However, today is here, you just got home from work, the pantry and refrigerator are mocking you with their unknown and uninspiring contents, and, your kids insist on eating dinner every night. Bonus points if they ask, “What kind of pizza are we having tonight?”

However, I have noticed that the standard quick dinners may be neither “quick” nor “easy”. Even if a recipe is promised to be really easy, I usually won’t try it if the ingredients are unfamiliar to me, and, I’m probably not going to go back out for a rotisserie chicken like all the women’s magazines tell me to do, and, I probably haven’t started anything in the crockpot.

What I can do fairly successfully, though, is keep certain ingredients to make things I don’t really have to use a lot of brain power to complete.

Some of my standard ingredients:

1. Frozen, boneless chicken breasts

2. Ground beef – sometimes, I am even organized enough to buy a bunch, cook it with garlic, and, such, and, freeze portions for recipes

3. Frozen vegetables: peas, corn, broccoli, carrots

4. Milk, eggs, cheese

5. Tuna

6. Frozen meatballs

7. Frozen garlic bread

8. Bagged salad

So, what’s for dinner? While these are certainly not gourmet, or, everyday selections by any means, these are some of my standard, no-brainer emergency meals that I make with my stocked ingredients:

1. Tuna melts – (tuna, mayo, pickle relish, cheese, English muffins)

2. Bisquick Impossible Chicken or Cheeseburger Pie – though it’s a little 70’s-ish, we usually have enough stuff around to make one of these.

3. Spaghetti – sauce from a jar, meatballs, or, prepared ground beef

4. Barbecue chicken – boneless chicken breasts roasted with barbecue sauce, onions, cheese

5. Grilled cheese sandwiches – a classic, add ham or roast beef, or, try different kinds of cheese such as Swiss or Havarti

Inspiration for real people:

Cooking By Numbers – check off what you have, they’ll tell you what to make
Foodie View – recipe search engine, can search by ingredients

Mealtime.org – some hints and quick meals

Foodgeeks – general kitchen tips

What are your standard, “go-to” emergency meals on a busy night?

Post from: Blisstree

Dinner hacks for real people