What's your No-Fail Quick Dinner Recipe?

[whitestripe]

I was recently reading a magazine where it listed all the staff members no-fail quick dinner recipes, and a lot of them were really great. I was thinking that savingadvicers would probably have a lot of great (and cheap) recipes that they keep stock in the pantry for. The reason I'm asking is because I want to develop some of my own for when we move into our new home.

Currently these are some of my quick no fail/no thinking recipes:

green/red curry (rice, frozen or fresh assorted vegetables, coconut milk & curry paste)
baked bean & cheese toasted sandwhiches (bread, cheese, baked beans)
laksa (rice noodles, laksa paste, coconut milk, assorted vegetables)
pesto pasta (pesto paste, spaghetti, assorted vegetables to bake or sautee)

any recipes will be welcome!

[kork13]

- Pasta. I make a homemade tomato sauce and freeze it in ice cube trays to keep it around and readily available.
- I'm always a fan of "breakfast dinners", where we do pancakes or french toast or something like that....
- I try to keep potatoes, various frozen vegetables, broths, frozen stew beef, and some other stuff around so that I can make soups/stews fairly simply.
- Lastly, I keep some frozen chicken and plenty of rice about as well, good for curries, stir-fry, or honey ginger chicken (one of my family's... love this one, actually had it last night).

I consider anything I can go from start to finish in less than ~30 minutes (or frzn to finished in ~1 hr) to be "quick no fail"... But then, that's pretty much most of my cooking anyway, so I could just keep on listing various things... ^_^ I love to cook, does it show?

[disneysteve]

Just about all meals we make are ready in 30 minutes or less but if you're asking what I'll throw together when no advanced plans were made, I'd say grilled veggies and a side like brown rice or pasta or a seasoned package mix like cous cous or rice pilaf thing.

[PrincessPerky]

tuna with vinegar, corn and peas...not really a meal, but all items the kids love, and all healthy.

[GREENBACK]

I have a Wok and usually keep stir fry ingredients on hand. I really like to cook this way and we love chinese food so works well. Most stir fry recipes take minutes if you prepare the ingredients ahead.

[GREENBACK]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

tuna with vinegar, corn and peas...not really a meal, but all items the kids love, and all healthy.

So how exactly does "tuna with vinegar" taste. I've never heard of that. Maybe I'm reading that wrong.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Frozen pizza? I love fresh pizza and bread but I keep a box of frozen pizzas on hand.

[disneysteve]

Quesadillas. Grill some veggies and throw them on a tortilla with cheese. Brown on both sides. Cut up and serve with salsa.

[whitestripe]

Originally Posted by GREENBACK

So how exactly does "tuna with vinegar" taste. I've never heard of that. Maybe I'm reading that wrong.

i would say it tastes like tuna and vinegar. funny that!

[whitestripe]

oh i forgot another one i make sometimes, grilled salmon with rice and soy sauce and slices of a fruit and salad vegetable (usually tomato, cucumber and orange) and sprinkled with fresh herbs. really simple but delicious.

[GREENBACK]

A couple more favorites are Tacos and Fajitas. Very simple and tasty.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by whitestripe

i would say it tastes like tuna and vinegar. funny that!

Yeah that would be my best guess, I don't eat it, but my husband does, and all the kids do.

Balsamic vinegar if we have it.

Open can, drain juice, pour in vinegar..all done..speed to beat 'fast food'.

By the time you open the cans, the veggies you put in the microwave first will be done.

[GREENBACK]

I wasn't thinking of balsamic vinegar so that sounds a little better.

[cptacek]

Brown some hamburger, drain the grease, add in a can of cream of mushroom soup and let that sit while you make some biscuits. Put the hamburger / soup on top of the biscuits and sprinkle with tobasco sauce

[sheridan15926]

My kids love a dish I came up with many, many years ago called, 'Pizza Noodles". I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this recipe, but it's a "go to" meal for the family when I'm in a hurry, too tired to really cook, or my son requests it.

1 box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese (we use the 2% Velveeta Shells and Cheese, but any mac and cheese will do)
1 small jar of spaghetti sauce (we use Ragu)
1/2 lb. or so of pre-cooked ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken..whatever)

Cook the noodles as directed, drain them, and put them back in the pot. Add cheese sauce (or dry cheese packet if you are using the regular type of Mac and Cheese) and spaghetti sauce, and stir well until it is heated all the way through. Add a side salad or raw veggies/dip, or some heated canned veggies and you've got a quick and nutritious meal.

[KTP]

The recipe for chicken pie I stole from my mom.

Not super quick since it requires an hour to bake and you need to pre-boil the chicken, but it is cheap and hands down the best comfort food I know how to make. It isn't really good for you because of the butter, but hey! it is a southern recipe.

Boil 2 pounds of chicken (breasts or whole chicken or whatever you like) with several sticks of celery and a good bit of salt.

In a 13x9 glass baking pan, shred the chicken, mix in 2 cups of cambels cream of chicken soup along with 2 cups of the broth from the chicken boil. In another bowl, mix 1.5 cups of self rising flour with 1.5 cups of milk and 1.5 sticks of melted butter. Mix thoroughly and pour this on top of the shredded chicken/soup mixture. Bake for about 1 hour at 350 until the top has puffed up and is golden brown. Try to only eat half the dish in one sitting (and fail).

[tripods68]

Our is Campbell soup, Spam, or Cereal.