I'm back at work and struggling with dinners. DH is a bit useless ATM as he is flat out at work so dinner is up to me.
So it needs to be either something quick and straightforward that I can pull together when I get home from work or something that I can make in bulk the night before and reheat.
Frozen meal ideas also welcome as DH and I are going to invest in an upright freezer soon!
I don't have a slow cooker (yet) so that's not an option...
MIL makes a yummy chicken dish.
Dice chicken, brown with onion put in an oven dish and pour over bolognaise sauce (I think it's campbells) mix in mozzarella cheese, cook through until hot.
I serve with yummy veg and mash beautiful the day after
Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!
LC... DH has a bit of a thing about leaving electrical appliances on in the house unattended. Dryer, oven, slow cooker all go into this category. He's nervy about leaving them running untended.
Sigh.
Maybe I should tell him that he can be in charge of cooking until we can get a slow cooker
Not the healthiest in the world, but it's a quick and easy (and yummy) fave that DH and I make when we need food NOW!
(In fact, we're having it tonight!)
Our version of creamy tuna pasta.
Pop some pasta on. Fry up some onion and garlic. Add sundried tomatoes, capers, frozen corn & peas and tuna. Add some cream and cook for a bit, season with salt and pepper. Add a bit of grated cheese to thicken. By this time, pasta should be cooked. Drain pasta, add sauce and toss through. Eat. Mmmmm!!
Run it overnight then fridge the meal in the morning, all you need to do is heat and eat. I also do a lamb chop dish. Brown some chops, place in a dish with some thyme and garlic cloves that you have fried off for a couple of minutes, the garlic not the thyme, add a little stock or cider, cook in oven till the meat is how you like it. Serve with veggies or salad. Lasagna is a great freezer meal.
I definitely second getting a slow cooker OP. Using it overnight is a great idea or on days when you are home to put extra meals into the freezer for the week ahead.
Other stuff we do:
* spaghetti or pasta with tinned salmon, pesto, garlic, olive oil and parmesan.
* One pot meals - there's a couple of chicken/rice ones we like, you get the packets in the section with the slow cooker ones. One is chicken and leek with veggies and the other is a mild Indian chicken curry with spinach. Neither take more than 30-40 mins to get onto the table.
* homemade pizza - as long as you've got all the ingredients in the fridge/freezer they only take about 15-20mins in the oven.
* packet gnocci - it keeps forever, you can put any kind of flavour sauce with it and DS totally loves it!
* If all else fails and we are running really late or have nothing organised, I always have tinned soup in the pantry. There are some nice flavours around and it takes less than 5 mins!!
My fave go to is a chicken and mushroom risotto. It's as simple as cooking some diced onion, garlic, herbs and chicken in olive oil, then add the arborio rice - stir for a few mins till the rice is coated in oil, splash in some white wine, stir till absorbed then start adding the just simmering stock a bit at a time, stirring as it absorbs. Chuck in the mushrooms and some parmesan and cracked pepper at some point - it only takes about 20-30 minutes and tastes fab the next day too.
Otherwise stir-fries are awesome for quick dinners and so flexible - you can pretty well toss anything in there, add some noodles and hey presto, dinner!
packet of vegies, beef strips and add a bit of sauce of some sort- ta da- beef stir fry
or hokien noodles, and pre cut chicken strips and a sauce!!!
cook a silverside the night before and just cut and heap up what you need for serving!!
definately a slow cooker
make a big pot of soup on the weekend and use it for emermgency nights
chicken wraps- sweet chilli chicken from supermarket, wraps filled with chicken and salad!!- my kids love em
stick chicken wraps- skewered chicken bought pre done- cook em and chuck em in wraps or on their own with pre cooked rice or a salad!
tacos- easy and quick- just get those taco meal kits
good old spag - use deli sauce or frozen one you have pre done
beef and noodle casserole!
chicken in apricot nectre!!
i make a big pot of tomato pasta sauce (tomatoe, red wine, onion, garlic, basil, stock, tomatoe paste, slow cook, portion and freeze) , then i can either fry mince and add sauce=bolognese. or add veggies. or top a pizza base. or on top of grilled chicken with cheese=parma. its very handy to have.
Quick Thick Pumpkin Soup - throw all your veg (potato, pumpkin - zucchini, carrot, capsicum - whatever you like) in a big pot with chicken stock to just below the veggie line, let it boil boil boil.
Cook a couple of rashers of bacon and onion - then throw into the pot before finishes cooking.
Take it out and blend.
This is really yummy with toasted rolls or do what i did last week and buy a cob loaf, hollow it out, pour in the pumpkin soup and mix in cheese, put in a hot oven until the cob loaf crisps, use excess bread to dip then break off the sides of cob loaf
Thanks guys - some great ideas here! I'd never thought of making a tomato sauce instead of bolognaise. That's a good idea!
Mm I could make up some soup today, I've got some veggies that need to be used. I should cook some up today, while DH is home.
I'd love to do risotto but when I make it it seems to take like an hour - no idea why??? The stirring stock part takes like 40mins... What am I doing wrong I wonder?
I usually do mine over a moderate to high-ish heat - each addition of the stock should only take a couple of mins to absorb and I do mine about a cup or so at a time. Though I did find a recipe for an oven baked risotto that was super easy and can have all kinds of interesting stuff added (pumpkin, chicken, chorizo...whatever takes your fancy) Oven-baked Risotto Recipe - Taste.com.au
And best bit, it takes about 10 mins prep to get to oven point, bung it in the oven for 30 and done
Last night I did 8 chicken legs, thrown into a palstic bag with 2 tbsp flour, some mixed dried herbs and plenty of salt and pepper, shake them around to coat. Put them on an oven rack in a baking tray.
Throw in some oil, potatoes (if you have washed ones don't even peel them), sweet potato, pumpkin all cut into sevring sized pieces and bake it all together at about 180ish degrees.
Cook for about 30ish mins, turn it all over and cook until it's all brown and yummy looking (lol, so precise!)
I also steamed some snall corn cobs and beans to go with it, then made some gravey with the chicken juices, sooo yummy!
I make a pasta sauce that's so quick and easy and DH loves it.
Buy the spinach and ricotta agnolotti in the packet from Coles.
Chicken breast, 1 tub of basil parmesan and cashew dip, cherry tomatoes and avocado
Pasta on the boil, takes 7 minutes.
Start cooking the chicken in a pan, add in the cherry tomatoes and avocado.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain add to pan and then add the dip. The dip melts through everything and tastes really yummy.
Serve with parmesan. We usually make this on a Sunday night because it only takes about 10 mins and you have a meal on the table.
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beautiful the day after
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