Help – I need fast, easy, good meals
So I’m asking for fast, easy, good recipes.
Thank you,
Becky
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About
My new life as a widow, mother, and Nana. This is now about our new journey down the road of new beginnings, our ups and downs, and what we are doing and learning. And hoping to keep as much of our old ways as I can, while learning new ways along this road. We live off a fixed income and make as much as we can ourselves. We find new ways to use old things, or use them in a different way. We try to live as simple as we can, by choice. I’m hoping that this blog will help others along their journeys in life. As our journeys here on earth are changing, some changes we like while others are hard on us,but by God’s grace we will make it through them all.
The simple life, living off God’s land, one day at a time.
(Before becoming a widow)I’m a homesteading, homeschooler, farm mom and wife. I’ve been married 10+ years, kids(his ,mine and ours is 9). We raise and grow 80%+ of what we eat. I enjoy : knitting, cooking from scratch, reading, blogging, canning, quilting, and more. My husband has prostate cancer in his bones. So I’m now learning all about that and new drugs. I love learning new things. I like to find all the ways I can to stretch a dollar, it’s become a mission. I am very creative and try to make do with what I have on hand. And would like to share with others what I know. I by no means know it all. We started living off the farm more then ten years ago. Tommy said I could stay home with the kids. What a blessing. But with only one income and 5 mouths to feed, well I start homesteading, farming, gardening, canning out of have too. Now I do it because it’s just much better food. The Lord has blessed us much over the years. We have only had the Internet for a few months, we have no cable etc. We do have power but we hang clothes out side, use the power very wisely, it’s going up in cost too.
Lately, a lot of my friends have ask me how to do this or that, how to store food, what to store. So I started blogging, they can come here.
Welcome to our life on a farm.
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Becky's Farm Life 
Becky –
Do you have a crockpot? If so I can pass along a few recipes that we save for really hectic days.
Linda
For non crock pot recipes…
My son has been able to cook these meals for years, they might be something that Tommielynn could handle:
Scrambled eggs with cheese added, toast with jelly, juice and milk
Spaghetti and meatballs (made with frozen meatballs and jarred sauce) with buttered bread and a side salad or veggie
Chicken taco bake…mix together…2 cans of chicken (drained), 1 cup of salsa, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 to 1 cup of cheddar cheese, 1 can of tomato soup, 6 flour tortillas cut up in bite sized pieces. Pour into a casserole dish and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Top with more shredded cheddar (1/2 to 1 cup)and enjoy! This isn’t the most nutritious meal in the world, but it can all be mixed together and just thrown into a baking dish…super easy…and it has become one of my son’s favorite “throw-together” meals.
Chili-Mac.. Boxed macaroni and cheese made according to directions. Add one can of chili and heat through.
Tuna Noodle Bake…Boxed macaroni and cheese made according to directions. Add one can of tuna (drained) and 1/2 can of peas (drained). Heat through.
Do you have any canned vegetable soup that she could pair with grilled cheese or grilled ham (or turkey) and cheese sandwiches? I know you prefer to cook completely from scratch and avoid processed foods, but now may be the time to turn to processed food for a while.
Linda
Thought of another possibility…baked potatoes with all kinds of toppings…chili, broccoli and cheddar cheese, bacon and cheese. Served with soup or even veggies and applesauce and it would be a pretty healthy meal!
Spaghetti is one of my favorite quick meals!
Hot dogs with a salad or green veggie as a side
Smoked sausage and cabbage
Loaded baked potatoes (you can place potatoes in microwave!)
Breakfast dinner
Soups!! and a grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwich! (Mom and Dad lived on soups when Dad was sick! There are so many flavors!)
Ground beef with gravy(or open a can of cream of mushroom soup to be the gravy) over toast or mashed potatoes
My brain is coming up empty now. I will think on this some more!!
for the things you’d like your daughter to eat but she isn’t capable of making, possibly making and freezing something during a high-energy period (early mornings or 1 day a week) she could pull out and microwave when you’re feeling not up to cooking.
a big batch of burritos, breakfast burritos, casseroles frozen in serving size containers, meatloaf, meatballs. Lots of once a month cooking recipes and websites out there… these saved my life during low energy periods (late pregnancy, illness, etc.)
Seems like if you can prep some stuff early in the day, it isn’t so overwhelming to finish the rest at meal time.Thaw out meat in fridge the night before. Peel potatoes and leave in cold water to cover. Grab a jar of your home canned veggys. AS it gets closer to meal time – Cook your meat while you’re waiting for potatoes to cook. Skip fancy and just use the seasoning you like. Still better than cereal, noodles, sandwiches.
Take the opportunity to give the friends and family the OK to bring over food and help with chores. Freeze extra if you get too much.
Borrow a crock pot. Most people don’t use theirs often and won’t miss it.
Some of my quick, easy dinners:
sandwiches with lunchmeat, cheese, and/or whatever is in the fridge and sounds good. Raw vegis, pickles, fruit are all good side dishes.
Scotch Beef
Chopped onion (as much or little as you like. I use 1/2 a med onion)
2 T Butter
1 lb Ground beef
2 T Flour
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 can Evaporated milk
1 can peas
Toast or biscuits
Saute onion in margarine for 3 min. Add ground beef. Brown and drain extra fat. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Stir in mil. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens a boils, abt. 1 min. Stir in peas, juice and all. Serve over toast or biscuits or just eat it plain.
Any kind of pasta and spaghetti sauce or alfredo sauce. (I can make it, but when I’m in a hurry I just use the jarred kind.)
And my absolute favorite:
Popcorn (made in a pan, not microwaved) with salt and butter (I love to do this one when my husband has an evening meeting and sit down and watch a movie or show with the kids while eating our “dinner”.)
This one is my favorite. I like it because I can change it at any time and get a different flavor out of it. one time Mexican and another Italian.
One Pot Meal
1 lb hamburger, Left over taco meat or
1 Med. chopped onion
1 Lg can tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn, with liquid
1 can sliced olives if you have them
1 1/2 tsp chili power (or not)
1 clove garlic or garlic salt (or not)
6 oz fine uncooked noodles or rice or both
fry hamburger and add onions and saute’ until onions are clear. add the remaining ingredients and cover simmer for about 30 min can be topped with cheese.
But my favorite is to empty my fridge. I take the left over taco meat instead of the hamburger and put in what ever I have available. I have used tomato soup instead of canned tomatoes and have added other vegetables. Left over spaghetti w/sauce, use it instead of the tomatoes, onions and noodles. Just mix it up and it works. and it is fast too if you use the left overs.
add bread and butter and you have dinner.
Make a great left over for heating up later.
Crockpot Saucy Scalloped Potatoes
4 cups thin sliced potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
12oz can Pet milk (evaporated milk)
lg onion, sliced (I use onion powder)
2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Spray crockpot with non-stick spray. Combine potatoes with other ingredients and mix well – pour into crockpot. For thicker sauce, sprinkle 2 TBSP flour in between potato layers. Cook on high for one hour, then reduce to low for 4 to 5 hours until potatoes are tender.
For a one dish meal, add 1 1/2 cups chopped ham to the mixture. I also top with shredded cheddar cheese a few minutes before serving.
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup (this freezes well also)
1 onion, chopped
1 (16oz) can chili beans, Ranch style beans, or pinto beans
1 (15oz) can black beans
1 (15oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes (could use 1 or 2 cans Rotel if you wanted)
1 pkg taco seasoning
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Place all ingredients in crockpot, place chicken breasts on top and press down into the mixture. Allow to cook on low for 7 hours.
Before serving, remove chicken and shred/dice, add back to the crockpot.
Serving options:
rice
shredded cheese
sour cream
crushed tortilla chips
I like this best served over rice with cheese on top, but hubby prefers chips and cheese.