Simple Recipes

There is a great website recipezaar.com it has 1,000's of recipes and can be broken down into tons of categories if you which. I use it all the time, one of my favorites on it is Boston Market meatloaf.

I don't know if anyone had mentioned it yet, but if you go to www.kraftfoods.com, click on dinner, and find dinner in a bag. It's a week full of dinners that everything should fit into one bag. (it's never happened to me, I always end up with atleast 5) but it actually gives you the shopping list and all the recipes. It's been great for us, especially to help us try new things.

If you like to cook in a crockpot go to crockpot.com simple recipes there.

Hi A.!!

Because I have a secret love affair with my crock pot, I LOVE to cook in it!!

My favorite is chicken and rice. Frozen chicken, uncooked rice, a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom or celery, salt and pepper to taste, turn it on low and forget about it!! Who doesn't love that??

Take a few minutes to look up crock pot recipes, and just trim them down for 2 servings. That way, you can freeze some of it or save it for the next day-easy re-heat!

Good luck!!

Get the Four Ingredient Cookbook by Linda Coffee and Emily Cale. It contains really simple, inexpensive recipes that contain ingredients that you should already have in your pantry. Your library probably has it, or you can find it on Ebay for less than $10. Also, one thing I do is take about 15 minutes in the morning to make up a meatloaf or casserole, put it in the fridge and it's ready to pop in the oven after work. I also love my crock pot. Most times, I put my meat/chicken in there still frozen. It really doesn't affect the cooking time much when it is on all day anyway. Most times, you don't even need a recipe for a quick dish. Put a few chicken breast in a 9x13 dish, sprinkle some type of seasoning, add a can of creme of something and bake. Easy Sneazy.
One of my family's favorite dishes is my Taco Bake. If you cook up 5-10 # of hamburger meat at one time, perhaps on the weekend and freeze it in 1# bags, it makes recipes even faster. Your little boy can help with this too. He can pour the contents of the cans into the dish and help you stir it. Might take a little longer and be a little messier, but you'll be spending time with your little one. It's never too early to get them in the kitchen.
Taco Bake
1# hamburger meat cooked and drained
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Mix everything in a casserole dish except Jiffy mix.
Prepare Jiffy mix as directed on box and pour over top of meat mixture. Bake at 350 until top is golden brown (20-30 minutes) I like to serve it with sour cream and salsa.

Have fun!

I am the mother of 3 active girls. All going places in the evening. My husband doesn't get home until 6 or later. We all like this quick easy dish.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts- as many as you want
put in baking dish. Pour 1 large can of diced tomatoes with italian seasoning mixed in a bowl, add mozzerella cheese. As cheesey as you would like. Bake at 350 for 45min- to 1 hour. You can serve over noodles or rice. We sometimes eat this plain with a side salad.

Hi A., I'm a Mom with an empty nest so I've had to down-size my cooking. I would like to suggest going to the Taste of Home site. There is one part of it that will probably help you a lot. It's Cooking for Two. It has recipes for 1 or 2 and they are really quick and delicious. There is an abundance of recipes for 30 minutes or less. The address is www.tasteofhome.com and www.cookingfor2.com Hope you find what you are looking for and enjoy a lot of simple, healthy, fast and delicious recipes that you and your son can enjoy. God bless, C. W.

Try some of the recipes at www.kraftfoods.com and http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/....they have some quick recipe ideas.

Also, another thing I've tried is cooking a bunch of meals on the weekend, and freeze them. Then get them out during the week and reheat. Just remember to pull the item out of the freezer & put in the fridge in the morning, so it is thawed by dinner time. Or I at least cook up meats (chicken breasts, grilled hamburger, etc.) and freeze them, then easy to pull something out to quickly assemble a meal.

Quick meal ideas: Tacos, chicken bakes, sloppy joes.

Hi, A.!

I understand how you feel, although my circumstances are a little different. I recently bought "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessice Seinfeld (Jerry's wife). It gives recipes in which you are mixing vegetable/fruit purees in with food. One of my favorites that I have discovered is mixing carrot puree in with boxed deluxe mac & cheese. It is the best mac & cheese that I've ever tasted - no lie!! Not only can this fortify some of the convenience food that you might already be using, but give you new quick recipes that are nutritious for your growing little boy! Hope this info helps. Good luck!

Annabel Karmel's First Meals has a lot of great ideas. Also, one of my favorites is to throw a bunch of vegetables and cut up beef, chicken, or shrimp in a skillet with a little olive oil and then add a ready-made stir-fry sauce (Trader Joe's has a great selection). It's best to add the meat first until it's cooked and then add the vegetables and sauce afterwards. You can also marinade the meat first during the day while you're at work, if you plan that far ahead (I don't!-the last minute is the only minute that counts). You can put the whole thing over an instant rice when you're done. Brown rice has more nutrients and there's a lot of instant brands of it available. Put a glass of milk with it and every food group's in there. Good luck!
T.

I am also a working mom and I discovered a place called pass your plate. You make meals ahead of time and freeze them. Preperation and clean up are so easy. There are several places like it and hopefuly it will work out for you.

Hi A.! I also work and have a 2 1/2 year old and it's just hard trying to cook a meal and entertain at the same time. But I go to FoodNetwork.com and some of Rachel Rays recipes on 30 minute meals are pretty great. And I also am part of Sparkspeople.com and they have some healthy recipes and it tells you how long they take to prep and cook. I hope this is some help to you.

Have you tried the Simple Supers cookbook by Julie Byrd?
Or the one by Jessica Seinfeld? One concentrates on thingd that can be prepared ahead of time like a Sunday afternoon and then freeze until it is time to cook it, the other has lots of recipes to get your kids to eat veggies by sneaking them into the food.

Here are a couple crock pot recipes that I used all the time when I was working:
Whole roasted chicken
Wad up three balls of aluminum foil and place in the bottom of the crock pot. Rinse and dry a small whole chicken and place it on top of the foil balls. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook on low 8-10 hours. When you get home you'll have a roasted chicken ready to eat. We would eat it with mashed potatoes from the box and frozen or canned veggies. Just make sure that your crock pot is large enough to hold a whole chicken. You can also use the leftovers in a casserole or sandwiches.

Chicken tacos
Place a package of boneless skinless chicken breast (1 1/2 - 2 lbs) in the bottom of the crock pot. Pour a jar (16-20 oz) of salsa on top. Cook on low 6 hours (add 1/2 cup water if you're going to leave it all day). Shred with forks, add 1 tbsp each cumin and cilantro if desired. Serve on tortillas with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and shredded cheese. (My 17 mo old loves the chicken by itself; my three year old does not like the salsa (its too spicy for him), so I pull out a little chicken for him before shredding it and rinse off the salsa before I make his taco.
I hope these work for you!

this is quick and simple and my little girl has always loved it...package of grape or cherry tomatoes, couple of garlic cloves (or none if you dont like it) fresh basil (I make pesto in fall and thats great too) chicken broth, and a package of frozen ravioli:
blend the garlic and tomatoes, put in saucepan with chicken broth (I dont remember how much I use, maybe 3/4 of a cup, i pour it in the blender to "clean" the tomato mixture into the pot) bring to a boil, add ravioli and bring back to a boil, cook until ravioli is al dente or however you like it....remove from heat, top with fresh basil and parmeson cheese. Takes no more than 10 min

I like to get a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and build quick meals around that. I cut the breast off and chop and toss it with pasta (I always use whole wheat pasta)and pesto or even spaghetti sauce, sprinkle a little paremesan cheese and you're ready to go. Also, you've probably only used about half of the chicken so for the other half I either make up a chicken salad with cubed chicken, mayo, chopped green onions and celery and halved red grapes. Its yummy. Or you can use the chicken for soft tacos with some cheese, lettuce and salsa or quesadillas with cheese and salsa too. Since the chicken is already cooked and nice and juicy, the possibilities are endless.

I don't have any great easy recipes, but some things we do on "mommy nights" at my house are:
breakfast for dinner (frozen waffles, sausage, eggs and fruit)grilled cheese, pretzels and carrot sticks
cheese quesadillas (just put cheese on a tortilla and microwave)
instant oatmeal, cheese bites and a fruit
Not exactly gourmet, but my kids love it, then we have time to play the rest of the night

If you have a crock pot, you can throw a whole chicken in the crock pot in the morning, add a little salt and pepper, and one bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce (or any other sauce that you want - I'm trying teriyaki glaze this week), set the crockpot on low, and let it cook all day (8-10 hours). (If you cook it on a weekend, cook the chicken on high for approximately 5 hours). When you get home, get a big spoon and some tongs and take the chicken out of the sauce, remove the skin and bones from the chicken and throw the meat back into the sauce (5 minutes), and dinner is ready. The chicken usually lasts my husband, 23 month old son and I a couple of days. It is so easy, and takes so little prep time. The chicken is falling off of the bones and is absolutely wonderful. My mother in law said it also works really well for pork tenderloin.

I get home from work at 6 and have same problem. I have found some recipies in a Robin Miller Quick Fix Meal book that have worked out pretty well. There is a section that has a main meal that you can cook on the weekend and then use the leftovers to make something else. For example, you can make a turkey dish and then use the leftover turkey to make turkey/cheese quesadillas. Quesadillas have become a big hit with my 3 yr old son because he helps makes them (yes, cheese usually ends up on the floor but we have fun). I get whole wheat quesadillas and you can put whatever you want on them (any meat/veggies/with pre-grated cheese) and micowave for a minute or so, slice into triagles with pizza cutter- dinner is ready. Sometimes I will toast them in a skillet coated with non-stick spray for a minute on each side to make crisp. I also regularly get premade items at Trader Joes that we like - for example, apple/cranberry stuffed pork chops, or a spinach pizza that you just stick in the oven.

What about making meals ahead of time (like when your son is in bed) and freezing them for later use? That way, say you make meatloaf, you can split it up into smaller portions and freeze it and then cook it when you need it. Casseroles are great for not taking much time to prepare. What about putting something together when your child goes to bed and then stick it in the fridge. Then you can get it out the next day and all you have to do is stick it in the oven, leaving you time to play with your child while the oven does all the work.

Also, crockpot meals are an easy way to cook too.

Well....I was going to say something about a crockpot....but I think that's covered. You could always bake a beef, turkey or anything in a crockpot, when i's done, let cool. Pruchase som eof those ziplock/glad containers and divide into smaller portions for you and your child and freeze them. Then the nught before, you can take it out and thaw in the fridge and then just reheat your home cooked meal in minutes. This worked great years ago when I was a single parent, working and going to school. Dont forget......salads are quick as well.

I like to throw a couple Chicken Breasts into a baking dish with a mild BBQ sauce or italian dressing or w/ shake & bake, bake 20-30 mins at 350. Also, I always have several bags of different frozen veggies which you can simmer on the stove top while the chicken is cooking! Canned veggies, I just put in a microwave bowl... 2 minutes! My son LOVES peas & green beans!

Also, pasta w/ cut up ham, turkey or chick is great too!

Good luck! I know how hard it is to just have those couple hours after work to prepare dinner & play/spend time w/ your sweet baby you haven't seen all day before they are ready to hit the hay!

Planning ahead is very helpful. I make the menu for each week. I cook with 93% fat free hamburger which makes those quick sauces (spaghetti, taco) more healthy. If I am making spaghetti, I will make a big pot of sauce and freeze what we don't eat for a quick easy meal later on. I also get a lot of recipe ideas from a website called allrecipes.com

Hey A..
I have a similar situation. Husband that is gone a lot & left to feed myself & my 2 yr old (& now an 8 month old!). I have had many a meal of grilled cheese sandwiches & green beans! I like to find things that we will both eat & that I can freeze. Now that your son is a little older, he will enjoy cooking w you too. My guy loves to hold the measuring cup & dump everything in. I usually give him a big wooden spoon to use as well. That way, while you are preparing meals, he can join in & I bet he'll love it. I am a fan of easy things that we both like - tacos, spaghetti, pancakes, scrambled eggs! I also make meals of lots of little things put together. Hummus & carrot/celery sticks. Pb & apples, cottage cheese & crackers, deli meat & potato salad, yogurt & fruit. By the time you know it, you have a meal. Maybe not a traditional one, but what does that matter? I also have been known to make a big casserole for dinner, save some leftovers for next day's lunch & then freeze the rest for the following week! Ha! Hope this helps.

I would put the crock pot on low in the morning & your dinner will be ready when you get home. You can put any kind of roast (even frozen) . Pork Roast add soy sauce & caraway & maybe a little water. Beef Roast put carrots & potatoes in the bottom then meat then cr mush soup over all. No water. Also do the same with stew meat.

A.:

I would suggest getting to know the slow cooker!! You throw everything in before you go to work and bam...it is ready when you get home! Plus, you can make so many healthy recipes in it (soups, turkey chili, chicken and veggie stew..anything). Also, the wok cooks up quick meals.

A. L

Go check out a crock pot recipe book at the library. Spent 15-20 minutes getting things ready before work, and it is done when you get home. Kudos for not wanting to feed your little one unhealthy things, and for the desire for PLAY TIME!

A recent favorite of my son... shells pasta (medium or small are best) with pesto. Takes about 15 min. to make, and you can play with your son while the noodles boil! I throw in some cut up black olives and some lunch meat, and we are good to go!

I get together with some friends every six to eight weeks and we prepare meals for at least one month. I have several recipes that we use over and over becasue they are so good. There are several "make ahead" sites that we like to visit. I will get some things together and send them soon.

I try to pre-make some of the meat on Sundays- I bake or grill chicken and some ground beef. Then I use it throughout the week-just adding seasoning as needed and microwaving vegetables or making pasta. Saves a ton of time!