<p>Ordering pizza tonight, folks!</p>
<p>and we had hamburger helper. Everyone needs a night off</p>
<p>Grilled chicken caesars, fruit salad, and cranberry walnut bread here tonight.</p>
<p>I’m home alone tonight. Wine, wine, wine.</p>
<p>milkandsugar, bring your wine over! We have room for one more! :)</p>
<p>How about the old standard from when I was a kid.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Hot dogs and pork and beans.</p>
<p>alwaysamom, I’ll be right over!!</p>
<p>mom60, brings back memories, that’s what my mom gave us.</p>
<p>Love the tuna melts with cheddar cheese with fresh ripe tomato in season on english muffins. yum;’
Or grilled cheddar cheese with tomato.</p>
<p>mom60, I can’t wait to try this recipe of yours, but I will save it for a busy night:</p>
<p>One easy meal my family loves is boneless chicken breasts marinated in lemon and olive oil. I then grill and slice it thin and make sandwiches using grilled peppers, hummus and the flat bread. I warm the bread on the grill it is really good</p>
<p>marite, your stew sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it in the fall.</p>
<p>NYMomof2, you are a lifesaver! DS has been talking about sweet potato fries all summer. Bought a bag of Alexia (I think that’s the brand name) and he said they didn’t come close to some he had had previously. He’s moving out of state this week so I will definitely serve your recipe at his send-off dinner.</p>
<p>Anyone have a good recipe for red clam sauce?</p>
<p>a very quick meal to put together…</p>
<p>taco meat (i have the large taco seasoning purchased from sam’s club). brown the meat, add a little water, and the taco seasoning.</p>
<p>use no taco shells…serve only with corn chips (the scoop ones).</p>
<p>the taco meat once on the plate can be topped with shredded cheese, lettuce, chopped tomato, sliced avocado, salsa, black olives, etc.</p>
<p>on weekends, dh will sometimes grill a variety of meats, chicken breasts, boneless thighs, brats, maybe burgers. sometimes he might smoke some baby back ribs or pork shoulder. he has even smoked hamburgers before. the guys seem to like those smoked burgers. he’s even cooked the beer can chicken…it’s very moist and is good for leftovers. the brats or any smoked sausage can be sliced and added to stir fried vegetables.</p>
<p>the various meats keep well in the fridge and can be heated up quickly for meals during the week. the chicken breasts can be sliced and easily added to veggies in a stir fry. you can cook a package of the alfredo noodles with sauce and then add the chicken breast (diced). serve with a salad or fruit.
less to do if the meat is already cooked. </p>
<p>a favorite quick salad…</p>
<p>start w/your favorite lettuce mix (maybe add some baby spinach), top w/sliced chicken breast, greek vinagrette salad dressing, mandarin oranges (or maybe some clementines), maybe add nuts, maybe add some fresh apple pieces rather than the mandarin oranges.</p>
<p>on the weekend…easy to cook a chuck roast slowly in the oven and then refrigerate. when ready to serve, shred and add bbq sauce. serve with cole slaw or a salad. </p>
<p>a quick appetizer…</p>
<p>using a small glass casserole…spread bottom with cream cheese, top with a jar of chili (or use your own homemade chili), top the chili with cheese. serve with crackers or tortilla chips. the kids love this. you can also prepare some spinach dip…serve with crackers or chips. the kids love that too.</p>
<p>have used the crock pot before to cook chicken breasts. add taco seasoning while cooking in the crock pot. once done, shred the chicken and use in burritos.</p>
<p>easy crock pot roast…brown the roast then put in crock pot, add a pack of baby carrots and a can of cream of celery soup. serve with rice. </p>
<p>easy potatoes…use a glass casserole…
use the frozen cubed potatoes, add cream of celery soup, milk, cream cheese, add shredded cheese and a little butter. bake in oven till bubbly. great as a leftover. use the lowfat versions of the ingredients to make it lighter.</p>
<p>you can season a lot of things with mrs. dash table blend…it’s great on stir fried vegetables or oven fries.</p>
<p>a friend used to keep a big bowl of lettuce salad (w/lots of veggies in it) in her family’s refrigerator. i should remember to do that too !</p>
<p>another friend used to make a meatball stew…i’ll look for the recipe. made with tomato soup, i remember.</p>
<p>and the old standby…cook angel hair pasta, top with meatless spaghetti sauce (jar) and parmesan cheese. add a salad or fruit. one of the favorites at our house.</p>
<p>I just made Hanna’s Lentil recipe. Excellent! Thanks!</p>
<p>Easy, delicious, and relatively healthy baked french “fries”:</p>
<p>Three potatoes for a family of four would probably be the right serving.</p>
<p>Cut potatoes length-wise, and then cut into strips around 1/4 inch wide (smaller strips for crispier fries, wider for more potato taste)
Spray baking sheet with cooking spray
Place potato strips on the tray (skin down for larger fries, then no flipping is required)
Spray fries lightly with cooking spray
Season with salt, pepper, basil, garlic, parmesan cheese
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 420 degrees (if you have skinnier fries that you couldn’t place with the skin down, you should flip part way through)
Enjoy :)</p>
<p>Corranged–I was just thinking about potatoes (as I put them in the oven). We roast new potatoes a lot. I make a paste of crushed garlic, salt, pepper and cumin with olive oil; quarter new potatoes( or yukon gold) toss it together well, and roast at 425 degrees for 30-45 mins, until they are golden brown. They’re pretty yummy too.</p>
<p>Sounds great!</p>
<p>Yes it does and a lot more economical than purchasing Lipton onion mix to coat the potatoes like I’ve been doing.</p>
<p>What are some of the more interesting coatings people put on chicken breasts (other than bread crumbs, cornflake crumbs, and cold cereal flakes)?</p>
<p>brush with olive oil and then roll them in grated parmesan cheese. Bake.</p>
<p>“Grilled cheese and tomato soup.”</p>
<p>This is very hard to beat. I’ll have swiss on wheat, thanks.</p>
<p>If you were one of those families that just had to have the panini machine a few years back they are great for making easy meals out of leftovers.
Hanna’s grill cheese reminded me of what we sometimes do with leftover chicken. I lightly brush the bread with olive oil. Use whatever cheese you like. I also sometimes add some form of flavor. Mango chutney, pesto, teriyaki sauce or honey mustard.
My son also discovered you can make quesadillas in the panini machine as well. Add leftover meat and vegetables or just use cheese. We also sometimes grill burritos on the panini with leftovers inside.</p>
<p>I was very excited and made three of the things recommended here over the weekend…but Monday morning dawned, and still the issue of “what’s for dinner…?” I left instructions for husband but we’ll see if he follows them or if it’s Panda tonight.</p>
<p>I’m moving into my first apartment in two days and I’m wigging out about cooking. The existence of this thread is a godsend. Thank you from the terrified 19-year-old set… :-)</p>