Real Food Real Fast
When you first start to cook completely from scratch, all notions of “fast food” goes right out the window. How many times have you had a busy day and your hubby comes home at 5 and asks, “Where’s supper?” and it’s all you can do not to throw the frying pan at him…
Let’s try not to get to that point ever again! Together we are going to brainstorm to find real food real fast recipes. These are foods that you have to make and you can’t use any quick fixes from the store. I’ll start with a list and you can add more in the comments!
Breakfasts
- Instant Oatmeal Packets
- Scrambled Eggs
- Pancakes (with pre-mixed homemade pancake mix)
- Smoothies (Or homemade Orange Julius)
Lunch & Supper
- PB&J Sandwich (with homemade bread and homemade jelly!)
- Loaded Potatoes (potatoes take just minutes to cook either on the stovetop or in the microwave)
- Pork and Beans
- Refried Bean Bowls
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich (with homemade bread)
- Pasta (or Rice Pasta) with Tomato Gravy
The idea is simple, just focus on foods that take very little prep work. Carrot sticks, hard boiled eggs, sliced apples or oranges. As close to the way nature made them the faster they are to prepare!
When you have good ideas on hand, it is easy to create real food real fast! Don’t forget that you can make a variety of make ahead meals that you can store in the freezer for fast and easy meals. Another thing I like to do is have pre-made mixes on hand to make it easier on me for things I do have to bake!
Need more help with meal planning?
It’s your turn, share your favorite “fast foods” in the comments!
My favorite quick meal is soup. I keep broth in the pantry (and sometimes cheat with bouillon), and all you need to do is throw in some veg, a bit of leftover meat, and voila, dinner! Paired with bread or a salad, it’s a quick, throw-together option. Best yet, the kids can join in too! I also make soups and freeze them for later consumption, either at lunchtime or for “one-offs” when everyone’s eating out and about at different times. 🙂
For breakfast on the run, I always grab a couple bananas!
Even cheaper than store broth-I keep the broth off of chicken and roasts that I cook in the crockpot or roaster and put them in plastic containers and freeze. Instant broth and I know exactly whats in it (be sure to mark those containers-everything looks like chicken when its frozen:)
For breakfast I have a big mason jar that I fill up with homemade pancake mix, all I have to do is add milk or water and an egg (the egg is optional) and then make pancakes. It is quick and easy! One of my favorite fast dinners is taco soup. Just brown some hamburger and add a can (or homemade frozen bag) of corn, a can of beans – I use black or kidney beans, taco seasoning, a large can of tomato sauce, a can of green chilies, and whatever else I have on hand (left over rice, sweet peppers, onions, etc). Top with crush tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, etc. Another thing I like to do for easy dinners instead of eating out is to freeze part of whatever I made for dinner and then when I don’t feel like cooking I just take something out of the freezer and unthaw. I think that’s even faster than driving to a restaurant!
I almost always have cooked, shredded chicken in the freezer and a variety of tortillas and cheeses in the fridge. I can defrost the chicken, sprinkle it with some chili powder and warm quickly in a frying pan. Meanwhile, shred some lettuce, dice a tomato, shred cheese (if necessary) and cook a pan of rice. Serve on choice of tortillas. Bam! Chicken tacos in less than 30 minutes.
For quick meals I love to throw together black beans, rice and vegetables. I usually cook black beans and rice ahead of time then freeze them so they are always available for a quick meal! I also make pancakes and muffins ahead of time so they just have to be warmed up in the morning. A little bit of prep goes a long way!
I’m just beginning to play around with idea of freezer cooking. I love the idea of having homemade “fast food” that’s ready to grab and go. Thanks for the great post!
Tacos are always a quick dinner in my house, or grilled ham and cheese sandwiches are another favorite. Also, any type of pasta bake/casserole. Or you know, a nice healthy salad. 😉
This was the best post, thank you so so much! I am making mixes for my girls for Christmas; can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!
At the end of gardening season is a great time to can any, and all variety of vegtables into a pre made vegtable soup. With this base in the pantry it can be an easy fix in the winter. Heat alone or add some shredded meat. Fast and ready vegtable soup.
A tried and true fast food dinner for me is tuna and pasta. I just cook 2 cups of whole wheat rotini, or whatever pasta I have on hand, al denti. Drain and return to pan over low heat. Add 1 can albacore packed in water, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and just enough milk to make it creamy. Open a jar of home canned green beans and add a slice or two of bread to the meal. Quick and so easy!
Fast dinners here are all the time. I home can pork and beans, chicken, hamburger, chili, broths, applesauce, fruits, salsas, and more.
A quick dinner of soft tacos is easily made by dumping a jar of home canned meat into skillet, adding desired spices and water, let simmer… Put a jar of beans in saucepan with some saved bacon grease, heat up then mash with potato masher or stick blender, add a little salt to taste. And then cook tortillas or reheat some from store. Takes us all of 10 to 20 minutes to throw that on.
Open a jar of chili, heat and top with shredded cheese, sour cream and guacamole.
Quick stew: open a jar of stew meat, add diced potatoes, frozen peas, diced carrots, salt, pepper, etc.. Heat until veggies are cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with home made bread.
I have been cooking from scratch due to food allergies, that it isn’t time consuming for us. I can foods so I know what the ingredients are. No corn of any kind can come into our house.
Quick snacks: peanut butter and freezer jam on homemade graham crackers.
Dried fruit, nuts, homemade fruit leather, fruit, veggie sticks… Date balls ( a favorite here!).
I make a large batch of baking mix, flour, salt, shortening (coconut oil), baking powder, powdered milk. I have that made up, measure out what I need and add egg and water and sugar.. Bam… I can make biscuits, pancakes, muffins, cookies…
We do “bread pizza” often. Spread a slice of homemade bread (or whatever you have on hand… English muffins are good, too.) with pasta sauce, put on whatever toppings you have handy, add cheese and bake in the oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes.
I have home canned turkey meat in my pantry… so if I need a quick sandwich meat (we don’t do lunch meat.. can’t eat it before it goes bad!) I can make up quick “turkey salad” sandwiches.
Quesadillas are a great quick meal.
Home canned tomato soup and grilled cheese – REALLY can’t beat this one!!
For cheaper than store canned broth and better than boullion-I save the broth off of chicken and beef that I cook in the crockpot or roaster. When its cool I put in plastic containers and freeze. Instant broth and I know exactly what is in it. (be sure to label and date the container-everything looks like chicken broth when its frozen)
Do not forget sausages. Tired of the usual potato mash and sausages? The chunkier meat sausages you can take off sthe “skin” hull, and very quickly fry in a pan, loosening the meat with a fork. Add whatever you like to the meatmixture and serve with, mash, potatoes or chips and a salad (greed salad vegetable – you can use endives – , slices of onion and tomato, the rest is optional). This does not scream loudly :” I started dinner too late”.
Tidy Mom’s Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal is really good for a quick breakfast. You mix it all up in one bowl. It does take 20 minutes to bake but that just enough time to get myself and the kids dressed so it’s perfect. We also like scrambled eggs wrapped in a tortilla with some cheese.
I’ve also been loving the freezer for pre cooked hamburger (tacos, chili, lasagna), chicken and dumpling noodles, soaked and cooked beans, homemade tortillas, etc.
Home canned broth in the pantry helps meals come together quickly as well. I love that I don’t have to wait for it to thaw and when I freeze the other foods flat in ziplocs, it only takes a few minutes to thaw enough to get dinner into a pan.
I freeze lots of vegetables this way. Most can be frozen in large bags and I just take out what I need and reclose the bag. Blanched broccolli and cauliflower, carrots, cooked potatoes, even diced onion and bell peppers work well. And all these make good additions to a fast soup or side to a roast meat dinner.
My favorite go to meal is pinto or black beans. Beans on a tortilla with shredded cheese, onion and hot sauce or in a bowl with the same toppings or on top of a baked potato with sour cream added to the same toppings or with scrambled eggs and toast. I LOVE BEANS!