10 Quick and Easy Homemade Meals for Dinner
Easy Homemade Meals: Tortellini
Pick up a package of pre-made tortellini from your favorite grocery. Add whatever green veggie you like – we usually add broccoli or spinach. Get the steam in the bag version and cook your veggies in the microwave while you’re boiling the pasta. If you’re feeling really fancy pull out your pressure cooker and steam your veggies. Either way, once the pasta is done and the veggies are cooked toss them together in a few tablespoons of olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Or you can add your favorite salad dressing. My kids love ranch.
Easy Homemade Meals: Salmon and Veggies
Don’t be alarmed. Salmon is not difficult to make at all. You can broil it, grill it, bake it or saute it. We usually saute it in a non-stick pan with butter or olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. (I’m allergic to citrus, so no lemon for me). This takes 6 or 7 minutes to cook. Serve it with your favorite veggie (maybe that steam in the bag broccoli ;-)) and side (that flavored rice pouch goes great too – we like cheddar and broccoli).
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Easy Homemade Meals: Baked Chicken and Veggies
Baked chicken is an easy made from scratch meal to make for dinner. Wash and season your chicken to your liking. Cover it and bake. Add veggies and a side item like a flavored rice mix, or roasted or mashed potatoes.
Check out this Facebook Live video on balsamic chicken and veggies.
Easy Homemade Meals: Gourmet Burgers
Harold loves a good burger. But not just the standard meat/bun/cheese variety, he likes them topped to the ceiling with any and everything from bacon to fried eggs to a chicken patty. Yes, I said a burger topped with a chicken patty. So, instead of spending an arm and a leg for a fancy sirloin burger in a restaurant, we make gourmet burgers at home. you can save time by purchasing pre-made beef patties or pick up a box of turkey burgers. Add bacon, cheese, mushrooms and onions, fried eggs, or even a chicken patty. Serve them with french fries or potato wedges.
Easy Homemade Meals: Baked Potato Bar
Want a low maintenance dinner that everyone in the family will love? Make a baked potato bar! Wash and pat dry your potatoes. Using a teaspoon of oil, coat the skin of your potatoes and roll them in sea salt. Bake on 400F for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of your potatoes. Seve with cheese, sour cream, veggies, bacon, butter, or whatever toppings your family loves. Everyone is happy because everyone makes their potato they way they want it.
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Easy Homemade Meals: Pasta Meal
While I am not a fan of boxed meals, there are some boxed items I will use as ingredients for convenience. “Pasta-Roni” type pasta meals are one of them. They come with the pasta and the flavoring all in one. Add some Italian sausage and sauteed peppers for a homemade meal that will feel like you’re eating at a fancy Italian restaurant for a fraction of the price.
Easy Homemade Meals: Caesar Salad
My great-grandmother used to cut and wash two to three heads of lettuce per week to make dinner salads for our family. I don’t have the time. Thank goodness for salad kits! Pick up two Caesar Salad kits and some chicken breasts or salmon. Once you cook the meat your meal is made. Just mix the salad kit and add the meat. Dinner is done!
Easy Homemade Meals: Quesadillas
One of my favorite quick and easy meals are quesadillas. We usually have two varieties on quesadilla night: chicken and cheese and spinach and mushroom. For fresh chicken, you can cook it quickly on the George Foreman grill or pick up a bag of microwavable frozen chicken chunks. Using 10 inch or larger flour tortillas fill one-half with chicken, cheese, diced peppers, or (in my case) spinach and mushrooms. Fold the tortilla in half and cook on the George Foreman grill or a quesadilla maker if you have one. Once the cheese is melted crisp the tortilla on a pizza stone in the oven for 10 minutes at 375F.
Easy Homemade Meals: Pizza
Here’s where I cheat. I’m not making pizza from scratch like Larisha from WereParents.com. I buy two boxes of frozen gourmet pizza from my grocery (My favorite right now is Aldi) and we add a side salad or sliced veggies. Still made at home for much less than ordering out.
Easy Homemade Meals: Stir Fry with Rice
Using fresh veggies is something I try and do each week. But I don’t always have time to do that. When I need a quick meal that doesn’t take much effort, I make chicken or beef stir fry. Using pre-cut chicken of beef strips, frozen sliced peppers, and onions or a bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables and pre-made stir fry sauce. Finish your meal with rice.