Ideas on easy food to cook?

Question

Me and my fella need a few ideas on what to cook. He would happily live of microwave meals for the rest of his life but I would rather starve! So we frequently end up arguing in the supermarket and going home with nothing purely because I won't eat microwave meals but I cant think of any ideas of what to make otherwise. It needs to be fairly simple as we both work long late hours. Even if you don't have a recipe just ideas would be a great help I can look up a recipe myself.

Thanks in advance..

Answer 1

STUFFED PEPPERS (MICROWAVE)  

8 med. bell peppers

1 lb. pork sausage

1 1/2 c. onion, chopped

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, chopped

1 (6 oz.) pkg. herb seasoned stuffing mix

1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream

2 c. fresh tomato, chopped

1 (10 1/2 oz.) can tomato soup

1/4 c. water

2 tsp. Mrs. Dash seasoning

Cut tops off green peppers and remove seeds; set aside. Crumble sausage into 2 1/2 quart microwave casserole dish. Add chopped onion and mushrooms and stir well. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; fold back a small edge of plastic wrap to allow steam to escape.

Microwave on high 7 to 8 minutes or until sausage is browned; stirring once. Drain well; set aside. Add stuffing mix, including the seasoning packet, and sour cream, stir well. Add tomato and stir gently.

Stuff peppers with sausage mixture and place in a lightly greased 12x8x2 inch baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients; mix well and pour over peppers. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; fold back small edge for steam to escape. Microwave on high 20 to 22 minutes; turning dish a half turn after 10 minutes.

Answer 2

Here's a couple of things you might want to pick up at the grocery store.

For breakfast, get a loaf of bread. A good bread, the kind that isn't already sliced. Slice a thin layer and toast it in the oven if you don't have a toaster that is handy. In a frying pan, make a sunny side up egg but fold the sides. When you get the toast out, place a small piece of prosciutto or ham or whichever meat you choose, then place some spinach leaves. Add the egg, some truffle oil, and ground pepper and you've got a full breakfast sandwich. You can buy some frozen Potatoes O'Brien and fry that up in a couple of minutes.

For dinner, you can try different things. I make "poor man's stew". You take a pot, boil some rotelle or macaroni, pour out half the water when it's almost done cooking, add chicken stock. Add cut up pieces of hot links, cauliflower, baby carrots from the bag, mushrooms, and any other vegetables  you might have in the fridge. Let this boil about 5-10 minutes, add hot sauces and you've got a great soup.

Sometimes when time is short because my boyfriend and I work two jobs, I make packaged foods like macaroni and cheese but I add things like hot dogs and chicken pieces.

One quick thing that gets a good response is chicken pot pie. It's not as hard as it sounds. At the store you get bisquick, a bag of frozen veggies, a rotisserie chicken, and a can of mushroom soup. For one dinner you can eat the rotisserie chicken and some veggies but with the leftover I often get a baking pan, fill it with veggies and chicken and the can of mushroom soup, then I go make the bisquick mix per the directions and spread it on top. Bake it till the bisquick is nice and golden (normally 20-30 minutes depending on how thick your "crust" is) and it comes out piping hot and ready to eat.

If you make pretty good money, go to the store, buy some crabs. Clean them up, throw them in a pot with some corn, potatoes, and shrimp if you like, melt butter in a bowl in the microwave and you have a crab pot.

Answer 3

Pasta with sauce and garlic bread. That's a fave in our house when I'm short of time, and takes max 10mins for the bread to warm through in the oven and the pasta to boil.

Answer 4

Firstly, get him to read the labels on his ready meals and check out any unfamiliar ingredients on Wikipedia. He may need a stiff drink afterwards.

As for recipes, we all have to start somewhere ...

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Enough for spaghetti for 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic

2 onions

1 tablespoon of olive oil

500g of minced beef

400g tin of plum tomatoes*

1 beef stock cube

2 teaspoons of oregano or mixed herbs

Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion. Fry the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Put the meat into the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring all the time. By this time, it should have broken up and be an even colour, with no pink bits.

Open the tin of tomatoes. Pour the juice into the pan. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan).

Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan. Crumble the stock cube into the pan. Add the herbs. Season with the pepper. Mix thoroughly. Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, until the sauce has reduced.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use minced lamb, pork or turkey instead of minced beef.

Add a glass of wine and cook for a bit longer. Drink the glass of wine and cook for the same time.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

TIPS

Always “take the pasta to the sauce”. Put the cooked pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir together until thoroughly coated.

* Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole.

PS. Don't knock beans on toast.

Answer 5

Try beans on toast

Answer 6

u dont hav to eat microwave food, u can get chicken or sumthing fry it and add pastes or the packet mixes that are in jars and stuff, (curry pastes, patak's) that way u can add your own vegetables and stuff, to make it healthier.

theres always pasta so u can add a tin of tomatoes, tomato and garlic purees, herbs to make a simple pasta sauce

Answer 7

teriyaki fish - buy a fillet of salmon, marinade it in a mix of soy sauce and brown sugar with a teaspoon of vinegar for a few hours, then plop into a frying pan for a few minutes each side and its done, so simple

Answer 8

Pasta & Cheese - So Lovely

Rice

Pizza - Get from ASDA

Microwave Pizza's, Chip's

Answer 9

I'm a huge crock pot person - I love mine.  You can make anything in it, set everything up in 10 min before work, let it cook while you're working, then when you get home, dinner is ready.

I've made pulled pork, bbq chicken, pork loin, soups, chili, sauce, I even roast turkey breast in mine.

Invest in one, and you'll never eat microwave meals again!

Answer 10

I like to cook ahead on weekends, and then freeze the meals for easy prep when you get home.  I do spaghetti, beef stew, enchilada casserole, actually, any kind of casserole.  You can add a bagged salad or veggie if you want.  Basically, anything you can buy in a microwave meal you can cook yourself!

Answer 11

buy prepared chinese veg stir fry,chicken b*****s need  to be  cubed and sprinkled with a spoonful of 5 spice and soy sauce and cook in wok for 5 mins add veg for 2 mins,boil kettle pour in pan add egg noodles cook for 3 mins. plate up ......delicious

Answer 12

You can always make stuff ahead of time and put it in the fridge to take out and reheat when you get home. Some things taste better after sitting a day or two in fridge like spaghetti, lasagne, meatloaf, baked ziti, any kind of soup will taste good out of freezer or fridge.  Just have bags of salad in fridge ready to go with it, and red wine and you'll feel like you are dining in a fine restaurant.

Answer 13

ground hamburger meat can be used to make several casseroles and one skillet meals-like hamburger helper but home made.  Casseroles made ahead of time and frozen are good they are alot like frozen dinners, but at least they are home made.  Spaghetti is also easy and quick, just cook you noodles and add some mushrooms, diced tomatoes, meat, and whatever veggies and seasonings you like to the sauce.  Sometimes baked chicken works good.  Put it in the fridge seasoned or in a marinade before you go to work, then when you get home first thing throw that in the oven and let it cook while you are taking a shower, doing the kids homework, or whatever else.  it is easy and doest require tending to so when you get done your dinner is ready.  Just use canned veggies or bags or rice or noodles for the side and they can be done in the microwave, or in the pan with the chicken in the oven.  The crock pot idea is a wonderful one also.  You can get crock pot recipes and do just anything you can imagine in them even desserts.  Just get you a bunch of cookbooks and pick some recipes together or get a recipe for his favorite tv dinner meal and when he sees howmuch better it is home made maybe it will change his mind.

Answer 14

Pulled Chicken

boil three chicken b*****s for six minutes in microwave (test to be certain cooked thoroughly), allow them to cool, then use a fork to shred the chicken into a bowl. Smother with a 12 oz bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce. Makes great sandwiches for days. You can freeze it, toss it in the fridge and re-heat and have on hamburger buns or in a bowl with a fork. Awesome and easy.

Quesadillas

heat 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat, place one flour tortilla in the skillet for two minutes, flip the tortilla over when it has browned on one side. Cover half the tortilla with shredded cheese, (you can also add salsa and/or shredded cooked chicken if you like). Flip the empty half of the tortilla over the filling and allow to brown for one minute. flip this over and let the last section brown for 30 seconds. when cheese is melted your quesadilla is ready to cut and serve. Cut with a pizza cutter, serve with a dollop of sour cream.