Easy Meals for a Tired Prego Lady

mmm... chicken alfredo with broccoli... boil the noodles, add the alfredo sauce and cooked frozen broccoli and the perdue short cuts chicken (already cooked)...wallah!

Takes about 30 seconds to put the pot of water on... microwave the broccoli, and then just stir everything together once the noodles are drained... about effortless and really tasty! If you like carb meat you can use a package of the imitation crab meat instead of the chicken.. my daughter loves this (her favortite meal)

Here's a great roast recipe that's easy, especially if you have a crock pot. All you need is any kind of 2-3 lb. beef (for example, chuck) roast, 2 cans of Campbells "golden mushroom" soup and 1 envelope of Lipton onion soup mix. If you have a crock pot, put all of this in it in the morning and cook all day on low. It will be so tender it will fall apart and you can eat if over noodles with a side of veggies, or spoon the meat onto rolls and melt some cheese on them...yummy!

If you don't have a crock pot, just place the meat on a large piece of foil, put the soups on top and fold up the foil over the meat. Cook it 2-3 hours at 350 degrees in a 9x11 baking dish. It won't be as tender as the crock pot, but still delicious.

There are the boil-less lasagna noodles now so throwing together a lasagna is super easy!
Also chop up 2-3 chicken breasts, add 2cancrm mush, 1 crm celery, sm. sour cream, sm bag shredded cheddar and frozen broccoli put in the crock pot cook on low 4 8 hrs, or high for 4. Then add stuffing to the top. really yummy!

My favorite fatty vegetable: Mix 4 T mayo with 1/2 tsp horseradish, a little salt, pepper and minced onions. Use the mayo mixture to coat thawed or parboiled fresh mixed vegetables (I like carrots & brocoli) in a 1 1/2 qt casserole. Next, melt 4 T butter in the microwave, add 1/3 cup parm cheese, then 1/3 cup bread crumbs. Stir half of butter-crumb-cheese mixture into veggies and spread 1/2 on top. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Make zucchini or pumpkin bread!! This way you're tackling sweet AND veggie cravings at once, and you can freeze them too. YUM!! It's got carbs! You can put butter on it! YUMMM!! Wow I really need to go make some now bc thinking of warm sweet buttery pumpkin bread makes me drool ;)

Bread pudding, cheesecake, avocados, chicken breast, grilled cheese sandwich, bananas

Be careful with things like hamburger helper. The sodium content is dangerous. You can get high blood pressure :(

Meatloaf is easy to make. There are many crockpot recipes that are easy also. I love to cook so it is hard for me to say what is easy. My easy is not usually other people's easy...lol!

Pulled beef in the crockpot.
2 lb. chuck roast
Cook on high 6-7 hrs w/O. quartered onion.
Drain all liquid.
Mic 1 bottle of BBQ sauce and 1/2 jar apricot preserves.
Shred meat w/ 2 forks
Pour sauce onto meat.
Heat a little more.
Serve on yummy buns.

Stuffed mushrooms:
Brown 1 lb hot sausage.
Mix with 1 box stove top stuffing (mixed with hot water).
Fill mushroom caps.
Sprinkle w/parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 for about 20 mins.

If you like a hearty soup...I made a super yummy and easy soup this morning..its a Copycat recipe of Olive Gardens Pasta Figioli. It looks like alot of instructions and ingredients, but really it took me abut 20 minutes to prep it all and toss it into the pot. I made the full recipe (and doctored a few things due to can sizes and such..its not rocket science)..but the full recipe is GIANT..like 9 quarts. Cut it in half for a smaller portion. Once its made, you can nuke it for a few meals/lunches.

I served it to my daycare children today with a can of buttermilk bisquits..warm and buttery! Half the pot will go to my SIL who just brought home her 6 week old preemie almost 4 pound baby girl. Then I have enough for me and my family still!

(alterations I did..
1. calls for 88oz of beef stock/broth..but it came in 32 oz containers so I had 96 oz and didnt want to waste it.

2. calls for 2 cups red beans cooked and 2 cups white beans cooked.. I used 1 can Light red kidney beans, 1 can dark red kidney beans and 2 cans white northern beans..its what I had.

3. I left out the oil..not sure why it needed it.

4. I used a bit more than the measurements for the celery, carrots and onions...I didnt want t waste the rest of the celery stalk, carrot or onion I had cut up.

5. I used 4-14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (instead of just 48 oz..came to 58 my way)..again, can size and waste.

Next time I will use small shell noodles..I used medium and they got pretty puffy and big.Small would just look better?

http://www.copykat.com/2009/03/29/olive-garden-pasta-e-fa...

I agree with pp that you don't necessarily want just empty calories from sugar. Foods and desserts that are primarily milk fat provide essential fat for brain development and calcium. For that reason, I'd stick to ice cream if you're looking for a sweet.

Other suggestions:
Baked potatoes (super easy to prepare/cook and reheat). Pile on your dairy fat: butter, sour cream, cheese.

Hard boiled eggs. Same as with baked potatoes--you can cook alot at one time and grab it out of the refrigerator.

I ate a lot of Chobani brand Greek style yogurt. Pretty darn tasty (and better than other Greek yogurts) and low sodium & high protein (13 g per carton).

Every time you eat an apple, eat it with 2-3 minibelle cheeses.

Whole grain crackers and cream cheese (watch out for sodium in cracker choice).