What are your dinner staples?

[spinbaby]

It occurred to me in the “What’s for dinner” thread that I was making what I tend to make when I can’t think of what to make for dinner—stir fry with random protein from the freezer and random vegetables from the fridge, rice on the side. Another standard for when I feel uninspired is macaroni and cheese with broccoli on the side.

[Phoenix61]

1. Ground turkey. Burgers, tacos, enchiladas, meat loaf,

added to Mac-n-cheese, Italian style: mixed with quinoa and spaghetti sauce.

[FoxNewsSucks]

2. I often have little time,

so my standard things are breakfast (which I really like anyway), or doctored-up Progresso soup. Or a meat and veg side.

[XanaDUer2]

11. I add small shrimp to Progresso gumbo nt

[FoxNewsSucks]

15. That gumbo is pretty good,

for something from a can. I've put those little frozen shrimp in too. Usually, I just have some andouille on hand so I slice that, cook it in olive oil with some chopped serrano, garlic and onion, then dump in the can and add an egg. 15 min of simmering and it's really delicious

[Mr.Bill]

3. I always have some frozen Marie Calendar's Pot pies handy if I'm real lazy.

Other than that, spaghetti, hamburgers, chicken on the grill, etc.

[spinbaby]

5. I love those

Those frozen pot pies are a secret vice of mine.

[Binkie The Clown]

4. I like to make a big crockpot full of whatever and eat leftovers all week.

"Whatever" usually consists of some odd combination of what I have in the pantry.
Week before last it was chili.
Last week it was chicken noodle soup.
This week I made pea soup, and just for fun threw in a bunch of frozen meatballs.
I like spaghetti with some kind of meat (meatballs, ground beef, chicken, kielbasa sausage), but for variety I sometimes serve it over freshly cooked rice instead of spaghetti noodles.
One thing I never use is a recipe.

[wryter2000]

6. When I have no time to cook

Costco lasagna with a veggie on the side.

When I have more time, I love to make homemade pasta. I usually have tomato sauce I made over the summer with my homegrown tomatoes in my freezer. Or some pesto I froze. I eat those a lot.

Also, I love the Indian simmer sauce from Costco. Stir fry some meat, onion, bell pepper, and cauliflower, add the sauce plus a bit of cream. Serve over rice. I also use the simmer sauce plus cream as pasta sauce. It's weird, but it takes good.

[PJMcK]

7. Pasta is always a simple standby

Salads with a little chicken/turkey/tuna and some colorful vegetables.

Hot dogs. I love hot dogs with sauerkraut, onions and coarse mustard.

A can of soup with an English muffin.

Macaroni and cheese but that one's dangerous because it can get too involved. Or worse, too easy to grab the boxed crap that my son loves too much.

[spinbaby]

8. I have a really easy mac and cheese

I make it in my Instantpot in slow cooker mode, so I suppose you could make it in a slow cooker, too.

Three cups water, two cups of macaroni, and a tablespoon of kosher salt go into the InstantPot. Stir and press the slow cook button. In half an hour, stir in a brick of cream cheese, two cups of freshly grated cheese, and half a teaspoon of sodium citrate. Cook for another five or ten minutes until all the cheese melts, give a good stir and you’re done.

[PJMcK]

12. Sounds good

I'll have to try it. Thank you.

The problem I have with this dish is that it's too easy to complicate it by adding foods or using different cheeses or baking or... There are lots of variations and my problem is if I get started then it'll defeat the purpose of the easy meal!

[Luciferous]

9. I made mac and cheese with broccoli for dinner 🙂 if I don't have a dinner plan it's usually pasta

or meat, potatoes, and a veggie.

[CaptainTruth]

10. Things we make the most include various sausages...

...hamburgers, fish (like mahi or swordfish steaks), potatoes, brussels sprouts, broccoli, eggplant, & endless varieties of pasta & risotto thanks to my lovely Italian wife. We also love doing Italian antipasto, buy 5-6 different cured meats & 5-6 different cheeses & pig out on them while they're fresh, nothing else required!

[Laelth]

13. I can make a good spaghetti out of just about anything.

That’s my go-to, but it’s a lot of work.

-Laelth

[sinkingfeeling]

14. I will do a pasta or oven-braised cube steaks smothered in cheese.

[AKwannabe]

16. Breakfast

A great go to.

[Kali]

17. flat enchiladas is a regular

some kind of slop or stew/soup made with whatever is handy, usually with ground beef or skinless boneless mutant chicken breasts, also tuna mac with cheap boxed mac and cheese.

burgers in general.

healthier version is some kind of protein on bagged premade salad.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. Alas, I have no standard dinner staple.

This week I'm doing a protein, which is either Grecian chicken, which I originally cooked back in January and still have as frozen leftovers; teriyaki pork chop, which I also cooked that month and froze a portion; or catfish which I bought sometime back in the fall, froze and have just now thawed. The catfish is becoming a blackened lemon pepper catfish. I did half of it tonight the other half will be tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, when I started this particular round of dinners, I fixed up a box of Rice A Roni rice pilaf, and cut up veggies (onion, red bell pepper, zucchini squash, onion, snow peas) for stir fry. Each night I fix up (if frozen, I warm up) the protein, rice pilaf, and stir fry some of the veggies. Oh, and I made rolls from one of those refrigerator packs. A small one, five rolls.

On another week I'll do sandwiches all week. A loaf of bread. Ham and swiss cheese, grilled cheese, maybe egg salad. I'll buy some ground beef for cheeseburgers, freezing some of it in patties.

Next week I'll be thawing out some leftover pot roast and make a beef with barley soup. Some of that will be frozen for future meals.

Sometimes I do make use of frozen commercial dinners, and they can be quite nice and convenient.

But honestly, I don't have any sort of dinner staples. It varies too much over time for me.