Emergency
(No Time to Cook!)
Meals
Because sometimes "life has other plans" I'm too tired, or it's too late to start a meal that takes any significant time. That's when I do something quick and easy to get the family fed. I will often enlist assistance (slicing cheese, cutting veggies, or setting the table) from either the kids or Papa, and that makes it even quicker. Some examples are: entree salads, nachos, vegi-burgers, soup & open face cheese toast, and of course leftovers! These meals mostly run between 10 and 15-minutes from start to on the table.
Cream of Tomato Soup with Cheese Toast - This meal is ready in the time it takes to heat the soup!
Mandarin-Orange Chicken on Rice - The fast version is microwaving the Trader Joe's Mandarin-Orange Chicken (about 5-minutes). Baking it takes 20-minutes (once the oven is up to heat). We keep a rice cooker going all the time, but on the off chance we don't have rice I'll use Near East Couscous (they have lots of great flavors) which takes 5 minutes.
Split Pea Soup with Cheese Toast - This requires 30-minutes to cook, but less than 5-minutes to prep and you don't have to stand over it.
Quick Pasta Carbonara - This meal is ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta!