Here are our two favorite quick and easy dinner recipes -
Spicy Chicken and Potatoes
-Grab a pre-cooked chicken from your local grocery store deli and a bag of home fries from the frozen foods section. Add a bag of pre-washed salad, one medium sized yellow onion and a jar of pepperoncinis to your shopping cart.
-Toss the potatoes in a frying pan with a little bit of pepperoncini juice and let them start browning. De-bone the chicken and add it to the potatoes. Dice up the onion and add. Cook on medium for about 10 minutes and serve right from the pan.
-Take the bag of salad, cut off a corner and add in salad dressing. Shake up the bag and you have an instant tossed salad.
Worcestershire Sourdough Burgers
-Grab a package of ground beef, pre-sliced cheddar cheese, loaf of sourdough bread and a yellow onion. Add to your list a bag of frozen french fries and a bottle of worcestershire sauce.
Spicy Chicken and Potatoes
-Grab a pre-cooked chicken from your local grocery store deli and a bag of home fries from the frozen foods section. Add a bag of pre-washed salad, one medium sized yellow onion and a jar of pepperoncinis to your shopping cart.
-Toss the potatoes in a frying pan with a little bit of pepperoncini juice and let them start browning. De-bone the chicken and add it to the potatoes. Dice up the onion and add. Cook on medium for about 10 minutes and serve right from the pan.
-Take the bag of salad, cut off a corner and add in salad dressing. Shake up the bag and you have an instant tossed salad.
Worcestershire Sourdough Burgers
-Grab a package of ground beef, pre-sliced cheddar cheese, loaf of sourdough bread and a yellow onion. Add to your list a bag of frozen french fries and a bottle of worcestershire sauce.
-Fry up a couple of hamburger patties adding worcestershire sauce after you flip the burger the first time. Put the frozen fries in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil. While the patties are cooking, pop the sourdough bread in the toaster.
-Place a slice of cheddar cheese on the patties, butter up your sourdough toast and add fries to your plate. Garnish your burger with ketchup, mustard and/or mayonnaise. Quick and easy!
Prepare In Advance
The most important piece of advice for quick and easy dinner recipes is to prepare ahead of time. Plan your meals at least a week in advance so that you are not scrambling at the last minute. This eliminates unnecessary trips to the grocery store. Stock up on necessities such as dried goods, spices, and canned and frozen foods. If you shop for these things in bulk, you will save yourself not only time, but money as well. When you get your groceries, chop your vegetables and place them in zip-lock bags. Not only does this drastically cut down on preparation time, but it helps the food stay fresh longer as well.
Make Leftovers The First Time
Second, cook extra food whenever possible. If you are browning meat, make a double batch and freeze what you don't use. When you make a casserole, fix two instead of one. This doesn't take much more time than simply preparing one meal, but it saves a ton of time when it comes to preparing quick and easy dinner recipes. The second casserole can be frozen, and on a particularly hectic day all that is required is to heat it up. However, cooking extra doesn't always mean that you have to eat the same thing twice. A roast can be served with potatoes and gravy one night, and as a roast beef sandwich another.
Buy Prepared Food - It's OK!
Finally, buy foods that are already prepared. This doesn't mean that you have to eat out of a box, either. Frozen vegetables are just as healthy as fresh, but they are already cut up and cook in minutes. In addition, the time saved by buying pre-grated cheese more than makes up for the small increase in cost. If you get in the habit of doing these three simple things, you can have meals on the table in under twenty minutes almost every night. As a result, you will not only be able to relax more, but you can feel good about preparing your family meals that are healthy.
Preparing meals doesn't have to be a drag, nor does it have to be very time-consuming. With a few resources and a little foresight, you can become a pro at quick and easy dinner recipes.