Easy Recipes / New Dinner Ideas

[Jill]

Oh, I know now these things are terrible! It's loaded with way too much carbs and fat. I'm so L A Z Y but I think I could make ones that taste just as good with 1/4th as much cheese, low carb tortillas, etc. I've never eaten more than 1/2 the Chilis kind, but 1/2 of of one (and not the beans / rice at the same time) is more than I want to blow in terms of carbs/fat in one meal. It's crazy... I think one of those is probably just as bad as a big gut boulder cinnabon thing!

 

[paintponylvr]

Not sure how the portions work out... or how good nutritionally it is...

Not even sure of the name!

Chicken ala fastNsweet

preheat oven to 350-375

brown thawed chicken pieces (when I was a kid we used the thighs w/ bone and skin, NOW I prefer skinless/boneless breasts - whole package at least 8 large pieces of chicken. Will work with legs and wings as well.)

While browning, combine in a large mixing bowl & mix well:

whole jar (medium size?) of Dorothy Lynch's Salad Dressing (WOW - pages of recipes here now! Internet sure can be fun)

small jar of peach, apricot or orange marmalade preserves

use empty jar of each filled 1x w/ water

packet of dry onion soup mix

chunk up potatoes (at least 4 - 6 good sized ones). I wash and leave peals on. Using new red or spring potatoes works, too.

Line a deep baking pan (deep 9 x 13 cake pan or a casserole dish) w/ foil so no liquid will get thru and you won't have as much cleaning - preserves can bake on rock hard. Add browned chicken pieces and potatoes, pour over liquid. either cover or loosely tent w/ foil and bake until potatoes are done (45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours?). Serve with a salad or favorite other <non-starch> veggie.

I can't get Dorothy Lynch's salad dressing here in NC. It now comes in low sodium and sugar free. When I went to OK last year for both Congress and Nationals, I bought several bottles and stowed them in my truck. My family thought they'd died and gone to heaven when made this last year. I now also add peppers, celery and onions in deiced sizes - sautéed while doing the chicken. Russian dressing works - but definitely isn't quite the same. Mayo based dressings don't work (I've tried!).

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Another chicken dish - very similar. Do chicken, veggies and potatoes the same way. I spray the casserole dish, and cover with any cream soup you like made w/ a can of either milk or water. You can add cheese, I usually don't. Bake about the same and serve with salad or non-starch veggie.

Also works with pork chops!

 

[paintponylvr]

Instead of spaghetti sauce, you could make up several of the gravy packets (high in sodium!) OR do up a large can of cream of mushroom soup/cream of celery soup .

This is very quick, easy and GOOD!

"The Dish"

Fry up a pound or two of hamburger-put in a big bowl
Cook a bunch of wide egg noodles-drain and put in the bowl
Dump in a jar or two of spaghetti sauce
(depending on how many bags of noodles you made)
Stir it all together, put in a big flat pan and cover with cheese and bake until the cheese is all bubbly and toasty!

Dish it up, have a veggie on the side and there is dinner! It tastes like lasagna!

Also - for very quick:

Meat ball gravy N Rice

Meatballs - frozen - 1/2 a bag or so...

Sautee the meatballs in large fry pan or wok, then make a brown gravy mix (I usually use two packages of McCormicks brown gravy mix - prepared to directions) & put over meatballs. Let simmer while rice is being prepared (Uncle Ben's minute rice in the drainable bag is probably fastest but I LOVE brown/wild rice mixes now).

I like to add some diced onions and mushrooms while sautéing the meatballs in oil, then serve the meatball/gravy mix over a serving of rice with French style green beans, heated, on the side. If using cans, I rinse beans. Or can prepare frozen.

You can prepare your meatballs from scratch using - turkey, chicken, lamb or beef - putting in a multitude of other ingredients they way you like them. You can also use the drippings in the pan and make your own brown gravy (I thicken gravies with corn starch rather than flour) - less fattening and lower in sodium.

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and a true family favorite here:

Chili mac

Brown about 1 - 2 lbs of ground meat (any kind you like), drain

While browning, prepare noodles for Macaroni and cheese (any type you like). I used to use a box of generic & a box of Kraft Creamy in large dutch oven. Drain, prepare as directions for Mac N Cheese

Add meat

Add whole small or medium jar of picante sauce - your "heat". The cheese mellows it, so we can actually use hot otherwise our family only uses medium spice.

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Another -

Brown and drain 1 - 2 lbs ground meat

Prepare several bags of beef ramen in a large pot or dutch oven. (I break up the noodles, add about 1/2 the liquid recommended). For every 2 packages of Ramen, use only one packet of seasoning and save other for another day...

Add meat and simmer for a bit.

Serve w/ veggies. Frozen, mixed works great. No starch ones...