Well hello there October! How on earth did we get here–knee deep in back-to-school, busy schedules and rushing from here to there?
If you are anything like me, if I don’t plan ahead, we end up eating by running drive-thru every night. So, I am rounding up some of my favorite quick and easy meals– ready in 30 minutes or less.
Now, truth be told, I have nothing against a drive-thru now and then… but I much prefer us to eat at home (or at least food from home) throughout the week and save our budget to eat some place nice on the weekends as a family. It is actually shocking how little Americans spend (compared to the rest of the world) on food at home. A blessing I don’t want to take lightly, so when we do splurge to eat out, I really want to make sure it is some place we enjoy.
Quick and Easy Recipes
These 10 recipes are staples in my house. They have become family favorites over the years with a lot of different variations all while making it possible to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes! So when Indiana’s Family of Farmers asked me to share with them some of my On-the-Go tips to save time and money, these recipes immediately came to mind. Having a great bunch of go-to recipes would be my number one tip!
10 Quick and Easy Meal Ideas
- 30 Minute Lasagna– This dish will have everyone fooled and asking how you threw it together in a half-hour!
- Chicken Asparagus Penne– One of our most popular dishes of all time. Simple perfection!
- BBQ Ham Kabobs– A popular adaptation to one of our family favorites you might recognize from the $50 challenge we took. So easy–yet always a family pleaser!
- Chicken Pesto Tortellini– A flavorful favorite!
- Crispy Ranch Pork Chops– An easy way to dress up your everyday pork chop.
- Pizza Skillet Bake- Super quick way to throw a pizza in the oven that will have everyone ready to dig in.
- Taco Bake– Another super-popular dish on our site. The perfect twist to Taco Night, ready in a snap!
- Deep Dish Hawaiian Pizza– An adaptation of our family’s favorite deep dish pizza.
- Soup-er Burgers– A Don’t-Knock-It-Til-You-Try-It twist on sloppy joes!
- Italian Chicken Bake– So easy to throw together and very much a family favorite!
Other tips for time saving:
- Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken (or make your own over the weekend in your slow cooker) to quickly speed up almost any chicken casserole during the week.
- Brown ground beef (you can do that in a slow cooker too 😉 ) ahead of time and freeze in recipe portions for super fast weekday prep!
- Taco night popular with your family? Go ahead and make a couple of your packets into taco meat packets.
- Making a casserole? Why not make two and freeze one that just needs popped into the oven on a busy night.
- Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. I don’t like to be tied down to a plan either, but if you at least pick out the week’s recipes, then each day you can go with your whim if that is your thing.
I hope these recipes and tips are helpful in getting dinner on the table! Big thanks to Indiana’s Family of Farmers for sponsoring this post. Psst… Check out my other posts in my Affordable Food Tips Series:
- $50 Challenge– How many meals could you make with $50?
- Marketing Labels vs. Nutrition Labels
Leave a Reply