Cheap and Easy Meal Ideas Anyone?

I love stuffed peppers....but they are too much work

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1/2 pound ground round
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14-ounce) can less-sodium beef broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato soup, undiluted
1 1/2 cups hot cooked white rice

Heat a small Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add chopped green bell pepper and onion; cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in black pepper, less-sodium beef broth, diced tomatoes, and tomato soup; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes.
Spoon 1/4 cup hot cooked white rice into each of 6 bowls; top with 1 cup soup.

*Variations: for tomato soup I use Amy's or Progresso - Campbell's too sweet (IMO). I also like to add some basil. You can use brown rice. Red & green pepper combo is nice.

Instead of pre-cooking rice....I typically just measure the rice & water...then throw them both in the pot to simmer.

My family does a lot of homemade chicken fried rice. It's quick, cheap, and super filling (use freezer corn and peas!)...the secret is cooking your rice the day before, so it has a chance to dry out and absorb all those flavors: YUM!

pichu318 wrote: »

Mmm...those all sound good

Sometimes I make 4 cups of sushi rice and use them for rice balls...for more than a week (because it's just me in the house)

4 cups sushi rice
5 cups water
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Just boil the rice in the water for 20 minutes and I add the vinegar and sugar as a mixture after all the water has dried up (not necessarily "correct", but easy XD).

From there you can have plain sushi rice, maybe add a meat or teriyaki sauce to it. You could also make rice balls out of it (with or without seaweed). I usually use salmon and mayo/ranch as an inside, but other people put in crab, shrimp, pickled things, beef, chicken, tuna, or anything really.... I've been known to dabble in blasphemous riceballs from time to time XD. If it fits, then go for it lol

What does the rice taste like? Is it sweet?

pichu318 wrote: »

So....I'm extremely lazy, but I like home cooked meals. I want to know what everyone else makes when they feel lazy!

I usually make an easy chili in the crock pot

1lb ground meat
3 cans of whatever kinds of beans I want X3
1 can of tomato sauce
hot sauce to taste
whatever spices are in my cupboard (lol)

I usually throw this in the crock pot on low, go to school/work, and come home to a delicious dinner X3. I don't usually time how long it takes, but I don't cook the meat before, so long enough for that to be cooked. I have in the past added Thai tomato soup and/or water chestnuts as well. Really the above recipe is the base of it :P

leftovers... I usually have some soup in the freezer I can pull out and reheat
eggs, pasta with jarred sauce, baked chicken breast with garlic/random seasonings, baked potato, salad
http://www.food.com/recipe/tandoori-style-chicken-83276
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/270919733806833078/
http://thewholesomedish.com/strawberry-cheesecake-baked-oatmeal/

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

pichu318 wrote: »

So....I'm extremely lazy, but I like home cooked meals. I want to know what everyone else makes when they feel lazy!

I usually make an easy chili in the crock pot

1lb ground meat
3 cans of whatever kinds of beans I want X3
1 can of tomato sauce
hot sauce to taste
whatever spices are in my cupboard (lol)

I usually throw this in the crock pot on low, go to school/work, and come home to a delicious dinner X3. I don't usually time how long it takes, but I don't cook the meat before, so long enough for that to be cooked. I have in the past added Thai tomato soup and/or water chestnuts as well. Really the above recipe is the base of it :P

This is pretty much what I do lol.

The enchiladas I make are pretty quick, poached/shredded chicken seasoned and rolled in olé low carb tortillas, topped with enchilada sauce of choice (I'll usually alternate -canned if I'm not feeling like making it) topped with cheese and onion. Takes about 30 minutes total and is pretty good. Note: I don't bake them, since the chicken is still hot and I don't like the tortillas too crispy, I broil them until the cheese is melted and very slightly browned. Plus, the oven doesn't need to preheat lol

Anything in a crock pot!!! allrecipies.com is amazing food the rest of my family will eat and wont make me feel like i just ate thanksgiving dinner

Cut turkey wings in a roasting pan with lid, add seasonings including thyme cover with cream of mushroom soup and add half a can of water. Bake covered 350degrees 2.5 hours serve with brown rice!!! Talk about yummmmm

I cook 1 portion of pasta, and in a saute pan i cook zucchini till almost done.. Throw in some imitation crab. When it's all warm, I add the pasta to saute pan, spritz with spray butter and add garlic salt and pepper. Really easy and fast.