Quick & Easy Dinners for a Busy Mom
By cbchops
@cbchops (61)
United States
January 6, 2011 2:22pm CST
A friend of mine recently made the transition from a stay-at-home mom to working,full time outside of the home. She loves her job, the only complaint she has is that she doesn't have much time to cook for her family & they're eating a lot more ready-made frozen dinners. I decided to start this discussion to see if I (with your help) could come up with a collection of quick & easy, home-cooked meals for her to try out for her family. Hey...it will help us all out right? Who isn't looking for new quick & easy dinner ideas? I'll start off with an easy favorite recipe of mine...
Brunswick Stew
Ingredients - 1 med. sized whole chicken, 2 large cans chicken broth, 2 - 15 oz cans stewed tomatoes, 1 large bag frozen vegetable soup mix vegetables, salt & pepper to taste
Directions - 1. Place chicken in crock pot, salt and pepper chicken, cover with chicken broth and cook on low in crock pot overnight. 2. Remove cooked chicken from broth. Allow chicken to cool then separate meat from bones. 3. Add tomatoes, vegetables, and chicken to broth. Cook until vegetables are tender. (You may adjust crock pot temperature to suit your needs, or you may remove broth from crock pot and continue cooking in a stock pot on the stove.)
I generally serve this with a salad and some "crusty" bread & butter. It's a yummy meal that doesn't require a lot of work.
How about some other ideas?
2 responses
@marguicha (215808)
• Chile
1 Feb 11
I make chicken or meat stew in a very similar way but I use water instead of canned broth. The best broth is made from the chicken itself and it does not have any aditives. Most of the times I don´t take out the bones and each one separates the meat from the bones in his own plate.
When I have time I make a large batch of ground meat sauce. I make one with tomato and tomato sauce and another one with just plenty of fried dices onions. I place them in the freezer and take them out to use them with pasta, rice or to make a quick shepherds pie.
@cbchops (61)
• United States
1 Feb 11
What am I don't wrong with my broth? When I just boil the chicken in water it doesn't seem quite rich enough. (I don't take the bones out either.) That's why I boil it in canned broth. When I just use water and add "Better than Buillion" it's better. Any tips?
@marguicha (215808)
• Chile
1 Feb 11
I don´t like the additives they put in cans so I don´t use many of them. Besides, cans are much more expensive and I live on a budget. I put the chicken in a pot, add some oregano leaves (I use fresh because I have a plant but dry will do), half an onion, a whole carrot, half a sweet pepper and pour boiling water until covered. I don´t have a crock pot so I use a common big pot and place it on the range for 20 minutes. You can do that at night, while mylotting or watching TV. The rest can be done as you said. Cheper and yummy!
You can save part of the broth if it´s too much. Freeze it and use it for a chicken or veggie risitto later.
You can save part of the broth if it´s too much. Freeze it and use it for a chicken or veggie risitto later.
@xClan214 (11)
• United States
6 Jan 11
Spaghetti! its a really simple and delicious meal!
all you need to do is buy some spaghetti noodles and
tomato sauce (prego or classico are the 2 tastiest brands)
and then saute some green peppers, onion, and mushrooms
and add it to the sauce.
a roast is also easy to cook since it is one of those "set it
and forget it" meals
@cbchops (61)
• United States
6 Jan 11
Spaghetti is great....especially if you add the yummy sauteed veggies (I'd add some garlic to the mix too). When I was a kid this was my mom's "go-to meal." Add some frozen cheesy Texas toast and a salad and you've got a whole meal in about 15 minutes. Can't beat that! BTW....I have to agree Prego & Classico are definitely the best brands. Thanks!
