Okay, I've been meaning to gather a list of some good meals for some time, and now (tired and pregnant) Megan needs some good meal ideas, so here's a whole blog post just for her! *wink*
These are mostly really simple easy-peasy recipes and all are fairly cheap. Some I have found elsewhere, others are just ones I've made up. Feel free to post some of your favorite meal ideas in the comment section.
1. First is Megan K.'s skillet baked ziti/penne. This one is more labor-intesive (but not much) than the following recipes, but I love this. It deserves a spot at the top. It's my favorite meal ev-ah(!) now. It's totally amazing just following the recipe, but I've tweaked it a bit to fit in with my own family's tastes:
-I like to make this with tri-color rotini, and I think it holds the sauce better.
-Once I just had Hunt's spaghetti sauce on hand and no crushed tomatoes, and that is our preferred base now.
-I put more mozzarella on top. You can never go wrong with more mozzarella!
2.. Easy, easy, easy quiche. I don't put the broccoli in.
3. Put a pork roast in the crockpot until it falls apart, mix in BBQ sauce, and serve on buns. How can you even get any easier than that???
4. Put a beef roast in the crockpot until it falls apart, mix in fajita or taco seasoning, and serve on tortillas with the taco fixings your family prefers. I can't ever go back to ground beef tacos after I started making it this way.
5. So, you put some chicken breasts in the crockpot...noticing a theme here?... When you're almost ready to eat you make some boxed stuffing, following the box instructions except replacing 3/4 of the water with white wine. Pour the stuffing on top of the chicken breasts, put some swiss cheese on top of that, pour a bit more white wine on top and cook until melted.
6. Cook some chicken breasts however you wish. For some reason I usually don't use the crockpot for this one. Hmmm, strange... Anyhoo, in a small saucepan mix up salsa with a good amount of brown sugar. Pour sauce on chicken breasts. Make some instant rice on the side. On each individual plate pour any extra sauce on top of rice.
7. Brown a pound of ground beef. (Feeling poetic today, apparently...) Mix in a couple cans of tomato soup, a bit of salsa, and a bit of cheese (usually I use Velveeta or cojack here). Once it has heated through, cut up four flour (and alliterative?) tortillas and mix the pieces in. Sprinkle shredded cojack, jack, or cheddar cheese on top, cover, and cook on low-med until melted.
8. Drive here. I promise you a great meal.
I can't wait to make Megan's ziti/penne ever since you introduced me to it a few weeks ago. Just haven't gotten around to much cooking at all lately (I know, for shame!). And of course, #8, you can never go wrong here! But to go along with your crockpot recipe, here is what I do (I hope I'm remembering this correctly as it was this winter/spring when I last made it and I just make it however it flows at the time):
ReplyDelete1. Take a pound of stew meat - beef. (I like to brown it up for just a quick minute first, for the yummy caramel-y bits that stick to the outside of it. :) Throw it in the crockpot.
2. Saute up some sliced portobello mushrooms (if you want, with a little garlic and olive oil - not too much, or it will be heavy and overpowering. Just enough for the garlic.) When done, throw in crock pot with beef. If you don't like a fungus-amungus as much as I do, skip this step.
3. Take two regular-size cans of Beefy Mushroom soup (Campbells - or something similar) and pour in over the beefy fungus goodness.
4. Turn on the crock pot on low. Go about your daily business.
5. After your long day (I always have it on for about 9-10 hours while at work), come home and smell the aroma! About 15-30 minutes before serving, I add sour cream, or heavy cream, or something in the cream family. I don't measure it, I just put in whatever looks good to make it a pretty light to medium brown color - probably about 1/2 cup? or to taste. Stir it in and let it mix and thicken slightly. This is the step that gets varied each time around here it seems.
6. Serve over mashed potatoes, or pasta, or bread - whatever floats your boat!
I use 1 lb. of beef for the two of us here. We eat half and save the other half for this recipe:
Take leftovers and mix with your favorite frozen veggies. Divide up among freezer-safe/oven safe dishes. I have some mini casserole dishes that are like really big ramekins with lids. Once I've put the beef mixture and veggies in, I'll cover them and pop them in the freezer until I'm ready to make them on a day when I don't know what else to make but don't want to eat out or eat unhealthy stuff. (It does help to plan ahead to thaw them in the fridge, if you can. Just means less baking time if they are thawed.) I bake them at 350 until they are almost bubbly. Then I pull them out and top with unrolled crescent roll dough, or bisquick mix dough, or whatever I have on hand that is similar. Voila - instant pot pies! Two meals for the price of one, in my book. I am all for that! ;)
Hope that wasn't too confusing. I think I confused myself typing it. ;)
Those sound yummy! And I think I'm going to go out and buy a smaller crockpot rather than waiting until Christmas. Because my 6-qt crockpot invariably dries everything out. It's just too big for the amount of food I generally fix for a family of four (two of whom are small and whose appetites barely count on most days). I've been avoiding the crockpot recipes simply because I can't ever get anything to turn out not dry. :(
ReplyDeleteWe don't do salsa (we don't like tomatoes...tomato sauce is okay but nothing resembling a piece of tomato...or green pepper...). Are there are good ways to substitute those ingredients? I have to avoid so many recipes because tomatoes and green peppers are too popular. LOL
delicious ideas, Kelly!
ReplyDeletemmm...that ziti sounds good. that Megan K must really be something... ha!
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