<p>I always keep Costcos flatbread margarita pizza in the freezer. It is very good, though not exactly a fancy meal. But if someone just drops in, what can they expect?</p>
<p>If you have time to stop and buy salmon, my easy, without thinking dinner is grilled salmon, sesame noodles & what we affectionately call ‘pesto bread’ in my house. The salad is the only part that causes pause, so I often substitute broiled asparagus for the green. </p>
<p>Slice the salmon in two-inch strips, marinate 10+ minutes in 2TB mustard, 3TB soy sauce, 6TB olive oil and garlic, whisked together. (Thank you Ina Garten!) Grill two min/side, flipping a total of four times, or eight min on grill.</p>
<p>Sesame noodles include perhaps ten ingredients but all are household staples. All ingredients in blender and then are tossed over cooked #10 pasta. Only time-consuming bit is toasting the sesame seeds as they burn as soon as you take your eye off them!</p>
<p>Pesto bread: I always have sliced Costco garlic bread in freezer along with frozen pesto. Both thaw in minutes. Apply pesto to bread surface, add grated parm, pop under broiler. </p>
<p>Asparagus: lay dried asparagus on cookie sheet, drizzle lightly with oil, toss to coat and add pepper, top with grated parm. </p>
<p>Can’t have same guests too often as this is the only quick go-to menu.</p>
<p>My, I can always make this is whatever quantity necessary without blinking an eye, is fish tacos (I always have some fresh/frozen fish) and corn/black bean/tomato/cilantro salad with anything else I have handy and mexican rice. In the winter it’s peso pasta (we make ton of pesto at the end of summer) with pine nuts, zucchini, bacon, black olives and roasted red peppers, plus tossed salad and garlic bread.</p>
<p>I’m with pizzagirl. Some (many?) of these would be huge feasts for me. Then again, I never have drop-in guests at meals. Maybe now I know why :)</p>
<p>For some of us, feeding people is part of “welcoming them to your home.” It’s not really rational or necessary, of course. A take-out meal or a nice restaurant is actually no less thoughtful- it’s just that old habits die hard. ;)</p>
<p>Filet mignon, baked potato and salad.</p>
<p>I guess many of you won’t be popping in unannounced at my house!</p>
<p>Youdontsay, I actually do use e Stouffers lasagna Italiano in a pinch with my family and don’t mind it - I just put homemade lasagna in a different league!! And I love garlic bread!!</p>
<p>I would be very happy to pop over and freeload at your house, yds!</p>
<p>My garlic bread is homemade! In the sense that I butter the French bread and add the garlic!</p>
<p>ETA: Thanks, zoos!</p>
<p>Except for an occasional kid who stayed late at a playdate, I’ve never–never–had unexpected guests for dinner. Under what circumstances does this even happen? How do people just appear out of nowhere and expect to be fed? I shop a couple of times a week and plan all my meals in advance with no allowance for leftovers, which none of us like, so feeding people I didn’t expect to host would require a special trip to the supermarket and time to get things prepared–and probably some additional time to tidy up the house beyond its usual state. And I’d be totally ticked off at the whole thing.</p>
<p>At my house, it’s usually a bunch of teen-agers, which is why I don’t worry too much about the Stouffer’s judgment! :D</p>
<p>Beyond worrying about food- the house! We would be going out to eat!</p>
<p>yes! It’s the house, not the food, that is not normally guest-ready at my house.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Are you kidding me??? I love to eat homemade food. Most of the time it’s tasty and actually inspirational. So few people cook anymore so it’s really a treat.</p>
<p>My go to meal is grilled salmon (or beef tenderloin if I know they like it). Salmon is topped with fresh tomato, garlic and capers, beef well seasoned prior to grilling. I add some sort of starch depending on the protein - baby or new potatoes if beef or couscous if fish, and salad. Fruit afterward with biscotti along with a cordial. I usually buy a nice loaf of French or Italian bread and brush it with oil and garlic to grill before the meat or fish - good with cheese and olives. A nice wine can really improve the whole thing.</p>
<p>My house is often not at guests standards. If I had 5 minutes notice, I would be grabbing a Rubbermaid tote and filling it up with all the papers on my dining room table and kitchen counters!</p>
<p>Ps - watch out for soy sauce in marinades…it is not gluten-free. I slather my salmon with mayonnaise and a touch of Dijon mustard. Place it on foil on the grill skin side down and cook for 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Do not flip, when the time is up, just slip the spatula between the skin and fish and it will just peel away. The mayo will melt away and keep the fish very moist.</p>
<p>If it’s less than 2 day’s notice, I’d meet them outside and suggest dining out. That or maybe a box of pop tarts or surplus boxes of Matzoh crackers dumped on me by Jewish friends who were over them once Passover ended. </p>
<p>I’m with MommaJ on this one as my immediate family wouldn’t be thrilled with unexpected guests…including family members who dropped by without giving them a few day’s notice at the very least. </p>
<p>Even with my friends and myself at my place, we’d usually give at least a week’s notice and 2 days notice is considered cutting it pretty close. </p>
<p>Especially considering we may be out of town for professional reasons and/or need some time to get the house/apt up to guest standards. After all…some of us do need to put away the artifacts and evidence of party crashing/elite private university shindig raids. :D</p>
<p>Short notice meal:
Chilled wine, home made pepper garlic jelly, crackers and cheese( if I have it). AND
Trader Joes frozen sweet and sour chicken stir fried with frozen green beans. ( usually in my freezer). Brown rice. OR
Lasagna, salad and bread
OR
A pasta dish with frozen shrimp saut</p>
<p>Oooh- homemade pepper garlic jelly? Recipe??</p>
<p>"
…and frankly I don’t get what is so great about anyone’s homemade food.
Are you kidding me??? I love to eat homemade food. Most of the time it’s tasty and actually inspirational. So few people cook anymore so it’s really a treat."</p>
<p>Nope. I’m not kidding you. This is how i feel. If i could live above a Whole Foods and pop in there everyday and pick up something from their premade foods and eat it and be done, i would. if i never turned on a stove or oven again, i would be just fine. I find everyday dinner a tedious chore and I’m just fine microwaving leftovers. Restaurants are my gold standard, not homemade. But I am the eat-to-live type, not the live-to-eat type.</p>
<p>But you are gourmetmom and I’m not!!</p>