My easy dinners are not of the healthy variety, but darn of they don't keep bellies full for the longest time!
Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes (AKA serious comfort food)
Frozen prepared meatballs
(Or make your own--frozen is easier, and they taste pretty good.)
Instant Garlic Mashed Potatoes
(Those things are actually pretty good. Not like the instant potatoes "mom used to make")
2 packets of instant brown gravy
(Stay with me. It sounds like a heart attack on a plate. Well, maybe it is. But it's really REALLY good.)
Cook the meatballs in a big skillet and make the instant potatoes and gravy according to the package directions. Add the gravy to the meatballs and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Once everything is done, plop a mess of potatoes on a plate. Make a dent in them and fill it with meatballs and gravy. Viola. Yummy, and no one will have to eat for a couple of days. LOL!
Another one:
Beef and noodles with gravy (Sorry--my husband wants brown gravy with EVERYTHING. His family actually used to eat brown gravy on pancakes. No lie)
1 small-ish London Broil or similar steak
Brown gravy
Egg Noodles
Slice the London broil across the grain of the meat into bite-sized pieces. Cook on low heat with just a little salt and pepper.
While that's cooking, boil the egg noodles in a big pot.
Once the meat is done, mix the gravy packets into 1 cup of water and add to the meat in the skillet. Simmer until it's thickened.
Drain the egg noodles once they're done.
Place the meat and gravy on top of the egg noodles and there ya go. Another heart attack on a plate.
Now, a quick meal that's not so bad and is nice in warmer weather is a big salad with roasted chicken and a nice loaf of Italian or French bread. We like Ranch dressing on this, but of course you can use whatever dressing you like.
To make this super quick, I pick up a prepared, rotisserie chicken and a loaf of bread at the deli at my grocery store and I use a prepared salad greens mix.
Just pour the salad into a large bowl, pull the chicken apart into pieces and toss them into the salad. I usually add tomatoes, onion and green bell pepper to the salad, too. Warm the bread in the oven and that's about it. It's filling, everyone gets their protein and the kitchen never gets hotter than it takes to warm the bread!
Chili is another easy one, but it'll soon be too hot to enjoy a steaming bowl.
To make super-fast chili, forget about big recipes and go for a packet or bag of chili seasoning from the grocery store. All the ingredients are on the back, and the basics are usually nothing more than meat (hamburger, turkey, chicken or chunks of steak), tomato sauce, tomato paste and red beans if you like. I usually add several healthy shakes of Frank's Hot Sauce and a little onions and jalapeno pepper pieces just to liven it up a little. My husband LOVES chili over rice. If I'm making Chili, I will usually make one boil in bag rice packet and serve his chili over that. Add a little garlic bread or corn bread and you're all set.
Hash and Eggs is another staple around here. Roast Beef Hash is what I buy because Himself insists that it's better, but I can't tell the difference between that and corned beef hash.
Heat a can of hash in a skillet, cook scrambled eggs in another skillet, make enough toast for everyone and that's all there is to it. Hash, eggs and buttered toast. Himself always east ketchup on his hash, but I don't like it that way.
Homemade potato soup is another super fast, cheap and easy dinner. It's ready from start to finish in about 20 minutes. And there are lot of variations and ways to personalize your own potato soup. The basics are:
Enough potatoes for your family to eat, peeled and cut into approximately 1 inch chunks. For us two, I usually use 8 - 10 medium potatoes and there will be enough for lunch the next day.
about 1/2 an onion
1 clove of garlic (not essential, but it adds a little something.)
Salt & pepper
Milk
In a BIG stock pot, boil only enough water to cook the potatoes, but not enough to make them swim. You won't be draining the water off, so you don't want the soup to be too thin. I usually use the eyeball method and have the water about 2-3 inches above the level of the potatoes. You can always add more water if it cooks down too much. Dice half an onion and throw it into the pot. Chop a clove of garlic and toss it in, too. Let this all cook for about 15 minutes and then check the doneness of the potatoes. If they are done, you are ready to add the milk. I just add a splash, and it's probably about 1/2 Cup. More if you are making a huge pot of soup. You are going for white broth, but it probably wont be very thick yet.
At this point, you can take a lot of different directions. I like to add a big handful of any kind of shredded cheese. Mozzarella, Mexican blend, cheddar - any kind of shredded cheese. Stir it around a bit. Some of the potatoes should be breaking apart by then and they will thicken the soup. Add the salt and pepper and check the taste. Add more if you want. My sister swears by adding sour cream, but I haven't tried that yet. She also uses crumbled bacon pieces. I haven't tried that either, but it's probably good.
Sometimes the soup doesn't want to get thick. If that's the case, just dissolve a tablespoon of corn starch or flour in cold water and add it to the boiling pot. That should do the trick.
Serve with hot bread and everyone's bellies will feel like they have had a giant hug.
