Need Ideas for Quick and Simple Meals

Chicken nuggets!

We use one boneless skinless chicken breast for four of us, but you could use more and have left overs.

Cut the chicken breast (I use scissors) into bite size pieces. Dip into beaten egg. Then put into ziploc baggie with Zatarains Chicken Oven Fry mix. Make sure all pieces are coated.

Line a baking pan with foil. Rub a thin layer of olive oil or spray with pam. Put the chicken nuggets on it and bake until they look ready. The Zatarains box has the temp on it.

They are absolutely delicious! They are a tiny bit spicy, but my kids who generally don't like spicy are fine with it.

Pare them with some microwave broccoli and some fresh fruit and you have a delish meal :-)

Spaghetti

Cook ground meat and add chopped onions and pepper. Once cooked add a can of tomato sauce, 1/2 can water and 1 or 1/2 can mild rotel (or chopped tomatoes and green chillis). Add garlic, a little salt to taste and brown sugar. Simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes. Pour over elbow noodles. Cooked this way, it's always a favorite at my house.

Make your own sloppy joes using ground beef, ketchup, mustard, garlic and brown sugar. I don't have the exact recipe, but HeavenlyHomemakers.com has a super recipe.

Hope some of these help :-)

A family favorite is Hamburger Mix-Up

1-lb of ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can of mixed veggies, drained, or 2 cups of frozen veggies
1 can of condensed tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef with the onion and drain off grease. Add the condensed tomato soup and veggies (do NOT add water). Cook on medium until veggies are hot, salt and pepper to taste. We like to serve with garlic bread and applesauce as sides.

Another quick family favorite: Italian Chicken

1 bottle of your choice of Italian Dressing (We like Kraft Tuscan House)
Chicken breasts (whatever number you need to feed your family)
Hot cooked noodles. We like Tri-color Rotini but egg noodles taste good too.
Grated Parmesan Cheese (we just use the kind in the can)

Marinate the chicken breasts in the Italian dressing over night or in the morning. Don't use the whole bottle, I usually squirt some in the bottom of the dish, lay the chicken breasts on top and then squirt some on top of the chicken.

When ready, grill the chicken breasts. Serve over the hot cooked noodles with a squirt of Italian dressing and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

If the dressing is too strong for your little ones, serve the chicken breast on the side cut up and butter the noodles for them.

Our final quick family favorite: Pizza!

1 pizza crust, or you can use bagels for individual pizzas
1 can pizza sauce
1 bag of pizza cheese
Your favorite toppings

Making pizza is fun for the kids because they can participate and make their own. We love Make-Your-Own-Pizza nite at our house! We usually make the pizzas and then watch a movie so it's fun.

check out the Kraft Foods website (kraftfoods.com I think). they have a ton of easy recipes that usually use stuff you have on hand. I've used them a lot. Plus, you can type in any ingredient and get a whole list of recipes to make with it, so that's handy too.

When I am in a bind, I do breakfast for dinner . . . Egg McMuffins. Lightly butter Thomas English Muffins and put them butter side down in the fry pan so they are a bit crunch on the inside, fry your eggs, add a slice of cheese and you are done. Serve with a side of fruit and some bacon or sausage and you have quick, inexpensive meal.

I use WWW.gourmetcookingonadime.com when I'm stuck. Wonderful, filling, cheap and nutritious meals. What could be better than that? I especially love the Shepherd's/Cottage pie recipe.

Check out www.cookinglight.com/5ingredient for fast, healthy recipes. A crockpot is a great timesaver so look for recipes on www.myrecipes.com . My kids love to have a big salad with leftover grilled chicken ( can use rotisserie), romaine, hard boiled egg, olives, mandarin oranges, black beans, sunflower seeds, carrots, mushrooms. Use whatever veggies and dressing they like.

Brown (on high heat) chicken breast cutlets with diced onions in EVOO, soy sauce, curry powder, ground ginger, garlic salt, chicken bouillion powder and lemon juice to taste. When the chicken is fully browned add frozen mixed veggies. Stir fry until the veggies are cooked, adding more oil and seasoning as needed. Next, turn heat down to low and add pre-cooked rice (I always seem to have leftover rice in my fridge). Stir well to coat rice with seasoning (again, adding more if necessary). Continue stirring and cooking until rice is heated through. Serve in a bowl with a spoon and enjoy! Super easy, quick and balanced as well.

Spaghetti is also quick and if you mix it together in a casserole dish with the meat sauce and parmesean then cover with cheddar and mozzarella cheese then pop in the oven until heated through and the cheese is melted and browned then you've got a delicious baked spaghetti dish. You can heat up the garlic bread in the oven at the same time.

Also, don't overlook the Hamburger Helper and/or Homestyle bakes. I usually have a few of these on hand for nights when things are totally crazy.

check out Dave Ramsey's emealz. You get meals and the grocery list all on his website. It cost $5 a month, but totally worth it, check it out! No thinking about what to cook or making a list!

One of our quick go-to dinners for the nights when we get home too late or have to be somewhere is Veggie Mac!

Veggie Mac (with Chicken)
1 box Kraft mac n cheese deluxe
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (we like broc, cauliflower, & carrots)
~1 cup frozen corn kernels
~1 lb boneless chicken, cut into bite size pieces

Cook Mac n cheese according to pkg. cook chicken in either a little oil or Italian salad dressing until cooked though. I stem the vegis in the micowave and then mix it all together!

you can also put it in a casserole dish and top with bread crumbs and bake until golden brown and crusty on top!

My 7 yr old LOVES it!

My kids tend to hate veggies but they love my Chicken or Shrimp Stir Fry (its quick and easy). I usually have leftover boiled rice from a meal from the week because I like to make extra in case of a slow day but you can use fresh boiled rice. Grab a pack of stir fry mix (or just mixed veggies like something with bell peppers, mushrooms, baby corn, onions and carrots) and either leftover chicken breast that's cooked or cook some up (saute, bake, boil... whatever you like). With shrimp, I always make it fresh on that day even if from frozen. I like to saute a medium onion cut into strips and a couple cloves of ginger add the chicken/shrimp and saute for a good 5 mins and then add the veggies for about another 10-15 mins cooking on medium heat... then I'll add a bit of teriyaki/sweet and sour/stir fry whatever I have seasoning in a jar and sometimes a half tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in water to make a glaze. Served over hot rice and add soy sauce to taste. It's healthy and pretty quick, about 25 mins start to serve. It's a meal my 9, 7, 4, and 2 year olds love and me and my hubby do too... oh and if you wanna add some pizazz (if there are no allergies) add a handful of cashews and some crushed, drained pineapple (or chunks)... I make it that way for company!

1 jar pasta sauce
8 oz.pasta, cooked
1lb.italian sausage
1 small onion,chopped
4 oz.shredded mozarella
I brown the onion and meat, then stir in the pasta, and cover with cheese. There are so many varieties of pasta and sauce, you could cook something different every night. Add green, red, or yellow peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, shredded carrots, artichoke hearts, broccoli, green beans, almost any veggie. You can puree them and the kids will never see them.