Tell me about the recipes you rotate pretty much every week that are easy

[Anonymous]

Two working parents with two kids here. Need ideas that our easy and fast (slow cooker and make ahead also fine). I feel like I've hit a wall and only have a about 5 go to recipes like this that the family enjoys.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

-Spaghetti with homemade marinara (sometimes with meat)

-Quesadillas (either black bean or whatever leftover meat is in the house, with onions, peppers, tomatoes)

-Meatloaf with broccoli, green beans, or roasted carrots

-Grilled chicken or steak with corn (in season) or broccoli, green beans, or roasted carrots

-Oven roasted chicken with white beans & tomatoes

I can make all of these dishes without consulting a recipe or putting any real thought into the endeavor. Dinner on autopilot.

[Anonymous]

I make a sausage, veg, and pasta dish once a week. I switch out the types of sausage, veg, and pasta, so it's not the same thing over and over again. I use this as my base recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/01/creamy-spinach-sausage-pasta/

So it could go something like this:
Week 1 - Italian Sausage + Spinach + Egg Noodles + Monterrey Jack
Week 2 - Chicken Sausage + Broccoli + Fusilli + White Chedder
Week 3 - Turkey Sausage + Kale + Broken Up Lasagna Noodles + Ricotta and Mozzarella
Week 4 - Veggie Sausage + Spinach + Bow Tie Pasta + Monterrey Jack

[Anonymous]

1. Tofu Thai curry with Broccoli and rice

2. Lentil stew

3. Summer pasta (basil / pine nuts / tomatoes / parm cheese) I serve it alla carte

4. Tacos

5. Black beans smashed open face on a tortilla / open face cheese for those who do not want blackbeans

6. Breakfast for dinner - Pancakes!

7. Make meatballs and do a variation of meatball subs / spaghetti and meatballs

8. The grill is super fast: Burgers, Hot Dogs, Fish

[Anonymous]

I picked up a corned beef at Costco last week and threw it in the crockpot. Not sure if I'd want to have that more than e once a month, but it was tasty and easy.

[Anonymous]

Some ideas I use often:

Huge pot of meat sauce - freeze in portioned containers for spaghetti. I also take the meat sauce and add some kidney beans and chili powder and voila, chili! Also as a PP suggested, make ahead and freeze some meatballs (I use turkey for this) and those can be used in several ways.

Stir fries with cut up chicken breast or beef (prep this night before) and frozen veggies + bottled sauce. Love the stir fry sauces and simmer sauces at Trader Joes.

Pork chops or chicken breast pan-seared with rice cooker rice and canned black beans heated and mixed with jarred salsa - so good.

I get the Trader Joes individually quick frozen chicken breasts/tenders and use them for so much. They thaw and cook so fast. I do buffalo chicken sandwiches, cook and chop up for chicken salads, tacos, etc. etc.

In the crockpot, you can easily do salsa chicken for tacos just by throwing in chicken breasts and jarred salsa. Also, you can do "rotisserie" chicken in the crockpot - the skin won't get crispy but the flavor is wonderful.

My best tip is to thaw/marinate/prep the night before as much as you can, so everything is ready and in the fridge when you come home and can just br thrown in the oven/grill/on the stove.

[Anonymous]

Black beans and rice (with cheese and salsa on top, sometimes chopped up veggies thrown in with the beans)

Frittatas - i do whatever veggies we have on hand and add spicy sausage to half of it for me and DH

We also do something similar to the crockpot chicken tacos PP mentioned

Fish in a packet (google Moosewood fish in a packet for recipe ideas) - prep ahead of time and all you need to do is put in the oven to bake

We also do BLTS, tuna melts, or veggie burgers with TJ's sweet potato fries on nights we don't have much time.

[Anonymous]

Tacos-I just have to cook the meat and chop veggies. Pretty easy.
Meatballs-I make alot so they can be 2 meals. Usually it's spaghetti and meatball subs.
Soup-I do a big pot of soup every week. It's always enough for 2 meals and then some. My regulars are corn chowder, chicken and rice with veggies, Italian veggie w/tortellini, chicken or beef stew, or seafood chowder.
Crock pot meal-last week was barbecue shredded chicken for sandwiches but I'll mix it up.
Veggie lasagna-I make it ahead so I can just put if in the oven when I get home.
Veggie stir fry with rice
Vegetarian chili in the crockpot

I am vegetarian, the rest of my family is not so I try to do at least 2 meatless meals a week. I just have something easy on the meat nights like a black bean taco or leftovers from a meatless night.

[Anonymous]

I make a large lasagna with no boil noodles on the weekend and it usually covers 2-3 meals. Tacos are always easy, baked salmon with teriyaki or lemon dill. Steamed broccoli. Sautéed spinach with mushrooms. Applesauce, sometimes we do breakfast at dinner and make waffles. Again on the weekends I make extra waffles so we have them frozen and ready to go in the toaster during the week.

[Anonymous]

I just put the following in the crockpot:

package of chicken breasts (about 1.5 lb)
package of fresh (refrigerated) salsa
can of black beans
frozen, prechopped onions and colorful peppers (cheap in the frozen veg aisle)

Cook on low at least 8 hours. Chicken will shred easily.

You can eat this as-is over rice with some grated cheese. You can put it in soft or hard tacos with cheese and sour cream, cook it in enchiladas, quesadillas -- lots of possibilities. It reheats well and tastes better the second day.

[Anonymous]

Making one of them tonight -- we call it "Seafood surprise" although it's anything but surprising.

Sauteed shrimp and scallops and roasted salmon with rice and a vegetable. It's on the menu every week.

[Anonymous]

1) tortellini w/red pepper sauce:
buy one of those bags of Barilla tortellini. I get the spinach & ricotta, and the smaller bag works for our family of three. While the pasta is cooking (according to pkg directions), combine a jar of roasted red peppers (drained), a couple cloves of garlic/garlic powder, juice of 1/2 lemon, a glug or two of olive oil, a dash of cayenne pepper, and salt & pepper in a blender and puree until smooth. mix it up with the hot cooked pasta & serve.

2) easy side: frozen steam-in-pkg peas (I prefer the Steamfresh brand), tossed with salt, pepper, olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, and chopped fresh basil (I sub 1 tbs of the stuff that comes in a tube). These are delicious. I often serve them with a grocery store rotisserie chicken and instant mashed potatoes & I feel like a total fraud but my husband & kid LOVE IT.

3) buy a frozen pkg of mixed stir fry veggies. cook them in a medium saucepan with a bouillon cube (I use 1/2 a knorr's chicken cube), salt & pepper, and a little olive oil. add a shredded chicken breast. (I buy a bunch of boneless/skinless ones on sale, boil them, & freeze individually to defrost in the micro and shred as needed.) Meanwhile, microwave one of those frozen bags of rice. When the veggies & chicken are heated through, combine with the rice and a handful of shredded cheese (I use the mexican four-cheese blend). The cheese gets all melty and good.

4) Put whatever cut of beef you like in a crockpot and add a jar of peperoncini (drained), with a little water to cover the bottom of the pan. I let it cook all day & then serve it over rice.

[Anonymous]

Lemon pepper chicken on the grill- I liberally coat my chicken breasts with lemon pepper seasoning, then throw them in a Ziploc bag with a bottle of lemon pepper marinade and let it sit in the fridge all day. DH grills the chicken on the grill- sides are usually baked potatoes (or baked sweet potatoes) and peas, something like that. Starch and veggie, basically.

Stewed tomatoes and okra over rice in one of my absolute favorites.

In the fall, chili gets made probably once a week. We love it.

My DH and DD love when I make hamburger steak and mashed potatoes. Season ground beef liberally with onion powder, salt and pepper and form into patties. Dredge the patties in flour, then brown in a pan with a little butter or oil. Don't let them cook through, just get them nice and seared. Take them out, add a little butter to the pan to make a roux, and then add a can of beef broth to make a gravy. Let it get a little thick, then put the hamburger steaks back in to cook through- about 20 minutes longer. Serve with mashed potatoes ( I mash mine with butter, milk, and a big spoonful of sour cream.) This is so, so simple but easily one of their favorite meals. I serve a green veggie with it as well.

Another easy dish is what we call Swiss Cheese Chicken. Lay chicken breasts (seasoned however you like) in a baking dish. Place slices of Swiss cheese on them. In a bowl, mix a can of Cream of Chicken soup (or whatever Cream of Soup you like) with 1/2 cup of white wine, or milk, or chicken broth. Pour that over the chicken. Sprinkle the top with dried stuffing mix, whatever flavor you like. Drizzle on some melted butter to keep the stuffing from getting too brown. Bake one hour at 375, serve with rice. I know it sounds low rent, but it is delicious.

[Anonymous]

like others have said - pasta or quesidillas.

also:
quiche - use up any veggies/cheese in the fridge
naan bread or flat bread pizzas
homemade veggie burgers with salad

sometimes i'll roast up a few trays of roasted veggies - have them over rice one night, then in pitas or on salads for 1-2 more nights.

[Anonymous]

My family all love beans and rice. We eat this meal about once a week.

Get the small latin american red beans. They're a big deal in El Salvador and I've only found them at latin american grocery stores. Then they have like 10 brands there.

Use a 20 oz bag. Soak them overnight. In the AM, drain and put in crockpot with 6 cups of fresh water and 2 Tbls salt. Cook all day.

Around dinner time, cook white rice. We use a rice cooker and basmati rice.

Any of the following can go on the table to make the meal: hot sauce, salsa, chopped cilantro, avocado or guac, corn tortillas, fried plantains, sour cream, cheese, cooked sausage, leftover chicken, a fresh veg or salad, etc.

The only "hard" thing about this meal is having the foresight to soak the beans the night before. After that, its all so easy and automatic. There will beans left over for quesadillas or chili or whatever.