Simple meals

[LilyWDW]

Hey all!

Not sure how much traction this will get, but I need some help.

I suffer from multiple health issues, physical and mental, that makes it so I sometimes have little to no energy by the end of the day. As such, I have been ordering in food WAY to much the last few months and my wallet and waist line are not happy about it. So one of the things I want to start focusing on is eating at home more, but this is where I need help. I need people to tell me their favorite easy meals. Either fast and easy in total or fast to put together and then it can cook without me paying attention to it. Standing at the stove for extended periods can be painful as I have back and hip issues (I am looking to buy a stool to help with that). I have an Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Air Fryer, stove, oven, and microwave. I do have a few food restrictions, but I have a lot of ways to substitute the things I can't have so not worried about it.

Also, if you have favorite "keep on hand" items for the pantry or freezer for those "I just can't" sort of days, tell me about those too!

Thank you!!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

One thing I like to do is have veggies (bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, scallions, etc) and meat (usually chicken) in the fridge already defrosted and chopped up and ready to go. I store them in ziplocks and just pop them into a pan with a little cooking spray or olive oil, seasonings and I have a simple stir fry type meal. You can also keep some rice in the fridge, warm that up and serve the meat and veggies over the rice.

 

[diznymom]

I started doing this while I was doing a lot of travelling for work.....to make it easier for DH to fix supper.
I will buy a large quantity of ground beef. I will make several meat loaves, lots of meat balls and freeze them all. I will also go ahead and cook up the ground beef and freeze in portion size containers. It is a lot of work up front, but easy when it comes to fixing dinner.
I cook roast beef in the crock pot. Season the beef, add a little water and cook on low all day long.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I saute a couple of pounds of ground beef at a time, seasoned with salt and pepper, garlic powder, etc. I keep it in small ziploc bags in the freezer and they are ready to take out for chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, tacos, etc.

 

[ronandannette]

How fussy are you about what you eat? We've been through a couple of rough patches where meal planning and cooking basically became an "I can't even..." When I just couldn't face another bag of fast-food garbage, we took to eating cereal and toast for dinner. Only slightly up from that was things like canned soup and sandwiches, frozen pizza, handfuls of fruit, nuts and cheese or a quick pan of scrambled eggs. The stuff was always on-hand, it kept us alive and I don't feel one bit guilty. The added upside is none of those things are good enough to tempt over-eating. I'm sorry for your troubles and I wish you well.

 

[LilyWDW]

How fussy are you about what you eat? We've been through a couple of rough patches where cooking basically became an "I can't even..." and when I just couldn't face another bag of fast-food garbage, we took to eating cereal and toast for dinner. Only slightly up from that was things like canned soup and sandwiches, frozen pizza or a quick pan of scrambled eggs. It kept us alive and I don't feel one bit guilty. The added upside is none of those things are good enough to tempt over-eating. I'm sorry for your troubles and I wish you well.

I am not fussy. I don't want to live on those things for the simple fact that I find I start feeling worse in the long term (stomach issues, headaches, and my depression), but I for sure do eggs and toast, canned soups, and frozen meals. I also have some Indian pantry meals that are super easy to make (rice in the Instant Pot or I keep frozen Naan/Roti on hand). They are better then fast food or order in meals, but not as good as a balanced meal with protein/veggies.

 

[Christine]

What I do for "easy" is not necessarily all that healthy, but I guess it is better than night after night of takeout.

Pork BBQ sandwiches in crockpot: Take about 2-4 lbs of pork tenderloins and cook them all day in the crockpot. Season them with something, anything, and cook in about 1/4 c. water. Once done, drain off the water and reserve. Shred up pork, return to crock pot and use a high quality BBQ sauce. If needed, add some of the reserved liquid to the mix. My favorite right now is Lillie's Smoky or Lillie's East Carolina. Get a bag of shredded cole slaw and throw in Marie's Cole Slaw Dressing. Get some good buns and this is not bad. I will cook a green vegetable on the side (fresh or frozen). I either do sauteed kale, brocolli, or lima beans.

If I don't want to make my own sauce, the next best thing is Rao's jarred sauce. My favorite is Italian Sausage and Mushroom. Have spaghetti or put the sauce over meatballs. Whatever you find acceptable. Very easy.

I have some other things I routinely make that aren't quite that easy, but not hard either. I make a Beef Tips recipe in the crockpot that goes over mashed potatoes. I started buying the Bob Evan's mashed potatoes rather than making my own and they are DARNED good and creamy! I also pick a green veggie to make. Always.

Another really easy thing to make is Baked Salmon. I'm on a kick now where I marinate it for a few hours in Ashman House Salmon Marinade (there are several flavors). I bake it for about 25 minutes at 400. The sauce caramelizes and it's pretty good. Honestly you really can't get any easier than that. I buy a large piece at either Costco or Wegman's and get it for $7.99 a pound so it's not frightfully expensive as the smaller pieces can be.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

I don't have a recipe, but my SIL has trouble standing too long at the stove, so she chops and preps all of her meat and veggies, etc. while seated at the table. That makes her standing time less in the long run. I think your idea of a stool at the stove sounds like a good plan, too.

 

[disneychrista]

My go-to quick and easy meal is spaghetti. Boil noodle. Top with sauce. Eat.

 

[LuvOrlando]

My shopping list for my kids when they started in their own places, this can make it about 2 weeks.

2 dozen eggs
bag of potatoes
2 loaf of bread
celery
bag of carrots
bag of onions (cut up and freeze in ziplock)
mayo, mustard & ketchup
2 jar tomato sauce
2 or 3 lbs pasta, spaghetti can be broken up before boiling for soup
american cheese
4 cans tuna
ground beef
2 Roast chickens from wherever, Wegmans are under $7 each and not very salty

*Roast chickens are great for regular meals, save all the bones for soup within the week or freeze in a ziplock for soup, can be cut up for chicken salad with mayo and bread, cut some up for protein with pasta
*chicken soup, boil the bones with a few carrots and the leafy part of the celery, drain and then put new carrots and celery with pasta
*eggs can be scrambled, in a sandwich with american cheese or hardboiled, egg salad with mayo
*cheese, on sandwiches or grilled cheese
*pasta goes in soup, with butter for a meal, can be mac and cheese
*tuna salad with mayo is great as a sandwich
*ground beef is great for burgers, some onion and breadcrumb with 1 egg per pound meatloaf, sloppy joes with tomato sauce
*potatoes are great as a side, microwave and have with some ground beef and tomato sauce, microwave and make with eggs
*carrots are a good side, boil and saute with some onion and butter

One chicken can feed a person for a week if you do the soup

 

[QueenIsabella]

I'm a big fan of the crockpot. A good book (actually two), with associated website is "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow". She has a ton of recipes that you can throw together in 5 minutes, then allow to cook all day. You might have to make rice or a side salad, depending, but it's very simple.

Another favorite of mine is "Cheap, Fast, Good"--all recipes take a half hour or less.

A couple other things to consider: making food on the weekends, and freezing it in meal-sized portions. Tacos or spaghetti and meat sauce come together very quickly when you already have the meat cooked (I cook it with onions and peppers, YMMV). You could also prep crockpot meals in a similar way--freeze them in gallon ziplocks, then plop them in the crockpot before you leave for work. Planned-overs go well--you make a big batch of chili, say, and either freeze some, or just use it the next day. It could go in tacos, over spaghetti, or over tortilla chips.

Look up "Paprika Chicken" on Pinterest--it's a very simple recipe that makes extremely delicious chicken. I use the leftovers to make a very flavorful chicken noodle soup. The best part--since it starts with boneless, skinless breasts, making soup is really easy. They even sell frozen bags of "vegetables for soup", if chopping is too much for you.

 

[nw6675]

Brunswick Stew

1 lb pulled pork BBQ in sauce (i use lloyds at Walmart)
1 bag frozen corn
1 bag frozen lima beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
6 cups broth (chicken beef and or veggie)
Garlic
Crushed red pepper
Instant potato flakes at end if needed to thicken

Throw it all in crockpot and cook 3 or 4 hours at least. Better than veggie soup or chili to us. Freezes well.

 

[fla4fun]

My quick go to during the pandemic has been chili. I buy big packages of ground meat (beef, chicken or Turkey - whatever is on sale) and separate it into small portions in the freezer. I have kept stocked up on beans and plain tomato sauce. One baggie of meat, a couple chopped onions, beans and tomato sauce, season and simmer and I can eat on it for at least three days. It’s also been a way to stretch out meat without sacrificing protein.

I also keep pasta and sauce around, which I can also use the baggies of meat for. But the chili is less work.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Bulk cooking and portioning out freezer meals when you’re feeling up to it will pay off for the days you aren’t up to cooking, but I’m sure you already know that.

In my house, “and rice” meals are the lazy night cooking. Mix any protein or veg into rice and season to your taste. Beans and rice, chickpeas and rice, mixed vegetables and rice, beef and rice, chicken and rice, sausage/egg/cheese and rice, pan fried ham slices over rice. (The last one is especially good with furikake seasoning.) I always try to cook enough to get another meal or a couple of lunches out of it.

You mentioned liking Indian food. That’s one of my go-to’s for healthy, easy freezer meals. Look up Indian crockpot meals. Many are loaded with vegetables and greens and don’t require much effort beyond veg washing at the beginning and pureeing with an immersion blender at the end.

 

[kirstenb1]

Rotisserie chicken. I use leftovers to make chicken and black bean quesadillas, or chicken wrap sandwiches, or chicken noodle soup.

A really easy meal that I make uses, pasta, shrimp, cooked green peas, a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

I also always keep grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, carrots, so we're eating a salad once or twice a week.

 

[MrsPete]

Recently we've started having stir-fry veg every Monday night.

We like Walmart's Great Value frozen stir-fry vegetables + whatever is leftover in the refrigerator + this generic sauce: 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sesame oil, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, garlic and ginger paste.

 

[Christine]

Recently we've started having stir-fry veg every Monday night.

We like Walmart's Great Value frozen stir-fry vegetables + whatever is leftover in the refrigerator + this generic sauce: 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sesame oil, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, garlic and ginger paste.

Oh yes, I forgot about the stir-fry I do generally once a week. I do HATE chopping so it's not the easiest thing I do, but it's easy.

If you have a Wegman's, they have a nice bottled stir fry sauce (35 calories for 2 TBSP) and you just open it up.

I just use chicken breasts, chopped
3 red peppers, sliced (I like red peppers a lot, but you can mix whatever you want)
Red onion wedges
Lots of pre-sliced mushrooms and baby white button mushrooms.

I saute the chicken till almost done. Remove from pan. Then the mushrooms, remove from pan. Last goes the peppers and onions. Mushrooms and chicken go back in with the sauce and I simmer for about 10 minutes to meld the flavors. Serve over rice.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Buy pre-diced veggies.
It's a bit more expensive.... but you'll be saving your time and energy.

 

[SaintsManiac]

When we hit a rut we join a meal subscription service for a few weeks. Home Chef has ready to heat meals. Every Plate has simple and easy recipes, too. It’s nice to have everything portioned out and ready to go.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Buy pre-diced veggies.
It's a bit more expensive.... but you'll be saving your time and energy.

Even better, buy FROZEN, pre-diced veggies. They'll be there when you need them, and there are a bunch of "styles"--stir-fry, vegetables for soup, seasoning vegetables, and so on. I buy boneless pork ribs, and earlier in the day I cut them into bite-size pieces and put them in teriyaki sauce (you could easily do this, then put the pork and sauce in dinner-sized portions, then freeze them). Then for dinner, I cook the pork with a diced onion, cook some pasta and a bag of stir-fry veggies, and voila! My family raves about it! Obviously, you could use rice--we're more of a pasta family.

Also, I have a ravenous family of 5, including 2 teens and an adult son. I go through a lot of food. So, my recipes tend to be super-sized. But if the OP has a smaller family, she'll have leftovers that can then be used for another meal.