Looking for what others cook on nights where you don’t want a lot of dishes but is fast, easy and not the same ‘ol burgers, dogs, steaks. What are you goto’s? Meal ideas with a “side” or two preferably. Any ideas much appreciated!
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Last edited by Mark-B; March 13, 2023, 06:58 PM. -
Something I do occasionally and is really good…..it’s called sheet pan sausage and veggies. I’ll take my favorite sausage and cut it into slices. Then I’ll take 5 or 6 of my favorite veggies and cut them up. Mix it all together in a bowl drizzled with canola oil, or similar, and add your favorite spices, I use garlic salt and pepper. Put it all into a greased pan and cook at 350* for 30-40 minutes. Very good! The veggies I like to use are onions, bell pepper, small tomatoes, asparagus or squash, diced potatoes and a jalapeño. Goes great with garlic bread. You can use any kind of link sausage and any of your favorite vegetables really.
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Aside from the standard ones you mention our favorites are wings. Sides are often tater tots or fries in the air fryer and maybe a salad or something green. Easy to thaw if it's a last minute thing too, or flop 'em n the grill/smoker frozen it doesn't matter much. Any sauce works but if you like Buffalo you can sub regular Frank's or add butter & garlic to make it more Buffalo-y. Another fan favorite is shrimp. Also easy to thaw and super quick to cook, great in any preparation even tacos. Necessitates keeping bags of frozen shrimp of course, which aren't really a budget item so that's a caveat.Comment
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How 'bout stir fry? Most of the time is in prep, but if you do the prep the night before, it's a 10 or 15 minute cook - unless you want rice. Of course, you could also fix the rice the night before while prepping everything else.Comment
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Pizza, I make the dough and keep it in the freezer. You can do salad on the side. Tacos, fish tacos are a regular lazy and relatively healthy meal in my house. I took out some frozen pulled pork today for tacos or will also use whatever meat is in the fridge. Nachos with PP. Chicken strips, here's my recipe that's a little healthier than frozen store-bought strips. We tend to air fry fries along with them. Grilled cheese with packaged tomato soup. Quesadillas. Many stir-fry dishes are easy one-pan meals. Pad Gra Prow is super easy and super delicious. Yakisoba is also an easy go-to for me. Ramen with good instant ramen can be doctored up easily.Comment
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Tossing some frozen smoked meat and maybe some vegetables in a ricemaker with rice... about as much of a one pot meal as one can get and simple. It cooks unattended, leaving one time for a quick shower or some chores before eating.
Another simple favorite of mine is simply pulled beef/brisket in cream of mushroom, on top of rice. I do usually throw the brisket on the CI skillet and fry it a bit, a bit more of that bark, before throwing in with the rest. This goes well on cornbread also.
Pulled pork sloppy joes with fried tater's (onions and jalapenos optional).
Spaghetti with Chili instead of regular sauce.Comment
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Mark-B Might as well do more than one. The way I see it, if I'm gonna tend a smoker for the better part of a day, I better get more than just a couple of meals out of it. 4-6 Pork Butts, or 3 Briskets, or Hams, or Chickens. 1 lb vacuum sealed packages in the freezer and the 'quick options' multiply.
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Fish tacos with some easy chopped up pico, shrimp and pasta, salmon, often left overs from a beef cook, like soups and ramen, scrambled eggs, brats, left over chicken or steak into a salad. Grilled cheese sandwiches, sandwiches with leftover smoked pork loin,…smoked coney dog with onions and fresh grated cheese.Comment
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For a quick and simple dinner tonight we had reverse seared Flat Iron steak strips. Seasoned up the flat Irons, placed them on the gasser indirect till they reached 115 degrees, then on the Weber loaded with blazing hot Jealous Devil lump with a tad of mesquite chunks till they reached about 130 degrees.. Took about 1 hour and 20 min. Tasty and simple, added some green beans to go with it,.Attached FilesComment
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A number of things I cook on the weekdays have been listed. But I look for various proteins that I can cook in a number of ways fairly quick and easy as well. Flank from Costco opens up a number of options that are quick and easy - stir fry, tacos, steak - all with some type of rice or noodle for stir fry. Chicken thighs can be done the same, stir fry tacos or just chicken and veg, like what PJ mentions above. Roasted broccoli, brussels, cauliflower all can cook on their own while making the protein. Fish, for filets or tacos, and shrimp can be done up a number of ways very quick. Pork chops as well, and serve with anything I’ve mentioned already.
that’s really what is in my wheel house for week night meals. I buy cans of black beans to add in for a taco theme of sort, and then just various fresh veg that is bought on the weekend for the week.
Pasta is another thing that’s pretty easy and quick - versatile with protein and sauce. I don’t make pasta much because we prefer carbs as a side only, but on occasion we do go with a pasta. And use more rice noodles for stir fry if we do a noodle dish.
And you mentioned bowls above - those are also things we do, deconstructed burritos or whatever. Add in some type of lettuce and it spins it a bit!
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Excellent thread. For me, it is seared ahi tuna. I always have some frozen on hand. Takes 25 minutes to defrost in water. I then dust it with blackened seasoning and in a hot pan it goes for two minutes a side. Perfect!Comment
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Here are tonight's 10 minute tacos. I usually have pickled vegetables in the fridge for times like these.
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I keep homemade tomato sauce frozen. Heat it up in a sauce pan, doctor it how you want, add noodles. I also keep cooked frozen wild game meatballs, they get tossed in the sauce and warmed up. Ring baloney taters and onions as a hash. Chicken salad with smoked chicken it common. Use frozen chili for frito pie.Comment
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We plan about 80% of our dinners and follow through on making them. But there are nights were it's either leftovers, on your own or make something quick. We have no young children or kids to feed, so we can quickly decide on something easy. Here are some of our "go to" combos off the top of my head:- Soup. I usually always have a Qt of homemade Chicken Broth and sometimes Beef Broth in the freezer. Veggies in the frig, canned veggies, frozen veggies, left over protein, etc. Even canned soup. Just doctor it up a bit with seasonings, salts, herbs, etc. Campbells Cream of Mushroom and add some sauteed shrooms and a tad of sherry.....not bad.
- Sandwiches. We always keep sliced meats, variety of breads, veggies and condiments.
- Salads. I always have vine ripe toms and Persian cucumbers, Italian parsley and mozzerella in the frig. Just add other things. Keep a couple cans of marinated artichokes in the frig. Sends it to another level.
- Pasta. I make more noodles than asked for when making spaghetti. Like to keep the extra noodles in the frig. Pan sautee the noodles with EEVO, protein, galic, onion, etc. Par with soup and/or salad above.
- Keep a varity of seasonings, sauces, condiments and rubs. So can defrost a protein quickly cut if needed, season and cook.
- Fresh hummus. Goes with just about everything.
- Egg dishes. Quick omelet or frittata.
- Tinned seafood. I eat tinned/canned seafood (sardines, oysters, dolmas), but not my wife.
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My favorite meal in a pinch is a….wait for it….. ham sandwich. Yup. A plain old ham sammy with mayo. Add Swiss cheese and lettuce if I have it. Always leaves me satisfied. 🤷♂️
For the ham I buy the Kirkland brand at Costco. It’s a big chunk called “Master Carver” or something like that. It’s the real hunk of unprocessed meat carved off the bone. Not the deli crap. Usually 3.5-4 pounds. I cut it into smaller chunks for freezing and always have it in stock.
Boy, that’s a lot of writing for a ham sandwich. 🙄🤣😬Comment
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