Five Quick and Easy Dinner Meals

Well here you go folks, part two of some of my favorite quick and easy dinner meals. I hope that you enjoyed the first article with the first five on the top of my list of quick and easy dinners to fix. If you have not had a chance to read it yet I hope that you do because I am sure it will be an interesting meal. We love food and fast food just not 'fast food' all the time. We love good tasting and fun meals and sometimes just something quick and easy to throw on a plate so we can all 'chow down' together while watching a favorite or new movie, together. So, without any more introductions, the second five dinner meals are:

1. Meatloaf (with my family's favorite side dish, macaroni and cheese)

I have several variations that I make for our meatloaf. I have added different types of chopped vegetable and I used to add chopped up onions to our meatloaf till the heartburn woke my husband up with what felt like a heart attack (onions no more!)

Don't forget before you get started to turn your oven on and start pre-heating it at approximately 325 degrees so your oven can start warming up while you are putting this together. Especially since it will probably only take you ten minutes or less to get it all throw together.

I take roughly 2 pounds of hamburger (or if you prefer turkey or even some other form of meat variation, feel to experiment. That is what this is all about). I add anywhere from 4 to 8 pieces of bread, mix it in real well and then start adding ketchup. We use a LOT of ketchup because that is how our family likes it but you can also vary it up by adding some mustard, brown sugar or any other variation of seasonings at this point just to 'spice it up' a bit.

I mix up the hamburger and bread mix with the ketchup (approximately 1-2 cups of ketchup depending on how much the bread absorbs the ketchup). I place it in my pan (I prefer my iron skillet cause it cooks faster and more evenly), place holes in the top with my fingers and put even more ketchup on the top of it. I 'slather' the ketchup over the top of the hamburger bread mix making sure that the ketchup falls down into the holes that you placed into it and if you need to, put more ketchup on the top to give it that added 'umph' it needs of ketchup taste.

Now would be when you would place your salt and pepper on it if you like to use those seasonings. I prefer to not use them at all and let the person who is eating to use those seasonings as they see fit. Once in the oven and cooking the meatloaf should only take approximately fifteen to twenty minutes to cook up. While you are cooking the meatloaf, fix you a pot of macaroni and cheese and there you go! A meal fit for a king! If you like any other veggies just about go good with meatloaf; especially mashed potatoes and green beans. Yum!

2. Gorditas

This meal ought to be one of the simplest meals for anyone to fix. You buy the package from your local supermarket in the Mexican food isle where they have the taco meals at.

Get you approximately 2 pounds of hamburger and cook it up. Rinse the hamburger well; add about a half cup (or whatever is called for on the box) of water to the hamburger. There should be a spice package in the box with the Gordita tortillas (they are thick tortillas and about 4 or so inches across / diameter) and some other sauce or sauces. Take the spice package and add it to the hamburger and water in the pan. Mix it up well and let it heat back up.

During this time, get out the condiments and vegetables you would like on your Gordita. Whether it is refried beans or tomatoes and lettuce or sour cream and cheese or all of the above this is by far one of the quickest and easiest meal yet that I have come across for dinner time that my family absolutely LOVES. Oh and a must; don't forget the TACO sauce. A must have for any form of taco or gorditas! Enjoy!!

3. Simple homemade egg rolls

When I say simple, I mean it! The simplest recipe that I have found to make for this dish is to simply use only cabbage for filler. If you like to, you may add some cut up pieces / chunks of chicken or pork or any other type of meat or veggie. As long as it is quick to cut up and get prepared while you are preparing the oil and filler for this meal.

Not all stores have them but most stores do; egg roll wrappers. Usually they are in the produce department of your local grocery store, sitting on a shelf near the 'vegan' type foods; such as meatless hamburger.

Start heating up a pan with an inch or two of oil or your 'fry daddy' or pot of oil, whatever it is you might use to heat oil up in. Make sure to NOT turn it up on high. Medium will do at first to give it a SLOW start and heating process.

While that is heating, take a shredder of some sorts and shred your cabbage. We usually fix one package of egg roll wrappers and they usually carry 20 egg roll wrappers in each package.

After you shred the cabbage, put a 'little' bit of oil or use a non stick spray and put it on/in a fairly large pot or pan; big enough to handle approximately 10 cups or more of raw cabbage.

Turn your pan on medium high and get out your soy sauce. As your cabbage starts cooking, turn it frequently and add a little bit of soy sauce at a time. I don't like using measurements when I cook but if I had to put a measurement on it, I would say approximately one-eighth of a cup of the soy sauce at a time or less. You know your cabbage is done enough when it looks a dark green color and has cooked down to about half of the original size that you started with. This process will go fairly fast so stay on top of it. Once the cabbage is done, take it off the eye and allow it to start cooling just a little bit (only for a few minutes; it will still be fairly hot when you start rolling the mixture. This step can be made ahead of time either earlier in the day or a day before and ready in the fridge waiting for you to make them but I prefer to do it all at one time)

If while you are cooking the cabbage your oil seems to be getting a little hotter than it should be turn it down to low or medium low to keep it from starting to burn. Turn it up just as you are starting to roll the egg rolls so it will be hot again, ready for you to put your egg rolls in and cook them quickly.

I, personally, follow the process of rolling my egg rolls the way suggested on the back of the egg roll package. I lay one egg roll wrapper on a plate with one of the ends (pointy sides) facing me. ( I have two plates ready and a strainer already in place so once I start cooking I have a place to put them). I put approximately one or two tablespoons of cabbage mixture on the egg roll wrapper. I dampen all four corners with a dab of water or two and then fold the end nearest me up and over the cabbage mix. I gently slide the whole part back towards me, cabbage and egg roll end. I fold the two side over to the middle and then roll the egg roll towards the top, making sure the top is still a 'tad bit' damp to 'seal' the egg roll. There you have it; one rolled egg roll.

Once you have rolled approximately eight or ten of the egg rolls it is time to cook them. Place the egg rolls in your oil and they should start turning slightly brown within a minute or less. When they seem to be gently brown on one side, take a metal spoon (preferably metal) and flip the egg rolls over so they can brown on the opposite side. Sometimes some of the cabbage mix will fall out of them and sizzle around; sometimes the egg rolls will be stubborn and not want to flip over to brown on the opposite side. Stay persistent and on top of them and you will have some delicious egg rolls soon on your dinner plate.

Once finished cooking them up, quickly heat up (or during your process of cooking the egg rolls) whatever sauce you like to use with your egg rolls. Most sauces can be bought in your local grocery store in the isle where the Mexican and Chinese meals /foods are located. Walla! Yet another quick and easy dinner on your plate!

4. BBQ Chicken breasts with stuffing and veggies

This meal is so simple and easy to make, it should only take about 35-45 minutes from start to finish. From getting it prepared to getting it cooked and on the table.

Take your chicken breasts and place them either in a baking pan or in a deep pot on your stove and cover them with your favorite barbeque sauce. In the oven turn it on approximately 350 degrees give or take a few degrees depending on your oven. Your chicken should only take approximately 30 to 35 minutes to cook with the bone in and maybe as little as 20 to 30 minutes boneless.

On the stove top it should take approximately 30 minutes, give or take a few minutes for your chicken to cook all the way through. If you choose to cook chicken with the bone in it would probably be best to cook it in the oven unless you have a very large pot to otherwise cook in on your stove top.

While you are waiting on the chicken to cook, get your stuffing and veggies prepared. Usually stove top stuffing will only take you the amount of time to boil your water and a minute or two to allow the stuffing to 'set up'. Veggies, depending on if you put them in a pot to heat them, nuke them or steam them, they also should only take a few minutes each to heat up so plenty of time for all of them to be done and ready in plenty of time before the chicken is done.

Once they are all done, place on plates and ENJOY!!

(Now that was quick huh!)

5. Honey Teriyaki Chicken Subs

This meal does not necessarily take very long to make. There is a lot of preparation to get everything ready to put on your subs while your chicken breasts are cooking.

I boil my chicken breasts till they are just about done. I put the chicken in a strainer and start running cool water over it enough so that I can barely handle it. I cut the chicken up in chunks of about an inch by inch or so, give or take, it doesn't really matter as long as they are not too big to place on a sandwich. I put the chicken chunks back into my pot or oven pan and then pour the Honey Teriyaki sauce that I buy from my local grocery store over top of the chunks. IF necessary, I add another bottle of water, shaken from that same bottle added to the pot where my chicken is starting to simmer.

Cook your chicken at medium or even medium low. Medium low may be better for those who have stove that tend to cook a little 'hotter' than other stoves. Simmering like that makes it where the sauce is cooking deep into your chicken breasts.

Now while your chicken is simmering, which should by the way, take approximately a half hour to 45 minutes to get really cooked into your chicken (remember your chicken is already cooked, now you are just getting that tasty sauce into your chicken), start getting everything you want to put on your subs ready.

I use sub buns from my local grocery store; nothing fancy, just plain sub buns. On ours we put lettuce, tomatoes, banana peppers, sliced dill pickles, sometimes onion slices, green pepper slices and several various types of cheeses. We all pitch in usually and cut up the lettuce and tomatoes, the banana peppers and dill pickles are already pre-sliced, slice up the onions and green peppers and get the cheese out of their wrappers and ready to place.

After the chicken is finished cooking, I cut it off and let it cool just a little bit so it won't be too hot to eat once on a sub. I make each sub by how each person likes their subs and even on occasion will go and buy the hot peppers for my husband and daughter because they love them! So, when making these subs, it is really helpful to have a pen and paper handy to write down how every one wants theirs if you have a big bunch of people over for subs for dinner. I tell you, if you love the subs from Subway restaurant, you will LOVE these as much or better. REALLY and TRULY; this is a must try, quick and easy meal that I am sure everyone you serve will love!!