10 Quick Easy Meal Ideas
Coming up with quick easy meal ideas on the spot can be hard.
What are you serving for dinner tonight? How about lunch on the weekend? It can be a daunting task to come up with meal ideas especially if you have kids. Here are ten quick easy meal ideas for family meals try one tonight.
1. Spaghetti – It’s easy to quickly boil noodles and simmer some spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti has so many add-ins your family will enjoy: Italian sausage, hamburger, diced vegetables and a variety of herbs and seasonings. For a low calorie meal, use spaghetti squash in place of traditional noodles.
2. Tacos – Olay! If your family likes Mexican food, whip up a batch of tacos for dinner. Use hard and soft shells for variety. For family menu planning, dice the fixin’s ahead of time so you can just pull them out on taco night.
3. Macaroni and cheese – What kid doesn’t like this as a dinner main dish? Spice it up with diced tomatoes, crumbled bacon, sliced hot dogs or hamburger.
4. Pizza – This is not the store-bought or the delivery. Keep several prepared pizza crusts on hand (like Boboli for instance). On pizza night, let the entire family choose which toppings they want on their pizza. Prep time is fun so it doesn’t last long and it takes about 20 minutes or so to bake.
5. Skewers – you can create tasty chicken, pork, seafood or beef kebobs quickly. Skewer the meat and your favorite vegetables and place them in a sealed container until meal day. This is the benefit of meal planning – getting prep work done early. Cook your tasty kebobs on a gas grill or use a grill pan indoors. This is my personal favorite quick easy meal idea!
6. Hot dogs – Nothing could be easier than throwing them in a pot of boiling water or grilling them up. For the health-conscious family, use light franks or turkey franks by Oscar Mayer or Ballpark.
7. Chef salad – Salads are always quick to fix but they usually lack something in the taste department. With a chef salad you get your portion of protein from lean ham or turkey. The taste comes from the add-ins: bacon crumbles parmesan cheese, tomatoes, shredded cheese, black beans and cucumbers. Use others that your family likes.
8. Grilled cheese sandwich – Dinner doesn’t need to be a four-course meal. For a new taste, add deli meat or a juicy tomato.
9. Tortilla wraps – Create delicious quick sandwiches with your favorite flavor of tortilla. Glaze with mustard or low calorie mayonnaise. Add crunchy veggies and diced chicken, pork or beef.
10. Leftover creations– Use leftovers to create salads, casseroles, sandwiches and soups. Don’t let anything go to waste if it can be used for new meals.
Use some or all of these quick easy meals above to help you get dinner or lunch on the table faster.
Visit Meal Planning Central A Quick and Easy Way To Get Dinner On The Table and Enjoy More Quality Time With Your Family.
July 20th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
These ideas are really great! I must admit I’ve been utilizing quite a few of these since I can remember. I’d also like to share a few of my own tips. When cooking, I often make double and freeze the other half, for foods such as beans, lasagna, and meat. That way I can just defrost it the next time and add it to whatever quick thing I’m about to make. I also like to half ready-made meals on hand, for those super-emergency situations. I love meals from Tasty Bite, Amy’s, and Kashi – I sometimes bring these for lunch too. I particularly can’t get enough of Tasty Bite’s Madras Lentils lately – they’re so good I put them on everything and in everything. Thanks for the great tips and bon appetit!