Healthy QUICK meals...I need help

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One of my quick favorites is “Salsa Chicken.” I put boneless chicken breasts in the bottom of a baking pan, pour a jar of salsa over them and then top with shredded cheese. Bake at 375 or so until chicken is cooked through (I think usually 30-45 min).
 
samovila said:
One of my quick favorites is “Salsa Chicken.” I put boneless chicken breasts in the bottom of a baking pan, pour a jar of salsa over them and then top with shredded cheese. Bake at 375 or so until chicken is cooked through (I think usually 30-45 min).
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My mom loves this. She serves it with rice 🙂
 
samovila said:
One of my quick favorites is “Salsa Chicken.” I put boneless chicken breasts in the bottom of a baking pan, pour a jar of salsa over them and then top with shredded cheese. Bake at 375 or so until chicken is cooked through (I think usually 30-45 min).
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I am so interested in making this–I am going to remember this the next time we make chicken.👍
 
My wifey and I have a great system for quick meals especially for the work week. I grill out on Fri, Sat & Sun. She reheats on Mon, Tues, Wed…Thurs. is surprise day.
 
TIME said:
My wifey and I have a great system for quick meals especially for the work week. I grill out on Fri, Sat & Sun. She reheats on Mon, Tues, Wed…Thurs. is surprise day.
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😃 ha! Sounds nice and simple.

Unfortunately, we don’t eat leftovers. :rolleyes: DH and I will, but our kids…they won’t eat anything leftover, unless it’s pizza or whatever. You know, I told them the other night…Your father and I couldn’t just pick and choose what we wanted to eat as kids…like you two. We got a plate of food, and if we didn’t eat it, oh well.

I feel so silly that we got into this habit of catering (no pun) to their finicky eating habits.😊
 
This is one of our favorites, but I don’t have picky eaters. 😛

Southwest Chicken & Brown Rice

¾ # chicken breast in bite sized pieces
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
½ t. salt
1 small onion diced or sliced
1 T olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 can tomatoes
1 can of dark red kidney beans, black beans, or other bean of choice drained
2 c cooked brown rice

Cook chicken, onions, and seasonings in olive oil. Add remaining ingredients, simmer 10 minutes. Top cheese and salsa if desired.

Serves 4.
 
Oops, sorry. I just saw it.

We love quesadillas with fresh salsa.

Homemade spaghetti sauce is awesome. We will prepare the sauce and then add bite size pieces of chicken and italian sausage. It is so good.

Do your children like meatloaf? Onions, peppers, and even mashed kidney beans for added protein and fiber can be added to make it a nice healthy main dish for them to pour their ketchup on.

Honestly, my children love smoothies. Get big containers of plain yogurt. Blend with frozen berries, mango, fresh bananas, orange juice, etc. If you like pb&j, add a little peanut butter.

For a wonderful dish that is good for Fridays, make an alfredo sauce and add chopped broccoli and shrimp. Serve over pasta.
 
get 3-5 lbs ground beef or turkey, or combine them make meatballs - 1/4 C breadcrumbs per pound of meat italian flavored, or add 1 tsp italian seasoning per pound, one egg for two pounds, 1T grated parmesan per lb, dry minced onion, reconstituted, if your family likes it, or one package lipton onion soup mix

mix and use icecream scoop to put meatballs in a baking pan (bottom of broiler pan works great, spray with Pam first),

bake at 325 until done but not hard and brown, drain on paper towels, freeze in ziploc bags in rows of 3 or 4, flat.

to use either just nuke for 60 seconds, or add right to spaghetti sauce

kids can make meatball sandwiches by nuking 3-4 frozen meatballs and 2T pizza sauce in a glass or microwave dish with a cover, 60 seconds keep adding 15 seconds until they are hot, then pile them in the burger bun or sub bun, add mozarrela or sliced cheese, nuke again for 10 or 15 seconds till cheeze melts.

Boneless Chicken Wings
buy breasts and cut in strips, or by tenders or strips,
marinate in BBQ or hot wing sauce
bake in a single layer (again broiler pan works good)
freeze in single serving size bags,
open the bag, nuke 45-60 seconds until thawed
serve with bottled ranch dressing
 
puzzleannie said:
get 3-5 lbs ground beef or turkey, or combine them make meatballs - 1/4 C breadcrumbs per pound of meat italian flavored, or add 1 tsp italian seasoning per pound, one egg for two pounds, 1T grated parmesan per lb, dry minced onion, reconstituted, if your family likes it, or one package lipton onion soup mix

mix and use icecream scoop to put meatballs in a baking pan (bottom of broiler pan works great, spray with Pam first),

bake at 325 until done but not hard and brown, drain on paper towels, freeze in ziploc bags in rows of 3 or 4, flat.

to use either just nuke for 60 seconds, or add right to spaghetti sauce

kids can make meatball sandwiches by nuking 3-4 frozen meatballs and 2T pizza sauce in a glass or microwave dish with a cover, 60 seconds keep adding 15 seconds until they are hot, then pile them in the burger bun or sub bun, add mozarrela or sliced cheese, nuke again for 10 or 15 seconds till cheeze melts.

Boneless Chicken Wings
buy breasts and cut in strips, or by tenders or strips,
marinate in BBQ or hot wing sauce
bake in a single layer (again broiler pan works good)
freeze in single serving size bags,
open the bag, nuke 45-60 seconds until thawed
serve with bottled ranch dressing
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Hi annie;
I never thought of pouring the sauce on BEFORE cooking, and baking while it’s lathered in it. Good idea! I will try this recipe soon. Tonight, on the menu is yummy pot roast with veggies. Hubby is actually cooking tonight, because I have a headache and just feel so sleepy today.:o :yawn:

annie–are the wings nice and crispy from putting the sauce on before cooking?
 
Thanks for the meatball idea, Annie! I was planning to make pasta tonight anyway, and had a lb. of ground turkey to cook up for the sauce. I turned it into meatballs instead and they were really good. I made 'em small (about two bites worth each) and froze half for another dinner. DH liked them too. 👍
 
we’re trying to eat both healthy and cheap-so here are some of my ideas:
  1. Scrambles- an idea from Rachel Ray. Scramble those eggs, add whatever you have-leftover turkey, ham, bacon, lunchmeat chopped up, onions, peppers, etc…sprinkle with a little cheese and there’s dinner for about 2 bucks.
  2. Large amounts of all types of soups: taco soup, chili, bean with a ham bone, homemade chicken noodle. Make a huge batch and freeze leftovers in lunch containers.
  3. Same with all sorts of spaghetti
  4. Chicken goulash- another Rachel Ray. I made it last week for about $3.
  5. We do BIG batches of soft tacos often and again, I make up lots of meat and then freeze it along with 3 shells for a lunch.
I too have a seriously picky 4 yr old, and honestly, many nights she won’t even glance at what we eat. Instead, she wants chicken soup or plain pasta. So I stock up on those during sales too. good luck! twk
 
twk001 said:
we’re trying to eat both healthy and cheap-so here are some of my ideas:
  1. Scrambles- an idea from Rachel Ray. Scramble those eggs, add whatever you have-leftover turkey, ham, bacon, lunchmeat chopped up, onions, peppers, etc…sprinkle with a little cheese and there’s dinner for about 2 bucks.
  2. Large amounts of all types of soups: taco soup, chili, bean with a ham bone, homemade chicken noodle. Make a huge batch and freeze leftovers in lunch containers.
  3. Same with all sorts of spaghetti
  4. Chicken goulash- another Rachel Ray. I made it last week for about $3.
  5. We do BIG batches of soft tacos often and again, I make up lots of meat and then freeze it along with 3 shells for a lunch.
I too have a seriously picky 4 yr old, and honestly, many nights she won’t even glance at what we eat. Instead, she wants chicken soup or plain pasta. So I stock up on those during sales too. good luck! twk
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i like these a lot-thank you! (i also think that rachel ray has some great ideas, and she seems to be cooking healthier now)🙂
 
SeekerJen said:
Thanks for the meatball idea, Annie! I was planning to make pasta tonight anyway, and had a lb. of ground turkey to cook up for the sauce. I turned it into meatballs instead and they were really good. I made 'em small (about two bites worth each) and froze half for another dinner. DH liked them too. 👍
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I like to make lots of meatballs ahead of time, too. I put chopped spinach in them. Yum! And if you simmer them in the crock pot in the sauce they are super tender and yummy 👍
 
Lentil soup is pretty awesome. I was talking to a friend who was making it over the weekend, and it sounded good. So, I decided to make some too. It was really fast and easy, and sooooo good. Lentils don’t need to be soaked.

What you do is in a big pot saute some onions and garlic in a little olive oil til very lightly browned. When I made it I then deglazed the pot with a little Marsala. Then added a half a can of diced tomatoes, a bag of dried lentils, some beef stock (enough to cover and then some) some chopped carrot and some herbes de provence. I covered it and let it simmer til they were tender, which didn’t seem like it was all that long. Then I added salt and pepper just before serving. It was amazing.
 
dulcissima said:
Lentil soup is pretty awesome. I was talking to a friend who was making it over the weekend, and it sounded good. So, I decided to make some too. It was really fast and easy, and sooooo good. Lentils don’t need to be soaked.

What you do is in a big pot saute some onions and garlic in a little olive oil til very lightly browned. When I made it I then deglazed the pot with a little Marsala. Then added a half a can of diced tomatoes, a bag of dried lentils, some beef stock (enough to cover and then some) some chopped carrot and some herbes de provence. I covered it and let it simmer til they were tender, which didn’t seem like it was all that long. Then I added salt and pepper just before serving. It was amazing.
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I never liked lentil soup–my husband makes it–and he is a good cook–and still, me no likey.:nope: I know it’s reaaaallly good for us, but there’s something about it–I just turn my nose up to it, when he says he’s made a big pot for his lunches.:o Am I missing something??😊
 
whatevergirl said:
I never liked lentil soup–my husband makes it–and he is a good cook–and still, me no likey.:nope: I know it’s reaaaallly good for us, but there’s something about it–I just turn my nose up to it, when he says he’s made a big pot for his lunches.:o Am I missing something??😊
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Yes…you are missing something! You’re not the only one though. Half of my kids loved it and half wouldn’t even try it. I’m going to guess that you probably don’t like beans or split peas either.
 
queen_anne78 said:
…
**Crockpot Lasagna:
**2 jars of spaghetti sauce (grate in veggies to hide them!)
4 oz Lasagna noodles (whole wheat)
2 8 oz packages of shredded mozzerella cheese
1 12?oz container of ricotta cheese - not the smallest one they have, but next one up… Heck, just get whatever and put it in, the more the merrier

So you just layer everything anyway you want. This is what I do:
Mix all the ricotta with all the mozzeralla, add some salt and pepper if you’d like.
Put one of the jars of sauce in the bottom, a layer of uncooked (that’s the nice part about this recipe) pasta, half the cheese mixture, a layer of pasta, another jar of sauce, another layer of pasta, then the rest of the cheese. I think I put it on High for around 3-4 hours, but I’m sure it’d work on low for maybe 6-8 or so.
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QueenAnne, I just made this today (crockpot whole wheat lasagna) and it was a hit! 🙂 I added spinach, milled flaxseed, and some crumbled lean turkey italian sausage. My 3 yr old and 1 yr old helped me put it together and had a great time doing it. Thanks for the recipe! I will be trying the honey lentil recipe some time soon too…lol, if you have anymore recipes, feel free to post! 😃
 
DD just reminded me of the way we used to make meatballs for a crowd, like for GS camp, mix the meat and your standard additives as usual and pat into your broiler pan or other large baking pans (sprayed with pam first) and pat down to a layer of about an inch or so, simply cross cut into one in squares with your large knife, bake at 325 for 20 or 30 minutes, then you can easily break off your “meat-cubes” to serve or freeze. saves a lot of time by not scooping or otherwise trying to form uniform balls
 
Our menu tonight:

fillet mignon
salad with sliced strawberries, blueberries, feta cheese, pecans, and raspberry vinaigrette
warm multigrain bread
 
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