Okay, readers (I know you're out there - Sitemeter tells me that I get at least 50 readers a day, and that you're all over the world)....time to come out of hiding.
What do you cook when you don't feel like cooking? What are your fallback meals for yourself and your family?
Today I ordered take-out....expensive and unhealthy, but there was no way I was going to cook. What do you do on those nights when it's too much?
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How about a midwestern hotdish from pantry and freezer supplies?
One I like is mixed veggies, cream of mushroom soup, and fake chik'n strips in a casserole dish topped with Bisquick for fast pot pie. It's modified from a recipe on the Bisquick box and takes about 3 minutes to make, 30 minutes to bake.
Tuna noodle casserole. Mix a can of tuna and a can of cream of mushroom soup with boiled macaroni noodles. Salt, pepper and melt a little grated cheese on top. Cheap too.
If I don't feel like cooking at ALL, I make oatmeal (not instant) for everyone. We put raisons, nuts, and other fruit into it, heat it up in the microwave and then cool it off with some yogurt. I feel like we hit almost every healthy food group and the kids like it too. My other healthy fallback is the gnocci from T. Joes. I just add some of their frozen veggies to it and again feel like we have a decent meal without a lot of work.
Hey there sweetie.... long time since I heard from you. As you know, cooking is one of those things that I actually enjoy, however, there are days that making a healthy dinner is simply not possible. That is why I have a freezer.
Though others have suggested things like quick meals with canned soup, I simply can't stand anything that comes out of a can. So, I double on the good days.
Why make one lasagna when you can make two? If I make soup, I double. I always increase when I make a parmegiana. Other freezer staples include, frozen pesto from my garden's basil; turkey sausage; cubes of citrus juice and mexican sauces; quiche; ground beef and turkey and whole chicken breasts.
Then it is a matter of just grabbing something and throwing it in the oven; or boiling some pasta to serve with a sauce.
However, when L. was Tessa's age, her favorite thing was when I was totally exhausted, we would sit in the living room with a sleeve of saltines, some crunchy natural peanut butter and fruit spread, complete with cloth napkins and milk. We called this "date night" and I suspect she will marry the first man that serves this to her with candles on the table.
My favorite fast meal is cesear salad. I grill the salad on the outdoor grill, use a bag of mix (salad greens, croutons, parm cheeese, and dressing) from the grocery store, and just toss them together. I usually put some pre-made bread in the oven and some veggies on the stove top.
My husband travels a lot, so I'll occasionally have breakfast for dinner -- pancakes, sausage, OJ, maybe eggs. Not the healthiest of meals, but everyone is happy.
Some nights I'll also give the girls each bowls of raw veggies to munch on while I'm making something (anything) and let them watch a little tv. By the time whatever I've made is done, they've eaten some healthy roughage and I don't have to feel too guilty if the main course is mac & cheese from a box.
Pasta is always a good fall back. Or, scrambled eggs. Also, I subscribe to a daily recipe from cookinglight.com. I usually get some good ideas there.
Cereal, or cheese and crackers, or hot oatmeal with bananas mixed in, or rice with lots of veggies mixed in. Sometimes I'll do Indian take out food
chop vegetables, throw into skillet with vinegar, sautee. to enrich, throw eggs over the vegetables.
I keep a frozen ziploc of my own mixture of spaghetti sauce on hand (can be thawed out in the sink quickly). Before I knew garlic was off limits for me, I would keep Pomi Marinara Sauce on hand (Trader Joe's).
I've found that Chicken Carbonara can be quick if you have leftover chicken and skip the bacon.
If I don't want to cook at all, I make DH bring home a pizza from Papa Murphy's.
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