Could use some help?

I have a family of three, I usually stop by the store on the way home and pick up fresh meat. I like to cook meat with salad dressing. I fix the boys Mac and cheese or whatever it is they want and I just eat steamed veggies (super easy) or side salad along with the meat.

Also sometimes I just make stuff the night before, Like If I know Wednesday is going to be a tight schedule, 1. I plan something easy for Wednesday, 2. I may pre cook and pre chop everything i need to make it go fast i.e. Tacos, pre cook chicken into chunk size nuggets, store in fridge until dinner the next evening. I also will chop lettuce and onions and put them in baggies.

Google slow cooker recipes, they have a tone of easy ones, like take frozen chicken breast and a can of mild salsa and taco seasoning packet and put it all in the crock pot. once its cooked when you get home, you can make a ton of things, serve in soft shells, serve over quinoa, or brown rice, etc etc.

Check skinnytaste.com or i think its healthyeating.com for lower calorie recipes

Also cooking to have left overs ON PURPOSE, Like If we use ground beef for taco salads, then the next night the left over ground beef becomes spaghetti meat sauce.

Or cooked Chicken chunks can become soft shells or chicken salad or chicken on a salad, or soups or many things

Cooked meats last longer in fridge than raw, but don't get too far ahead, like 2 - 3 days tops

Plan your meals in advance, you can also defrost something in the fridge but it takes longer, but if you have planned ahead, you can thaw it earlier and do it in the evening when you have more time maybe.

Good luck

No I haven't tried on the weekend making them. Usually I just bake up chicken or something then a veggie and a side. I don't know how what I normally do would work like that. I would love to start using our slow cooker. We've had it about 4 years and I've never used it. I don't really know what all to do in it. So if you have some recipes you would like to share that would be great and very helpful

Ya, I guess I could do that. Not like it will take much longer to grab something real quick and it's a lot better then eating something I shouldn't. Like you bake your meats with Salad dressing over them? What kinds? Thank you both for your help

I do a lot of these two options.
Having ready-homemade-tv dinners makes those rush nights sooo much easier. It's a bit of work, but also fun when including family in the planning and or making.
We love our slow cooker too. Easy and best, can't screw it up roast: take a beef roast, sear on all sides in olive oil and garlic. I use the crushed garlic in a jar. Nice and brown crust. Put in slow cooker sprinkle a pkg of onion soup mix over it. cover and cook on high for 5-7 hrs or however long. I do mine over night sometimes, or while im at work. Awesome juices for making homemade soup or (shhhh don't tell anyone) gravy.

I also have a wonderful steamer container from tupperware. You gals know..the oval shaped, 3 pce one. it is amazing for throwing veggies in, little bit of water in the bottom, and nuke for 5-8 mins. Works well for frozen veggies too.
And the simplest, quick fix...throw a potatoe in the microwave. We discovered these potato bags, don't even have to spear the beggers with a fork anymore. lol.

When I moved to college, not being able to predict when I would have time to cook and therefore not knowing when to leave something out to defrost was like half the reason I became vegetarian! Lol it just happened and then one day I made it official for other reasons, going vegan shortly after. But vegetarian is so easy!!! Just check out some veggie recipes: they are all fast, healthy, and defrost free. My favorite part about being vegan is everything is so fast and easy to make -- don't have to plan ahead or worry if everything is cooked through.

It's all in what you like really. A slow cooker is great. Are you familiar with Pinterest? I get a lot of dinner ideas from there!!! Type in the search box such as "crock pot" click boards and the recipes are endless!