What is your favorite "go-to recipe" for a quick meal when you are pressed for time or just don't feel like cooking?

[Annie_H]

15 minutes ago, Anna N said:

That story of popcorn just sounds a bit much to me. Here.  The recipe for popcorn soup sounds like full out cooking to me not something for the seriously hangry. But we are all different and we all have our own idea of what we mean by “a quick meal”. (Full disclosure – – there are few things I hate more than popcorn.)

I agree with that link I think. I did not go deep down the time suck rabbit hole. Not at all sure how much travel was happening but 'pop' corn was found and grown in Peru at the time. 

The recipe was in response to how odd that popcorn goes with soup. Not at all a quick recipe I linked. My quickie is 30 seconds. 

[Anna N]

10 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

The recipe was in response to how odd that popcorn goes with soup.

Oh. Apparently that was not clear to me. I understood you were offering up a quick recipe for popcorn soup to address the people who were using Campbell’s tomato soup. My bad. 

[blue_dolphin]

14 minutes ago, Anna N said:

think one of the problems of being hangry is that your brain shuts down. You may have a pantry full of tasty snacks and a  refrigerator  full of lovely leftovers but you cannot possibly conceive of how any of this could make a meal.

So true!

[weinoo]

50 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

My quickie is 30 seconds. 

Mine takes a little longer, thankfully.

[heidih]

29 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Mine takes a little longer, thankfully.

females = no recovery period before more.

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

I think one of the problems of being hangry is that your brain shuts down.

I think also that when you're hangry you actually crave food. And the worst of it is, sometimes you've got no idea what it is. I can't count the times that I have just gotten home from grocery shopping, I have a full pantry, two full refrigerators, and a full freezer and I can't think of a single thing in there that I want to eat. It's not poor planning because I have no idea what it is that I am hungry for.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Annie_H]

I made a pasta dish Monday night. Before I'm even home I can visualize the process. Put the wet laundry in the drier, 4 quart sauce pan water on to boil. --we make aprox 5+ ounces and I often weigh it, not exact. A pound bag is best for us at three dinner servings per bag. Some shapes are hard to tell and often too much goes in the water. Enough for a meal and a bit for DH lunch next day. Water boiling, a few chores. Pups fed and walked. Boiling water, blanched the last gorgeous broccolini. Same pot pasta goes in. Salted. Not much effort but is a cooking dance. Alexa helps. I don't follow recipes as I use what I have. Always good.

Freezer dumplings, ravioli, fridge miso, --all quick from frozen. I do have a personal problematic issue to use leeks, celery, roasted garlic, shallots, etc, ---mirepoix, when I know the jar marinara sauce is fine as is. Husband is like a toddler where I need to hide lots of veg in our meals. He loves veg but lazy when I'm out of town. His easy meal when I'm out of town is a full pound of linguini, a jar of anchovies, a load of parm. He will eat that for three days. Repeat. 

 

[MaryIsobel]

I make batches of homemade tomato soup when our tomatoes are prolific but I have no issue with C's tomato soup and grilled cheese, it's my go to when I can't think of anything else. I recently saw a blurb somewhere about cutting your grilled cheese into 1" cubes after grilling them and using them as "croutons" in tomato soup. That fit really well with my tradition of having tomato soup in a big mug when I'm feeling punky.

[Anna N]

This is at the upper end of what I consider a quick meal. Jarred pasta sauce, two eggs and a sliced kaiser roll. Cleanup is one pan and one spoon. Salsa or even canned tomatoes also work. 

[Kerry Beal]

Another one when I need a meal - cheese and crackers and a cuppa. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Darienne]

Actually, a two-egg omelette-type sandwich on buttered all-grain bread is mine lately.  

[ElsieD]

I'm also good with peanut butter on toasted Dave's Killer 21 whole grain bread.

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

I'm also good with peanut butter on toasted Dave's Killer 21 whole grain bread.

I can like your idea for a quick meal I just couldn’t eat it! Don’t like peanut butter or Dave’s bread. 

[ElsieD]

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I can like your idea for a quick meal I just couldn’t eat it! Don’t like peanut butter or Dave’s bread. 

 

That's okay  I won't hold it against you.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:it! Don’t like peanut butter or Dave’s bread. 

Sister!    On the same track, why I’d mist bread so sweet now?

[haresfur]

I feel like this topic is devolving into discussing what is considered quick rather than considering what is considered a meal.

 

I mean, I'll spread some corn chips on a plate, throw on some olives, salsa, and grated cheese and microwave for a minute and a half, but if I want a quick meal, I'll just dip the chips in a jar of salsa.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

I can like your idea for a quick meal I just couldn’t eat it! Don’t like peanut butter or Dave’s bread. 

SISTER!    Why is most bread so sweet now?

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, haresfur said:

feel like this topic is devolving into discussing what is considered quick rather than considering what is considered a meal

Hey, I've got no complaints. Either way is a good way to get food in your stomach.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Peanut butter and a spoon often make a quick meal for me, though for dinner I require something fancy.  Last night was frozen battered fish on the same baking sheet as Alexia frozen French fries.  Ordinarily I would slice some cabbage leaves for coleslaw -- but that would not make, for purposes of this discussion, a quick meal.

 

Once I finish off my mai tai, tonight's dinner is expected to be a Black Bear* hotdog with further Alexia fries.  And yes, with my battery of knives and cutting boards I prepared a proper coleslaw.  So tonight's dinner does not fully qualify as a quick meal.

 

 

*No black bear have been sighted in these parts for at least a couple days.  Although I have no doubt black bear are most delicious.  And I am sure they think the same of me.

 

 

[CookBot]

On 8/31/2022 at 7:22 PM, MaryIsobel said:

I recently saw a blurb somewhere about cutting your grilled cheese into 1" cubes after grilling them and using them as "croutons" in tomato soup.

 

I've done that!  It's delish.  Best with rye bread.

 

Fast meal for me = quesadillas, every time.  Because I almost always have tortillas and a decent cheese on hand.  And if you own a convection toaster oven, you don't even need to dirty a pan.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

13 hours ago, CookBot said:

 

I've done that!  It's delish.  Best with rye bread.

 

Fast meal for me = quesadillas, every time.  Because I almost always have tortillas and a decent cheese on hand.  And if you own a convection toaster oven, you don't even need to dirty a pan.

 

Welcome to eGullet. Glad to see that you are jumping right in. I think that you are going to enjoy it here.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

This may be another of those nights.  I am not a morning person by any means but once every four weeks I must work an early shift.  This means leaving my bed and home in the morning cold at 8:00 am, setting off on foot, only to arrive at the library dehydrated in the heat an hour later.

 

Last night I splurged on an amazon Whole Foods order, delivered this afternoon.  My pantry is now overwhelmed with dinner options.  What is a Piel De Sapo melon anyhow?  And don't enquire about the ice cream.  (Hint, McConnel's was on sale.)

 

What I should cook first is the lovely fresh arctic char.  Now that I've had most of a mai tai I am feeling more than a little better.  Maybe I can do it!  I have sufficient coleslaw remaining from two nights ago.  The alternative is frozen cod.  Good as it is, one must resist.

 

 

[DesertTinker]

35 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

This may be another of those nights.  I am not a morning person by any means but once every four weeks I must work an early shift.  This means leaving my bed and home in the morning cold at 8:00 am, setting off on foot, only to arrive at the library dehydrated in the heat an hour later.

 

Last night I splurged on an amazon Whole Foods order, delivered this afternoon.  My pantry is now overwhelmed with dinner options.  What is a Piel De Sapo melon anyhow?  And don't enquire about the ice cream.  (Hint, McConnel's was on sale.)

 

What I should cook first is the lovely fresh arctic char.  Now that I've had most of a mai tai I am feeling more than a little better.  Maybe I can do it!  I have sufficient coleslaw remaining from two nights ago.  The alternative is frozen cod.  Good as it is, one must resist.

 

 

Fresh fish wins over frozen, and I’m not a fish eater. Sounds like you have many options. Choose wisely. 😇

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, DesertTinker said:

Fresh fish wins over frozen, and I’m not a fish eater. Sounds like you have many options. Choose wisely. 😇

 

Thanks to the magic of the mai tai I had the endurance to choose fresh arctic char.  Good it was.  And tonight's French fries were really deep fried, not oven baked.  (Plus I managed not to burn myself.)  However I am exhausted.

 

[DesertTinker]

10 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Thanks to the magic of the mai tai I had the endurance to choose fresh arctic char.  Good it was.  And tonight's French fries were really deep fried, not oven baked.  (Plus I managed not to burn myself.)  However I am exhausted.

 

I didn’t even see the “Yoda-ish” tone to my reply until I read your response.🤣 Real deep fried fries with no burns? You had a very good night and dinner. Sleep well, you’ve earned it!