Share your easy, tasty, fall-back meal that you make every week (or two)

Cafe Society
1

Every week or two I go to the grocery store and I always get the necessary stuff to make “Diosa’s Patented White Girl Fajitas.” The food is tasty, easy, cheap to make, and you can make a ton and eat off of it all week.

For your enjoyment, here is the recipe (it should be noted that I am a terrible cook, but even I can make these).

Stuff you need:

1 big onion- chopped into strips (I’ve found yellow onion works best)
4 med-large bell peppers- chopped into strips (whatever colors you want or happen to be on sale)
1 large chicken breast sliced into strips/cubes (or you can get the presliced breasts on sale in the meat department)
A few cloves of garlic
A can of refried beans
Burrito-sized tortillas
Cheddar cheese

Start out be heating some olive oil in a large pan. Chop up some garlic and let it sautee a bit. Throw in your chicken and I like to season at this point with some cumin, pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic powder. Brown the chicken and remove from the pan, set aside.

At this point, you may need to add some more oil. Throw in the onions and let them soften (I really know absolutely no cooking terms :D); I like to let my onions turn a little brown or even start to get a little crisp.

Toss in your bell peppers. I’ve found the best way to cook the peppers is to cover the whole mess for a few minutes-- the peppers will stay firm but still taste fresh.

Take out your tortilla, add some beans, a little cheese and stick it in the microwave to heat/melt everything. Put a few pieces of chicken and scoop on the veggies. Top with sour cream.

You can also swap out the tortillas, sour cream, and cheddar and add a pita, feta, and some good olive oil.

What is the recipe you make almost weekly because it is a: good, b: cheap, and c: easy.

2

DiosaBellissima, yours is a little complicated for me. Including the spices, you’ve got like 15 ingredients. Here’s mine (3 ingredients):

Doritos (I prefer Original)
Old El Paso taco sauce (I prefer the spicy)
Shredded mozzarella cheese

  1. Lay the Doritos out in a flat pan (try to use only the flat Doritos)
  2. With a teaspoon, place a decent amount of taco sauce on each chip (try not to get any on the pan; this will prevent sloppiness and prevent intermingling of the chips).
  3. Place a few shreds of mozzarella onto the taco sauce on each chip (again, try not to allow the cheese to spread outside the chip.
  4. Microwave to melt most of the cheese.

Takes no more than 3 minutes to prepare. Enjoy!

3

My “Oh, gee, look, I failed to plan a mean for tonight” meal:

Rice & beans.
Random vegetable from the freezer.

I always have brown rice on hand. I always have dried beans on hand. I have a pressure cooker. Mwah ha ha. Rice and beans in 45 minutes. There’s always some kind of vegetable in the freezer that can be nuked. Voila: it is complete protein, it is whole grain, it is vegetable.

The rices and beanses can be accessorized with whatever happens to be lurking in the fridge or the pantry: salsa, sour cream, shredded/crumbled/grated cheese, recaito, Tabasco sauce, soy sauce, ajvar, chutney, a drizzle of good oil (extra virgin olive oil, sesame, walnut oil) . . .

4

Find yourself a goodly amount of precooked, peeled shrimp and eat it with an avocado. Add some wasabi from a tube, if you’d like, and some soy sauce.

It’s an instant sushi fix. Damn, I may make that tonight…

5

I imagine mine sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. You don’t have to use the spices and you can use whatever you have on hand.

Maybe it is easy for me because I always have the cheese, tortillas, and beans on hand. All I pick up is the onion, bell pepper, and chicken.

6

Roast Chicken

Get a whole chicken.
Cut up 1 stick of butter and shove under skin of chicken.
Sprinkle with a few spices (Thyme, basil, oregano, dill, etc.)
Cut up a lemon and a few cloves of celery and stick them in the cavity.

Roast at the highest temperature your oven goes to (mine goes up to 500) until skin is golden brown, the juices run clear when punctured, the drumsticks wiggle, and a thermometer poked in reads 170 degF (about an hour, usually).

7

I bake potatoes. Much like Mitch Hedberg (man, I’ve been quoting him a lot lately. Must be channelling him or something. Damn I miss him).

Baked potatoes are awesome. If I look up at the clock and I see my husband will be home in under an hour, I preheat the oven to 400, wash and poke a couple of potatoes, then just throw them in there. When my husband gets home, I tell him suppoer will be done in about ten minutes, and I look like a damn genius. Put whatever the hell you want on it when it’s done, I’ve got fat free sour cream, cheese, that funny spray butter that actually tastes like butter and has no fat or calories or whatever, green onions, salt and pepper, there’s salsa and bacon bits around here somewhere. All good stuff. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll find some canned vegetables and heat them up in the microwave or on the stovetop for a couple of minutes. There’s often leftover chicken or ham around here, so if he wants some meat, just heat that up, too. Me, I’m happy with just the baked potato.

If I’m really dragging my ass, I heat up some canned soup and make a simple lunch meat sandwich to go with it.

If I’m flat out lazy, my recipe involves the telephone and the local Thai delivery service.

8

I wouldn’t serve it to guests, but I make a couple of cheap simple meals rather often. I guess they evolved into fall-backs when my boy kept requesting. I always buy kielbasa when it’s on sale, so there’s always some in the freezer.

Day 1: slice half the package of kielbasa into diagonal thin pieces, throw in skillet with about 3/4 cup bbq sauce, 1/3 cup honey and 1/2 cup water. Well, mix that up in the skillet first, then add the slices, less messy that way. Stir to coat and cook over a medium heat until the sauce cooks down and gets all sticky and yummy. Serve with whichever vegetable is handy and a rice or noodley Lipton type side dish.

Day 2: In medium pot, boil carrots, potatoes, cabbage and remaining kielbasa. I’ve always got carrots and potatoes on hand, so if we’re out of cabbage no biggie.

Neither takes much time and they’re good ‘not too much leftovers’ meals for two.

9

I rip off a hunk of bread, rip of a chunk of cheese, smush them togethere and then dip the tip of it in tomatoe sauce every few bites.

:dubious: What do you mean that isn’t a healthy meal?

10

I’ve got lots of basil growing in my garden, so I make my own pesto. If I need a quick meal I just boil a bit of pasta, then add some pesto and some cheese.

11

Here’s one that I’ll make if I’m feeling REALLY lazy. It’s easy, cheap and quick.
It’s just a quickie meal that I’d NEVER serve guests! This is just something that the family likes and it’s really easy to throw together on those days when I’m so lazy I don’t feel like, nor want, to put any effort into cooking.

Creamed Chicken (Or Turkey) On Biscuits

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
3 C. Chicken (or turkey) - cooked and cubed
1 can Mushrooms - drained and diced
1/2 C. Sour Cream
1/2 C. Milk
1 small Onion - minced
1 Tbsp. Parsley flakes
1 Tbsp. Garlic powder

  • Add soup, milk and sour cream into a large saucepan and mix well.

  • Add chicken, mushrooms, parsley and garlic powder and stir well.

  • Season to taste (I add salt and pepper, too)

  • Cook on low heat until thickened and bubbly. STIR OFTEN!

*Serve over prepared biscuits

12

stew and dumplings, thus:

-Fry some meat or sausages
-Tip off and reserve the fat, add onions, pepper, carrots, celery plus whatever else is to hand.
-Add some stock
-Make dumplings with self-raising flour, the fat from the meat, herbs and milk, place in top of pan
-Cover and simmer.

13

We have several, because I like to eat whole foods, but I work a lot of long hours. My rule for cooking - no more than 30 minutes, no more than 2 pots!

  1. Spinach Quesadillas - package of frozen spinach, 1/2 can low fat cream of mushroom soup, onions, garlic, whatever else I feel like (black olives, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pine nuts), cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, a little low fat cheese, whole wheat tortillas. Takes less than 15 minutes.

  2. Stir fry - when really pushed (usually I like to buy fresh produce for stir fry) - package of frozen veggies, tofu, onion, garlic, stir fry sauce, over brown rice, takes 30 min (to make the rice).

  3. Pizza - whole wheat crust, tasty pasta sauce, sun dried tomato, spinach leaves, black olives, feta - 20 minutes or less

  4. Veggie tacos - frozen veggie crumbles (browned), salsa, black olives, spinach leaves, cheese, whole wheat tortillas - 20 minutes or less

  5. Mediterranean pasta - saute canned tomato, onions, garlic, sun dried tomato, artichoke hearts, black olives, spices, add cooked whole wheat pasta (penne or rotini). 20 minutes or less

14

My lazy fallback meal:

Spaghetti (cooked al dente)
Minced garlic sauteed in butter
Grated Parmesan
Sprinkle of basil, scattering of ground black pepper, smidge of salt

It is incredibly simple and cheap, but hubby loves it madly, and he doesn’t have to know how easy it is. :wink:

15

I don’t make this every week. It is a good fallback meal, though, because the only fresh ingredient it requires is onions (which keep for a couple of weeks, at least, and we usually have them). It also dirties only one pot.

Maryland Flag Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:
1 large can or 2 normal-sized cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of white beans (any kind) or garbanzo beans)
1 can of kidney beans (dark or light) or pinto beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn (Mexicorn with the peppers in it is nice, but regular corn is fine too)
Beef, chicken, or vegetable stock (made from powdered bullion, of course)
1 sliced onion
Oil for sauteeing onion
Chili powder
Ground cumin (optional)
A splash of tequila (optional)

Use a large nonstick pot. Saute the onion in the pot. You can stop when it’s translucent, or caramelize it a little, if you have the time and energy.

Combine all canned ingredients in pot with onions. Mix.

Add stock until the chili is as thick or soupy as you like it.

Add chili powder until it’s as spicy as you like it. Add cumin and tequila, if you’re using those. Taste repeatedly until it seems good to you.

Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer (usually setting 3 or 4 on the big burner of our stove, yours may vary). You can eat it now, or simmer it as long as you want. Mr. Neville says it’s better if you simmer it longer, but I can’t really taste much difference.

Sprinkle on crumbled tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and/or sour cream (if you’ve got them) at the table.

Note: It’s called Maryland Flag Chili because the colors of the Maryland flag are red, white, gold, and black. If you want to leave out the white or black beans, or the corn, it will probably still be good, but it won’t be Maryland Flag Chili.

16
  1. Light grill
  2. Procure big-ass steak
  3. Place potato in oven to bake. (Anastaseon, my kindred soul…)
  4. When potato is nearly done, rub steak with garlic and black pepper. Generously.
17

Crap, never meant to hit submit…

  1. Drop steak onto grill. wait. Flip steak over.
  2. Slather potato with butter, sour cream, salt and bacon bits. it’s all good healthy food, trust me.
18

Grilled cheese sandwiches - take really good sourdough bread, spread thin layer of mayo or any spread, sprinkle really good Parmesan on bread, use really good American or Swiss cheese inside, grill the sides with mayo/Parmesan until golden or darker if desired. Serve with beer and soup, or beer cheese soup. Enjoy!

19

Big-Ass Salad

1 pound bag of baby spinach leaves
1 pound bag of cheapo iceberg lettuce w/ carrots, red cabbage
2 sliced radishes
1 half Vidalia onion, sliced
1 half each of green, red and yellow bell peppers, sliced
2 cubed tomatoes
1 whole cucumber, sliced
pepper & oregano to taste (over tomatoes and cucumbers)
chopped chives
whole black olives
sliced green olives

Toss above ingredients. Store in large airtight container. Chill.

Served with warm bread and cold chicken and your favorite salad dressing.

This will usually feed three people for two or three days. Or just me for two or three days if I don’t feel like sharing.

20

very quick and quite tasty

buy caesar salad in a bag
buy a chicken breast
marinade chicken in garlic powder, spice mix (like Emeril’s), and caesar salad dressing for a half an hour–I also like to add tabasco or cayenne
light grill, grill chicken
slice and put on top of salad (after washing the “pre-washed” salad
top with caesar dressing, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese