@spitfire6006006 doctored with onion soup mix and crumbled breakfast sausage, or diced ham, or chopped up bacon… and of course only made with real butter and whole milk or half and half…
@duodec schwans has a Mexican pizza i absolutely love (for freezer pizza anyway). Crunchy crust, spicy tomato sauce with sausage, bell pepper, onion, black olive and tomatoes topped with bits of tortilla chips. I keep one in the freezer at all times for monday nights when i need to make dinner fast. We don’t get home until after 8 some weeks and during the summer we’re up at 5 so i can’t spend the normal 2 hours cooking and cleaning.
All of the above, plus the occasional $5 pizza from Little Caesars comes in clutch. Is it great pizza? No. But it’s $5 and I can drive there and back with pizza in about 15 minutes.
(also it’s better than Papa John’s, which is easily the worst pizza chain)
Our quick and dirty when we don’t heat up brats and beans is Aldi’s frozen chicken chunks (breaded, comes with sauce) served over 90 second microwave rice. The flavors change, but they have Orange Chicken, Honey Ginger, Korean BBQ, and General Tso’s at times.
Even quicker: microwave the rice. Pour a layer into a bowl, add shredded cheese (we prefer fiesta blend, a pseudo Mexican type) and bacon bits, add more rice, more cheese, more bacon bits, the rest of the rice, more cheese, more bacon bits, then microwave (again) gently until the cheese is melted. Mix and eat. For a special treat or if the cheese you have is a harder type, add a couple of pats of butter to the melt.
An alternative if there’s no bacon bits in the house or if you’re in a garlicy mood, just gently saute crushed or minced garlic in good butter for a couple of minutes and mix with with the microwaved rice. Sometimes a light sprinkle of seasoned salt just perfects this.
@phendrick Snark! Nope, both the local Jewel (Lucerne brand) and walmart sell bags of fine shredded ‘fiesta blend’. Same stuff, melts great, decent flavor.
@2palms Ramen Frittata: (College Favorite)
Cook ramen noodles, drain, set aside.
(flavor package optional)
Saute wanted veggies, set aside.
Scramble 3-4 eggs.
Heat non-stick pan. Add a little oil.
Fry noodles until crunchy, not burned.
Add veggies, mix gently.
Reduce heat.
Add egg. Cook covered until soft set.
Flip (like a pancake) when able.
Cook until set.
Serves two
I used to keep a draft “4-ingredient cookbook” - as in water, rice, salt, pepper - when I was a single dad with 2 boys and experimenting with “extreme cooking” and “Chopped” training sessions.
As the boys got older, I simply whipped up a hot batch of air biscuits for them.
Angel hair cooks in 5 minutes, frozen cooked shrimp in less. A little olive oil, garlic, herbs, wine - 10 minute Scampi.
Lesser alternative - Costco frozen meatballs and jarred pasta sauce over the angel hair.
3 pizza joints within a 5 minute drive.
My “last resort”, when I don’t have time or energy for anything else, is what I call Bachelor Chow (h/t: Futurama).
Frozen breaded chicken strips, 20 minutes in the toaster oven, topped with either mayonnaise, A1, or soy sauce.
A lot of what people have posted takes too much work and in my book would qualify as “regular” cooking. But then again I hate to cook and only do so because the other alternative is starving. No way I’d make a meal that required a bunch of steps and a bunch of hours.
A handful of Peanut M&Ms with a can of V8. That’s protein, a serving of veggies and dessert, no prep/cooking required. Bonus: no pot/dish washing after.
I find myself oddly disappointed by the lack of actual recipes here in the comments. Often, people take inspiration from the suggestion in the “in the comments” answer, but it seems less so today. I feel almost cheated, having checked and not found any good recipes in here.
But the real question I think I should be asking is… Am I the only one?
@RiotDemon@rockblossom@unksol in response to what kind of pizza rolls come in a box: the kind bought by people with self control. It’s giant bag all the way at our house.
@Euniceandrich the last 3 times i bought premade, skillet ready kung pao/cashew chicken/whatever flavored anything, it tasted like cigarettes. It was vile. After the 3rd try, i said forget it. Not sure what flavoring we’re not fond of but they all had it.
All of my fast meals in winter are soup (not canned). Instant pot is the greatest invention ever. Throw in ingredients, pressure cook 15-30 min (depending on the protein) and bam. Soup or stew. Heat a loaf of bread if you want.
Pasta with butter and parmesan. An age-old Italian standby that apparently never made it to Indiana, because people around here seem to think I’m some kind of culinary genius when I make it for them.
@lseeber Sometimes I do garlic, sometimes I don’t. Garlic powder’s a little too harsh for my taste, so it comes down to whether or not I feel like making garlic butter.
My fairly quick is chopped tomatoes, feta, garlic powder, olive oil on thick bread toasted in toaster oven. My really quick go to is peanut butter on sesame Ezekiel toast.
Sandwich?
Egg + Cheese on toast. I don’t think there’s anything that maximizes taste and easiness together quite as well.
Reservations.
Sometimes pasta, and by pasta I mean kraft mac and cheese
@spitfire6006006 doctored with onion soup mix and crumbled breakfast sausage, or diced ham, or chopped up bacon… and of course only made with real butter and whole milk or half and half…
@duodec @spitfire6006006 Bacon, Pico de Gallo and sour cream.
@spitfire6006006 Chili-Mac (Kraft dinner + can of chili). Pairs well with Zantac and Lipitor on the side.
Sandwiches, or if I feel a little more energetic, pancakes.
Sautéed baby arms with vegetables.
@sammydog01
I should come for supper one night.
@PlacidPenguin Bring a bag of circus peanuts please.
@sammydog01
Should I also bring @mfladd?
@sammydog01 - And kitten tacos?
@kdemo @sammydog01
I feel like the kitten would glare at you if you were to put it in a taco costume.
Then again, that would be ordinary kitten behavior.
@kdemo Cat.
/wootstalker https://shirt.woot.com/offers/palindrome
Palindrome
Price: $19.00
Condition: Probably New
Does pealing fruit fit in the easy-to-make category?
I was about to say pasta (i.e. mac and cheese) but cereal is quicker so I voted for it.
That also includes hot cereal.
Wonton soup with TJ’s frozen wontons, chicken base, and whatever fresh or frozen vegetable is handy.
@kdemo Potsticker soup too!
@kdemo favorite side - scallion pancakes
@kdemo You’re making this too difficult on yourself.
Freezer pizza.
@ivannabc the stores here carry Gino’s East and Eduardo’s frozen deep dish pizza. Its quite better than mediocre.
@duodec schwans has a Mexican pizza i absolutely love (for freezer pizza anyway). Crunchy crust, spicy tomato sauce with sausage, bell pepper, onion, black olive and tomatoes topped with bits of tortilla chips. I keep one in the freezer at all times for monday nights when i need to make dinner fast. We don’t get home until after 8 some weeks and during the summer we’re up at 5 so i can’t spend the normal 2 hours cooking and cleaning.
All of the above, plus the occasional $5 pizza from Little Caesars comes in clutch. Is it great pizza? No. But it’s $5 and I can drive there and back with pizza in about 15 minutes.
(also it’s better than Papa John’s, which is easily the worst pizza chain)
@cpierce The Tuesday, Papa Murphy’s Pizza. It helps to pre-order.
@cpierce
I read that as “It is great pizza, no?”
You said easy, so I say something that doesn’t require calling and waiting, and something that doesn’t involve cooking.
You still need to wash the cereal bowl and I don’t want to deal with that because I’m that lazy, but there it is.
Our quick and dirty when we don’t heat up brats and beans is Aldi’s frozen chicken chunks (breaded, comes with sauce) served over 90 second microwave rice. The flavors change, but they have Orange Chicken, Honey Ginger, Korean BBQ, and General Tso’s at times.
Even quicker: microwave the rice. Pour a layer into a bowl, add shredded cheese (we prefer fiesta blend, a pseudo Mexican type) and bacon bits, add more rice, more cheese, more bacon bits, the rest of the rice, more cheese, more bacon bits, then microwave (again) gently until the cheese is melted. Mix and eat. For a special treat or if the cheese you have is a harder type, add a couple of pats of butter to the melt.
An alternative if there’s no bacon bits in the house or if you’re in a garlicy mood, just gently saute crushed or minced garlic in good butter for a couple of minutes and mix with with the microwaved rice. Sometimes a light sprinkle of seasoned salt just perfects this.
@duodec “a pseudo Mexican type” – is this one?
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/559853797411347438/
@phendrick Snark! Nope, both the local Jewel (Lucerne brand) and walmart sell bags of fine shredded ‘fiesta blend’. Same stuff, melts great, decent flavor.
Frittata? Is that just a “me” thing?
@2palms Ramen Frittata: (College Favorite)
Cook ramen noodles, drain, set aside.
(flavor package optional)
Saute wanted veggies, set aside.
Scramble 3-4 eggs.
Heat non-stick pan. Add a little oil.
Fry noodles until crunchy, not burned.
Add veggies, mix gently.
Reduce heat.
Add egg. Cook covered until soft set.
Flip (like a pancake) when able.
Cook until set.
Serves two
I used to keep a draft “4-ingredient cookbook” - as in water, rice, salt, pepper - when I was a single dad with 2 boys and experimenting with “extreme cooking” and “Chopped” training sessions.
As the boys got older, I simply whipped up a hot batch of air biscuits for them.
Beer
@Mothersnakes I wish I was your kid.
Hot Dish/Casserole.
Why yes, I am from the Midwest. How’d you know?
Plan ahead - Take out meat to grill.
One prepared by someone else.
Objects that transfer directly from the freezer to the oven or microwave, or leftover tacos.
Angel hair cooks in 5 minutes, frozen cooked shrimp in less. A little olive oil, garlic, herbs, wine - 10 minute Scampi.
Lesser alternative - Costco frozen meatballs and jarred pasta sauce over the angel hair.
3 pizza joints within a 5 minute drive.
Uhh… recipe on back?
My “last resort”, when I don’t have time or energy for anything else, is what I call Bachelor Chow (h/t: Futurama).
Frozen breaded chicken strips, 20 minutes in the toaster oven, topped with either mayonnaise, A1, or soy sauce.
A lot of what people have posted takes too much work and in my book would qualify as “regular” cooking. But then again I hate to cook and only do so because the other alternative is starving. No way I’d make a meal that required a bunch of steps and a bunch of hours.
Olives, pickles, cheeses, cold ham, bread. Add tomatoes if available. It’s going to hit 100 today, and I’m not cooking.
A handful of Peanut M&Ms with a can of V8. That’s protein, a serving of veggies and dessert, no prep/cooking required. Bonus: no pot/dish washing after.
@rockblossom
I have done this.
I find myself oddly disappointed by the lack of actual recipes here in the comments. Often, people take inspiration from the suggestion in the “in the comments” answer, but it seems less so today. I feel almost cheated, having checked and not found any good recipes in here.
But the real question I think I should be asking is… Am I the only one?
@Durago here’s my recipe:
Turn on oven.
Open freezer.
Remove pizza rolls.
Throw on cookie sheet.
Don’t bother waiting for the oven to finish heating, just put them in there.
Set timer for 13 minutes.
Check after 13 minutes. If they don’t sound like they’re sizzling, leave in longer.
Eat.
But for real, if I’m going to actually cook, I’ll just sautee some veggies and serve some kind of protein with it. No recipe needed.
@RiotDemon I followed your recipe exactly. The box came out nice and crispy, but the pizza rolls were a bit underdone. Was the oven on too low?
@RiotDemon Maybe should have said “good recipes” instead…
@rockblossom I forgot to mention poking holes in the box. Oops.
@RiotDemon @rockblossom what pizza rolls come in a box?
@unksol
@Durago
Oops. People may have told the truth, then.
@Durago
@RiotDemon @rockblossom @unksol in response to what kind of pizza rolls come in a box: the kind bought by people with self control. It’s giant bag all the way at our house.
Mac & cheese + can of chili.
@narfcake
Quasi-related:
Go to: TJ’s frozen Kung Pao chicken, easy skillet prep, and microwave the Frozen rice.
@Euniceandrich the last 3 times i bought premade, skillet ready kung pao/cashew chicken/whatever flavored anything, it tasted like cigarettes. It was vile. After the 3rd try, i said forget it. Not sure what flavoring we’re not fond of but they all had it.
All of my fast meals in winter are soup (not canned). Instant pot is the greatest invention ever. Throw in ingredients, pressure cook 15-30 min (depending on the protein) and bam. Soup or stew. Heat a loaf of bread if you want.
@ivannabc
Pasta with butter and parmesan. An age-old Italian standby that apparently never made it to Indiana, because people around here seem to think I’m some kind of culinary genius when I make it for them.
@dannybeans with some garlic. Gotta have garlic.
@lseeber Sometimes I do garlic, sometimes I don’t. Garlic powder’s a little too harsh for my taste, so it comes down to whether or not I feel like making garlic butter.
@dannybeans I’m one of those people… if you put garlic or cheese on a cow patty… It’s suddenly edible!
My fairly quick is chopped tomatoes, feta, garlic powder, olive oil on thick bread toasted in toaster oven. My really quick go to is peanut butter on sesame Ezekiel toast.
Scrambled eggs or an omelet with chopped veggies. If I am in the mood to actually cook.