Comments on: 12 Desperation Dinners for When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking

By: Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross — Wed, 15 May 2024 16:24:01 +0000

In reply to Cyndi. Cyndi, your comment was a lovely surprise to find and I'm so glad this article resonated with you. Some days the hardest thing is pulling dinner together, and I'm glad you found a solution in your home pantry. Hope you maybe had a chance to relax a bit after dinner, too. All the best from your "online neighbor," ~Eliza

By: Cyndi

Cyndi — Mon, 13 May 2024 22:45:37 +0000

In reply to Eliza Cross. Eliza, I’m just now discovering your writing. If we were neighbors I think we’d be friends cuz I like how you think and express yourself. Reading this pulled me out of my funk today and got me to thinking what we had here to fix. It’s been stormy and dark all day, my son doesn’t feel well, and husband is hungry. I’d be happy with oatmeal for dinner but it looks like I’ll fix them baked potatoes with bacon, cheese, and salad. They’ll be happy. Then I can relax. Thanks for being articulate and creative!

By: Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 23:50:00 +0000

In reply to Lilianne. Lilianne, I hear you and never know what I'll find in our freezer and pantry! (I do try to keep ramen on hand because we love it, too.) Not sure if this will be helpful or not, but here's a link to an article I wrote right as the pandemic started, about cooking from the pantry: https://www.elizacross.com/pantry-freezer-meals/. ~Eliza

By: Lilianne

Lilianne — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 10:12:55 +0000

You lost me with the “discard the ramen seasoning pack.” That stuff is the best part of ramen, and I will die on that hill. Some good ideas, though, even if most beyond the ramen aren’t doable most of the time for me, since I rarely have those other ingredients. While I nearly always have dried pasta, I don’t often have sauce or canned goods to add. Pretty bad when you can’t even stock up on things like that. But it is what it is.

By: Karen Hermansen

Karen Hermansen — Sat, 25 Dec 2021 17:30:59 +0000

Leftover taco meat on baked potatoes, with cheese, sour cream etc. or leftover grilled salmon, mixed with a little ranch dressing or Mayo, chopped green onions on toasted multi grain bread. Also over baked potatoes.

By: Malory

Malory — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 22:46:06 +0000

I have two: Tortellini soup, where you cook fresh tortellini (has to be Buitoni chicken and prosciutto for my family!) in chicken broth, then sprinkle with parmesan.

The other is Egg McMuffin Squares. A tube of refrigerator biscuits (grands buttermilk), pull the top half off each one to make two thinner biscuit rounds & place, stuck together, in a greased lasagna pan. Cut a package of breakfast sausages into small pieces and scatter across the top. Mix 4 eggs with milk, as if for scrambled eggs, & pour over the surface. Throw on a couple handfuls of shredded cheddar, and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until the eggs don’t run when you tip the pan & the crust is golden brown.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 03:10:34 +0000

One of my quick fix dinners is hamburger “goulash”. Just brown a pound of ground beef or turkey along with a chopped onion and a large diced bell pepper. Boil up a small box of macaroni and drain, then put the browned meat and mac in a pot along with a jar of your favorite pasta sauce and heat through. Serve with a green salad and it’s dinner.

Another idea is “loaded” macaroni salad. Either your favorite homemade or store-bought salad will do. Just mix in some tuna, chopped chicken, or whatever you have on hand and whatever other fixing you like, olives, chopped tomatoes, jalapenos, whatever. It’s quick, cool and good.

By: Tob

Tob — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 19:52:34 +0000

1. Cut slices of whole grain bread into quarters. 2 slices per person. Put good olive oil into skillet. Warm the bread in the skillet, turn it over. Put in two eggs per person. Turn them over, serve with grated cheese and slices of fresh tomato. Big hit!
2. Make a big pot of brown rice, and put into the refrigerator. It will last for a few days. Serve with veg and meat or egg. Fried rice is great with this browning some nuts and/or seeds in the fry pan, adding some rice, putting in an egg if you wish. Or serve the rice with any of 100s of different possibilities.
3. Soup: Brown some onion. I like to use one big one sliced but not chopped. Do same with garlic or cheat and use prepared garlic. Put it into a soup pot, add some chicken broth or just water. Cut a few veg — Do not bother dicing them, but just put in chunks. Bell pepper is great in this sort of soup. Add whatever you have around such as sausage, breakfast sausage, pieces of chicken, a can of shrimp, or a can of tuna or a can of corn or tomato if you want to. Cook til tender. Drop in a little bit of herbs and some wine near the end if you wish. One day I dropped in about 1/2 cup of beer near the end and that was a hit!
4. Can if chili. Add chopped onion, garlic, chicken broth, beer, cheese, chopped carrots or other veg, can of corn. Great stuff, add some rice if you have it already made (see 2 above)
5. Get a bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, other veg of your choice. Wash but do not cut up. Make some sauces: One of yogurt and grated cheese, one of salsa and some beans. Give your family the veg, a good sharp knife and the sauces and tell them to cut the veg up and dip them! You can also serve crackers or chips. I don’t but it is a matter of taste.