I do have some chicken in the freezer [of course, it couldn't be thawed with my luck today] so I am sure we'll have that and some frozen vegetables or salad. But I'd still love new ideas!

One of my favorite easy dinners is a pork tenderloin.

Rub it with olive oil, coarse salt and sage.  Let it sit a little while.  In the meantime, quarter new potatoes and toss those with olive oil and salt and spread them on a cookie sheet and roast them at around 375 for about 25 minutes. While you are roasting the potatoes, warm a cast iron skillet on the top rack of the oven.

Switch the oven from 375 to broil.  Put the tenderloin in the cast iron skillet, keep the potatoes on the cookie sheet to stay warm.  Broil the tenderloin for about 10 minutes, flip it, broil it about ten minutes more (I usually flip mine a couple of times to get even browning).  Then remove it from the oven and let it rest about 10 minutes before slicing it into medallions.

With two ten year olds and two grown ups, you probably need two tenderloins.

LOL - my family is tired of them, so I'm open to new ones too.

QUICHE - this is a family favorite - and the easiest way to get my DS8 to eat veggies. I use low-fat milk and part-skim cheese to keep my DD16 happy.

Stir fry - I like fresh veggies, but will use the frozen, pre-chopped ones.  I do have with chicken and half with tofu or veggie-chicken to keep both meat-eaters and vegetarians happy

Spaghetti and __ - the fall back is any kind of pasta, bottle of sauce, and then whatever protein I can find or defrost

Make your own pizza - store bought pizza dough, rolled out, bottled sauce, pre-grated cheese, and either mushrooms or pepperoni

Vegetable stew - tonight we're having a stew with eggplant, zucchini, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes. YUM!  I'll defrost meatballs or hamburger to make the meat-eaters happy.

is one of our favorite non-summer meals.  It's sooooo easy too!  Basically, you put a whole lemon and 2 garlic cloves in the cavity, and then season the outside with either butter or olive oil (my personal favorite).  You can season the outside with salt and pepper, tarragon, rosemary, or use your imagination!  Put it in the oven at 400 degrees and cook it 20 minutes per pound.  Baste it every 15 minutes or so during the last hour.  

You can even make gravy from the drippings if you have a fancy Sunday dinner w/mashed potatoes.  We eat the leftover chicken as cooked chicken is so versatile (think salads, sandwiches, etc.) and also save some chicken to make homemade chicken noodle soup.  To make soup, strip the carcass of most of the meat, boil it in a medium stockpot w/an onion cut in half (with the skin... that gives the broth its rich color), a couple of stalks of celery and a couple of stalks of carrots.  Add some salt to it, but not too much.  Simmer this for about 2 hours, then let it cool.  Put it in the fridge overnight, strain it through cheesecloth or a fine strainer and you've got the base for soup!  Just add the chopped meat back in w/carrots, peas, corn, lima beans... again, use your imagination.  You add the noodles in at the last minute... my favorite kind are those Kluski egg noodles.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Voila... healthy dinners for several nights!

Or I'd take a cab to Chuy's if I were in Austin.  

but tasty. It's called Okonomiyaki and it's basically a vegetable and meat pancake, that you dunk in soysauce if you like. I've used this recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book, and it's pretty easy, just a lot of slicing.

I haven't made it in a while, but it needs evaporated milk, the only sort of odd ingredient. That, and pork or fish on hand. Babies love these because you make pancakes small enough to pick up, like the size of a McNugget.

I think I'm going with roast chicken tonight, so I can make a vat of soup tomorrow.

as well as chicken and hamburger meat in the freezer.  It can always be thrown together for a quick meal along with a salad.  

Also, how about grilled bacon and cheese, or grilled ham and cheese?  That's always a fallback in my house, too.  Or, baked potatoes with whatever you have around to top them with?  Again, maybe some bacon, cheese, sourcream, etc?  

I go through food ruts, too.  Its been a little easier this summer because we've kept things that can be done quickly on the grill.  To make life easier, I also keep store bought cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, etc., around to have with whatever we grill.

This is from a Rick Bayless cookbook. It's very easy, and you can be flexible with the ingredients. It takes about 20 min. to make.

Saute carrot, onion and garlic in a medium sized soup pot.

Add 2 cans of chicken stock ( I use low-sodium).

Throw in precooked and cut up chicken (roasted is my fave, but any kind will do).

Add a drained can of beans (original recipe calls for garbanzos, but pintos or cannelini would work).

Heat through, then take off the heat and add the juice of one lime.  Add S&P to taste.

Add the following garnishes--mix and match to your own personal taste:

avocado
cilantro
diced chipotle in adobo
queso fresco/jack cheese

Serve with chips or cheese quesadillas. Super easy. Super yummy. Everyone I've ever served it to loves it.

favorite fast things are enchiladas, green chile stew, omelets, a macaroni and cheese made with tomato juice, Trader Joe's simmer sauce poured over chicken.  My husband and I both grew up in New Mexico, so we've come up with some of our own simple adaptions of our childhood food--like three- ingredient posole.

This is a very simple recipe.

1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
~ 1/4 cup milk (I eyeball it, and just go for the right consistency, but it will thin as it is heated)

That's your base.

Add:
basil - fresh (1/4 cup or dried (2 tbsp)
pepper to taste

may want some additional adjustment with other herbs, a little onion powder, whatever suits, depends on the particular cheeses and basil.

heat over low heat until the cheese is melted and you just get the first bubbles. Turn it off immediately - it will curdle if it boils.

Toss with about 2/3 lb of pasta. I like it with fettucine, but DH likes penne.

Serve as is or:

• top with a little more parmesan
• top with some sliced and browned chicken sausage
• top with some sliced and browned mushrooms
• top with some cut up tomatoes

Is one of my basic fall-backs. Works great on any simple pasta or with beans or a simple rice dish.

Has anyone done the whole "cook ahead" thing?  There are books dedicated to filling your freezer full of homemade food for a family for a month.  Most of the recipes are stuff that I don't find particularly healthy, however I sort of do that with my own food.  I'll make a huge pan of enchiladas and then freeze them in family/dinner sized portions.  I do the same with spaghetti sauce, chili, stew, and soups.  I find this helps take the pressure off figuring out what's for dinner all the time... especially when the kids have soccer practice.  

One of my usual 'we don't have anything to eat' dinners is some combination of breakfast foods. But I did that last night -- blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and fruit salad.

Our usual meals are pasta with pesto & salad [I used the storebought pesto and whatever pasta I have, usually penne]; build your own taco salad [lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, kidney/pinto/black beans, avocado if I have it, sometimes chicken or ground beef and sometimes no meat, tortilla chips]; homemade pizza with mushrooms & bell peppers on the grownups' pizza and either just cheese, or ham and pineapple on the kids'. The honey mustard chicken I make is 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of dijon mustard brushed on boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders. Bake til done.  

I love oven-baked meals and meals you can prepare in quantity and dole out.

If your family likes fish, foil-bake it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Put whatever fish filets you like in tin foil (enough to wrap around and crimp the edges). Put lemon or lime slices, 1/4 cup water or wine or water and wine around, herbs on top. Fold up the foil and crimp the edges. Take whatever veg you want to go with, and put them in a similar package (minus the wine). You can even steam potatoes this way too, although I never have. Put the foil packages in the oven. I find that it takes about 20 minutes for our meal, but it may take longer for a larger family.

I also love roasted veg, because they're so versatile. Tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, squashes, whatever's in the fridge or looks good. In summer, it all goes on the BBQ. In winter, I broil it. In either case, slice veg, brush with olive oil (or, as is more usually the case, glug on some olive oil because you can't be bothered finding a brush), put under the broiler. Turn occasionally. Pull veg out when they're brown on top; some veg takes longer than others. You can put veg through pasta, rice, quinoa, whatever starch is to hand; make fun sandwiches with cheese (I love roasted veg with brie, but anything's good); serve with bread and hommus; yadda yadda yadda. They'll also last in the fridge for a couple of days, so you can roast up in quantities and just forget about them.

I'm pretty anal about planning dinners, but I really like to cook and I eat way too much when we eat out, so I'm ok with it.  I generally plan dinners for a week, and rearrange them depending on our schedules.  But I DO go to Dinner A'fare once every few months and fill up my freezer.  They're great for nights when I just don't have my act together.  And my backup meal is usually polenta with sundried tomatoes, onions and mozzarella.  

sorry, but you must check out Expats Kitchen  for awesome and nutritious recipes. I'm surprised I'm the only one to mention it as she's posted some great diaries on this site.

can be found at my site. Check it out here:
Recipe Index

Let me know if any of them work well for you.