I’m just about to make a bacon sandwich.
Fry bacon. Put on bread. Eat.
I was looking here trying to find something different to do for dinner, and then realized that I hadn’t made the recipe below for a while. I think I’ve solved my own problem. :smack:
Easy Spanish Rice
Brown ground beef (a pound or so) with chopped onion & other seasonings (I use garlic powder & Lowry’s seasoned salt here) in a LARGE skillet.
Once the beef is mostly browned, make a hole in the center (move all the beef out around the edges of the pan) & dump in 2/3 cup of uncooked rice (NOT minute rice or Uncle Ben’s, REAL rice.)
Brown it a little & mix it through the beef & onion mixture.
Then add a can of diced tomatoes (Red Gold does a really nice petite minced tomato.)
Stir those through & add a can of water.
Then season LIBERALLY with chili powder (I recommend Penzy’s medium heat, but you can make it as hot as you want) and maybe some more garlic powder, reduce the heat, COVER, and simmer for about 30 minutes or until rice is done & liquid is absorbed.
I suppose if you wanted to increase the heat factor, you could add a can of Ro-tel tomatoes & chilis instead of just the diced tomatoes, but the rest would be the same.
Serve & enjoy. 
Man, none of my fall-back meals are actually meals. I guess this is what happens when you live alone.
Most nights: raw spinach, crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese, basalmic vinegar.
Munchy nights: popcorn with olive oil and season salt.
If I’m feeling ambitious: bean “quesadillas”. Two tortillas, half a can of beans, a little sprinked cheese heated in the microwave and topped with light sour cream.
Not so much since I’ve been trying to lose weight, but my fallback used to be quiche. I’d keep a couple of whole-wheat pie crusts in the freezer. The basic recipe was:
5 eggs broken into a 2-cup measure with enough added to fill it to the 2 cup mark.
A couple of ounces of whatever cheese is available, grated.
A cup or so of sauteed vegetables (spinach, peppers, onions, mushrooms, whatever)
Minced ham (optional)
Combine, pour into pie shell and bake at 350 until browned and set.
I tend to buy a club pack of whatever chicken is cheap. I’ll bake that and thus have cooked chicken in the fridge, available for conversion to any number of quick and healthy meals.
[ul]
[li]Chicken burritos - take about a half pound of the cooked chicken out, add (yes, I’m evil, I use pre-packaged taco seasoning. I do buy it in bulk, though.) the taco seasoning, and water. While that simmers and reduces (about 15 minutes) I’ll cut up some lettuce, scallion tops, peppers if I have 'em, tomato (again if I have one) and spoon up a little sour cream. Oh, and take the shredded cheese and burrito tortilla out of the fridge, too. Fifteen minutes to a healthy meal. [/li][li]Chicken salad wraps - take about a half pound of the cooked chickenout, dice it. Add mayo, diced scallion bottoms, diced celery, some chopped broccoli if I feel like it. Put in burrito wraps, and mange. [/li][li]Improved Mac & Cheese - boil pasta per directions. When adding cheese sauce add about a half cup each of diced cooked chicken and salsa. [/li][li]Nachos. But I only do this if I’ve got refried beans already made up. And they aren’t exactly quick to make. [/li][/ul]
All told those make up about half my meals most weeks.
I will also make large, complicated dishes, with the intent of having left-overs. Chicken Paprika is good, and easy. The most time-consuming part is that I’ve chosen to make it a little less unhealthy: I skin the chicken, and bone most of it, too. (Drumsticks and thighs go in, but that’s all.)
Dhal.*
In one pan cook red lentils with water and curry powder till mushy.
In other pan fry onions and garlic in oil till soft.
Put more curry powder into the red lentils. And then some more. Add in some Thai sweet chili sauce (yes, sounds icky but works. At least for me). Add the soft onions. Switch off heat.
Chop some tomatos. Add those into the lentil mush whilst it is still hot so the tomatos are sort of half cooked through the residual heat. If I have it, some chopped spinach will go in at this stage also.
Dip up with pitta bread or nan bread. If you don’t have either, put in a bowl and eat with a spoon.
- Apologies to the Indian dopers complete lack of authenticity and finesse in the following recipe.
Broccoli stir-fry
- Put water on heat for boil-in-bag rice
- cut up chicken breast
- when water is boiling, add bag of rice, set timer for 10 minutes
- put chicken in (separate) pan, add a little oil, start cooking
- cut up broccoli, add to pan
- throw some cashews into pan
- add garlic powder/onion powder
- When chicken is nearly done, add chili sauce from chinese supermarket
- when rice is almost done add soy sauce to the chicken
- when rice is done, add rice to pan
- serves two, or me
I make a variation on this in the slow cooker. Pour a little bit of italian dressing on the bottom of the slow cooker. Throw the chicken breasts in the slow cooker along with sliced green and red peppers and baby carrots (if I’m being really fancy, I’ll add the veggies later so they’re crispier). Pour on more dressing. Leave for hours on end and then come home to an incredible smelling house!
- Get a large slab o’ steak (I like ribeye, myself.)
- Put a small amount of oil in a pan.
- Heat pan, and while doing so, sprinkle some kosher salt and adds TONS of fresh ground black pepper to meat
- Add meant to heat.
- Flip after a few minutes (dependso n size of steak. I got 3 minutes for about an inch thick steak, gets it medium rare.)
- When other side is done, put on plate, cover with foil.
- Keep pan on stove, and add some cream and dissolve all the stuck little brown bits
- Add garlic powder and TONS of fresh ground black pepper
- Take foil off steak, cover steak in black pepper garlic cream sauce.
The sauce also goes really well with a baked potato, but you need to have planned for that more than ten minutes in advance. 
My standby is an easy chili:
1 can Heinz Vegetarian Baked Beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 can corn (optional)
chili powder to taste
Open each can, drain the kidney and garbanzo beans and the corn, dump contents of can into big pot. Add chili powder. Simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If I’m up to it, I’ll saute peppers, onions, mushrooms, and/or tofu in the pot before I pour in the various cans.
Here’s an easy quick jambalaya:
1 small onion
1 small green pepper
1/4 tbsp red cayenne pepper (hot-ish. use 1/8 for not so hot)
1/4 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tbsp powdered thyme
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1.5 pounds give or take of any kind of sausage, shrimp, any combination thereof
1.5 cups instant rice
brown the meat, chop up the veggies, dump everything in a saucepan or large skillet, heat it so it’s bubbling, then turn down to low simmer, stir once in a while, should be ready in 20 minutes or so.
It’s enough for two people to get stuffed on.
One thing I do when I can remember is dump in the tomatoes and chicken broth first, then add the spices so I can stir it up and everything is nicely distributed. I don’t know if it really makes that big a difference, though.
That’s very, very much like my “fall-back” meal, only mine’s “Southeastern” instead of “Southwestern.”
Red Rice:
Onions
Bacon, smoked sausage, or other smoked pork – sliced into bite-size pieces
Rice
Water
Canned, diced tomatoes (unless I have fresh tomatoes that need to be used – can use all fresh, all canned, or a combination of the two.)
Salt, pepper, other seasonings – to taste
Brown onions and meat in a large skillet or wide, shallow pot with lid
Add rice, and brown lightly
Add 2 cups water per cup of rice
Add tomatoes, salt (amount varies – usually about 1/2 tsp. per cup of rice, since other ingredients are pretty salty,) and other seasonings (or not – doesn’t really require more, but I like a bit of cayenne in mine.)
Cover pot, and simmer for 20 minutes or so. (That usually gives me plenty of time to fix a pan of cornbread.)
Obviously, not a recipe with really precise measurements, but it’s pretty cheap, flexible, quick, and not ridiculously unhealthy.
Even quicker and easier, and one my kids actually look forward to:
Canned, condensed tomato soup – prepare according to package directions
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Marginally healthier than letting the kids eat cookies and potato chips for dinner!
I have a lot of different meals I like to make, but when we’re both feeling like cooking without taking more than 5 minutes to prepare stuff, we grill a couple of steaks and some zucchini spears. Sometimes I’ll grill thick slices of onion as well. Delicious!
Mine involves the use of a rice cooker, which might not help some people.
Ahead of time, I stock up on these ingredients:
Box of rice mix (Zatarain’s Jambalaya, Dirty Rice, spanish rice, whatever)
Kielbasa
Canned chicken broth
frozen veg mixes
Put the rice mix in the rice cooker, add a can of chicken broth and a can of water, stir it up.
Chop up a kielbasa, add it and the frozen vegetables to the rice cooker.
Fire that sucker up and when the rice is done, you’ve got dinner.
Thanks for the ideas! I was wondering what to make for dinner tonight. I’m still wondering but I’ve got some new ideas.
My quick and easy fall back meal is Sausage and peppers.
1 Package Italian Sausage links (sweet or hot, turkey or not whatever’s cheap)
1 Large yellow onion
1 Large Green Pepper.
Brown the sausage on all sides then add 1 cup of water and let it cook in the water for 15 minutes or so.
While that’s happening cut up the onion and pepper and saute in EVOO until wilted.
That’s it. It’s cheap, quick and filling. (and low cal if you use turkey sausage)
Lobster risotto - really tasty and it only has three ingredients.
You need a jar of RiceSelect Risotto Italian-style rice and a jar of Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon lobster base. And some butter or oil.
Heat a cup of the rice in some butter or oil in a big pan. When it’s hot, add a cup of hot water. Add a big spoonful of lobster base. Stir until the water’s almost absorbed and add a second cup of hot water. Stir until that water’s almost absorbed and add a third cup. Stir until it’s absorbed and eat.
Honey mustard onions - four ingredients this time
Chop up some white onions in big chunks. Fry them in butter until they start to get soft. Pour in some water (about a quarter inch) and let them steam awhile. When the water’s almost gone, spoon in some honey and Gulden’s brown mustard. Stir everything up and let it fry another minute or two. Serve and eat.
Kinda Curry:
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Throw some butter and oil in a pan. Add a few tablespoons of curry powder. Stir it around and cook it up a bit.
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Add some chicken and onions. Let the chicken cook through.
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Add three cans of Cream of Mushroom soup and a chopped up bell pepper.
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When the onion and pepper is cooked through, ladle some on rice and eat!
(My curry-hating man loves it!)
I’ll either throw whatever grain/vegetable/meat is handy into the rice cooker along with some stock (canned or frozen) or I’ll do something with eggs, which I always have around. Scrambled eggs with spam, a fried egg sandwich, a frittata with whatever is lying around (leftover veggies or meat or mushrooms or cheese), or what I’m planning to do tonight after work- saute some onions and mushrooms in olive oil, maybe throw in some curry powder, add some leftover bechamel sauce (easy to make) that’s in the frig. along with chopped hardboiled egg then pour the mess over some toast slices.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou gave me the following meal suggestion, which has turned out to be a life saver for a non-cook like myself:
[ul]
[li]Ground turkey[/li][li]Low fat feta cheese (mozzarella works too)[/li][li]Egg substitute (equivalent to one egg)[/li][li]Jerk sauce, barbeque sauce, whatever (optional)[/li][/ul]
Mix ingredients throughly. Flatten out into a patty and cook in the oven at 375F until done - usua;ly around 20 minutes. Enjoy!
One of my favorites… very filling and extremely tasty. And you can put your own “add-ons” to your own taste (crushed tortilla chips, more cheese, hot sauce, onions, etc.)
Chicken & Salsa soup
1 ¾ cup water
1 14-oz can chicken broth
½ lb. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp chili powder
1 11-oz can whole kernel corn with sweet peppers (sometimes called Mexicorn), drained
1 cup chunky garden-style salsa
crumbled tortilla chips
shredded Monterey jack cheese (if desired)
Combine water, broth, chicken & chili powder in a 3-quart saucepan. Bring to boiling then reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add corn, simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Stir in salsa and heat through. Garnish with chips and cheese.
NOTE: I always double this recipe just because it’s a royal pain to split a package of chicken breast into a half-pound portion. Plus it freezes very well and makes a lot, so you’ve got tons or lunches or light dinners for a while.