Fast favorities

[Pearl]

What are some of your 'go to' meals when you either don't know what you want or need to get it done fast? I cook for myself and my husband and we both like leftovers luckily. I freeze things like tacomeat, cooked chicken, things I can use in different ways. Always looking for new 'throw together' dinners to try.

 

[Amish Heart]

I cook for husband and three grandkids every night, and probably the easiest thing I put together is burritos or taco salad. With both, I put out all the fixings in small bowls and everyone makes their own.

 

[Bacpacker]

Quick and easy for us is a bag of Tortellini and a piece of meat, leftover, or maybe smoked sausage

 

[Pearl]

Mmmm !

 

[Morgan101]

I will make a box of Mac and Cheese; and throw in a can of chili. Your frozen taco meat would go well as another addition. We call it Dad's Chili Mac. Takes maybe 15 minutes.

 

[Peanut]

I cook for 1 most of the time which is very difficult unless I want to eat sandwich meat or out of a can. I have a foodsaver which gives me a wide range of possibilities. It even has a soup and stew attachment. I vacuum seal individual size bowls of chili, various stews in small freezer bags.

I buy large packs of boneless chicken thighs and especially wings, vacuum sealed into single servings then frozen, I keep frozen catfish fillets on hand. I have the smallest Fry Daddy they make which is perfect for catfish cut into strips or a batch of wings or chicken strips. I have an excellent oil filter system, so I can filter my fry oil and put it back in a sealed container.

I buy large packages of chops, sometimes steaks when I catch them on sale. I also buy beef sliced for stir fry or buy it and slice it myself, again in large packs. I vacuum seal and freeze for a meal + left overs.

I try to always keep a cabbage and lettuce in the fridge and potatoes/rice on hand. With cabbage/potatoes/rice and meat from the freezer I can whip up any one of a dozen+ dishes in an hour, especially asian. With spices on hand I can whip up a yummy seafood hot n sour soup in 30 minutes.

In summer I smoke everything on my little grill with pecan wood. I cook whole packs of ground chuck or kosher hotdogs, enough for several meals. But... I vacuum seal single servings of cooked/smoked burgers and dogs. Some meats I smoke then freeze, then finish cooking at meal time.

Shrimp... luv shrimp, don't get me started. I keep frozen shrimp on hand, peeled and unpeeled, uncooked. I can thaw shrimp in 10 minutes then the list of possibilities is almost endless, asian and american dishes. Steamed, grilled, and on and on...

In answer to your question the majority of my meals are less than 30 minutes and can be done on the fly... I really don't have a single go-to, more like a top 20...

 

[snappy1]

When I make a meatloaf or casserole, I make an extra (usually smaller one) to freeze. Just thaw and bake when needed.

 

[jazzy]

i am very lazy and cook for one. in cool weather i tend to cook up a large pot of chicken vegetable stew and eat off it til its gone. then ill make a large pot of spaghetti to eat, im not much of a cook, just sort of grab something

 

[Cascadian]

We have breakfast. The chickens keep us in eggs.

 

[Neb]

Bologna sandwich with ketchup.

Hard to get faster than that.

Ben

 

[hashbrown]

We can chili. roasts and venison those make quick meals when we are in a rush.

 

[Tacotom]

My go to quick meal is hamburger and rice or taco salad. My mil enjoys both

 

[Terri9630]

Mine is beef stew. A jar of beef, one of potatoes and one of veggies. Add a bit of gravy and I'm good.

 

[LadyLocust]

When my kids were at home and in sports, I would crumble and fry up 5-8 lbs of hamburger and keep it in an ice-cream tub in the freezer. Made for easy meals: scoop of cooked meat then taco seasoning, or jar of spaghetti sauce or sloppy joes or . . ..
Also, if I make meatloaf, I make a huge one w/ seasonings in it. Eat it hot the first night then put the rest in the fridge. Next day, cut into 1" cubes and you have your meatballs for spaghetti or soup.
Also steaks on the grill is pretty easy - no clean up. Usually a veggie to go along side.

 

[angie_nrs]

We usually always have breakfast meat and eggs in the frig, so if nothing else we can always have breakfast.

For those days when it's getting late and/or I'm just too lazy to cook, I throw some wing dings in the oven and serve with a salad that I typically have premade in the frig.

I always like to have leftovers in the frig for those days I don't want to cook.

If nothing else.....I pop open a can of soup and call it dinner. Maybe later on I'll make some popcorn.

 

[Neb]

We usually always have breakfast meat and eggs in the frig, so if nothing else we can always have breakfast.

For those days when it's getting late and/or I'm just too lazy to cook, I throw some wing dings in the oven and serve with a salad that I typically have premade in the frig.

I always like to have leftovers in the frig for those days I don't want to cook.

If nothing else.....I pop open a can of soup and call it dinner. Maybe later on I'll make some popcorn.

You sound like The Princess.

I have to choose between
Spaghetti with Italian sausage
Steak and potatoes
Seven layer casserole

Hmmmmmmm

Ben

 

[MoBookworm1957]

5 pound Roast in slow cooker with cubed potatoes, carrots,mushrooms,onion, garlic first day or night.
Then I start getting creative after that.
Second night it becomes stew.
After that it becomes home made tart size pot pies for the freezer.
I also have FoodSaver.
Once every three weeks is my big batch cooking day.
I also plan out my meals, detail shopping lists.
Big Batch Cooking day":
Chicken thighs simmering in crock pot with fresh herbs from my garden.
From there some will become chicken and dumplings,
chicken, rice,mushroom,broccoli casserole into small portion size foil pans
chicken vegetable soup water bath canned in pint jars.
Chicken taco meat
chicken chili(not a huge fan of this one).
Clear chicken broth with fresh herbs is also water bath in pint jars.
Pork chops with sour kraut.
Pork, chicken stir fried rice.
I cook for 1

 

[joel]

Sandmich every time.
Hot mustard, cold beef, tomato, lettuce, dill pickle.
You can use cold pork or turkey.

 

[Grizzleyette___Adams]

What are some of your 'go to' meals when you either don't know what you want or need to get it done fast? I cook for myself and my husband and we both like leftovers luckily. I freeze things like tacomeat, cooked chicken, things I can use in different ways. Always looking for new 'throw together' dinners to try.

Yakamein!!!! A New Orleans staple that is also called "Old Sober."

It will rejuvenate tired old drunks and tourists that are sick-as-a-dog-from-drinking-too much. It will also make young boys grow taller, too! Good stuff and quick to make. I will edit this post to include a recipe.

I also find that Asian dishes are so easy and quick to make: chop, slice, stir-fry, and done! And very healthy, too.


Edited to add the Yakamein recipe:

This iconic New Orleans dish is a favorite of mine. It lends itself well to adaptations and I hardly ever make it the same way twice.

I seldom drink alcohol, but my old French Quarter neighbors called this dish "Old Sober" because it was a sure cure for warding off hangovers. Their best tip: eat this before you crash, and you'll wake up as a human, not like some old whupped dawg that got beat up outside the barroom doors by the neighborhood toughs.





This recipe is from Red Beans And Eric

(But, my version is a LOT faster, and calls for browned organic ground beef instead of the pot roast, unless I have leftover pot roast on hand or pre-cooked in the freezer.)

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

1 onion chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 - 2 tsp Creole seasoning
2-3 lbs chuck pot roast
8 cups water or beef broth
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
spaghetti noodles cooked according to package instructions
8 hard-boiled eggs cut in half
green onions chopped for garnishment
soy sauce, hot sauce, and ketchup for serving

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over MEDIUM heat and saute the onions, green bell pepper, and celery until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Season the pot with Creole Seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Add the roast to the pot along with enough water to cover it, about 8 cups, and the Worchestershire sauce. Bring the pot to a boil; reduce heat to LOW, cover, and simmer for 4 hours.

While the roast is cooking, cook the spaghetti noodles according to the package instructions and hard-boil the eggs that you need - about one per serving.

Remove the roast from the pot and set it aside to cool for about 10 minutes. With two forks, shred the meat into bite-sized chunks. Return the meat to the pot and adjust the seasoning to the stock with salt and pepper if needed.

To prepare, place a serving of spaghetti in a bowl, ladle some of the roast with stock over the noodles, top with the halved hard-boiled eggs and green onions. Serve with soy sauce, hot sauce, and ketchup at the table.



And here is the backstory of this iconic dish and WHY it works to cure hangovers. I have not actually tested it as a hangover cure, but it sure is good medicine for a bad day!

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/201...t7RuCcdtvNkpu-mTxLe4J1RnhKUfEGEXKZ5jaqCwXQmz4

 

[Spikedriver]

Canned chicken, and boxed jambalaya mix. 20 minutes, tops. If you want to throw some andoullie sausage in there, add 10 minutes for cooking that first...

 

[Haertig]

We always have the stuff around the house to make this:

Costco - Panko Fried Shrimp (they fry it and freeze it, we just bake it!)
Costco - Hungry Jack Instant Mashed Potatoes (needs nothing more than water, as they're actually not bad for instant potatoes)
Salad (mixed greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, some kind of crumbled or grated cheese, sliced almonds, croutons, dressing)

Or this:

Spaghetti
Marinara sauce
Meatballs (frozen)
Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Bread (frozen, optional - if we have it on hand)

The above two are our fallbacks if we can't think of anything else to make, or are too lazy to go to the store to buy ingredients for other things.

And something we almost always have on hand, but often forget about:

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (sourdough or potato bread, usually some higher end sliced cheddar cheese)
Cream of Mushroom Soup (Campbell's canned, made with milk)

 

[Haertig]

Another favorite:

Toast some sourdough bread
Thinly spread Avacado Mayo on both pieces of bread
Generously top with sliced Angus Roast Beef (from the deli, not the pre-packaged processed stuff), folding pieces over each other so you get an "airy" layer of meat
Creamy horseradish sauce spread generously on top of meat
Sliced Havarti cheese
Thin sliced tomatoes
Leafy lettuce or mixed greens

Best if you have ingredients pre-laid out so you can make it quickly and take that first bite while toasted bread is still warm!

-----

And another good sandwich. We call them "Virgin Island Sandwiches", not because they have anything to do with that location, other than it being the first (and only) place that we're ever had them in a restaurant (on our honeymoon, St. Thomas, early 1980's - a place named "L'Escargot"). We started making them from memory, of what we thought we remembered being in them, decades ago.

Toast some sourdough bread (you should realize by now, sourdough is my favorite!)
Top with a slab of thick-sliced deli ham - some kind of smoked variety ("thick" meaning 1/8" or so)
Sliced tomatoes (try to use the "meat" of the tomato, not the really wet seedy parts - otherwise sandwich can get soggy)
Top with sliced Mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle with coarse ground Kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or so - until cheese bubbles and just starts to brown (like a pizza)
Eat with knife and fork

-----

p.s. Of the sourdough breads that my grocery store carries, this is my favorite by far. Beats the others by a mile (also the most expensive I think - typical!)

 

[Newbri]

Bread and condensed milk. Or cheese sandwich. Or fries.
In general I can't be bothered to cook for more than 15mins. I'm a snacker more than anything else.

 

[Peanut]

@Haertig you can keep the sourdough bread no matter who bakes it. I went from living/working in rust belt cities where there were entire grocery store isles filed dozens and dozens of different ethnic breads. From Irish breads to Russian black breads and everything in between, loved polish and german dark breads... To San Mateo CA where the only 2 breads at the grocery isle wonderbread and sourdough.... I went through bread withdrawals for a year... came to despise sourdough and would have killed for a good "beef on weck" (Kummelweck).

 

[Haertig]

I wish we had a better choice of breads as well. My daughter introduced me to a small mom and pop bakery that made the most wonderful baguettes (spelling?) They had those in my grocery store, but they were fairly tasteless and overly chewy. So whenever I visited her town I made a point to have my daughter get me some of those baguettes if she was going near that bakery.

In my grocery, there is a very large bread aisle. Unfortunately it is stocked with mostly tasteless mass-produced stuff. But you do have a large choice of different tasteless offerings, I'll grant them that. The sourdough I mentioned is one that you can bite into and actually tell it's sourdough. The other stuff - in a blind taste test you probably couldn't tell a baguette from a bagel from a sourdough from a rye.

 

[Pearl]

Give me the

 

[Weedygarden]

What are some of your 'go to' meals when you either don't know what you want or need to get it done fast? I cook for myself and my husband and we both like leftovers luckily. I freeze things like tacomeat, cooked chicken, things I can use in different ways. Always looking for new 'throw together' dinners to try.

In the summer, especially when I have company, I like to make up salads that can be eaten for a few meals until they run out: potato, macaroni, coleslaw, Southwestern salad, broccoli salad, cauliflower salad. I like to make new ones and put them in the mix so there is always a fresh salad, as we are finishing up the older ones. For lunch we often have sandwiches. My number one sandwich without cooking is ham sandwiches. They can be just with cheese, or more things. I always want dill pickles with them. I do love a BLT in the summer, but that involves cooking bacon. Sometimes I cook extra bacon for a couple meals for BLTs.

 

[Sparky_D]

Seasoned Pork Chops with roasted carrots and potatoes.
(Serves 2)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time:20-25 minutes

Ingredients:
2 Thin cut boneless pork chops
1 pound Red or Yukon Gold potatoes*
1 pound carrots*
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Paprika

* I use a pack of pre-washed "steam in bag" red potatoes and "baby" carrots to cut the prep time in half.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°.

Wash and dry all produce.

Cut Red Potatoes in half, place on half of baking sheet and toss with drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Peel carrots and cut on diagonal. Place on other half of baking sheet and toss with drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Place in pre-heated 425° oven for 20-25 minutes. Check for doneness with fork at 20 minute mark and adjust time accordingly.

While potatoes and carrots are cooking, mix pork chop seasoning:

Blend in a bowl 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder, 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder, and 1 Tablespoon Paprika.
(I make a big batch and keep it in a shaker bottle. Works great on chicken too.)

Using paper towels, pat dry both sides of the pork chops.
Sprinkle seasoning mix evenly over both sides of the chops.

Pre-heat a skillet to Medium/Medium Hi heat with a drizzle of olive oil.

Cook pork chops in skillet on medium/medium hi heat for 7 minutes (+/-) then flip and cook until done (Internal Temp above 145° Fahrenheit).

Divide vegetables onto plates and serve with pork chop.

 

[Neb]

In the summer, especially when I have company, I like to make up salads that can be eaten for a few meals until they run out: potato, macaroni, coleslaw, Southwestern salad, broccoli salad, cauliflower salad. I like to make new ones and put them in the mix so there is always a fresh salad, as we are finishing up the older ones. For lunch we often have sandwiches. My number one sandwich without cooking is ham sandwiches. They can be just with cheese, or more things. I always want dill pickles with them. I do love a BLT in the summer, but that involves cooking bacon. Sometimes I cook extra bacon for a couple meals for BLTs.

Ham and cheese

Thro them in a toaster oven and add tomato soup.

Dinner!

Ben

 

[Weedygarden]

Ham and cheese

Thro them in a toaster oven and add tomato soup.

Dinner!

Ben

Yes, but that is more of a winter meal for me. I do soup more in the winter, salads in the summer. I do love the ham and cheese toasted.