I often wonder what other people make for dinner. At this point in our lives a lot of us are working all day, some of us have kids, and all of us are still pretty busy. When i get home from work (despite the fact that i really do enjoy cooking) I am hardly ever in the mood to make anything fancy. The meal pictured above is pretty typical - Grilled chicken, a tomato salad, and some green beans with - you guessed it...lemon juice (because i put it on all vegetables). The fanciest part of this whole meal was that i used "Montreal chicken" seasoning instead of the usual Lawry's so that this dinner could qualify as something "different"
I am not sure if I am the only one cheating my husband out of gourmet dinners. When i read other blogs that talk about food - every weekday meal seams to have about 33 ingredients and a wine pairing. We just don't do that.
I typically make things like fajitas, hamburgers, frozen pizzas, chicken and rice, tilapia, spaghetti and garlic bread, and in the winter lots of soups and chili. None of these things involve reading a recipe and they all get repeated pretty often. I think one problem is that aside from the lack of energy I have at the end of the day - I also find it amazing how expensive it can be to cook large recipe-ish meals. I can do my whole 2 weeks worth of shopping for the same amount of money that i will spend if I am entertaining for one night.
What am i doing wrong? Is this normal? What are your go-to meals....seriously - I am curious.
4 comments:
See and here I am thinking how extravagant your meals seem to be! Don't tell Graham but I tend do go for the Trader Joe's ready-prepared meals for dinner. Orange chicken, ricotta stuffed chicken, etc... They taste great and when you plate them, really look like you spent all night slaving away! :) Trader Joe's is also by FAR the cheapest grocery store I've ever been too. I can usually get out with 2 weeks of food for $60-$80. Every meal I make usually consists of chicken, some sort of starch or carb like rice or garlic bread, a vegetable and a side salad. Graham will attest. I don't EVER mix it up. Poor guy. But at least he gets dinner on the table! Your recipes always make me feel bad about my lack of homemade meals but on the same note, inspired me to start cooking more. I made your chicken stuffed with goat cheese and tomatoes a couple weeks back and it was amazing! So thanks for that idea!! I just got a new crockpot from the wedding too, so I'm definitely going use some of your soup recipes come winter!
My new mix it up meal is spicy turkey sausage -- I make Brian's with a hot dog bun, grilled onions and peppers, and then I eat mine without the bun... I know what you mean -- I'm always kind of in a rut. Pork Tenderloin in the oven is easy and good... Throw soy sauce on it right when it's finishing up!
I think what you make is fancy enough!! I barely cook dinner! ha. Even when Andrew is home I only make some dishes. His Favorite is Indian- So easy. I just have to grill chicken, add the pre-made Indian Sauce and cook rice in the microwave!! And buy Naan bread to heat up! I make that almost every Sunday night so he can have the left overs Monday. After finding out how fattening Indian is (Thanks coconut milk) I can only have a few bites of it! :(
I stick to chicken and Fish and veggies on most nights! Occasionally I will make some hamburgers, but if he wants pork or any other meat, he does it!! I have no idea how! He did a big Sunday roast a few weeks ago and I felt like a really bad wife because I had no idea how to do it! I also do not know how to cook a turkey!
I think a meat, veggies and a carb is good. I LOVE STIR fry! You cant go wrong with that!
This is so sad, but I make Andrew those boxes of Pasta RONI!! HE LOVES THEM! and they look pretty darn good- even though they are like 5 boxes for $6 and a million grams of fat and carbs! He needs the carbs, unfortunately, I DO NOT!
If you guys like fish, Salmon is SOO easy and fast and I think SOO delish!!
PS. Andrew got me that Nintendo DS game- Learn How to Cook for xmas last year!! It has recipes from all over the world and walks you through hard steps and talks to you and you can say next after you do each step and it hears you…I thought it was great at first…
I have used it twice!
I love to cook when I have time, but I hate to feel like I HAVE To after a long day of work! I think this will have to change when kiddos come along! :)
I am so excited that i may have fooled some of you into thinking that i make fancy dinners...the reality of it is that when i make something fancy - it is such a big deal that i take pictures- ha ha!!
....and seriously, WHAT I WOULD DO- to have a trader joe's closer to my house. I die for their orange chicken, black bean tacquitos, and delish stir fry!
Thanks for all of the great dinner ideas.....They will def come in handy!!!
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