Easy Dinners Needed!

Hi A.,
I really feel your pain. I have been strugglling with this issue for years now. Hear is one of my favorites I created. We have been trying to cut back on calories and this one is one of husbands faves.

Go to your local grocers. We love Krogers. Ours has an olive bar. We get a small container and put into it anything that looks good. Olives, mushrooms, artichokes..... what ever sounds good to you. You dont need much. I usually buy 1 or two roma tomatos and then go home. This might cost $5 at the store.
Once I am at home I take 2-4 chicken breasts out of the freezer and put them in a casserole dish. I dump the items that I got from the olive bar on top. I cut the tomatos into chunks and add those on top. I then add drizzle of olive oil and a spoonful of garlic out of a jar. Then I put some foil on it and put it in the fridge till evening. On 350 degrees it takes about a half hour to cook. The chicken is never dry and the flavors are amazing. We add a pack of microwavable 90 second rice and meal is done. Hope this helps a little.

When I'm doing the meal planning, I try to aim:
1 stir fry w/rice
1 soup w/bread
1 pasta dish
1 bean dish
1 meat w/veggies day

Stir fries:
Take a bag of veggies (aldi's has great stir fry veggies with sauce. I havne't seen similar stuff at the other stores). from the freezer. Microwave a couple frozen chicken breasts until they're done, chop up, and stir fry in the skillet with some olive oil. Add the veggies. Then mix with the stir fry sauce that came in the packet, or use soy sauce or teriyaki sauce. If you want more sauce, add some juice (apple or pineapple) and some cornstarch for thickener (1 tb or so). Serve over rice (buy a rice cooker, so easy).

Soups:
a couple bags of frozen mixed veggies
a big can of low-sodium chicken broth
2-3 frozen chicken breasts
can of diced tomatoes (if you want)
egg noodles (1/2 bag or so)
water
bouillon cubes

boil the veggies, frozen chicken breasts (whole), chicken broth, and add enough water to fill the soup pot. When the chicken is cooked through, fish it out and chop it up, then toss it back in. Add a few bouillon cubes (I'd say 5), and whatever spices suit your fancy for taste. Add the tomatoes if you want. About 30 mins before you want to eat, put in the noodles. The soup should cook all total about 1.5-2 hours on the stove, boiling and then simmering. If you don't put a lid on it, you'll want to add more water as it boils down. You can play with the ingredients and experiment with what you like in your soup.

Casseroles:
a pasta
something for a sauce
veggies
meat
top with bread crumbs or cracker bits

Cook the pasta. (I usually use a whole box 16 oz). For a sauce, you can use plain yogurt, sour cream, "cream of" soups, whatever you have on hand that tastes good. Add milk so it's not so thick. Mix the cooked pasta, thawed/lightly steamed veggies, cooked meat to the sauce. Mix with some shredded cheese (any but mozzerella which gets stringy). Put in your 9x13" pan. Top with bread crumbs or crackers. Bake at 350 for 25-30 mins (until it's bubbly).

Really, I pretty much never use recipes for casseroles and soups. I just throw together whatever we have on hand!

One of my family's favorites is western ribs in the crock pot. Western ribs are usually pretty inexpensive too, so that helps! You can take them right out of the freezer and sprinkle with Lowery's, a little garlic powder, and pepper (or whatever seasonings you like). If you have time, throw them frozen into a skillet with a little butter to brown them, but if you don't have that 10 min, you can skip that step. Then put them in the crock pot with 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce and a little water, and let it go on low all day. Serve with a box of au gratin potatoes & a veggie and you're good to go.

Another easy favorite is stuffed pork chops. Just throw frozen pork chops right in the crock pot, top with cream of whatever-you-like, then dump a packet of stove-top stuffing into a bowl and mix with just enough water to moisten, and throw that in on top of the pork chops. Cook all day on low, and microwave a veggie at suppertime.

Also, with the weather getting nicer, the grill can be easy and quick...and a great way to encourage "man cooking! :-) Have him grill whatever, then microwave some baked potatoes and veggies, and you're all set. Plus, no crusty baking dish for the main course to do after dinner!

Good luck. I'm totally stealing some of the other ideas that have already been posted!

A website that helped me for a while is: menus4moms.com. There is a weekly menu with a grocery list included. It helped me at least get a base of recipes that we really liked and since then I have just made my own menues. They are simple, kid-friendly (most of the time) meals. Some take more time than others, but give it a look and try it for yourself!!

Hi A.. Our family relies on "smoosh" meals for the majority of our meal planning. Basically they are easy ziploc meals, a canned item or two and seasoning. You store them in the freezer, take one out in the morning, thaw it just enough to loosen it up and put it in the crock pot (or bake or grill). They are so easy. A few weeks ago I tracked my cost to do this and spent $78 on the grocery items needed. I made 18 entrees, all ziploc meals within 30 minutes. Each ziploc meal includes 2 meals for us (cook once, serve twice) - the cost was $2.48 per meal for us. We have saved quite a bit of money with this concept. Most of the time, we purchase groceries, get home and put them away and then do the kitchen 2-step between the refrigerator and pantry every night trying to figure out what to do with the frozen packages of meat. With is concept, you can get your groceries, go home, do a quick assembly and it's done. Plus, you can get the kids involved and they can help "smoosh". And something else that is very important, you control what you put into your meals - I have become a big label reader and it's amazing how much sodium and preservatives are in products now. You can visit www.ezmeals4u.com to see recipes and get more information or you can contact me directly at ____@____.com care!

I definitely recommend some of the meal assembly businesses such as Dream Dinners and Supper Thyme. One of my favorite crock pot recipes is a Salsa Chicken Dish.

1 jar salsa (whatever your favorite type)
3-4 chicken breasts (thawed)
taco seasoning
shredded cheese
sour cream (optional)

-Put a thin layer of salsa on bottom of crock pot
-put chicken breasts on top
-sprinkle with a little bit of taco seasoning
-dump the rest of salsa on top
-cook on low in crock pot for about 5-6 hours
-about 5 min before serving sprinkle some shredded cheese
-on top of chicken & put lid back on crock pot to melt cheese
-I like to serve this with the packet of Spanish Rice from Lipton (something else simple too!) & my husband likes to top his chicken with a bit of sour cream

** also makes great leftovers - put it all in a tortilla

go to www.womensday.com They have a lot of 1-2-3 step dinners and tons of crock pot recipes.

A. this recipie takes about 45min-1 hour to cook but only about 5 minutes to prepare.

Cream of Chicken

Ingredients:
1 - small box minute/instant rice
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream (evaporated mild works too but does not taste quite as good)
1 - 14oz can chicken broth
few tablespoons of butter
whole chicken or pieces you like (I use 4 chicken breast)

Preparation:
pour box of rice into large casserole dish (enough room for rice to expand)
Pour can of chicken broth over rice
Place pieces of chicken over top of rice
pour whipping cream over chicken
dot chicken with butter
Cover with foil or oven safe casserole dish lid

bake at 400 for 45minutes - 1 hour.
Stir 2-3 times to prevent browning of rice
Turn chicken half way through

Enjoy!

I know you recieved a lot of replies already so you may have gotten these but here goes. I just made these in the past week. I use a crock pot.

Pot roast, peeled red potatoes, carrots, onion soup mix (dry packet) and water to cover all. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Pork Spare ribs, two cans of beer, and water to finish covering the ribs. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove from crock pot and cover with BarBQ sauce. You can either finish on the grill or put in oven for 1/2 hour on 350 Deg. We usually have fries with this that I bake in the oven.

I usually do this on the stove top. Brown chicken pieces, add sliced mushrooms and cover with 1 can of mushroom soup. Let cook for 30-45 min until chicken juice runs clear when poked with a fork. I serve over pasta with a can of peas.

Oh honey! I am the crockpot queen! I have three of them! If you have the money, I would invest in a crockpot cookbook and just start experiementing. Also, you can go to www.crockpot.com and get lots of recipes.

My favorite is lasagna. Yep, just layer your noodles (uncooked), sauce, meat, any veggies, and cheeses. It probably takes about 4 hours on low. You have to break the noodles to fit. I use ricotta cheese mixed with Italian seasoning and parmasan and mozzerella.

Also, you can do a cheaper cut of meat in the crockpot and it will come out much tender. Again, just experiement. I keep a bottle of Italian dressing and pour a little over beef, pork or chicken and let it cook all day. If you have a larger crockpot, you can use a small turkey breast with the bone in. Cook it all day...if you have any left over, just put it in a baggie and pour some gravy over it and stick it in the freezer. The gravy helps it to not dry out when you reheat it.

You can also use teriyaki sauce or a tomato sauce over your meat for a different flavor.

I also have a small one that I do veggies in. Put fresh or frozen green beans, peas, corn...add a little salt, pepper and butter...or any other seasoning and let 'em go all day.

See? I told you I was the queen of crockpots! LOL If you want any other ideas or whatever just send a personal message, or we can even email if you want. Good luck! I think you'll love it!!

Make the macaroni and cheese in the box - but add a can of mushroom soup and a can of tuna noodle and a cup or two of frozen peas and carrots... Yummmm!

____________________________________________

Buy a roast --- put it in a crock pot with just a little water - not even covering bottom and add a packet of French Onion Soup --- pull apart with a fork when tender and serve on Rolls or Buns.

_____________________________________________

Buy a small ham put in a large sauce pan add a small head of cabbage (quartered)... cook (with water covering bottom of pot) on medium heat while you peel vegetables. Peel carrots (don't cheat with baby ones they cook too fast) add them and salt and pepper... peel small potatoes and add them in the pot, too (salt and pepper again) simmer until potatoes are done! I always use the thing you can put in the pot that lifts food off the bottom. It looks like a small pizza pan upsidedown with holes in it.

______________________________________

We love perogies --- brown onions first and cook in margarine then add perogies to heat through... serve as a main meal or side dish -- possible with polska kielbasa or whatever.

_______________________________________

My mom used to like scrambled eggs with peppers on toast -- I make them with bacon instead of peppers.

________________________________________

wrap hot dogs (cut in half) in crescent rolls and bake like package says.

________________________________________

I have a great recipe for a casserole that tastes just like lasagna - but it is so much easier! Let me know if you want it, too! It is a little more in depth but is worth the time.

A.,

Go to kraftfoods.com and cookingvillage.com. Good luck!

try rachel rays 30 minute meals- some take a little longer with prep but alot are super easy and really good. She even has one about cooking with kids that has age appropriate recipes so your older one can even help a little!

chicken noodle casserole! my 3 y/o loves it- so does the hubby- bag of egg noodles, cook till still slightly firm, drain, put in cass. dish add cream of chic (or mush, your choice)i use the largest can, add about a cup or so of milk, mix up till you get the thickness you want put marg. pieces randomly over top, cook at 345 till top noodles looks golden (merg will really sttart to bubble when done) plus you can always up the temp to get it to cook fast you just have keep a closer eye on it

My mom worked while I was growing up and these were staples at our house.

Green bean Casserole
1 # browned hamburger, drained
diced onion, sauteed with hamburger, optional
1 can tomato soup
1 can green beans
Mix together and top with instant mashed potatoes.

Pork Chop Casserole
mix Stove Top or homemade dressing with 1 can drained corn,
Place in a 9x13 and top with pork chops, season with salt and pepper. Bake 350* 45-60 minutes minutes depending on how thick the chops are.

Bacon Spaghetti
Saute 1/2 lb. bacon with an onion. Drain slightly.
Add 1 large can diced tomatoes.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp. sugar.
Thicken with a little corn starch water mixture (1 Tbs corn starch, 1/4 cup water)you may not need all of this, or just cook to reduce. This is my all time favorite!
Serve on a bed of spaghetti along with some garlic bread.

Simple oven baked chicken is also delicious. May recipes but I prefer Ina Garden's Jeffreys Oven Baked chicken.

Hope this helps. It is important to prepare fast recipes without forsaking nutrition. The crock pot is your best friend.

My best advice is to check out the Kraft foods website and sign up for their quarterly magazine. I was in the same boat as you not too long ago! I felt like we always ate the same things over and over again! Many of the recipes are made of stuff I have on hand anyway or would buy frequently. That is what I dont like about regular cookbooks, having to buy ingredients I would likely never use again! If you would like to cut costs, I sometimes don't always use the brands they suggest, ie I will use Giant eagle brand chicken stock and cream cheese... Some of my favorite kkraft recipes are the easy fish cakes and pork medalions alfredo. I hope this helps.

www.campbellsoup.com. There are many different meal ideas. There are casseroles where you through in everything uncooked and it all just cooks together in an hour. Also, like someone mentioned earlier, www.kraftfoods.com is a very good recipe. Good luck :) and Congrats on your family and newest addition.

Crock Pot roasts with potatoes and carrots. Ribs, the Bob Evans mashed potatoes are good 6 minutes in the microwave. Stir fry, Look on here there are ideas everywhere!!!!!

My quick dinner is spaghetti & meatballs. I bake frozen meatballs. Heat prepared pasta sauce on the stove and then toss in the meatballs. Super quick and Yummy!

I second the Kraft magazine... it's called "Food & Family" and it's FREE and it comes 5 times a year (Christmas and once per season). There are so many great and easy recipes!

Just go to http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/registration/contextualsignu... to sign up.

Dear A.,

Try going to the website Allrecipes.com, you can find ANYTHING on there! From easy to more difficult, grill/oven/crockpot. Just search by keyword. Enjoy!

C. R.

Hey A.,

If you like mexican, I have a chili relleno caserole that is a breeze, and most everyone likes it. dozzen eggs, slightly beaten, 2 small cans chopped green chillis, two cups shredded chedder cheese, one can evaporated milk, salt and peper to taste. Mix all together, bake in greased casserole dish at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean in the middle, serve with a flour tortillas and a salad, dinner!

M.

My kids love mac and cheese mixed with mild salsa and browned ground beef or turkey.

I like the Campbell's Cookbook. They all start with canned soup. Kids like these foods! I'm also big on throwing frozen veggies (if there's no time) into a crock pot with some ham chunks or beef broth and then serving that with grilled cheese. My daughter loves the Tuna Helpers, too. I think that's okay now and then and I add extra veggies to add to the nutrition. Other than that I find rice or noodle dishes are very easy and also appealing for my toddler. Good luck!

A.,
My husband has been on 2nd shift for 10 of the past 11 years, so I know exactly what you're going through. I love my crockpot!
Chicken---
-1 can each cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of celery soup
-chicken breasts
----Add it all together, cook on high for 5 or so hours, serve over rice.
(I even give some to my 13 month old)

Roast---
-2 cans beef broth, chopped celery and onion (optional), cubed potatoes, baby carrots
----Add those to a roast, cook on high for 5 or so hours

Stew---
-1 can tomato soup
-splash ketchup and/or worstershire (sp) sauce
-spices (salt, pepper, onion salt...)
-various veggies (potatoes, carrots, celery...)
----Add those to 2 packets of stew beef, cook on high for 5 or so hours

I hope those help!
Bon appetit! :)

One can of veggitarian vegetable soup (Campbells)
One can of tomato soup
One pound ground beef (PRE COOK THE GROUND BEEF)
Mix together --DO NOT ADD WATER TO THE SOUPS! (or add just enough to moisten the mixture)
Serve over your favorite pasta (elbows work well)
Meal goes well with rolls and jello too

Get a bisquick cookbook. They have WONDERFUL one dish meals or side dishes to compliment main course. You can also go to bisquick.com for recipes.

Magazine that comes to mind is, Taste of Home. They have recipes that only take 30 min. they also have recipes that call for just 4 ingredients, etc. etc.

Here is one of my favorite quick recipes if you like mexican food. It only takes a couple minutes to throw it together and only about 15-20 to heat it. I also use tortilla chips instead of saltines with it.

FIESTA SOUP

2 cans black beans (drained)
2 cans creamed corn (not drained)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 can plain diced tomatoes (both can have chiles if you have iron stomach)

Just mix together and heat and add sour cream and shredded or jared cheese.

Here is one other suggestion, it does still take the time to bake, but is much easier.
Lasagna--- You DON"T have to cook the noodles.!!!!!!
Just layer everything as usual, start with the sauce, then put UNCOOKED noodles layer with meat or whatever and cheeses and layer again with UNCOOKED noodles etc... just have sauce on top, then add 1 cup of water over all and cover tightly with foil and bake as normal. It is much easier than trying to cook those noodles without tearing them.
Hopefully you have a oven that you can program to start at a different time. Fix it in the morning and have it ready when he gets home.

Weight Watchers has a cookbook called QUICK & EASY DINNERS FOR BUSY PEOPLE or something like that. QUICK, EASY and good stuff in there. Go to a half price bookstore and see what people don't use any more. You may be surprised as to what you may get .... AND get to preview it first.

My favorite quick fix and forget dinner is called forgotten chicken. Start with whatever kind of chicken pieces you want - thighs, breasts, with skin/bones or without. In a 9x13 baking dish spray with cooking spray and sprinkle about 1 cup (more if you want) of minute rice. Put the chicken pieces on top (again the amount is up to you (this makes for awesome leftovers though so I always make extra). In a bowl, mix 1 can of cream of mushroom, 1 can of cream of celery (low fat versions work great) and 1 can(use one of the soup cans) of milk (again, skim works as well as whole). Pour this mixture over the chicken and rice. On top of that sprinkle some dry onion soup mix. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 for at least 2 1/2 hours (you can go over a little too - the timer function on your stove comes in handy with this). My whole family loves this and my husband always insists that I make extra so that he can take it to work for the rest of the week.

I found a recipe recently on Yahoo! Food...its for mac and cheese lasagna. Its AMAZING! I doubled the recipe so I could make 2 batches. I cooked one and froze the other for another night. Its a really easy recipe and most of the ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Also I did half beef and half Italian sausage and it was great. Here's the link.

http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/kraft/94496/mac-and-cheese-...

One of my families favorites is what we call "slop"...lol. It might actually be called Irish stew but I really do not know. You can make as little or as much as you want.

set oven to 350

2 cans of green beans....drain one and not the other
1 pk. of kiebasa
5 or 6 potatoes
chopped onion if you want

in a casserole dish you dump the 1st can off green beans...not drained

Cut up the kiebasa and put half of it in a layer over that

make a layer of half the potatoes....cut up like you are going to make mashed potatoes

You will layer it again adding onion if you want and seasoning salt if you want.

Cover it with foil and put in the oven for approximately 1 hr. It is done when the potatoes are soft.

Hi A.!
One of the fastest, most nutritious, easiest meals I prepare for my 6 and 4 year olds are bean burritos! I get a can of vegetarian beans (LARD FREE) and chop up some lettuce and tomatoes, throw on some cheese, wrap it all in a tortilla and Presto! They'll each eat two of them! They get some veggies and protein and if you use whole wheat tortillas then they get good grains, too. Serve fresh fruit for dessert and your kids will always look forward to Burrito Night!

Hey A.!

Here's a great recipe that my family really enjoys and is very easy to make.

Hamburger Rice-a-Roni
1lb. hamburger
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup rice (not instant)
8 oz. uncooked spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium pan brown beef and onion, drain. While beef is cooking melt margarine in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add rice and spaghetti and saute till golden. Add chicken broth and beef and season to taste. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

My sister also passed on this recipe site that is fabulous! It's www.allrecipes.com. You can find anything and everything on here - and can search by category. The recipes are all reviewed by people who have cooked them so if you have one that has tons of good reviews you're pretty sure it's a winner. Hope this helps!

Here is a recipe for the crock pot that is just like beef stroganoff (sp?) and it tastes delicious. You take a can of cream of mushroom soup, an 8 oz container of sour cream, and a dried onion soup mix and mix them all together. You can add mushrooms and onions if you want. You place boneless chicken breasts in the crock pot and pour the mixture on top. Cook all day, shread chicken apart with a fork and serve over cooked noodles. My family loved it!!!!

Put a pork loin roast in the crockpot with a jar of pickled red cabbage. Great with mashed potatoes!

Stir fry can be really fast if you have time earlier in the day to cut things up, or if you use a frozen package of stir-fry veggies. Our grocery sells lots of bottled sauces in the oriental food section to finish them off.

Does your school or church sell Market Day? (marketday.com)They have lots of delicious prepared foods that go on the table in no time. Schwans is similar; they come to your house with the freezer truck, you can shop at your front door.

Are you near a Dream Dinners? (Dreamdinners.com) You can go there and fix meals ahead of time that stay in your freezer and are oven-ready when you want them. It takes about an hour or an hour and a half to prepare about 10 meals.

Happy cooking! (I have no advice on cleaning up after, I hate that part!)

Try simple meals with the kids such as grill cheese and make it a fun activity. Eat light with them and do crock pot meals with husband when he gets home. Oven meals go a long way. look for things that you can cook a lot of and freeze for later.

Hi A.. I discovered that you can make a yankee potroast with a pork loin instead of the traditional beef roast. I do it in the crock pot and let it cook on low throughout the day just checking occasionally to see if there is water needed to be added.

pork loin
medium onion chopped
carrots (precut baby carrots are easy)
potatoes
beef bullion cubes 3-4 dissolved in 2 cups hot water
lawry's season salt (pat on meat)

Add all in a crock, cook on low for about 3-4 hours or until meat is no longer pink.

Best part is...if you have left over pork you can add bbq sauce to it, stir it up in a skillet for pulled pork sandwiches the next day!

My favorite is Super Suppers! If there is one near where you live (or My Girlfriend's Kitchen, My Sister's Cupboard, etc. they're all the same) I highly recommend you try them out!
J.

Go to cookingfordads.net. I found this guy on YouTube and he actually videotapes himself in his kitchen fixing all the recipes on his site. Each video covers a complete meal and all the recipes are very simple because they're meant for men who don't normally cook. And who knows, maybe your husband will watch a video over your shoulder and volunteer to give you a break from the kitchen! :)

(I'm using his videos to teach my computer-crazy preteen and teenager how to cook. I actually set a laptop up in the kitchen and we have a blast together.)

I also recommend allrecipes.com

You can find almost anything on the site- including tons of slow cooker meals. In fact, I'm using (2) I found for my daughter's 2nd birthday party next weekend!

I like using the McCormick seasoning packets for dinners. They make slower cooker ones as well as skillet ones. They just take a few simple ingredients, fix rice or noodles and a veggie and dinner is made. They are great!

I am a 29 year old mom with a 1 1/2 year old son. I have a wonderful husband who I have been married to for 8 years.

Please check Betty Crocker cookbooks. There are many varieties including crockpot speciality books. Also there are web sites under quick meals that will more than answer your questions.

I take chicken breasts, place them in your pan. Mix up mayo,
parmesan cheese and a little italian seasoning. Spread on the chicken breasts. You can also sprinkle a little bit of canned bread crumbs on them too. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Instant mashed potatoes and a vegetable go well with this.

I also make a quick chicken parmesan. I used the breaded tyson chicken patties. I pour a jar of spaghetti sauce or alredo sauce over them and sprinkle with a little cheese. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, just to heat it through.

WOW, you got some great, easy recipes from other moms. Look at
some of the meal assembly businesses. It is such a luxury to have prepared meals in your freezer. Plus, when you need to take a meal to somebody, it's a snap. Here are some that I am
familiar with: Touch of Gourmet in Hilliard, Dream Dinners in Powell and Reynoldsburg. There are some others I just can't think of them. Go to their websites but if you have questions,
feel free to call me and I can explain how it works
M. 614/880-1392

I made this soup last night for myself and my kids.

3 cans low sodium chicken broth
2 cans mixed vegetables
2 pounches of chicken flavored microwavable rice(we used uncle bens)
1 lb cooked and cubed chicken or sometimes we use shrimp instead
salt/pepper to taste

Add the broth and vegetables to the pot and heat until its boiling. Add your chicken or shrimp and simmer 10 minutes. Make sure you breaj up the rice in the pouches before putting them in the microwave and vent the top of the pouch too! Heat for half the recommended time(45 seconds for Uncle Bens) and then add to your soup and stir it all together to make sure the clumps are broken up. Simmer for 5 minutes and its ready to dish up.

I have a CDROM called master cook deluxe and it has over 4000 recipes that are fast and easy, I also Google 30 minute meals, or quick and simple meals and get lots of ideas. I meal plan and only shop twice a month and it makes things so easy around here (I have a hubby, a 4 year old and a 14 month old). Subscribe (its free ) Kraft Food and Family. It comes out 3 or 4 times a year and most of my recipes come from those magazines. Just go to kraftfoods.com to sign up.
good luck.

We have taco night pretty often, it only takes a few minutes to brown the meat (I use ground turkey), while that's cooking you get the rest of the stuff ready...I can do it all in about 10 minutes!

A., Touch of Gourmet is your answer. It's a make, take and bake meal assembly store in Hilliard (very close to Arlington & Dublin). For less than the pric of fast food (yuk!), you can make (or pick up) dinners that are fresh, healthy and very family friendly. You can either sign up online (www.touchofgourmet.net) to make a bunch of meals or just walk in to make a few to try it out. It takes about 10 minutes to put a meal together at Touch of Gourmet, or they will make it for you. The best value is to get 12 and save 20% off the price of each meal. The owner was in your situation several years ago and started doing this with her friends. It's a privately owned store (not part of a franchise) that focuses on having easy, healthy and family friendly meals.

you can go to allrecipes.com, bettycrocker.com, bisquick.com, simpledinners.com, greengiant.com, birdseye.com, about.com and search for simple or quick and easy dinners. That's where I usually get a lot of my recipes. There's a healthy place on the web called sparkletags.com, they have really good recipes as well.

I have several stand-bys for busy nights.

For one in the crock pot:
-spray bottom of crock pot with oil
-layer 4 chicken breasts
-cover with 3 slices of swiss cheese
-pour one can of Cream of Mushroom soup mixed with 1/2 can of milk over chicken
-dump one box of Stove Top Stuffing over soup
-put one stick of melted butter over stuffing
-cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours

Another quick meal:

Brown one pound of hamburger and drain. Mix in one jar of pizza sauce. Open hamburger buns and put under broiler for a few minutes until lightly brown. Put hamburger mixture on bun and top with shredded mozarella cheese. Put back under broiler until cheese melts.

There are some great websites for recipes. Campbells Soup has one as well as kraft, etc.

Good Luck!

burritos are super easy! heat up a can of beans, get out the tortillas, cheese, lettuce, salsa, etc, and you have dinner in 10 minutes!

Here are two easy crock pot recipes that can be done with a pork tenderloin, loin, or roast or chicken. If you do it first thing in the morning, they can even still be frozen!! Apple will give you a sweeter outcome, pineapple will be more sweet-and-sour.

Put meat in crock pot.
Pour in 1 large can of apple pie filling or pineapple chunks.
Pour in 1 bottle of cheap BBQ sauce (I use store brands when they go on sale for a dollar).
Set to cook all day.

Serve it over egg noodles or rice.

Hi A.,

Check out Kraftfoods.com its a wonderful site that has tons of recipe ideas. It also plan weekly meals and grocery list. I promise that you will love this site.

Here's one for your slow cooker. My sister shared it with me & I have made it a few times. It's very easy & tasty too.
I usually double the recipe because we like leftovers for lunch the next day.

Salsa Chicken with Cheese - serves 2

Serve over steamed long-grain brown jasmine rice, or as a sandwich in a hot flour tortilla with some black beans on the side. This tastes great with guacamole as well.


2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of fat
2/3 cup of your favorite medium or hot prepared chunky salsa
Juice of 1/2 lime or 1 T dry white wine
2 ounces crumbled goat cheese or 3 slices white cheddar or mozzarella cheese


1. Spray the inside of the crock with nonstick cooking spray, and arrange the chicken breasts in the crock. Pour the salsa over the chicken and drizzle the lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the chicken is tender and cooked through. The chicken will make its own juice as well.

2. Sprinkle or lay the cheese over each breast, cover, and let stand 10 minutes before serving, to melt the cheese. Serve.

go to myonlinemeals.com great easy stuff that wont put you in a rut

www.recipezaar.com is a magical and wonderful thing. There a like a kazillion recipes to choose from with options like easy preparation, five ingredients or less, make ahead meals, slow cooker meals. They even have a recipe sifter. You click on it and then you can choose what you specifically want in the recipe. Then when you get the results you can list them by rating (because they have a cool rating system) so you only get the tried and true recipes. I love it. I use it all the time. Go look. I think you will like it.

If you go to the food network site and look up Rachel Ray she has some great dishes. They are easy and done in 30 minutes. I have tried several of her recipes and she has a lot that are kid friendly. The best thing is that it is quick and not from a box. My kids loved a dish that I made it was from her ball park episode. It mixed mac and cheese along with hot dogs or smoked sausage with all the fixins in one dish.

Cheesy Crockpot Chicken

4 chicken breasts or tenders-add more of those
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Put chicken in bottom of crockpot. Mix other ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook 6-8 hours on low.

This is very good over cooked noodles or with mashed potatoes. We use the extra gravy over the potatoes.

Fix in crockpot. Take 1 pound round steak & 1 can cream of mushroom soup. Serve over mashed potatoes. You can even buy frozen mashed potatoes or use instant. You can also do this with chicken or pork loin. They all taste delicious! You can use hamburger if you do it on the stove.

Hi A.,
Have you ever heard of Tastefully Simple?