- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
I cannot cook at all. But now that we are married, I really want to be able to make some nice meals for DH. Can you ladies share some of your favorite easy recipes with me please ?
Go to Skinnytaste.com. Stop. Cook. That's all you need :) Her recipes are simple, delicious and healthy. They usually don't take a ton of ingredients, she includes lots of photos, and they don't take long to put together. She has a post with the top 20 of 2010, I love to make every single thing on there! I'm a huge fan of her chicken and white bean enchiladas, but I cheat and use jarred salsa verde instead of making my own :)
I love cooking, but don't always follow recipes so my recipes aren't exact...
I am addicted to fruit salsa lately. Pair it with grilled skirt steak, chicken, fish and maybe a bed of rice or couscous. SO GOOD!
Dice up some onion, tomato, cilantro, jalapeño pepper if you like, fruit (I use either mango, peach or nectarine). Add some salt, squeeze in a lime and VOILA!
You can also mix in chopped cabbage to make it into a salad!
OR use the cabbage mixture for tacos! Just put a little bit of meat, then cabbage mix on top of a warm tortilla. VOILA!
allrecipes.com is a great cooking tool. They have recipes on there ranging from very beginner to advanced. Read the comments for more tips on how to perfect a certain recipe- and then just follow the instructions. easy-peasy.
Another easy recipe to go with whatever meat you are making - roasted veggies.
Preheat your oven to 450F.
Chop up whatever veggies you have on hand into large-ish pieces - carrots, squash, onion, potatoes, bell peppers, button mushrooms.
Line a large roasting pan with tin foil for easy clean-up and throw your veggies in.
In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk that together and coat the veggies with this mixture. Add a sprig of rosemary and some thyme. If you don't have it fresh, just sprinkle a little bit of the dried herbs. Don't over do it - the flavors can be overwhelming.
Cover with tin foil and cook for 45 mins at 450F. Careful when taking the foil off, there will be vinegary-steam.
You will find some veggies cook faster than others. Sometimes I do the squash, carrots and potatoes first for about 20 minutes and then add the other veggies for a total cooking time of 45 minutes.
My go to easy meals are things like
Tacos
Ground Beef and McCormick Taco Seasoning
Get any shredded lettuce, tomatoes, chips & salsa you like =)
Last night I attempted Spanish rice... it's pretty tempermental though so definitely not an easy one.
you can see my post here
Spaghetti
Ground beef
4 large cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno pepper (cut off the top and slit it long ways half way down)
2 beef boullion
Italian seasoning & s&p
Brown the ground beef.. drain.. and throw everything in on top.
Takes about 30 mins prep and you can simmer as long as you want
^ Family recipe that's delicious
Baked Cream of Chicken
6 Chicken breast (I buy a bag of chicken breast and just pick some out uber good and cheaper than the packages)
2 cream of chicken 10.5oz
2 cream of mushroom 10.5 oz
2 Chicken Broth 14 oz
2 cups prepared rice optional (I make minute rice.. uber easy)
Add I cream of chicken to baking dish
Lay chicken on top
make rice (like I said I make 1 cup of minute rice... comes out to 2 c prepared rice)
mix all other ingredients in a bowl & add rice when ready.
pour chicken & bake uncovered @ 400 for ~ 45 minutes
Stock up on canned veggies and then you always have a side =)
I really like epicurious.com and smitten kitchen. I've been a fan of veggie salads lately--grill some veggies, like asparagus, peppers, onions, corn, etc, and mix everything up with some fresh basil and some dressing (2tbs olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1tbsp dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste). You can throw in some cooked pasta if you want it to be a bit heartier.
@Tswife4ever: do you have any favorite flavors you are trying to incorporate? Or favorite foods? I'm constantly trying to come up with new things, but I find the most satisfying ones are the easiest (like roast chicken, steak, etc.)
OMG I LOVE Chipotle style burrito bowls.
Make instant rice, but add a squeeze of lime, a little bit of chopped cilantro and a shake of garlic salt.
Open a can of black beans into a microwave safe bowl and add a little bit of cumin.
Make or buy whatever salsa you like (see my salsa recipe above).
Then layer it how you like it, adding whatever ingredients you like - cheese, sour cream, guac, shredded lettuce, etc!
Mexican food is one of my easy go-to foods. Once you make the meat you can make so many different things!
My easy go-to meals are Spaghetti (I use italian sausage instead of ground beef for extra flavor) and rosemary chicken.
Rosemary chicken is really easy. Thaw your chicken and then sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary on them. You fill a skillet half full of chicken stock and then put your chicken breasts in to cook. The chicken stock will give it extra chicken-y flavor and the amount will keep it nice and juicy. You let them cook and then serve when they are done all teh way through! So simple and really delicious. The chicken stock is really my secret weapon, I read somewhere that when you use just a little oil or liquid when you cook it actually leeches the moisture out of the meat to cook it. The amount of liquid should reach halfway up the side of the meat. My chicken has been cooking much nicer since I started doing this.
You can also convert the above recipe into lemon-pepper chicken too.
@JoJo Bananas OMGosh I never thought about making my own Chipotle Burrito Bowls!!! Will soooo have to do that! yummmmmm
Sorry, I am going crazy posting recipes. I must be hungry... Hopefully someone finds these to be helpful!
Turkey Burgers
Get a 1-1.5lb container of ground turkey meat.
Put it into a large bowl and add a splash of Worcestershire sauce, sprinkle some garlic salt and pepper.
Form patties with your hands and grill in a non-stick pan.
I like to also grill some onions in another pan for the burgers. Toast your bun and top with your favorite ingredients. I like to add avocado too.
Chicken breast panini
Season a thin chicken breast with salt and pepper. Grill it. (I uses a stove-top panini pan to grill.) Top the chicken with pepperjack cheese and let it melt. Grill some onions.
Get two pieces of sourdough, sourdough roll or whatever sandwich roll you like. Spread on some mayo and mustard. Or use pesto (highly recommended)! Add the chicken, grilled onion and some slices of avocado to the sammy and voila! You can panini-fy it in a panini press if you like!
Homemade pasta sauce:
• 2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (chop them up)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Basically, brown the meat, then add everything else and let simmer (low heat and covered) for as long as possible (at least 1-2 hrs). We usually add some red pepper flakes as well. Then, add this to your favorite pasta. Anyone who eats will be totally impressed that it's homemade - it's so delicious and very simple. It makes a lot of sauce - you can freeze the leftovers.
My husband loves stuffed peppers, but bell peppers can get pricey, so I came up with this really easy and inexpensive casserole that takes 30 minutes to get to the table. My husband loves this and it makes plenty of leftovers he can easily heat up on his own.
STUFFED PEPPER CASSEROLE
1lb ground beef or turkey
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1 bag of frozen bell pepper slices
2 cups of cooked rice (great use for leftover rice, esp. from takeout meals!)
1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a big pan, brown beef with lots of salt and pepper. Drain off excess fat and set aside on a plate.
2. In the same pan, add a little oil and saute onion and frozen peppers together until the peppers are thawed and everything has softened a little bit.
3. Add ground beef, rice, and half of your pasta sauce into the pan and mix everything together and heat through. Taste at this point to see if it needs more salt and pepper. I usually also add a few shakes of garlic powder and hot sauce.
4. Dump out everything into a casserole dish and spread the remaining pasta sauce over the top. You can add cheese on top if you like. Slip in the oven for 15-20 minutes until its bubbly.
I agree with the poster that suggested allrecipes.com. I often think of a food I would like to make (e.g. potato soup), then look up several versions on allrecipes.com and read the reviews. ALWAYS READ THE REVIEWS! Then I usually combine them to make my own. Here's a recipe for cheese sauce. You can put it on steamed veggies or make mac & cheese with it.
Cheese Sauce
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1.5 cups of milk
Salt, pepper, ground mustard
Cheddar cheese
Melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook until it bubbles (this helps the flour taste go away). Slowly whisk in milk and get rid of lumps. Turn up to medium heat. Stir occasionally as sauce thickens. When getting close to desired consistency, stir in grated cheddar cheese (I didn't specify an amount because it depends on how sharp your cheese is and your taste preference). Add some salt, pepper, and ground mustard to taste. If too thick, you can always whisk in a bit more milk. Voila! If you third the recipe it makes a decent amount for veggies for 2-3 people, the above recipe makes a fair amount (better for a big pot of mac & cheese).
If you want to really up it to a GOOD mac & cheese, add 2 minced cloves of garlic to the butter at the start. Use havarti, old orange cheddar, sharp white cheddar and add 2 tablespoons of sour cream to the sauce at the end. Mix with the macaroni and then crumble some feta cheese in. Bake with more cheese grated on top.
One of my husband's favorite dishes is also the absolute easiest one to make. It is salsa chicken, very low calorie but very yummy. All you do is pour a can of salsa over chicken and bake. I usually sprinkle a little cheese on top but its sooo good.
@bloodgo1: We do salsa chicken in the slow cooker. Throw in some chicken breasts, a jar of salsa and let it cook on low. We eat it shredded on tortillas.
Made a really delicious stirfry for dinner tonight! DH said it was better than takeout. We had it with some brown rice and some green beans.
Apricot Chicken Stirfry with Almonds (serves 2 plus 1 leftover portion for lunch!)
1 chicken breast, cut into small cubes
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup of diced carrots (6 baby carrots)
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. fresh ginger, or 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
1/4 cup of toasted nuts of your choice (we used almonds)
Sauce:
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 tbl. soy sauce
1 tbl. peanut butter
1/2 red chili flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 tbl. white wine, water or broth
1. Make some plain rice. While it cooks, mix all the sauce ingredients and microwave for 30 seconds to soften up the peanut butter. Stir until smooth and heat sauce for a few more seconds if peanut butter is still not mixing in smoothly. Then start chopping up all your chicken and veggies. You want everything to be about the same size.
2. Heat up a bit of in a big frying pan until smoking hot. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the chicken and add to the pan. Stirfry the chicken for a few minutes until cooked through and transfer to a plate.
3. Wipe out the pan and add some more oil and heat until smoking hot again. Then add all of the veggies and spices and stirfry for 1 minute (don't add nuts yet). Then add chicken back into the pan and stir together. Add in all of the sauce and once and stir everything together until everything is coated. Throw in the nuts right at the end, toss once.
4. Serve with hot rice.
My secret go to that is super easy ... Chicken Puffs
1 tube of croissant dough (such as pillsbury)
1 cup chopped and cooked chicken breast (I use a food processor)
1 cup chopped and cooked brocolli
1/2 container (250g) of herb and garlic cream cheese
Combine the chicken, brocolli and creamcheese.
Unroll the crossaint dough, divide into 4 (usually is precut into 8 ... just squeeze the seam together of 2 to cover the holes).
Place 1/4 of the mixture in each croissant packet and fold up the dough to seal the filling in.
Bake in oven according to croissant dough instructions, add an additional 2-3 minutes (when it starts to get golden, its done).
Pair it with a salad, and delish!
I strongly recommend investing in a slow cooker! Here's an EASY recipe for Hawaiian BBQ:
1 pork roast (fatty....do not use tenderloin!)
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp liquid smoke
Rub the salt and liquid smoke over the roast. Place in slow cooker and cook on low for 16+ hours or high for 8+ hours. (I put mine in before bed the night before and it's perfect by dinner the next day)
Chicken parm! Take boneless chicken breasts, put them in a zippy bag and beat them out til they're nice and thin. Coat in flour, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry in a skillet in some olive oil. When they're cooked through, add tomato sauce and parm. When that's heated through, melt some mozza on top and serve!
(For a healthier version, bake salt+peppered chicken breats in oven @400, then top with tomato sauce and a little bit of cheese. I make it both ways and they're both equally delicious!)
Serve with spaghetti, fetticini alfredo, rice, or just a nice salad.
Tried this pork tenderloin idea last week:
put pork tenderloin in roasting pot...pour on a generous line of mustard (I have whole grain dijon), sesame oil, salt&pepper, and cover with maple syrup
bake in oven (400 for 45 mins....something like that)
best I've had!!! highly recommended and so easy!
Easiest possible recipe is:
Rub a salmon filet with your choice of spices.
Broil for 5-7 minutes.
Rub with sauce, if desired, and broil an extra minute to carmelize.
Eat!
Takes no time at all and you can customize it to taste totally different every time.
Quesadillas are much easier than you would think! Cook up whatever ingredients you want inside (green peppers, jalapenos, chicken, chopped tomatoes) and just brown tortillas in a pan with a little oil. Add the "stuffing" and fold over and cook untli cheese melts. Yum! You can make a ton of htese at one time and freeze them and they're still delicious
We also make mini pizzas -- pizza toppings on English Muffins and bake @ 350 for about 10 minutes. I freeze those, too, so I can take them to work and pop it in the microwave for a quick lunch.
Stuffed peppers are also awesome and an easy way to use leftovers like ground beef and rice and beans. I put black beans and salsa in mine rather than spaghetti sauce.
Our go-to meal is usually burgers on the grill (and we slice up potatoes & cheese and wrap in foil and grill til tender) or spaghetti!
@bakerella: Thanks so much for the SkinnyTaste website! I just checked it out, and everything looks so good! Can't wait to try our some recipes--FI is gonna love you! LOL!
This is DH's favorite. It's SUPER easy and he swears it tastes just like Panera! I don't like potato soup, so I can't vouch for it. Lol
http://www.food.com/recipe/paneras-cream-cheese-potato-soup-150863
Taco soup is delicious and very easily made in a slow cooker or on the stove!!
Tonight I'm boiling a chicken breast and and shredding it. Then I'll toss it in a buffalo sauce and bake it so the flavor will bake in. We'll have it with a salad (buffalo chicken salad). The leftover chicken will most likely be made into a panini with swiss cheese and ranch dressing! Yumm!!
I second what the other ladies are saying. If you don't have one, invest in a slow cooker!
im getting hungry!!!!!!! :) heres an easy one....
pork roast (3 lbs)... all you need is a crockpot...
i use the french onion seasoning (usually 2 packets) and add water per directions.
cut up red potatoes into 1-2 inch cubes, slice some carrots, and onions (or whatever veggies you like) and throw it all into the crockpot for 8 hours on low :)
fi loves it! and it re- heats up well too
@stephanie63087: I did a pork raost for dinner, last night (for Father's Day).. Pops sure was proud! LOL!
Since I'm already thinking about how delicious my leftovers will be today, I wanted to share this recipe I found for those who like spicy! We cooked about 2lbs of chicken breast and I doubled the recipe and served it over a salad! VERY easy and VERY delicious!!
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1412793
i like having a little side salad with dinner - how to make the best of the ingredients you have while keeping it on the light side: http://lifeisgoodkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/best-salad-youve-ever-had.html
First off-- anyone can learn to cook, you just have to be prepared for a lot of trial and error. Stock your freezer with some frozen pizzas so if things don't go well, you've got a back up plan. Find easy recipes you like and just give it a whirl. The key is just to start cooking. And if your husband realizes that you're trying to learn to cook, he'll be patient with you. It took me a couple of years of living and cooking on my own before I started to feel confident, but sometimes there are flops and we laugh about it and move on.
I would also recommend Pioneer Woman Cooks. There are so many EASY recipes on her website, and every single one with beautiful step-by-step pictures. She makes it seem like anyone can do it. I've only had one recipe from hers not to turn out well.
Also, slow cookers are awesome-- I totally agree. And try the William-Sonoma slow cooker book. Lots of FANTASTIC, easy recipes. Every single one I've tried from there has gone well-- no flops, lots of flavor. And pretty easy too.
I also think "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman is great for learning techniques or getting ideas. But often his recipes are bland (in my opinion). So I'd use it to learn how to make, say, brownies. Then find a recipe from elsewhere when you make that thing (brownies or whatever) for someone besides yourself.
I think the best way to learn to cook is just to try! Start with recipes that have fewer ingredients and work your way up to more complicated items.
I like a lot of Giada DeLaurentis's recipes because they are super tasty and most of them are really easy.
Another Food Network chefs' recipes that I like are the ones from Aarti Party- yummy Indian style food that's often very easy.
Ooh, I also like Cooking Light- they have complete dinner recipes in there that literally will tell you which order to do everything (ie "Cook cous cous" now "chop XYZ for entree") so that you can get your timing down... my biggest challenge is always getting the timing down between sides and entree so this helps a lot with that.
Here is my stand-by formula:
I love baking/roasting things on my Pampered Chef Stoneware. It's so fast and easy.
When I get home I throw a peice of meat (fish, chicken, sausages, pork, whaever) on the stonewear and chop up a few veggies in big pieces to put on too (portobello mushrooms, peppers, potato, sweet potato, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, anything!) on the same stone sheet. Then I drizzle on a little bit of oil, a little bit of one of my many vinegars (or lemon), and a liberal sprinkling of some kind of herb (or pre-mixed spice, such as 'chicken spice mix' or 'italian spice mix').
Bake it in the oven until it is done....maybe 30 minutes depending on the meat. Eat with salad/bread/rice. So easy! And prep time is like 3 minutes.
I'm a big fan of allrecipes.com as well as foodnetwork.com.
Also start stocking some staples so you can always put something together last minute: Turkey meat, chicken, pasta, pasta sauce, salmon, beans, frozen veggies, rice, lettuce, tortillas, tomatoes, and fruit. I always have olive oil, garlic(minced and chopped), seasoning salts, chicken stock, and marinades in my pantry/fridge. I nearly will have enough food for 2 months because I'm not only a bargain shopper but I grew up the eldest of 7.
From having the stables, you can make a variety of meals.Spaghetti, salmon and rice, turkey burgers, tacos, baked chicken/rice etc. I will marinade chicken in a ziploc bag and cook as I need for the week. Or I'll cook the chicken for the week, store in in chicken stock and re-heat as needed. DH can have the chicken as a sandwich, add to salad, or we'll eat for dinner w/ rice.
Get a pork shoulder or pork loin. Stick it in the crock pot for 6 hours on high with 2 cans of root beer and some liquid smoke poured over it. Shred the pork and drain. Cover in BBQ sauce and cook for 1 hour on high. Then put on rolls for BBQ pork sandwiches. You can do BBQ chicken sandwiches the same way!
I agree with the poster who suggested stocking up on frozen pizzas, just in case! Always have a plan B :)
What I want to know is if anybee has tried another bee's recipe? How was it????
@BoiledPNut: we do that too! I love anything in the slow cooker,
I like to do ribs in the slow cooker. I cut them into 3-4 rib sections, salt and pepper them and stick them in the crock pot to cook all day. When I get home I add the bbq sauce and let it cook for another hour, easy!
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
 vorpalette |
27 |
| caseyleigh10 | 24 |
| Brielle | 24 |
| ellisrobertson | 24 |
| les105 | 22 |
| lionskitty | 22 |
| fishbone | 22 |
| SouthernGirl | 21 |
| mypinkshoes | 21 |
| kat2014 | 19 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| Miss Apricot | 1 |
| indyJEEP | 1 |
| BRbee | 1 |
| Hobokenbride2012 | 1 |
| msmolar | 1 |
| Fall_In_Love22 | 1 |
| MarryMeTiffany | 1 |
| takemyhand | 1 |
| Dizbee | 1 |
| rubybride718 | 1 |
