On the phone with Jeaniene Frost
Me: I haven’t done anything for a whole week.
J: I hear you. Dragoncon was a lot.
Me: I might take the next week off too.
J: This is so unlike you. I’m starting the new project next week.
Me: But why?
J: List of reasons that make sense.
Me: No, don’t work!
J: I need to start it so I at least have something…
Me: No, be lazy with me!
J: This is highly ironic coming from you.
Clearly I need more time off. My body and mind are not ready. Nope.
Also Satisfactory 1.0 hit, Gordon and I playing Wow – Dragonflight is pretty awesome, so we are starting there, and I have read 2 books last week. If I can gather together enough willpower, I will clean the kitchen. Or I might not. I might just be lazy.
I think I ran out of whatever it is that makes workaholics function. I seem to have misplaced it. Maybe it’s in my craft room, around the yarn stash somewhere. I should really go look there.
Look at this cute doggie!
I still have to make some kind of a dinner. What is your favorite lazy meal? Please share and save me from having to let go of my laziness.
Happy Friday, everyone. I wish you the best weekend.
large can of pork and beans, cut up hotdogs and frozen mixed vegetables in the slow cooker or pot heat everything together then bowl it up and eat,
Favorite lazy meal is Costco Salmon with pesto, Costco Mac and cheese, and Costco bag of Mediterranean salad fixings. After a hard day off, with half of it spread going to Costco and then unpacking, dividing, freezing, organizing the Costco haul – too much effort to make anything else.
Rather surprised you didn’t say Costco pizza slice or Costco hot dog.
I hear you, though I prefer the Sam’s club cafe pizza and hot dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Costco, but the taste, texture, and price make Sam’s Club pizza & hotdogs my favorite eat-in-then-shop-time-crunched-food-shop-foray-support-meals. It’s a power move on those insanely busy weekends.
BLT sandwich!
Things to have on hand: frozen sliced bread, frozen cooked bacon, washed lettuce leaves, mayo, and fresh tomatoes (preferably home-grown). Pop the frozen bacon into the oven on aluminum foil to crisp up; toast the frozen bread on defrost mode; slather the toasted bread with mayo; add sliced tomato and lettuce; serve.
Another vote for staying ‘lazy’ until your creativity regenerates. An easy meal possibility would be take out Pho; plus it can feel as good as homemade chicken soup. I’m avoiding the other food debates.
Favorite lazy meal is rice in the rice cooker and chicken thighs dropped in a baking pan, seasoned with whatever spice blend looks good, and stuck in the oven. Microwave bag of vegetables for a green, these are good with a citrus dressing added after the fact.
Or the HEB Meal Simples you put in the oven. I like the steak ones and the salmon ones.
Enjoy your time off! Your brain is telling you to take a break, it’s best to listen.
peanut butter and jelly. Or breakfast for dinner always hits if it’s a simple one.
Mona IS meaningful content! Umm I like mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs as a lazy meal.
Before I read this I had just told my boss I just can’t concentrate this afternoon my mind isn’t on work so I took the afternoon off. it’s a great day for a lazy day.
Goulash you brown hamburger mix in some tomato sauce or if you’re super lazy spaghetti sauce, then throw some kind of pasta and some random canned or fresh vegetables in it let it simmer for a while (you’ll feel it when it’s done.) then eat.
I’ve used ketchup as my tomato sauce for my version of goulash. I used sliced onions, mushrooms, and any short cut pasta. I also used dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
Pasta boil – stir fry slightly store bought cut veggies + tofu / vegan sausage for protein – add store bought sauce – put store bought garlic bread in air fryer – get soda – get ice cream.
Favorite Lazy Meal :
Quesadillas
Throw some shredded cheese on a soft flat tortilla
Bonus if you have leftover diced/shredded protein to add (beef, chicken, pork…) but just cheese is also yummy
Microwave for a minute until cheese is melty
Throw another tortilla on top and cut into pizza slices
Can make it “fancy” with salsa or sour cream to dip slices into
Cheese and mushrooms (grilled) on toast or jacket potato with cheese and sweetcorn
I freeze leftovers in meal portions, in freezer zip locks. Then all I have to do is thaw (microwave has a thaw setting) and heat.
Grilled cheese & applesauce is my fav comfort food. I’m canning chunky applesauce right now because apples are on sale. I use Honeycrisp apples so I only use minimal sugar.
If neither of those appeal, breakfast for dinner.
I’m also canning honeycrisp applesauce today! But I smooth them a little with my immersion blender, leaving some smaller chunks.
When energy levels are on the floor and comfort is needed, for me it is Heinz tomato soup heated with some butter and served with plentiful fresh ground black pepper.
Carbs in quantity are not my friend, otherwise it would be pasta. When I can’t resist, I make an inspired-by carbonara-version of pasta with penne: for a greedy one – or two not greedy people – a little garlic and chopped cured chorizo cooked in a pan until golden. Separately, couple of lightly beaten egg yolks and excess of freshly grated Parmesan mixed with a little of the hot pasta water (be careful as it can scramble). Garlic/chorizo mixed with the drained hot pasta and then the egg mix gently stirred in to this. Black pepper. More Parmesan. Bliss. My husband prefers the Hazan tomato sauce with pasta (https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tomato-sauce-onion-and-butter). That’s good too, but requires putting a pan on the hob at least an hour ahead of cooking.
Otherwise, because we grow a little salad (just in a livestock water trough that we have raised on bricks in a shady spot), salad nicoise is a ‘don’t have to go to the shops’ favourite, using nice oil-packed tinned tuna, or defrosted frozen tuna seared/grilled
tomato sandwiches on sourdough bread with a huge handful of Arugula
Snap! Flat (wrap, long life) bread is an emergency cupboard supply- baby spinach, quartered (roma/amish paste) tomato, roll it up, lunch served.
If incredibly lazy- salmon out of a tin with greens on wrap. (Basil or parsley or even French tarragon goes well with baby spinach or even lettuce…)
If you’re up to going out, but don’t want take-out, my favorite lazy meal is to raid a good grocery salad bar, where all the veggies and proteins are already cut up for you. Then you can stir-fry or microwave what you want to at home, and throw it over whatever rice or noodles are easiest. Or you can make soup with it. Or you can get whole packaged ready-made meals and microwave them, if your grocery stocks them. Almost like going to a restaurant!
If staying home is the plan, grab whatever protein, veg, and starch look decent from fridge and pantry, and cook them in the easiest, fastest ways available, then mash together. Last night’s example: frozen tilapia filet, microwaved with a little water and butter; blue potatoes diced small and boiled for ten minutes; swiss chard cut up with scissors and microwaved with a bit of water in the bottom; quartered gold cherry tomatoes.
Once cooked, everything including cooking liquids got dumped together into the swiss chard bowl and stirred to combine. A little more butter and some salt, and it was ready to shovel down. Sounds disgusting, tasted heavenly (for a given value of heavenly, i.e. one that excludes cheese and most herbs/spices due to health issues).
Other favorite lazy substitutions are shredded grilled chicken or pulled pork, rice ramen, polenta/grits, or frozen corn kernels, and frozen chopped spinach or broccoli.
If you want company being lazy, the BDH is here for you.
This:
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/instant-pot-creamy-baked-ziti/
Favorite lazy meal: vegetables roasted with chicken. You put a chicken thigh (or whatever meat you have handy) in a dish with some very roughly chopped vegetables. I like broccoli, radish, carrots, avocado (yes I love roasted diced avocado). Keep it to one layer if you can. Dump some olive oil and your favorite spices on top. Add some Parmesan cheese (or skip this if you don’t like Parmesan). Dump some panko breadcrumbs on the chicken.
I put it in the toaster oven, not preheated, and cook it at 400F until the chicken is done, 45 minutes? An hour?. Usually at that point the outside of the veggies are getting a little crispy and the insides are nice and soft.
If you want potatoes, slice them and roast them for a few minutes before you add the chicken and other vegetables on top.
If you want more greens, chop some kale or microgreens on top when the roasted stuff first comes out of the over; the heat will wilt the kale perfectly.
Roasting it takes longer than microwaving something, but my actual active prep time is 5minutes or less. 5 minutes if I’m using all fresh veggies; maybe 45 seconds if I am using frozen broccoli I’m dumping out of a bag.
Eat as is or drizzle sauce on top.
Yes, be lazy! My favourite lazy meal is a cheese sandwich, not grilled. A simple, delicious work of thickish slices of cheese between the bread of your choosing. If I am feeling indulgent, I will add some crisps/chips (I live in Canada, and am from the UK so am bilingual!) that are either plain salted or salt and vinegar. Yum!
Yes! I like mine with a mature/ vintage (ie, stinky) cheddar and spring onion crisps.
Has the added benefit of keeping any follow-up work meetings short 😂
Today is whatever dinner at my house. Whatever is in the cupboard or fridge that you feel like eating. So far, I’m thinking of chili dogs or grilled ham and cheese. Maybe French toast too.
Do lazy. You and Gordon deserve it. A brain not refreshed won’t be as creative, eh?
A lazy meal for me is cheese (sharp cheddar) and crackers with wine. (With strawberry preserves or honey if I feel like an extra step.)
I say take all the time you need until you feel your old self perking up. I am usually hyper energetic but am recuperating from a dislocated shoulder followed by rotator cuff surgery. that what can I cook that’s lazy and good comes up every day. I highly recommend Tony Chachere’s Red bean and rice box mix. I add two links of andouille sausage and there’s dinner, especially with a small salad. Feel better!
Lazy Meal. Beef Nachos: Tostitos, sliced cheddar cheese melted on top, ground beef with taco seasoning, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream.
Dice potatoes(smaller then an inch). Toss in oil salt pepper. Spread out on a single layer on a rimmed pan and cook at 400 for about 15 minutes. Take out of oven. Plop sausages on top, whatever kind you want. We like chicken Gouda but Italian is great too. Put back in oven. Cook for another half hour or until done.
Lettuce wraps! I buy ground chicken and then the PF Chang’s lettuce wrap sauce. It takes maybe 10 mins. Brown the chicken add the sauce, then rice the lettuce and cut in half. Very tasty.
Doordash.
My go-to lazy meal is a can of chickpeas plus chopped carrots and cauliflower, roasted on a sheet pan with olive oil and spices, plus a simple Greek yogurt sauce with garlic and lemon juice. It’s cheap, fast, tasty, and you can swap out basically any vegetables.
I hope you have a relaxing and restful week 🙂
Grilled cheese with bacon because everything is better with bacon, veggies and ranch dressing dip.
Cereal… the really bad sugary kind like captain crunch.
Be lazy! It’s fun!
Lazy meal: chicken thighs crusted with crushed fried onions and baked. It’s so simple but it’s always delicious. I just lightly season it with spices and ginger and the fried onions do all the hard work.
We live in a fairly rural area, so pizza and take out aren’t really a thing here. Best easy comfort food is to dice up two small chicken breasts or thighs into 1″ cubes, saute briefly in 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan, add a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, and half a soup can of dry white wine (chablis, chardonay). Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cooked egg noodles with steamed broccoli or carrots on the side. From start of prep to food on the table is less than half an hour, and really tasty.
Enjoy your lazy days, and thank you for all you do for us.
Lazy Meals:
1. Delivery something
2. Cheese and Bread or Tuna and Bread, if we have bread. Gets pretty lean cuisine on Fridays bc I grocery shop on Saturdays or Sundays.
3. Extremely bad choice: Eggos or frozen Pancakes. These go well with wine.
And re: the Mayo on Grilled Cheese discussion: NO NO NO. This is just as bad as putting pineapple on pizza. Whattheheck is with that anyways?!
mayo on the outside is a well known Chef secret for Crispy outside bread. Not gross and not mayo by the time it’s finished cooking. Basically eggs and oil crust.
Dutch style pancakes. Per 3 (which is generally dinner for 1):
250 ml milk
100 g flour
1 egg
If you like, toppings – bacon, cheese, leftover veggies for savoury; apples, banana, jam or fruit compote for sweet
Mix batter, put (non stick) frying pan on the hob, little bit of butter or oil in the pan, wait till hot, (add optional toppings and) pour in batter, tilt pan to coat it evenly, wait till the top of the batter is dry, flip, wait till both sides are nice and done. Serve with icing sugar, cinnamon sugar, sugar syrup, maple syrup, (hot sauce for savoury versions), whatever you like!
Favorite lazy meal is sliced apple, chedder cheese, spicy salami, a few sliced olives, and wheat thins.
Favorite lazy meal (I do this most nights):
Coat meat of your choice (ribs, chicken thighs, whatever) in sauce of your choice (e.g. Valentina’s black label hot sauce) if desired, set aside
Light the grill (I use charcoal; if you have gas {hah} you can wait for this part)
Chop/slice/cube/etc. a vegetable of your choice (asparagus, beets, eggplant, various squashes, potatoes, whatever) and wrap it in foil with butter and spices (double wrap so steam doesn’t escape and fire doesn’t melt foil)
Put meat and veg over fire
You’ve been working hard! Enjoy your recharging time!
I have too many garden tomatoes and my lazy use for them has been:
Fry a diced onion in some butter or oil.
Add chopped tomatoes and sautéed until they start to break down.
Add eggs (usually 4 so my pan is evenly balanced lol).
Toast some bread.
Flip the eggs.
Put a slice of cheese on top of one toasted bread slice.
Transfer one or two eggs, once done to preferred runniness, with onions and tomatoes on top of cheesy toast.
Top with other slice of toast.
Eat. 😀
Lazy meal. Loaded potato! Russet potato. 6 and a half minutes in microwave. Slather with butter, grated cheese, sour cream and diced red onion. Bacon bits if you have them. Yumm!
Being lazy is good. Restorative. You go girl!
Popcorn, and a glass of wine.
I love it, veggies and fruit! 😂
My favorite lazy meal is “Melt Cheese on Something.”
Any cheese.
Almost any kind of delivery system: bread, crackers, vegetables, cherrios!
Rest & relax, HA. The BDH sends support.
Cereal! With hot milk (if I can be bothered…)
Really lazy meal, fish and chips from the chippy , ( English born and bred , living in Australia 54 years ), with brown bread and butter and a cuppa.The most work you do is buttering the bread , can’t get more lazy than that.
My favorite lazy meal is whatever I have in the refrigerator or freezer that looks good. With coffee or lemonade depending on my mood.
You go ahead and take another week off. You run on fumes too often, and we would rather you be entirely physically and mentally recharged for whatever you write next.
Favourite lazy meal, fish and chips, go pick it up, bring home, eat in the cardboard box it came in, use throw away utensils (usually bamboo nowadays), throw away the box and utensils afterwards. No washing up, minimum effort.
I hope you are managing to get plenty of lazy gaming and tv/film watching in as well. Take that extra week – you deserve it 😀
Favorite lazy meal? French dip sandwiches (rolls, meat, sauce packet that tastes pretty good when mixed with water and a few slices of onion then simmered), salad kit. MAYBE oven fries. MAYBE.
Favorite very, very, very lazy meals? Frozen pizza. Takeout. Carrot sticks dipped directly into the peanut butter jar.
Take another week off! Heck, take two! your body will tell you when you are ready to get back to work.
I beg to differ…Mona IS meaningful content! 🙂
My fav *lazy* meal is microwaving leftovers or throwing a frozen meal into the oven, lol.
Currently my go to is some sort of flat pasta tossed with tinned smoked salmon, chopped scallions, whatever green veg is in the fridge (spinach, asparagus or arugula usually) and if I have it a couple of teaspoons of cream and maybe ground parmasan cheese.
When I want the quick easy meal it is usually an omelette, sometimes with a side salad, sometimes just by itself. I almost always have bits and bobs in the fridge to add-roasted veg, cheese , some kind of greens and I have snack baggies with small portions of ham or chicken sometimes sausage or taco meat. Quick, easy , tasty and low mess. Reasonably nutritious.
Yes! I have been wondering why no one said omlettes or scrambled eggs.
Takeout is my favorite lazy meal!
I make Shepards pie:
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 c onions
Garlic clove
Ground beef
Browned
Then:
Veg beef soup
Frozen small veggies oven safe bowl combined
Instant mashed potatoes (topped) oven on 350 for 15 min
Please forgive me my short cuts, my kids played alot of sports😂
I’ll be trying this first cold snap, sounds quick and yummy!
Lazy meal – delivery.
Chopped imitation crab mixed with mayo and salmon furikake, over a bed of steamed rice. Basically a California roll without the roll part.
The lower fat version is steamed rice mixed with salmon furikake, toasted sesame oil and a bit of rice vinegar to make onigiri. Or eat with korean toasted seaweed layers. yum.
Costco rotisserie chicken, rice in the rice maker, some lightly stir fried veggies, and your choice of seasoning and/or sauces.
Lazy meal- crock pot pulled pork and Hawaiian rolls. Pork buttons sliced onion with Lexington style BBQ sauce, let sit for 8 hours. Just dump everything in together. Eat with Hawaiian rolls. Possible side of already made coleslaw. Voila! Dinner for two nights.
I take 2 weeks off of work every year for DragonCon (for the last few years) and I swear this week back was crazier than usual and I’m thinking maybe next year I should take 3 LOL. Then again maybe it’s hitting my 50s.
Anyway – take a break. I keep some frozen fish sticks and tater tossing the freezer to throw in the oven for those nights I just can’t. Or my one pot pastas, basically brown some meat (add veggies if hubby isn’t around), add 2 Tbs flour, stir in 1 can of evaporated milk, measure 2 cans of stock in that can, bring to simmer. Add 1 pound of penne, rotini ot farfalle, slow simmer 10 min (covered). Add some cubed cream cheese or some shredded cheese if desired and sit 10 min off heat. Stir and enjoy. I’ll season that a ton of ways if I want alfredo, heavy on the garlic. Chili seasoning for a chili Mac. Heavy on the pepper and full 8 Oz of cream cheese for a Philly Cheesesteak pasta. I’ll also change up ground beef or bison or turkey or diced chicken.
My favorite lazy meal is either spaghetti and sauce or
Chicken alfredo from a bag
🙂
As a single person, a bowl of popcorn and the new book is just fine as dinner. If I’m really energetic I make a sandwich and maybe even put lettuce and tomato on it. Or a cheese quesadilla with avocado, assuming I have one!
Enjoy your time off! The holidays will be upon us in nothing flat. And the little video was adorable. I sang that song on my way to work my last couple of years before retirement, hehe.
Laziest meal ever = chips and queso. Yup, I can totally make a meal out of that.
Smoothies are my favorite warm day lazy meal, just drop iceburg lettuce, apple chunks, frozen peaches-strawberries-bananas-pineapple, 1/2 cup almond flour, squeeze of lime juice, top off with spring water, into blender, put mixer on high, unplug blender, grab the pitcher, sink into sofa, drink smoothy from blender pitcher with straw. Sooooo lazy
My favorite cold day lazy meal is oatmeal mixed with honey, cinnamon, and almond flour. For creamier oatmeal start oats in cold water, for firmer oats pour into hot water. For super lazy oatmeal, tear open package of instant and pour into hot coffee….
That smoothie sounds good. Gonna try it. Thanks
Favorite lazy meals:
1. Slow: Homemade vegetable soup. Chop some veggies and toss them in a pot with broth or stock. It simmers while you read on the couch.
2. Quick: Veggie Stir-fry. Sautee the veggies, add some tomato sauce or curry paste, and serve over rice.
The best part of both options is that it doesn’t matter what kind of veggies you use. Wilted greens? Into the pot. Partially dried out half onion? Into the pot. Most will work and your fridge gets cleaned out. Win-win.
I found this recipe. Was easy and delicious. Of course deliciousness helped by the maple syrup in the sauce.
https://www.thekitchn.com/baked-maple-dijon-chicken-thighs-recipe-23674210
I love that you started playing WoW. Somewhere in the game there is a NPC named Ilona iirc. Have fun! Am playing the latest expansion and it looks gorgeous, and the storylines made me cry a couple of times.
Porridge (you might call it oatmeal?)
50g rolled oats (unstabilised organic here), 175g boiled water out of the kettle and decide flavourings of choice once I shove bowl in microwave-
forget about bowl for 15min (ahem oats absorb water)- high for 2min, stir, another 1min on high
add teaspoon (or two?) of soft brown sugar underneath cooked porridge and leave for 30sec for bowl of hot oats with lava of molasses goodness
Also good with Caribbean chilli blend of dried spices (before boiling water added) and large scoop of grated parmesan/pecorino cheese…. mmm
lazy plus Having someone else cook and clean up afterwards…
Lazy meal. Cocoa Krispies with skim milk. All that chocolaty goodness with no hassle. If I’m feeling healthy, a banana chaser with a handful of walnuts.
A deconstructed unfrozen chunky monkey!!!😆
And lazy for me is sipping tea with my feet up on the porch watching clouds, or just sky. Vegging….😁
I feel some of these meals are less lazy than others 😆
Mine are:
1. The laziest – defrosting whatever leftovers available from the freezer or if none, the emergency frozen pizza
2. Hummus and pita. Maybe some veg sticks. Curl on the sofa with a blanket and dip away
3. Pasta aglio, olio and pepperocino. If I can’t be arsed to chop garlic I’ll use a crispy chilli oil instead
4. Khichidi in an instant pot. Rinse the lentils and rice and leave them to cook away
I can’t believe I forgot the British classic Jacket Potato with baked beans and cheese.
So easy. So satisfying
Enjoy another week of recuperation and reflection it’s very well deserved and definitely can’t be classed as laziness!!
ona is meaningful content-also any of your other dogs,cats. Please?
Mind the rest is meaningful too.
Sometimes we just have to stop. Breathing helps!
Me and my children love semolina pudding with apple puree or pancakes with marmelade or in small ribbons in broth . Its easy and fast and comfort food and I am half Austrian and we love our “Mehlspeisen” (sweet food).
My fav lazy meal
Chicken cut into chunks (thighs are great, breast works too)
Add to bake tray with 1 cup rice
Bag of frozen peas and carrots
One onion chopped
One bell pepper chopped
Asparagus chopped
1 1/2 cup water or chicken stock
Season however you want (makes variety easy)
Bake in 350 oven about an hour (45 mins covered, 15-20 uncovered.
Get a crockpot. Throw carrots, potatoes, etc. into the crockpot. Get a pork roast. Dump an armload of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder on it. Salt and pepper it. Put it on low until you can stick a fork in it and it falls apart. Eat it. Be merry.
Ugh! No mayo or miracle whip on grilled cheese! White stuff is evil!
It’s ok, the workaholic thing grows back no matter how many times you try to remove it.
Lazy food is tacos. All the food groups included, minimal cooking and good leftovers. Or soup and sandwich if I have nice bread.
I am a big fan of laziness. I too have spent most of my adult life working at home on deadline (not a writer, though), and loafing is an integral part of the career path. When you’re not on deadline.
I farm basil in a fairly large way, and once a year I make about five pounds of it into pesto. I freeze it in one-meal batches and thaw one–they thaw very fast–for pesto pasta for dinner. I use the recipe from Giuliano Hazan, The Classic Pasta Cookbook. Don’t save money on the cheese.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Family Boneless Feast (tripple gravy) OR on Fridays Fish and Chips (mushy peas and curry sauce)
no cooking and bin containers after so no washing either
You deserve the down time.
For me it’s Take out chinese, delivered, with a double order of crab rangoon.
2nd choice a Buffalo favorite, a beef on Weck & wings.
Enjoy doing nothing
Favourite lazy is charcuterie board. Sliced baguette, fruit, cheese, meats, and other accompaniments that make you happy. Place on board, sit, eat, relax.
Loved seeing darling Mona. All pets are welcome content.
Favorite lazy meal – pasta with tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese.
Cook 2 cups elbow macaroni. While cooking the pasta: open and drain 1 medium can (or about 10 ounces) Italian chopped tomatoes; open/drain 1 small can (about 3 ounces) chopped black olives; and open a container of feta cheese (I like the flavored kind with garlic and herbs). Drain pasta, mix all ingredients to your preferred taste, and serve warm. Adding 2 tablespoons of olive oil adds to the flavor but isn’t needed.
Nothing wrong with a lazy week or two – guilt free zone here.
I’ve got two favorite meals.
Can’t go wrong with grilled cheese.
My other favorite is Salsa Chicken. Cut up some chicken breasts and brown them in olive oil. Dump in a large can of whole tomatoes and a jar of salsa (I use medium heat – but you be you). Let it simmer for about 20 – 30 minutes. Serve with rice.
If not sushi carryout, roast chicken breast with spice and OJ and rice. Gotta love one pot meals. Mona is adorable and real content! Be easy on yourself. Workaholics need to veg to recharge.
We are in the era of after school events leaving little time for dinner prep. The only thing I have to remember ahead of time is to take the meat out of the freezer to defrost. Cook up some ground turkey seasoned to your liking, frozen mixed veg cooked, and rice in a rice maker. Add toppings that fit with your seasoning theme. Combine and enjoy. We usually go the Italian route and add Parmesan cheese. We often forget to add rice and have just meat and veg. Celiac household over here.
Lazy meal: sausage and noodles. Heat up Italian sausage and cut into bite size chunks, cook twisted noodles and heat up fav vegetables (I use peas and corn). Add all together with fav marinade spices with oil and water. It’s a favorite in our house.
I think the ultimate lazy meal is a good frozen pizza with extra herbs on top and a side of sliced fresh vegs like cucumber, red bell pepper, mini carrots. 20 mins later and you have a meal.
Best lazy meal for us is fried egg sandwiches or leftover vegi soft tacos.
The start of fall is a low energy time for me. The end of summer craziness before the start of winter holidays. Happens every year, but I can’t let it last too long or I get grouchy . I just have to accept it, experience it, then it’s easier to get over it.
Favorite lazy meat – Girlfriend Chicken – chicken, campbell’s cream of mushroom (with garlic), Lipton’s dry onion soup, sautéed mushrooms, milk, and rice.
Popcorn! Be lazy, explain nothing -the circle will come around again and you will jump back into the infinite list of work – paid and otherwise. Enjoy and thank you.
Popcorn and carrots dipped in chunky PB is my standard second breakfast (breakfast early, need more calories before lunchtime so as not to bite anyone). Starch, veg, protein. Done.
My favorite lazy meals:
1. Store bought chicken salad (GOOD chicken salad with pecans and grapes, organic if I can find it) seasoned with salt and pepper on low carb Hawaiian rolls (Aunt Millie’s Live Carb Smart is pretty good). Add some marinated olives on the side. (I might have had this a few times this week. 😁)
2. Mix Favorite flavor pouch tuna (my fave is Starkist Thai Chili tuna) with favorite mayo and add marinated olives on the side or even mixed in. I eat it just like that to cut carbs, but you can obviously put it on bread or a low carb wrap for some fiber.
3. This is actual cooking so it requires more effort. Slice a package of brats or polish sausage (or any type links) and brown in a skillet. If I’m feeling a little industrious, I’ll slice some red, yellow, or orange bell peppers (green bell peppers give me acid reflux – only ripe peppers for me!) and half an onion and toss those in with the meat. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve over riced cauliflower (I buy frozen so it’s just a few minutes in the microwave) or rice or pasta. Sometimes I do Mac & cheese. Done. Easy and my husband loves it.
This is my favorite easy go-to:
Sheet pan fajitas
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 Tbsp olive oil
1½ lb diced chicken
2 sliced bell peppers, any color
1 sliced red onion
Toss ingredients in a bowl
Spread in one layer on baking sheet
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes
Serve over rice with avocados, in tortillas, or to your preference/dietary needs
Liz, I’ll def try this! Looks delish and easy especially since we love chicken.
Once a month I food prep. I buy a huge bag of peeled garlic cloves, put them in a food processor with a bit of olive oil. I use a small ice cream scooper (med marble size) plop them on a baking sheet to freeze them individually. Then bag them. They’ll keep frozen for 6 months and not clump if you don’t let them thaw)
I use a Mueller pro series 10/1 veg dicer/slicer to cut up; different types of onions, peppers, and celery. The trick is to spread them out on baking sheets to freeze over night then bag them. When I need chopped/diced ingredients I go in the freezer and take them out of the bags, no clumping. Easy peasy prepped cooking.
Aussie Fries (Outback)
Bake steak fries or tots. Put a layer on a microwave-safe plate, liberal cover with shredded mild cheddar cheese and bacon bits
Put second layers of fries or tots, again liberally cover with shredded cheddar cheese and bacon bits.
Microwave 1-2 minutes depending on how high your pile is. 🙂
Get fork. Eat.
Homemade macaroni and cheese is my lazy dinner item. That and a vegetable and dinner is done.
Takeout!
I’m in a major city, delivery for what you might want is easy. I also have been known to make batches and freeze. Taking premade meals and reheating is definitely lazy meals that now me thanks past me!
It’s important to allow yourself down time!
Fav lazy meal- raspberries, boiled eggs, sauerkraut – basically small bowls of stuff (sort of a tapas) -anything I have in my fridge/freezer that I like.
Spinach Quiche from my freezer
When I was little, we were terribly poor, and grilled cheese made with government cheese and butter was a staple for us. Now that I am grown, my grilled cheese sandwiches are made with rustic Italian bread ( no Wonder bread, lol) and whatever good cheese I have on hand. I love Fontina cheese because it melts beautifully, but I will use anything except for American processed cheese food these days. Tomato soup is wonderful with grilled cheese! I hope you enjoy your lazy week as much as I’m enjoying this blog post!
I do HS football most Friday night’s with the occasional Thursday night tossed in. I take an hour off from work to leave earlier to catch the 6 pm games.
Lazy dinners? I boil up a box of elbow mac. While that happens, I steam a couple bags of mixed veggies in the microwave.
Drain mac when done, add veggies. Add any sauce you want or just a stick of butter and some spices.
Dinner! And possibly leftovers to microwave later. Basically a one pot meal, so long as the pot is big enough.
The seasons are changing…days getting shorter…it always makes me want to sleep in and be lazy.
Mona is pretty sweet!
Sheet pan dinners are my go to. Cut up chicken, throw fresh veggies…broccoli, green beans, zucchini or whatever I have on hand. Olive oil and seasoning. 425 for 20-25 minutes. You do have to cut everything up…but clean up is a cinch since I only use a bowl and a sheet pan with sides.
My favorite lazy meal? Hmmm…there’s more than just one–pizza (used to be Domino’s, but the last couple of times we’ve ordered, the hand tossed crust we requested was more like thin & crispy) Burger king, taco john’s, Hy Vee or KFC fried chicken, leftovers from what we’ve cooked within the last 3 or 4 days.
Ride the laziness wave. You don’t have it often.
This context is extremely meaningful.
I don’t cook much. I make a lot of chili and soups and freeze them. Come home from work and defrost and put with pasta.
Have a great week. Hi to Gordon and Mod R.
Enjoy your break. You worked hard for it. Pick up roasted chicken and salad sides. Healthy, premade and the chicken gives lunches &/or soup later in the week
This is quick, easy, and tasty.
Chicken (or not) Carbonara pasta
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients
10 ounces diced pancetta – bacon if Aaron is here
16 ounces spaghetti
4 large egg yolks
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups cooked chicken breast – or use rotisserie chicken (I usually skip or half chicken)
1 tablespoon italian parsley
Steps
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Cook pancetta in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Boil spaghetti in lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Drain pasta and reserve 2 cups pasta water.
Meanwhile, add egg yolks to a large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.
Gradually pour 1 1/2 cups hot pasta water over egg yolks, whisking vigorously, making sure to whisk constantly so eggs do not scramble.
Whisk in Parmesan cheese, then heavy cream.
Add cooked pasta, pancetta, and chicken to the sauce, toss to combine. Transfer pasta mixture to prepared dish.
Bake until hot and sauce has thickened, 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Remove from heat, stir and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes allowing sauce to continue to thicken. Additional pasta water can be added, as desired, for a saucier pasta.
Garnish with parsley and extra Parmesan cheese.
Rest and recuperation are an essential part of life, laze away! Also pictures of Mona or any of the others are always welcome and don’t seem like lazy content to me as a reader of the blog.
Our easiest meal is probably Clear Soup which can be seasoned to turn it into classic chicken noodle soup or a light and fancy crab soup should you happen to have some frozen crab meat around or anything in between.
For two take three Knorr Stock pots or enough decent stock to make around 1.5 litres (about a third of a gallon) choosing chicken, beef or whatever most suits what you have in the fridge, dilute and set to heat up slowly.
If you want carbs stick a couple of nests of thin dried noodles in a large jug pour boiling water on top.
As the stock heats shred ginger and/or garlic and/or onions and add to the stock.
Give the noodles a stir.
If using frozen veg, defrost by sticking in a sieve and running warm water over them, other wise shred, then add slower cooking bits to the stock pan first, leafy stuff later.
Check how the noodles are doing, they may need draining and a fresh lot of boiling water added depending on how thin they are.
Add any cooked meat you have around to the pot of stock and veg.
Drain noodles in the sieve you used for the frozen veg, pile into a couple of large bowls, split the contents of the stock pan between the bowls and slurp!
You can of course add toppings like eggs fried or poached in the stock or boiled to your liking, sliced chillies, roughly chopped herbs etc.
May make enough for seconds if your bowls are smaller.
That took me a little less time to write out than it would to make, especially if I’d gone for fish stock, crab meat and sweetcorn. It is surprisingly filling, the chicken soup version is very comforting if you have a cold or flu, you can make it quite posh by adding fancy meat, as in the crab version or say roast duck with pak choi and if one of you needs to eat less carbs than the other they can just leave out the noodles.
I forgot, if you use all frozen veg you can make a cold version by defrosting the veg in a sieve, loosening the stock pots with say a third boiling water then adding chilled water to make up the volume. That sounds odd, but is still very good if you add a bit more seasoning.
Enjoy your time, start a new yarny project. They are fun.
My lazy dinner is tuna melts. Toast the bread, top with tuna prepared how you like, top with slice of cheese and broil 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yum.