It’s even easier if you buy a bag of cole slaw. I had this tonight with one pound Italian sausage, one pound ground chuck. I add five-spice blend and a few shakes of soy sauce and it’s good to go in fifteen minutes.
We call it eggroll filling. Perfect for low-carbing.
Take half an avocado, spread it over a couple of slices of toast, grind some pepper on it and throw in a couple of slices of ham. Easiest lunch ever.
Decent and pretty authentic Thai curry is really easy to make, if you have the right ingredients (which I often do, but substitute ingredients added in square brackets):
Fry 1/2 lb chopped chicken breast with 1 chopped shallot [or 1/2 chopped onion]
Add 1 tbsp of your favourite Thai curry paste
Smother with nam pla (fish sauce) and boil off
Splash with Maggi seasoning sauce [or soy]
Add 2" of lemongrass
2" of chopped galangal [or stem ginger]
1 kaffir lime leaf [or 2 tsps lime juice]
Pour in 1 can coconut milk
Add 2 tsp sugar
Simmer for 20 mins. That’s it - and it tastes amazing.
Simple Baked Ziti
Brown 1/2 to 1 lb. of hamburg or ground turkey with a little chopped onion and garlic; stir in a jar of marinara sauce. Boil and drain 8 oz. of ziti or similar pasta. Mix it all together, put in a baking dish, top with cheese and throw it in the oven until the cheese is bubbly.
Jazz it up any way you like–different cheeses, hot sauce, veggies in addition to or instead of meat–very forgiving and satisfying.
I’ve often discounted using cole slaw fixings (shredded cabbage in a bag), figuring it wouldn’t have the same texture as what I was used too. But I might (probably will) give it a go based on your post.
Penne
Really good cheddar chopped up
Tomato sauce or just plain whole tomatoes chopped
Cook pasta. Throw pasta in microwave with cheddar and tomato sauce for two minutes.
Caesar Salad with Canned Tuna
I use a bagged caesar salad and add:
- a squirt of lemon juice
- fresh ground black pepper
- some parmesan cheese
- some bacon salt
- a can of drained tuna (it might sound weird, but a traditional caesar salad should have anchovies in it - the tuna goes very well with caesar salad).
Serve with a crusty bread and butter. The longest part of making this meal is cutting open all the little bags of lettuce, croutons, and dressing. 
Pasta with Canned Spaghetti Sauce and Meat
Boil your pasta.
Brown half a pound of ground beef (you can toss some chopped onion in with it if you like).
Add the drained browned beef to a pot of canned spaghetti sauce - heat until bubbling.
Serve over any pasta you like.
You can also add frozen vegetables like peas or broccoli to the sauce, if you think you should eat a few veggies once in awhile.
I usually get two meals for two out of this if I use a big can of sauce - just put half of the meat sauce in the freezer. It takes a bit longer to brown the hamburger than just dumping sauce in a pan, but the result is immensely better than plain jarred sauce.
I just made a plateful of these for our office shared lunch and they were a huge hit. Thanks, Hazle!
Get yourself a crockpot if you don’t have one already! Get yourself a rice cooker if you don’t have one already!
Then read this blog - http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ It’s a year of Crockpotting! She has made something new in her crockpot every day this year.
Potato side dish:
Crash Potatoes
4 small red potatoes, nuked until done, about 5 minutes.
Cut an x in the tops and smoosh down a little, and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375-425° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, chopped green onions, bacon bits - whatever you like. Tonight I baked some garlic cloves with the paper until they were done - then peel the cloves and eat with the taters.
Baked Salmon with Lemon Slices is good with this. Bake salmon with slice lemon under and over salmon pieces. Season with salt and lemon pepper. Bake at 375° about 15-20 minutes until done.
Wow! I am bookmarking this thread. I’m like the OP in that I am kinda lazy and not all that knowledgeable about cooking. I do like to use my crock pot, though. Thanks for all the recipes everyone.
Bachelor sweet & sour:
Chop up an onion, fry till it starts turning transparent.
Add sliced chicken breast, fry till it’s starting to get done.
Pour orange juice into the pan till it reaches the top of the pieces of chicken breast.
Simmer till it’s reduced to your taste.
Add salt & pepper to taste.
Serve over rice or pasta.
Chicken Divan
In a bowl, mix condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup with 1/4 to 1/3 cup mayo or Miracle Whip and salt and pepper to taste.
Steam cut up broccoli until just slightly cooked and line the bottom of a glass baking dish with it.
Lay boneless, skinless chicken breasts on top of broccoli and pour soup/mayo mixture over the chicken and broccoli to cover.
Bake uncovered for 30 - 40 minutes at 350º
When done, sprinkle the top with seasoned Italian breadcrumbs and put under the broiler for a few minutes until the top is browned and crunchy.
Serve over egg noodles
Very simple with a short list of ingredients - but use the freshest and best that you can find!
Ingredients are:
[ul]
[li]1/3 cup olive oil (I have found Pomace Oil the best for cooking - higher smoke point)[/li][li]Four 1/2 inch thick top sirloin streaks about 6 oz each[/li][li]2 cloves garlic[/li][li]4 anchovy fillets (optional)[/li][li]1 cup dry white wine[/li][li]2 cups canned imported San marzano tomatoes or 2 cups of Pomi Strained tomatoes[/li][li]1/3 cup loosely packed fresh oregano[/li][li]Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste[/li][/ul]
Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Add the meat and cook for 1-2 minutes per side depending on your preference for doneness. Remove meat and place on platter.
Add garlic and anchovies to the skillet but be forewarned that it will only take approximately 20-30 seconds to brown before adding the wine (I often use Sweet Marsala - Florio or La Gola and BTW try a sip of this by itself as it is an incredible fortified sweet wine). Reduce the wine in half (3 to 4 minutes). Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. The classic recipe calls for the immediate addition of the steaks and their juices and further cooking for 1-2 minutes before serving but I prefer to let the tomatoe mixture simmer for up to 10-15 minutes before adding the steaks. In either case, add the oregano at the same time the steaks are reintroduced to the pan. Serve immediately!
Take a fresh fig - cut in half, sandwich a thin slice of Parmesan (or other sharp cheese) in the middle, and then wrap with a slice of prosciutto. Eat, then repeat with remaining figs.
Serve with a glass of wine, some crusty bread, a handful of oil-cured black olives and a good book, and call it dinner.
The worlds easiest and fastest cheese enchiladas.
1 can of enchilada sauce.
Corn chips
shredded cheese
Heat sauce over stove and pour into a bowl. Add chips and shredded cheese.
Put bowl in microwave and heat until cheese melts.
By the end of microwaving some of the chips will be all mushy and some will still be crunchy like the tortillas in enchiladas.
I discovered this miracle of nature one day when I wanted to make nachos but I was out of salsa and decided to use the enchilada suace instead.
In two sentences or less and 5 minutes to prepare:
Make couscous (plain, season yourself, or box of flavored) add cooked chicken (again, makes yourself, leftovers are great, or buy precooked strips) peas, carrots, whatever other veggies you like. Heat until everything is hot.
I bring this for lunch to work a lot, tossing in frozen peas and carrots in the morning and just microwaving until warm.
Call it Chilaquiles! That’s what the “authentic style” Mexican place at school does, except you get it with a meat topping and crema.
Speaking of Mexican food, my new favorite is home made refried beans.
2 cans of cooked pinto beans
oil
Heat the oil, dump in the beans undrained, mash gently with a fork or potato masher, and stir occasionally until they reach the desired consistency (10-15 minutes).
Serve on a tostada or with chips, topped with shredded lettuce, sour cream, and hot sauce.
(I wondered what I was doing wrong for a long time with refried beans, and it was listening to online recipes that said add lard, pepper, onions, garlic, cumin, or other spices. My Mexican client says just beans and oil. She’s right.)