It’s 5:30, kids are hungry, you need to go grocery shopping, and you’re wondering WHY do humans have to eat 3 times a day?! And let’s be real, that’s a conservative estimate if you’ve got littles that love to snack. I got you girl. Here’s some of my go to dinners that are easy to put together last minute. Nearly all of the ingredients can be pulled from the freezer or pantry, so it’s easy to keep these ingredients on hand all the time.
Okay, before we get started here, I just have a couple tips for you!
- Green peppers, onions, and green onions freeze BEAUTIFULLY! When you buy 1, buy 5 and dice them all up at the same time, then freezer your leftovers. This is my favorite chopper to make quick work of all your dicing.
- Frozen vegetables I always have on hand: cauliflower rice, carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, and a stir fry/sheet pan blend. I also try to have celery in the freezer, but you do need to blanch it before freezing. Here’s how to blanch your celery!
- Frozen meat I always have on hand: ground beef or turkey, ground sausage, chicken tenderloin or breast, salmon or some type of fish, and andouille or smoked sausage.
- Bread freezes great! Keep an extra loaf of bread, hamburger buns, etc in your freezer if you have room!
- If you want to up the nutrition of your meal a bit, add 1 C or so of frozen cauliflower rice to whatever ground meat you’re cooking. It browns up with the meat perfectly and you can’t tell its there!
Sausage Potato Chowder
1 lb country style/breakfast sausage
1 can or 1.5 C frozen corn
1 can cream corn
2 cans evaporated milk
2 large russet potatoes or 2 C frozen, diced potatoes
1 T marjoram or ground oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Brown sausage and drain. Boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain potatoes. In a large pot, add the sausage, potatoes, both corns, and stir to combine. Add in the milk, marjoram, salt and pepper, then stir to combine. You can add extra milk if desired, then let heat to almost boiling, and serve.
Tinfoil Dinners
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb ground beef
2 large potatoes or 2 C frozen, diced potatoes
1 C diced onions
2 C sliced carrots
1 T olive oil
Preheat oven to 375º.
In a large bowl combine diced vegetables and oil and toss until well mixed. Form 4 patties out of the beef. Spray a 12″ x 18″ piece of foil with non-stick spray.
Place 1/2 C of the vegetable mixture in the center of the foil. Top with 1 beef patty. Add 2 tablespoons of condensed mushroom soup on top of each patty.
Seal foil packets well. Place beef side up on a large baking sheet and bake 35-45 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.
Sausage Veggie Dinner
1 lb smoked or andouille sausage
Assortment of veggies- I do whatever I have on hand. Usually some frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potato, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, whatever you want
Olive or avocado oil
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt
Pepper
Preheat your oven to 400º. Slice your sausage into 1” rounds and dice the veggies. Add veggies + sausage to a large baking sheet and drizzle (or spray) with oil. Sprinkle spices then toss to coat everything well. Bake for 30-35 minutes flipping halfway.
BBQ Chicken Pizza
For crust:
1 pkg dry, instant yeast
2 3/4 c flour
1 Tb sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
1Tb olive oil
1 1/4 c lukewarm water
Toppings:
Shredded or diced cooked chicken
BBQ Sauce
Mozzarella or Gouda cheese
Red onion, optional
To start the crust, add flour, yeast and salt to a stand mixer. Stir to combine and slowly add in water, sugar or honey, and olive oil. Mix until the dough forms and balls up, then let the mixer knead it for 3 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, then roll out into crust. This can be used for 2 thick crusts or 3 thin crusts. Top with sauce and toppings, then bake at 425º for 18-20 minutes.
Fried Rice
There’s lots of ways to do fried rice, but here’s a great recipe with some super helpful tips to get it perfect every time!
Tuna Melts
This one is fairly self explanatory, but just in case this is a “my family” thing, I’ll explain!
Whip up some tuna salad however you like it. I usually do mayo + relish. Slap it on a piece of bread, top with some cheese if you’re into that sort of thing, then pop in under the broiler until that cheese is nice and bubbly. Serve with hot tomato soup
Sloppy Joes
2lbs ground beef
½ bunch celery, diced
1 onion, diced
½ c tomato soup
½ C ketchup
1 bell pepper, diced
⅛ C brown sugar
¼ C vinegar
1t paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Hamburger buns
Over medium high heat, melt 2 T butter in a large skillet. Add in vegetables and sauté until softened. Add in ground beef and sauté until browned through. Reduce heat to low medium, then add in soup and seasonings. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add in brown sugar, vinegar, and paprika. Serve on hamburger buns
Chicken Broccoli Rice
There’s a million ways to make this classic dish, but here is one of my favorite recipes with no “cream of” soups in it.
Of course there’s always solid standbys like tacos, spaghetti + meatballs, grilled cheese, and breakfast for dinner.
You’re killing it mama! Have a great week!
