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

[Kerala]

On 8/31/2022 at 7:54 PM, Annie_H said:

 a full pound of linguini, a jar of anchovies, a load of parm.

 

This sounds amazing. I'll have to wait for a suitable opportunity when I'm cooking just for myself and don't have to meet people afterwards. Scaled down portions-when I first read that, I thought he was eating that at a single sitting! With a glass of a crisp Italian white like a Gavi, I'd be very happy.

[Dr. Teeth]

I usually look at pictures of Blue Dolphin’s food on this thread while eating a peanut buttter and fluff sandwich softened with my tears.

These sort of meals only happen to me around the holidays when I need to work and Mrs Dr Teeth takes the little teeth to visit family.  This sounds like a “poor me” statement unless you happen to be familiar with having small children.   I mention this because it means there is usually the remains of a ham in the fridge.

 

For me these dinners break down around 3 themes:

1) Eggs:  Omelette, ham and eggs, egg sandwich, mi goreng with fried egg

2) Pasta with oil based sauce: oil and garlic, +/- hot pepper, +/- parsley, +/- gobs of parm, +/- lemon juice, capers and inexpensive oil pack tuna.

3) Pressed cheese sandwich: pimento cheese, cheddar with lots of Branson pickle

 

 

 

 

[Kerala]

Ah, when the family is away, that's when I can play! Heart, liver, kidneys, octopus, haggis...

[Shelby]

If Ronnie is out of town and I'm starving...I have a terribly weird thing I make.  I boil a package of ramen noodles without the seasoning packet and open a jar of store bought sauce and cover it with the green can of parmesan.  I know...it's awful.  It came from when I was a kid and didn't want to take the time for spaghetti to cook lol.

 

Now if Ronnie is home and I'm exhausted like I seem to be all the time.  Sandwiches.  Or breakfast.  

[Anna N]

45 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I know...it's awful.

Whatever works!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On 9/17/2022 at 1:07 AM, Kerala said:

Ah, when the family is away, that's when I can play! Heart, liver, kidneys, octopus, haggis...

Indeed!!!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

If Ronnie is out of town and I'm starving...I have a terribly weird thing I make. 

 

Mine is San Francisco's "Joe's Special"    Fry up some ground beef, move to side of pan, wilt down some kind of greens, move to side of pan, add butter and break in an egg and scramble. Toss all together and plate.   Catsup or chili sauce or condiment of choice.   Or as is.    

[pastrygirl]

Cheese.

[haresfur]

One of my father's standards was fried spaghetti. He would put leftover spaghetti in a cast iron pan with butter on high heat and fry until it was crispy to the point of charring then scramble some eggs in with it.

 

I am far more refined. I use olive oil, don't burn it and usually add oregano, garlic, and maybe even some veg. If you rinse out the bowl and fork used to beat the eggs and serve it in that, then I reckon it counts as a one pan meal.

 

I also don't drop cigarette ashes in the pan.

[Darienne]

On 6/12/2021 at 2:01 PM, KennethT said:

That's us too... but rather than go out, we wind up ordering delivery or if it's around the corner, I'll run out and pick it up.  But we're really lucky - there's a ton of fantastic, affordable options within a 5 block radius.  We could theoretically order in 2 meals a day and not repeat ourselves all week long.

 

On 6/12/2021 at 2:21 PM, Tropicalsenior said:

How lucky you are! Within a 12 block area of where I live, there are eight chicken take-out places and four Chinese restaurants. Other than one typical Costa Rican restaurant where I wouldn't order takeout for my dog, that's it.

Just going back to page 1 and re-reading this topic.

 

How lucky you both are.  Within a 12 block area of where we live is absolutely nothing but farms and houses and trees and poison ivy and deer and coyotes and wild turkeys and even the occasional cougar.

 

...on the other hand, how lucky we are 

[Tropicalsenior]

3 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Within a 12 block area of where I live, there are eight chicken take-out places

Since I wrote that, one more opened up across the street and down one house. They are open from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 5 days a week. They opened May 21st and since then we haven't seen one single customer there. I don't think that I will be ordering chicken from them.

[lemniscate]

Brats or smoked sausages, simmered in beer or broth.

 

Charcuterie (whatever's in the fridge) w/cheese (whatever's in the fridge), olives/pickles/cherry tomatoes, bread or crackers.

 

TJ's chile cheese tamales with TJ's salsa verde.  (microwave magic).

TJ's pot stickers.

 

A brick of ground bison (always in the freezer) made into a huge smash burger and some kind of salad.

 

Jarred tuna and a salad.

 

Pasta and a jarred sauce.  Whatever leftover meat is available to use goes in or on the side.

 

Costco precooked ribs.  We get so many meals out of 1 rack.  They are huge and meaty and delicious.

 

It's been the longest hot summer here already.   I've been buying more prepared meals than ever because I don't wanna cook!

 

I've been buying frozen karaage chicken bits and katsu servings.  Frozen dumplings and spring rolls.   For the air fryer.

 

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

This topic is pretty broad. I divide the subject into several categories, all of which exclude a trip to the store::

 

1)  Pantry meals, when fresh supplies are low. This would include frozen beans, soup, etc., This could also mean some quick meals using tinned seafood or sandwiches of various kinds, but it often involves boiling spaghetti, doing something to an egg in a pan or popping slices of bread in the toaster. We always have a homemade red sauce and some Italian sausages in the freezer. Also linguini with canned clams is a great pantry meals. Some simple cooking and possibly a little brain work might apply.

 

2) Emergency, desperation and quick meals. Cheese and crackers, and hopefully there's an apple rolling around somewhere. If there's fresh bread the sandwich options are good, peanut butter and jam, cheese and pickle, etc. No real cooking or thinking necessary. Just popcorn might work for me, but my husband needs something more filling. Grilled cheese is a good option.

 

3) Kitchen sink meals. This means mostly putting together a meal from leftovers, scraps, and using up various partial servings which are left lurking in the fridge. It often involves the microwave, many small bowls of things, etc, A free-for-all with some negotiations. Part of the reason for this category is because of a bad habit my husband and his siblings developed growing up. Always leave a half-portion of anything, just so no other sibling can accuse you of eating it all.

 

 

[liuzhou]

Canned sardines on toast.

[liuzhou]

Frozen (home made) wontons. Boil water, salt it, drop in wontons. When they float (approx two minutes later), fish them out. Pretend they're Italian. Dress with olive oil and black pepper (or chili flakes). Eat.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

One of my favorite quick meals is real Fettuccine Alfredo. Only four ingredients. The only real cooking is boiling the noodles. Add butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese, simmer a bit to thicken the cream and you're done. Add bread and a green salad and you have a full low calorie meal. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[weinoo]

Almost any pasta can be made pretty quickly (obviously, not a ragu of meat or similar). Cacio e pepe.  Amatriciana.  Gricia. Garlic and oil. Bottarga. Canned clams. Tuna. Sardines. Etc.

[chromedome]

12 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

One of my favorite quick meals is real Fettuccine Alfredo. Only four ingredients. The only real cooking is boiling the noodles. Add butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese, simmer a bit to thicken the cream and you're done. Add bread and a green salad and you have a full low calorie meal. 

LOL Yup, butter cheese and cream are essential to any low calorie meal.

[Tropicalsenior]

8 minutes ago, chromedome said:

LOL Yup, butter cheese and cream are essential to any low calorie meal.

That's why you've got to add the salad. And it's even lower calorie if you have it with a Diet Coke.

[lindag]

One of my favorites is Shrimp Louie.

Tiny salad shrimp that I always keep in the freezer (it thaws in minutes_, bag o' chopped romaine, 1,000 island dressing, sliced hard boiled egg and Salt and pepper and it's ready in no time.  Oh, and I like to add grape tomatoes too.

[Tropicalsenior]

Another meal for me when I don't feel like cooking is pizza. I just make up a batch of @Duvel's Emergency Pizza Dough, throw on whatever is lurking in the refrigerator and I have a quick meal.

[Deephaven]

I abhor leftovers....at least anytime near when they are made.  This means anything I make that could be eaten for lunch the next day gets frozen either in vacuum sealed bags or restaurant style plastic containers.  The vac bags are things that are best reheated in the sous vide and the containers for the stove top.  My easy meal then is grabbing something out of the freezer and heating it up.  Things I know that are in my freezer right now are a few indian curries, a variety of soups, some bolognese, chile, beef stew, pot roast, carnitas, fried fish, fried shrimp, green chile, lots of sauces like ranchero sauce, red chile adobo, peanut sauce, hamburger buns, caramel & orange rolls, sourdough rye, corn/flour tortillas, naan, pita, and so on.  Also most of a steer and pig, but those take more work unless you grab a pre-patted burger and toss it on the grill with a bun from the freezer.

 

That all being said, sometimes I don't even want the effort to reheat stuff so we then order take out.

 

One more with a quick shout out to the local asian groceries.  Probably 20 different types of dumplings and 5 types of bao in my freezer.  Currently only one or two are homemade, but perhaps one of the greatest lunches of all time for nearly no work.

[gfweb]

Pasta and sausage

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I always have cheese, canned mussels and sardines, some form of bread, fruit and salad makings so if I'm lazy or rushed I can throw something together in under 5 minutes.

 

[Katie Meadow]

11 hours ago, Deephaven said:

I abhor leftovers....at least anytime near when they are made.  This means anything I make that could be eaten for lunch the next day gets frozen either in vacuum sealed bags or restaurant style plastic containers.  The vac bags are things that are best reheated in the sous vide and the containers for the stove top.  My easy meal then is grabbing something out of the freezer and heating it up.  Things I know that are in my freezer right now are a few indian curries, a variety of soups, some bolognese, chile, beef stew, pot roast, carnitas, fried fish, fried shrimp, green chile, lots of sauces like ranchero sauce, red chile adobo, peanut sauce, hamburger buns, caramel & orange rolls, sourdough rye, corn/flour tortillas, naan, pita, and so on.  Also most of a steer and pig, but those take more work unless you grab a pre-patted burger and toss it on the grill with a bun from the freezer.

 

That all being said, sometimes I don't even want the effort to reheat stuff so we then order take out.

 

One more with a quick shout out to the local asian groceries.  Probably 20 different types of dumplings and 5 types of bao in my freezer.  Currently only one or two are homemade, but perhaps one of the greatest lunches of all time for nearly no work.

I adore leftovers! Especially those I made the night before. No cooking and it's always the way I like it.Win win.