Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

DH and I can't be bothered with big productions on the weekdays. We like an easy meal, not too much cleanup.

What's a typical easy week of dinners for you?

Thanks!

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

ooh! lol i'm the queen of this!
use your crockpot... we make pot roast with veggies. it cooks all day while we're at work, and then we have a full dinner all cooked and ready when we get home we get two meals out of it. we also do chili in there, and freeze half of it to heat up later.
also- check out campbells soup website. they have a lot of great, easy recipes. one of my favoites is putting chicken breasts in a lasagna dish with a can of cream of chicken soup, some uncooked rice, and some frozen corn and a little bit of water. bake it for like 40 minutes, and you have a full meal with one dish to clean up theres another one like it with chicken, thin sliced potatoes in a lasagna dish, and then put some italian dressing on it and bake it... again, one dish and soo easy we also do pork chops in a pan with cream of mushroom soup and bake that for about 30 minutes... add a bag of those microwavable steam fresh veggies, and there ya go
also, use your freezer... i make thigns like baked ziti, lasagna, and stuffed shells on the weekends and freeze them to just reheat during the week....

ETA: i think it helps if you're not against eating leftovers, too. DH and i usually only end up cooking one or two nights a week and eating leftovers the other nights. this week, we're making chili on monday and having the leftovers on wednesday night. tuesday night we're cooking a rachel ray pasta wtih italian sausage and fennel... and we'll have those leftovers on thursday. so- 4 meals, but only 2 nights of actual cooking

Message edited 11/25/2007 2:06:30 PM.

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Message edited 3/3/2010 10:27:08 PM.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Roast a chicken Sunday. Monday leftovers. Something else Tuesday so you don't get bored of chicken. Wednesday, Chicken A La King

A La King Recipe.....
Leftover chicken and skin pulled apart (you can put as much or as little as you want)
one can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 can white wine

Let simmer on stove for about 20-30 minutes.
Serve over white rice

Or you can do a big pot of chili
I do lamb chops a lot because they are quick and easy. Serve with a side of rice or pasta.

There is also a recipe for Katie Courics Lemon chicken somewhere on here. YUM!

Message edited 11/25/2007 3:19:22 PM.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

I usually make meatballs on sunday and freeze them. I usually make swedish meatballs for DH once a week.

It helps to prep stuff on the weekend when you have a little more time.

I always try to prep chicken and veggies for a stir fry. I marinate the chicken in the morning.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

chili in the crockpot on the weekend, always have leftovers. You can serve it with tortilla chips, rice, baked potatoes, and down South they have a thing called Frito Pie (fritos with chili on top and cheddar cheese) or on hot dogs or hamburgers

Roasted chicken in a million ways

grilled chicken breasts....can make fajitas, serve with many sides, make chicken sandwhiches or wraps, cut it up on salads

I always have sauce around

tortollini w/ pesto sauce with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (bag of frozen veggies)

chicken stir fry

picadillo is easy to freeze

meatloaf...easy to freeze

lentil soup or any soup with grilled cheese or a salad

rice & beans

and I LOVE the Ziploc zip n steam bags....you can make a WHOLE MEAL in them in the microwave in 7 minutes! I've made salmon in them and it was fabulous.

I also love Kraft Kitchens they have a magazine you can sign up for which has a milliion awesome recipes

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

turkey burgers, turkey hot dogs, rotissiere chciken, perdue baked breaed chicken cutlets, crockpot, deli roast beef heated with gravy, the same with turkey, meatballs, ziti, hearty soups, stew in the crcokot, etc. HTH

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

i bumped my weeks worth of menus for you

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Chicken tacos are a weekly staple in my house!

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Thanks so much ladies!
And thanks for bumping that awesome thread, MrsMessina!

Planning ahead for a week is a great idea- I think my problem is not knowing where to start. Well at least once I know what I'll be cooking for the week, it'll be easier to shop. THANKS!

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

yeah... i forgot to add that as one of mine, too. every sunday DH and i sit down and figure out what we want to eat that week and then i figure out what i need to buy to make those things. it helps to keep everything organized, and cuts down on the stress of " oh no! i have to come up with something to have for dinner tonight!"
plus i think it cuts down on how much you spend at the grocery store, too if you have a set list to stick to.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

In Crockpot

Chili - Make a lot and freeze the rest
Chicken Cacciatori
Pot Roast

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Bruchetta Chicken
Taco Salad
Hamburgers on the BBQ
Chicken Soup
Meatball Soup

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whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Sauce. Make a lot and freeze the rest

Scott

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Bruschetta Chicken
Chicken Fajitas
Ravioli
Shake and Bake Chicken or Pork

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Veggie burgers

Homemade pizza (I make the crust in advance and keep it in the fridge or the freezer)

Refried bean burritos

Pasta (Sauce, garlic & oil, or veggie bacon arugula and tomato)

Once a week DH will make chicken for himself and seitan for me, both in BBQ sauce or lemon & herbs for his chicken, cook them wrapped in foil in the oven on a cookie sheet. Next to them he'll put some sliced sweet potato w/ rosemary and olive oil and then 10 minutes before everything's done he'll throw in a bunch of asparagus w/ rosemary salt and olive oil. Big, filling meal, one thing to wash!

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

eggplant and chicken parm.

I buy frozen chilcken and eggplant. A quick defrost in the microwave. Layer sauce, chicken/eggplant, shredded mozzerella and more sauce. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes. While it's cooking, make spaghetti and some frozen broccoli. Easy to make and pretty homemade ish.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Message edited 12/4/2007 1:54:22 PM.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Ravioli and salad.

Package of large ravioli, any on sale. Believe it or not, Ragu sauce is not bad. Top with a bit of grated cheese.

Package of dole or other bag salad, veggies.

Dessert: Slicle of pound cake, topped with ice cream.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

pasta with broccoli n bacon.... I know sounds strange but good.

Take a package of bacon cook in a pan and cut up the strips and add to the pasta after you cook it. Use the grease from the bacon as your oil and mix together, add fresh garlic if you like....

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

this is what i make 1x per week and it lasts for several days:
i make 1 box of whole wheat pasta

i make 1 lb of ground turkey and add lots of spices-- fresh onion and garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, corriander, some mrs. dash and garlic powder.

i also heat up 1 can of low fat baked beans.

frozen veggies and salads too.

simple and easy!

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

i know i posted above, but just to give you some more ideas, heres our "menu" for this week..


sunday: chicken and rice bake ( chicken breast, cream of chicken soup, rice and corn all baked together)

Monday: thai it chicken ("thai it you'll like it" recipe from rachel ray)

tuesday: "cheater's meatloaf"- just use a packet of lipton garlic and herb soup mix and an egg... form it into a loaf and bake for an hour

wednesday: balsalmic and thyme pork chops- just put some balsalmic on the pork chops, cook them on medium high in a frying pan for about 7 minutes on one side, flip them over and add some freash thyme and cook them for another 7 minutes on that side. add a veggie or wild rice, and there ya go!

thursday: shrimp scampi- just melt some butter and oil in a pan, add some frozen shimp and some herbs like garlic, parsley, basil, oregano... pour it over pasta, and its done

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

We are low carbers, so less fun

Tacos are fast and you can get sour cream, cheese, guac, etc and make a production (we do it without shell)

I make chicken soup via crock pot-four cans or so of chicken broth, turnips, onion, celery and chicken on the bone...8 hours later-ta da!

I really need some new ideas!

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Shake and bake chicken--use BBQ sauce to hold on the breadcrumbs

Grilled Flank Steak (on grill pan in the winter)

Cube some sirloin steak or tenderloin and cook up in a pan. Take the steak out and use sherry wine (you could probably use marsala to) to deglaze the pan, pour over the steak. It takes hardly any time.

We make stirfry/fajitas a lot. Serve over rice or angel hair pasta.

Chicken and rice pot.

I cook a lot of Rachael Ray recipes, they are quick and easy.

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

scallops!!! ao quick and easy and yummy

Re: Help! What are your simple, every day dinners?

Message edited 12/12/2007 1:08:19 PM.