Easy Meals to Get on the Table Quickly

Fresh vegetarian pasta (2528005054) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you are having a crazy-busy work day the last thing you want to do when you come home is slave away in the kitchen to make a decent meal. I know when I’m mentally exhausted from the day, I don’t want to think anymore, so I end up ordering out and spending way too much money. To kick the dine-out habit, I found some awesome quick and easy meals to make that require little ingredients and not too much brain power!

Here’s my list:

1. Avocado Chicken Salad:

Ingredients: 2 cups of shredded chicken, 1 avocado, 1/4 cup of diced onions, juice from half a lime, 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt (optional), 1 tablespoon of basil leaves.

Preparation: Just mix everything together well and you have a yummy meal 🙂 (recipe from Real Food Enthusiast)

2. Grilled Cheese Pesto Sandwiches:

Ingredients: 2 slices of bread of your choice (I love Italian), 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 slices of colby, munster, or cheddar cheese (maybe a bit of all three ;), 1/4 cup basil!

Total cook time: 13 minutes See how to put it together here at Busy Cooks

Great recipe for a rainy day, and could be paired with some tomato soup!  

3. Linguini with Shrimp and Lemon Oil 

This is my go-to seafood dish from Giada De Laurentiis! I’m not a huge pasta fan but I love this. I swap out linguini for angel hair pasta.

Ingredients:  For the lemon oil: 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1 lemon, zested For the pasta: 1 pound linguine pasta, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 shallots, diced, 2 garlic cloves, minced, 16 ounces frozen shrimp, 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons), 1 lemon, zested, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 3 ounces arugula (about 3 packed cups), 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation: 10 minutes, cook is 15! Get cooking directions here   

4. Fire Roasted Tomato Ravioli:

Ingredients: 1 bag of frozen cheese-filled ravioli, 1 can Progresso fire roasted tomato cooking sauce, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese All you have to do is cook the ravioli in a saucepan, and then in a glass baking dish add the sauce and cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes!

Total cook time: 30 minutes!   See full instructions at Progresso.com   

Even Faster Meal Ideas

Don’t want to even shop for ingredients? Here are two sites to handle that for you (yay outsourcing!)

BlueApron: Skip the planning, shopping, and measuring! This site allows you to pick out delicious meals for $9.99 (per person/per meal) and they will deliver all the fresh ingredients to your house. All you have to do is cook it. They have a different array of meals each week and include everything from a chicken cobb salad to a coconut curry salmon. The cook time for meals is 35 minutes – what a time saver! I just signed up so I’ll keep you posted on how it goes (and if my picky husband approves!)

SuperCook: Have leftovers but not sure what to make with them? Go to SuperCook.com and punch in what ingredients you have in your kitchen and they will compile a list of recipes that you make with them. No more wasting food!

What are some of your favorite quick and easy meals? Comment below!