Everyday easy meals for future mom?

[dotseurat]

I haven't been the greatest or most varied cook these almost 2 years of my marriage.

I know it's going to get harder once our little girl is on the way (in June). I need MAJOR help!! I know it probably helps to plan out your meals in advance before you do your weekly shopping...

So...I was wondering if you could share what your easy, every day meals are. What's a typical week like for you? I feel like all I ever make is fajitas or some kind of pasta!! Recipes would be great too if you have them...but even if you just list what your weekly 'staples' are, that would be great!

Thank you!!

[elephantmeg]

Here's my master meal planning list-that needs work again but here is where it is now.. Let me know if you want recipes for anything-and congrats! One thing I do is try to make extras and freeze. Yesterday it was pigs in a blanket, last week it was bread, meatloaves and pizza crusts, this week it will be chx tenders and maybe some sort of potato thing.

Pork
Easy ham quiche
BBQ sandwiches (pulled pork-crockpot)
BBQ ribs-grill or crockpot

Beef
Easy Dinner Surprise (crock pot)
Taco salad
Sloppy Joe’s
Baked ziti supreme
Hamburger helper Stroganoff
Meatloaf
Pot roast
Steak
Soft tacos
Shepherd’s Pie
Hamburgers/cheeseburgers
Cheeseburger Rollup (Kraft)

Chicken/Turkey
Chicken in Italian dressing
Marinated turkey steaks
Chicken crunch casserole
Broccoli, chicken and rice
Chicken Parmigiana
Italian Chicken
Chicken and rice dinner
Chicken pot pies
Crunchy turkey tenders with BBQ sauce
Jerk Chicken (with Rice and Peas)
Big basil burgers (turkey burgers)
Blackened chicken poor boy sandwiches
Dijon chicken
Spaghetti (turkey meatballs)
Chicken pasta rosa (Kraft)

Brunch
Pancakes
Waffles
The Egg
Omelets
Scrambled eggs & sausage
Eggs in a hole
Quiche

Fish
Quick baked cod
Crab cakes

Stews/Soups
Zippy veg-beef soup
Shortcut potato soup (Kraft)

Company
Cheese fondue
Sweet onion soup
Onion, spinach and bacon quiche
Ham salad
Shish-k-bobs
Madison county chicken
Swiss chicken casserole pg 140 best loved slow cooker
Baked chicken breasts pg 134 “
Fondue
Chicken cordon bleu
Continental Chicken-fix it & forget it pg 172
Chicken paprikash BHG pg 399
Poppyseed chicken
Bruschetta chicken (TOH pg 166)
Phyllo chicken (TOH pg 172)


Etc
Hotdogs
Pizza
Swiss steak

[dotseurat]

Wow thank you soooooo much!!!

If it's not too much trouble I would love these recipes...or if you can direct me to some of them. We are huge fans of jerk chicken, so that's #1 (I just have a store bought marinade for that).

What do you do with the chicken when you have it with broccoli and rice? Do you do a stir fry? My husband is a pain with stir fry, he says "If I wanted Chinese, I'd order take out" UGH.

Blackened chicken
Italian chicken
Dijon chicken (I have a feeling if I just googled them they'd come up, but if you have a particular recipe you like, I'd love it!)
Easy dinner surprise (I need to start using the crock pot!!)
Big basil burgers

I never make steak- I'm a bad wife. I just don't know what to do with it- suggestions? I've always wanted to make flank steak sandwiches or something...

I hope I'm not asking for too much here!!! I really appreciate all of this, you have no idea!!

[rgors]

A very good site for easy recipes is allrecipes.com. You can see how easy/hard the recipe is and look at the ratings and most helpful reviews. I usually stick with 4 star or higher recipes that have at least 30 reviews.

For steak, I marinate the steak in just some bottled italian dressing. Then at dinner time about 30 min before we eat, I preheat the grill. 20min before we eat, I ask my husband to grill the steaks. LOL!

Some of our regular meals include:

Skillet Lasagna with salad
Chicken and Biscuit Casserole (allrecipes.com)
Tequila Lime marinated Chicken (it's a prebottled marinade - I think Lawry's) with black bean salad, chips
stir fry with brown rice
Pigs in a blanket with veggie soup - often a boxed simple one like tomato
enchiladas (I use the recipe on the back of a mild green enchilada sauce can) with black bean salad, chips
roast chicken parts with apples and veggies with tomato cucumber salad -- this is a top chef recipe by nikki cascione (sp)
Butternut Squash pasta green salad, bread (mark bittman, new york times recipe)
Store prepared pasta green salad, bread (those buittoni packs in the refrigerated aisle, with buittoni sauce)
Simple Roast Chicken green salad, bread, or pine nut couscous (epicurious.com)
Mushroom Pork Chops boiled potatoes, salad (my grandma's recipe, any pork chops baked in a creamy sauce really)
Store bought marinated pork loin (already pre-marinated, just cook) with boiled potatoes, salad
Chicken with vinegar sauce green salad, bread (mark bittman, NYT)
Chipotle burgers, avocado topping black bean salad, chips (epicurious)
Steaks potatoes, green salad
Meatloaf potatoes, green salad (allrecipes)
Baked Salmon with Garlic rice and salad, or beet greens (allrecipes -- "baked salmon II")
Pizza salad (I have various pizza recipes -- I basically do pizza to use up the odd bits of leftover veggies)
Jambalaya (from a Zatarain's box) with turkey sausage cornbread (jiffy mix)
Chickpea Curry brown rice (allrecipes)
Grilled or Baked Fish (whatever type) rice and salad, or beet greens

[jgenie]

:popc1: What a great thread! OP don't feel bad - I was married 7 years before DS arrived. I hated cooking so DH learned to cook for us. In hindsight, I wish I had used that time to learn so cooking for DS would be a non-issue.

[elephantmeg]

Wow thank you soooooo much!!!

If it's not too much trouble I would love these recipes...or if you can direct me to some of them. We are huge fans of jerk chicken, so that's #1 (I just have a store bought marinade for that).

we do the same. I have some from the last time I was in JA that I keep in the fridge (it's a rub). Then grill it, chop it and dip in ketchup for the authentic experience. Rice and peas are easier than you think. Make rice subbing the water for coconut milk and add some minced green onion, a dash of dried thyme (fresh if you have it). When it is done add a drained can of red beans (pick the can that looks like them).

What do you do with the chicken when you have it with broccoli and rice? Do you do a stir fry? My husband is a pain with stir fry, he says "If I wanted Chinese, I'd order take out" UGH.

broccoli, chicken and rice

1 box broccoli rice au gratin
2 c boiling water
4 boneless/skinless chx breasts
1/2 t garlic powder
2 c frozen broccoli
1 c cheddar cheese

In 9x13 pan combine rice, seasoning packet and boiling water. Add chicken, sprinkle with garlic powder. Cover and bake 30 min. Add broccoli and cheese, continue to bake covered 8-10 min or until chicken is cooked through.

Blackened chicken

2 tsp + cajun spice
2 chicken filets thawed
2 french rolls
lettuce/tomato
mayo

heat heavy skillet over high heat for 3-5 min. Sprinkle the chicken with the cajun spice. Cook 2-3 min on the first side then flip and cook until done.

Mix 1/2-1/3 tsp cajun spice with 2 T mayo

Serve with above stuff. You can also use salmon for this recipe.


Italian chicken (a ww recipe)
1.5 tsp margarine
1 T lemon juice
1.5 t olive oil
1 small clove garlic (I use a t of the jar)
1/2 t italian seasoning
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Marinade for 30 min. Grill



Dijon chicken (I have a feeling if I just googled them they'd come up, but if you have a particular recipe you like, I'd love it!)

3/4 c rice
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 t lemon pepper
1/4 t onion powder
2 T margerine
1/4 c milk
2 T flour
1 T dijon mustard

cook rice per directions
sprinkle chicken with lemon pepper and onion. Cook in margerine
Measure pan juices. Add milk to make 2/3 c liquid. Stir 1/4 c milk into flour until smooth, add to pan juices. Add mustard. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Serve over the rice.


Easy dinner surprise (I need to start using the crock pot!!)

1-2 lbs stew meat
2 cans cream mush soup
1 envelope of onion soup mix (dry)

throw them all in the crock pot, cook all day on low or 4-5 hour on high. Serve over rice, noodles, baked potatoes...


Big basil burgers

1 lb ground turkey
2 T dried minced onion
3 t minced garlic (the jar stuff)

mix them together and make patties (I usually get about 6). Pan fry (spray pan with cooking spray).

Serve with basil mayo:
1/4 c mayo, 1 T dried basil, 1 T dijon mustard

These are really good on crusty french rolls with fresh lettuce and tomatoes...

I never make steak- I'm a bad wife. I just don't know what to do with it- suggestions? I've always wanted to make flank steak sandwiches or something...

my FIL usually grills them and overcooks them-argh. My biggest tip that I've almost succeeded in convincing him of (he's a professional BBQ on the weekends-does sliced BBQ so it's hard to give him advice) is that it continues to cook after you take it off the grill. Ribeye steaks with salt and pepper are my fave.

I hope I'm not asking for too much here!!! I really appreciate all of this, you have no idea!!

I cook so much more now that I have kids. Really, so much more-and we were married for 5 years before we had kids. For me there is something satisfying about feeding little people! I hope these help!

[brittone2]

I say this all of the time, so if you have read my posts in the past just ignore me LOL. One of my big helps is cooking two chickens at a time (in a big roasting pan) and then taking the meat off, cubing, and keeping in the fridge to reinvent the leftovers, or freeze and then use that in leftovers at a later date. With this, it becomes easy to make:
Chicken/pasta dishes
chicken curry
chicken in any number of Trader Joe's types of simmer sauces
chicken salad
chicken over salad (like a cesar salad)
quesadillas, soft tacos, etc.


For steak, I like Alton Brown's method where you sear on the stovetop (high heat, dry pan, I like doing it in cast iron) for 30 sec or a minute each side. Then you put the cast iron pan into a hot oven (like 500 degrees I think?) and cook until done. For more details you can probably find his method online. We almost always get awesome steak from this method, whereas before I always struggled w/ cooking it unless DH was grilling it. When in doubt you can always slice super thin before cooking and just quickly cook it that way.

Whenever I brown hamburger, I brown more than one pound at a time. YOu can freeze the prebrowned meat and reinvent into:
Chili
tacos/soft tacos/taco salad
my kids like cheeseburger quiche (with mustard and dill relish :) )
lasagne or Italian types of dishes (with pasta as a bolognese sauce, etc.)
sloppy joes

If I'm making a meatloaf, I make more than one (not really much more work and a lot of payoff to have an extra one in the freezer). Since the ingredients are similar to those in meatballs, i"ll often leave the ingredients out (and reuse the same bowl, so less cleanup) and make a big batch of meatballs once I finish the meatloaves. These can be cooked and then "flash frozen" on a tray with some parchment paper for an hour, then tossed into a freezer container/bag. THis allows you to pull out individual meatballs vs. one huge clump (in case you want only 4-5 meatballs for dinner vs. a clump of 20 ;) ) For me the nicest part is that it all results in far less cleanup on other nights...you make one mess and clean up the big mess one time, vs. 3 times (for 2 meatloaves and a batch of meatballs).

I personally used to be really intimidated (pre kids, early in our marriage) by roasts or whole chickens, but I now think they are one of the easiest dinners ever. They may take a while to cook (I do chicken in the oven for roughly an hour depending on size...use a meat thermometer. I usually do roasts in the crockpot), but both are easy and low maintenance (and usually have nice leftovers). I throw in some turnips, carrots, potatoes or sweet potatoes right in w/ the meat and you have a one dish dinner. Easy, easy.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Did you click on the sticky in What's Cookin'? by daisymommy? Very cool. a little intimidating, but it'll give you some ideas http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=318840

[hellokitty]

One other tip is when you do cook, cook double the portion and then freeze half of it. That is basically what I do with a lot of staple recipes, like meat loaf, spaghetti, stews, etc.. That way when you always have a few freezer meals available for when you aren't up to cooking or you are too busy too cook.

[dotseurat]

Wow, thank you everyone!

I have no idea why I've always found planning meals so intimidating...it's so much easier to just cook for yourself, but then you have to take other peoples' tastes in mind and my DH is a very picky eater - he hates cheese and anything creamy- UGH!

Thanks again!