What are some good, easy meals my wife can’t screw up?

[Johnny Hammersticks]

5 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

growing up, when it was just me and my dad for a while, we had this often, without the soup or frozen veggies.  Thinking it would be better with those.  I would also add some onions.

It’s a go-to “emergency meal” in my house.  We always keep the ingredients on hand just in case we need to make something easy and quick on a busy night.  Really, you can add anything you want to it and it’s delicious.  A can of cream of mushroom soup makes a nice gravy and I usually add some chicken stock at the end to make it more saucy.  Also, even the instant spuds will do in a pinch. Some real gourmet s**t!

[plenzmd1]

11 hours ago, muppy said:

Okay this is BASIC but nearly Foolproof.

 

You buy a rotisserie chicken. Best price is Costco $4.99 or equivalent in your area.

 

 

Had to teach my newly  employed and on her own  money daughter how to use Costco to her wallets advantage. This right here , the $4.99 chicken, is the greatest deal in all the land ( next to the $1.50 hotdog and soda). So many ways to use it.The frozen and deveined shrimp and the other assorted frozen fish are unbeatable prices, and i actually prefer frozen fish to fresh fish in any of the grocery stores

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by plenzmd1

[LeviF]

11 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Had to teach my newly  employed and on her own  money daughter how to use Costco to her wallets advantage. This right here , the $4.99 chicken, is the greatest deal in all the land ( next to the $1.50 hotdog and soda). So many ways to use it.The frozen and deveined shrimp and the other assorted frozen fish are unbeatable prices, and i actually prefer frozen fish to fresh fish in any of the grocery stores

Had to teach my newly  employed and on her own  money daughter how to use Costco to her wallets advantage. This right here , the $4.99 chicken, is the greatest deal in all the land ( next to the $1.50 hotdog and soda). So many ways to use it.The frozen and deveined shrimp and the other assorted frozen fish are unbeatable prices, and i actually prefer frozen fish to fresh fish in any of the grocery stores

Had to teach my newly  employed and on her own  money daughter how to use Costco to her wallets advantage. This right here , the $4.99 chicken, is the greatest deal in all the land ( next to the $1.50 hotdog and soda). So many ways to use it.The frozen and deveined shrimp and the other assorted frozen fish are unbeatable prices, and i actually prefer frozen fish to fresh fish in any of the grocery stores

Had to teach my newly  employed and on her own  money daughter how to use Costco to her wallets advantage. This right here , the $4.99 chicken, is the greatest deal in all the land ( next to the $1.50 hotdog and soda). So many ways to use it.The frozen and deveined shrimp and the other assorted frozen fish are unbeatable prices, and i actually prefer frozen fish to fresh fish in any of the grocery stores

 

[plenzmd1]

site glitch, not user error..  @LeviF...i am a technology pro!

Edited February 16, 2023 by plenzmd1

[LeviF]

2 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

site glitch, not user error..  @LeviF...i am a technology pro!

 

lol, tell S we wish her the best! And if she needs to learn to cook she can call me since you're clearly no help in that department.

[transient]

If you’re getting bland anything, in addition to the spices find a simple book or website on making sauces… especially given your tendency for dining out. 

[teef]

i'd just get a divorce.  

[Joe Ferguson forever]

2 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

It’s a go-to “emergency meal” in my house.  We always keep the ingredients on hand just in case we need to make something easy and quick on a busy night.  Really, you can add anything you want to it and it’s delicious.  A can of cream of mushroom soup makes a nice gravy and I usually add some chicken stock at the end to make it more saucy.  Also, even the instant spuds will do in a pinch. Some real gourmet s**t!

We had this often too.  I really enjoy it. Unfortunately, my wife hates it.  https://www.smalltownwoman.com/creamed-chipped-beef/.  Top with a slice boiled egg if desired.

Edited February 16, 2023 by redtail hawk

[The Avenger]

I'm often on a tight schedule with little time between finishing work and having to cook dinner and get kids fed before they have to be somewhere for evening activities. I find cooking in my Instant Pot to be a real life saver - lots of quick easy recipes I can make in a short amount of time. There are endless recipes that include meat, veggies and a starch (pasta/rice/potatoes) in a single recipe that all cook at the same time and they are usually very easy to make.

[DrDawkinstein]

Might be worth signing up for HelloFresh or any of those meal services. They have a number of methods they use to spice up the meals and get good flavors going. Could be a decent way to learn the basics and get some momentum going. Plus you can always keep the recipes and supply your own groceries if you want to cook it again.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, LeviF said:

 

lol, tell S we wish her the best! And if she needs to learn to cook she can call me since you're clearly no help in that department.

 

Let’s give credit where credit is due. Plenz is capable of supervising the creation of some very tasty wings. There’s even a chance he will remember the butter……

[Augie]

2 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

Had to teach my newly  employed and on her own  money daughter how to use Costco to her wallets advantage. This right here , the $4.99 chicken, is the greatest deal in all the land ( next to the $1.50 hotdog and soda). So many ways to use it.The frozen and deveined shrimp and the other assorted frozen fish are unbeatable prices, and i actually prefer frozen fish to fresh fish in any of the grocery stores

 

 

 

 

I’ve never tried their frozen fish, but I’ll look today as I’m heading to Costco. It’s our anniversary and my wife loves yellow roses with red tips. I got them for a few years from “the best florist in Atlanta”…..and they were always sad in 24 hours and dead in 48-72 hours. The wife even went behind my back and complained resulting in replacement flowers, that also died promptly. 

 

I discovered paying ~$150 from the fancy place for lousy flowers was one more point of proof that I’m an idiot. The same roses from Costco are like $19 (and we have a collection of vases) and they last an almost 2 weeks. 

 

While I’m there I can stroll up and down the aisles and effectively have lunch, one sample at a time. 

[Fleezoid]

DoorDash

 

Seriously though....anything in a Crock Pot. I found out I can read recipes and actually make them work. Cut up a bunch of crap, throw it in and turn it on. 

 

[Metal Man]

Wife and I have been using this on and off for the last year.

 

https://www.hellofresh.com/

 

Pick out some meals and they ship all the ingredients and recipes to you. We have had a couple of duds but the vast majority of them have been delicious and relatively easy to put together.

[teef]

we did blue apron which is like hello fresh for a while.  we enjoyed learning to cook new things, but we found it wasn't a quick meal.  if you're good with prepping/cutting, it can go much faster, but we never found it to be a quick process if you need to get out of the house fast.

[plenzmd1]

13 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I’ve never tried their frozen fish, but I’ll look today as I’m heading to Costco. It’s our anniversary and my wife loves yellow roses with red tips. I got them for a few years from “the best florist in Atlanta”…..and they were always sad in 24 hours and dead in 48-72 hours. The wife even went behind my back and complained resulting in replacement flowers, that also died promptly. 

 

I discovered paying ~$150 from the fancy place for lousy flowers was one more point of proof that I’m an idiot. The same roses from Costco are like $19 (and we have a collection of vases) and they last an almost 2 weeks. 

 

While I’m there I can stroll up and down the aisles and effectively have lunch, one sample at a time. 

none of the breaded stuff etc, just the fish! And the 20-25 shrimp great for pastas, currys etc...throw em under the faucet in a colander for 5 minutes and they ready to go! BTW, the packaging ALWAYS says to not defrost in this way, but i been doing it that way for twenty years, never had an issue!

[Gugny]

13 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

none of the breaded stuff etc, just the fish! And the 20-25 shrimp great for pastas, currys etc...throw em under the faucet in a colander for 5 minutes and they ready to go! BTW, the packaging ALWAYS says to not defrost in this way, but i been doing it that way for twenty years, never had an issue!

 

This is how I've always thawed shrimp, too.

[Metal Man]

5 minutes ago, teef said:

we did blue apron which is like hello fresh for a while.  we enjoyed learning to cook new things, but we found it wasn't a quick meal.  if you're good with prepping/cutting, it can go much faster, but we never found it to be a quick process if you need to get out of the house fast.

 

That's true, it definitely takes a little longer especially with having to dice up veggies and what not. We have been able to speed that up a bit though after time just from a lot of practice with the basic steps and figuring out which things could be multi-tasked. 

[Jauronimo]

Braises and stews are always delicious and very hard to screw up.  They take time, but most of the time is inactive as your meat slow cooks.

 

Quick, easy and delicious, get a quality thai curry paste like Mae Ploy or Maesri, some coconut milk, veggies and meat and you've got a nice meal in 30 mins or less.

[teef]

5 minutes ago, Metal Man said:

 

That's true, it definitely takes a little longer especially with having to dice up veggies and what not. We have been able to speed that up a bit though after time just from a lot of practice with the basic steps and figuring out which things could be multi-tasked. 

it does take a lot of practice.  we recently took my aunt to a class at the local culinary center.  at the beginning of the class they spent some time going over prepping, and my god what a difference that made.  if you know how to prep, it becomes much more fun.  i'm still clunky with it, but a few tips go a long way.