Easy Dinner Recipes for the Family

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Meal time often causes stress, stress, stress! Our lifestyles are busy and we want to provide nutritious meals for our families but our time is limited. We just don’t have the time to spend in the kitchen. Here are some tips for cutting down the time you spend there and a couple of great recipes too!

Buy a big head of iceberg lettuce for instant healthy wraps. You can fill lettuce wraps with anything like shrimp, chicken, tuna, and egg salad. Super healthy!

Another great time saver is rotisserie chickens you purchase in the supermarket. Pick up a couple of these and cut them up. You can even freeze them in baggies for defrosting when needed.

Sloppy Joes are a great on the run meal. All you have to do is cook up the hamburger add tomato sauce and your favourite spices. Good to go. Don’t forget the buns!

Making your own meatballs from scratch are a great time saver and very easy to freeze. You can make meatball sandwiches with the addition of tomato sauce. A nice addition this is to add some caramelized onions. These onions can be made ahead of time and kept refrigerated too.

Lasagna and a salad kit is a great quick meal. Lasagna takes time, but here is a short cut lasagna recipe.

Lazy Lasagna

1 lb ground Beef

18 oz (1 jar) pasta sauce

1/2 pack of broad egg noodles

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. In a skillet brown the ground beef; drain

2. Stir in the pasta sauce and simmer uncovered over med-low heat for 10 minutes

3. In a large pot of boiling water cook noodles until tender; drain

4. Combine mozzarella with sour cream.

5. In the bottom of a 8 cup casserole or baking dish spread half the noodles

6. Next layer the mozzarella-sour cream mixture

7. Next layer half the meat mixture and the rest of the noodles and remaining meat

8. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.

9. Baked covered at 350 F degrees for about 25 minutes

10.Uncover and cook another 5 minutes.

Quick Beef Stroganoff

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless beef sirloin steak, 3/4-inch thick, cut into thin strips

2 tbsp chopped onions

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 3/4 cups beef broth

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3 cups uncooked medium egg noodles

1/2 cup sour cream

1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat

2. Add the beef and cook until it’s well browned, stirring often.

3. Add the onion, garlic and parsley and cook until the onion is tender-crisp. Stir the broth and mushrooms in the skillet and heat to a boil.

4. Stir in the noodles. Reduce the heat to low.

5. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender.

6. Stir the sour cream in the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot.

If you want to make this recipe a few days ahead just place it in a microwave safe dish, cover and freeze. Remove it to thaw the morning you want to serve. Microwave it or stove top heat it until hot.

Quick recipes, freezing homemade food, cooking ahead of time – these are all ways to make your life easier during the week when you meet face to face with the dinner hour rush!