Author Topic: Easy one-dish meals for picky people? (Read 15280 times)

rocketgirl · « **on:** November 12, 2014, 12:47:55 PM »

My best friend stepped off a curb funny and sprained her ankle. As she fell, her other foot twisted and she BROKE that ankle.

I'd like to bring her a couple of meals, but I really don't know what her family eats. I offered quiche, and she says she likes it but her family won't eat it. (Which is sad, because it's the easiest thing I do.)

The other easy stuff I do are "weird", like the tuna & capers pasta or the black bean and artichoke thing. The chicken and rice is good but it has mushrooms which a lot of people won't eat.

That leaves me with things that are a lot more work like mac and cheese or stealing the boyfriend's lasagna recipe.

Any ideas?

fancypants · « **Reply #1 on:** November 12, 2014, 12:52:34 PM »

Chili?

rocketgirl · « **Reply #2 on:** November 12, 2014, 01:04:02 PM »

I make a mean chili, but it's an all-day thing. I'd like to be able to knock out about two dishes in an hour.

merigayle · « **Reply #3 on:** November 12, 2014, 01:09:51 PM »

baked ziti or lasagna. A plain pasta salad. (like nothing crazy in it).

rocketgirl · « **Reply #4 on:** November 12, 2014, 01:14:20 PM »

What goes in a pasta salad? The last one I made was fully of things like kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and feta. And was expensive and required a blender or food processor (which I no longer have anything like that).

Run Amok · « **Reply #5 on:** November 12, 2014, 01:30:41 PM »

lasagna?
enchiladas?

I'd look for some of those freeze your week of meals menus and pick something from that.

But, honestly, if they're picky and you're limited in terms of time/resources to make it, maybe this just isn't the best fit?

Is there a meal delivery service? Send them a couple of swanson's meals?

rocketgirl · « **Reply #6 on:** November 12, 2014, 01:39:37 PM »

There are a couple of services that deliver from restaurants. And I think we have Schwans; I assume they have frozen meals.

I think I will get the boyfriend's lasagna recipe and do that. He says it's about 80 minutes including cooking, but if I make two and we eat one....And make a quiche that my friend can eat off for lunches when her kids are at school and her DH at work.

caribougrrl · « **Reply #7 on:** November 12, 2014, 01:53:50 PM »

lasagna
chicken pot pie
beef stew (no potatoes in it though, potatoes do NOT freeze well unless mashed)(
shepherd's pie
stuffed peppers, zucchini, tomatoes & onions (use what you remove from the zucchini, tomatoes and onions in the stuffing... with other finely diced or grated veg and coarsely ground oats, it's a good way to get multiple colours of veg and fiber into a one-dish meal, even if you make a ground meat stuffing)

redkitty · « **Reply #8 on:** November 12, 2014, 04:32:58 PM »

I think you ar just making some recipes that are more complex than they need to be. You can make a cook ahead lasagna that should take YOU no longer than 20 min. It might take HER an hour or so to cook, but shouldn't take you long. Pasta salad...if they like lunch meat, just throw some veggies like peppers, cheese and some lunch meat chunks (ham , turkey or salami are good options) with some italian dressing. I have an easy mac and cheese recipe that takes 15 min to cook...though honestly it isn't as good warmed up as fresh...but with my recipe you could make the cheese sauce, cook the noodles separate and it would probably taste better warmed up (my recipe calls for cooking the noodles in the sauce instead of separate.) There are also easier chili recipes that don't take all day but still taste pretty good. With your chicken and rice recipe...can you just leave the mushrooms out?

rocketgirl · « **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2014, 04:53:51 PM »

The boyfriend and I are just going to make 2 lasagnas Friday night (and he'll go to the store with me). And I'll make a quiche (since those throw together really easy and she'll still need lunches for herself). And I'll bring my friend a lasagna and a quiche on Saturday.

I think the mushrooms kind of MAKE the chicken and rice dish, so I don't know what it would be like without it.

My mac and cheese really only takes about 30 minutes total, but the cleanup of cheese off everything is a bitch.

merigayle · « **Reply #10 on:** November 12, 2014, 05:39:04 PM »

Pasta salad? pretty much anything. I like to keep it simple--- diced carrots, cukes, bell pepper, corn, peas and then toss it with the pasta and a dressing (italian, caeser).