3 Easy Dinners You Need to Cook ASAP
Out of all of the household jobs from the laundry, to the sweeping and errands, cooking is by far my fav. I hate washing a pot, but cooking is a whole different story.
It allows a certain creativity, especially when dealing with picky eaters or shelf cooking, Hands down give me a knife over a sponge any day.
Below are a few of our family's favorites. Anytime I serve these, post about it, or have company people always ask for the details. Here's a basic how to, no formal recipes because that's the beauty of them. I hope your family enjoys them as much as ours.
I'm including a bunch of variations to allow YOUR creativity to shine. Enjoy.
1. One pot pasta with meat sauce:
This one is such a winner. My kids are always excited when I make it. And I've cooked it as a meal for a sick friend who actually reached out for the recipe!
The basic recipe is brown ground meat (I like a mixture of chicken and beef) any works. Then add one box of pasta, ruffles is awesome, penne, macaroni etc... 1 jar of marinara sauce, and then 2 jars of water. Add basic spices like salt pepper, garlic etc... and cook for a half hour or so until water is absorbed and noodles are soft.
Serve with roasted veggies or salad.
Variations: Saute onions, peppers, or add a bag of your favorite veggies thrown in for some extra nutrients.
If you want to use a lower carb, or gluten free option such as spaghetti squash, chickpea noodles etc.. I just take out a cup of the meat mixture before adding the noodles and reserve it.
2. Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Salmon:
Soup: In a pot add two 32 oz bags of frozen cauliflower and a can of sautéed onions. You can sauté your own, use frozen it doesn't matter.
Add whatever spices you like. I used the MSG free chicken soup mix, salt, pepper, and onion powder.
Cook until soft, and then blend. Finish off with the dairy of your choice. I used oat milk because I'm obsessed with it but heavy cream, parmesan, any cheese would be delicious.
For the Salmon, my favorite spice for Salmon is the McCormick Maple SmokeHouse.
I use it plain on the fish, or sometimes brush on a honey mustard mixture. Spritz with oil then bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Some variations: The soup would be delicious with added zucchini or other soft vegetables. Also, my kids aren't big fish eaters so this soup was perfect and filling for the non Salmon lovers, or serve with fish sticks for a kid friendly option.
3. Hot Dog Goulash:
I haven't made this in a while but my husband reminded me of how yummy this is and how I used to make it all the time. It's a recipe from my dear friend Rebbetzin Subby Milikowsky.
Saute onions, green peppers and garlic. Add 8-12 sliced hot dogs, they look way prettier when sliced on a bias, and 4 potatoes diced fine.
Once golden, add one jar of marinara sauce and enough water so it doesn't burn. Cook until potatoes are soft.
This is comfort food to the ultimate and soo good.
Have you tried these? Let us know your favorites and what variations you used.
And of course, here's some free resources to make planning dinners even easier.