eat it with that super hot Thai chili saice and some soy sauce. I've also thrown in sauteed onion, flavored tofu- seriously, it's whatever is in the frig right before payday.

That's it. It's a staple around here! (and Nikolai loves it)

[houseelf]

Easiest supper ever:

1 can condensed french onion soup
1 can cream mushroom soup
1/3 cup bread crumbs
frozen beef tips


Let cook in crock pot all day long and serve over rice or noodles.

Substitution- one glass red wine and red potatoes instead of the soup cans.

Very, very good

[houseelf]

I thought of more...Easy cooking is my strong suit:

Easiest taco salad ever:

smear one package of cream cheese in the bottom of a glass pan.
cook ground hamburger in taco seasoning
layer in lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and black beans
spread hamburber on top

serve with tortilla chips

Kelly

[houseelf]

place a dab of olive oil on steaks or fish and place them under the broiler!

[houseelf]

I'm out of control, but I live for easy meals....

Hoagies:

1 pkg french bread baked and split open
Sandwich sliced pepporoni
Provolone cheese
spaghetti sauce
mushrooms and/or minced onions

Bake in the oven until warm and crusty. Serve with soup.

Kelly

[Meenah]

I love easy food too.

Hot Italian Sausage
Chopped cabbage
Canned diced tomatoes

Whatever amounts you want to use!!! I usually use one lb. of sausage, 1/2 head of cabbage and a large (26 oz) can of tomatoes (DH likes more tomatoes so I may add two cans). Stirfry sausage and cabbage and then add tomatoes cover and simmer 30 minutes. Very tasty.
Luanne

[Amiens]

I figured if I posted the original message then I should join in-

Chicken Caesar Panini

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 4 min

3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. mustard
¼ tsp. pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
¾ lb. shredded cooked chicken-- we use Rotisserie Chicken
3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1 16-oz. loaf of unsliced country-style of focaccia bread

1. In blender, combine lemon juice, garlic, 3 Tbsp. Parmesan, the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and pepper until blended. With motor still running, slowly pour in oil until well combined.
2. In a large bowl, combine chicken and lettuce. Stir in 2 Tbsp. dressing, mixing to coat well. Split bread in half horizontally. Scoop out inside of bread, leaving crust shell. Brush bread shells with remaining dressing, then sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Place the chicken mixture on one shell of bread; top with other shell to create sandwich. Firmly press sandwich to seal.
3. Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat. Brush top and bottom of sandwich with small amount of olive oil. Place in pan then put a cast-iron pan on top and push down (you can use any heavy pan or cook the sandwich in a panini maker). Cook 2 minutes. Remove heavy pan and carefully flip sandwich over. Cover again with heavy pan, and cook 2 minutes longer. Cut into 5 slices. Makes 5 servings.

[Amiens]

Mexican Pile-ups
Prep time- 10 minutes
Cooking time- 20 minutes

1 lb ground beef, or ground turkey
Taco seasoning
Onion- peeled and cut into thin wedges
Bell Peppers- cored, and cut into wedges
Olive Oil
1- 8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 can beans (whatever your liking- kidney, pinto, black)
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheddar Cheese (or anything else you like)
Frito Lay Corn Chips
Other suggestions- Avocado, Salsa, Corn, Tomatillos, whatever flips your fancy

Brown hamburger, and add taco seasoning. Sautee onions and bell peppers in small amount of olive oil. Melt Cream Cheese in double boiler and add beans undrained.

We like to start out with a small amount of corn chips, layered by taco meat, then cream cheese beans, then lettuce, tomatoes, onions and bell peppers and cheese. Layer ingredients to your liking.



Crystal

[Amiens]

I have gotten hooked on Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals on the Food Network. So has Emma, she will say "I want to watch the lady cook!" and when we are watching she will say "Are we eating that for dinner tonight mommy."

Anyway, one recipe that I have tried that everyone really liked was

Mexican Lasagna

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case (or ground turkey or ground beef)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 (14-oz) can stewed tomatoes or fire-roasted chopped tomatoes
1 cup medium heat taco sauce
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market (or you can use whole wheat or flour tortillas)
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil – twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes or fire-roasted chopped tomatoes and taco sauce. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly.

[DCJenn]

You know, we so often forget about old stand-bys-

Two favorite meals in this house are BLTs (perfect right now with fresh tomatos) and grilled cheese sandwiches. I make some soup and a salad from a bag and there you go.

Jenn

[houseelf]

Easiest "homemade" chicken noodle soup.

Bring 2 cans chicken broth & one can veggie broth to a boil
Add 1/2 package of medium size egg noodles.
Add prepackaged shredded carrots (and sliced celery if desired).
Boil until noodles soften.
Dump 1 can of chicken and its juices into mixture and break it up.


Serve!

Kelly

[Vanquisher]

Those all sound so great. Thanks for posting these. Our quick and easy standbys are what everyone's are burrtios, spaghetti. I also like quick enchiladas.

1 lb. ground beef
1 can enchilada sauce
diced onions (optional)
black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
chilis (optional to heat preference)
monterey jack and cheddar cheese (either will do)
corn or flour tortillas

Brown ground beef. Add in onions, black beans, chilis, enough enchilada sauce to coat and some cheese. Coat bottom of a baking dish with some enchilada sauce. Roll up meat mixture in tortillas and place in pan. Cover with reamianing enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Edited to add....WHY IS THIS THE ONLY THREAD I CAN POST TO? I've tried to post to the car hybrid post, and start a new thread, but I keep getting the debug message.

[Auspicious]

Probably not kid-friendly, but this salad has been a staple no-cook meal for the two of us this summer:

One plastic container of mixed salad greens each
One large handful of craisins each
One large handful of sliced toasted almonds each
2 oz of bleu cheese crumbled over each salad

Dressing, put in small tupperware container:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon your favorite vinegar
1 squirt of honey (maybe 1.5 teaspoons?)
a few dashes of garlic salt (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon?)
same amount of oregano

shake vigorously and then divide over the two salads. That's it.

Confession: we eat these out of mixing bowls like these:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=670&f=8859 I tried to register for giant-bowls-appropriate-for-entree-salads for our wedding, but couldn't really find anything.