Quick Meal Ideas

So since returning to India this time around, I vowed that I was not going to eat peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwiches every single day for lunch. You can just only do that so long before you start to get depressed about life.

I have found that lunches and snacks are the hardest thing for me to figure out in India. With the lack of lunch meat for sandwiches, no frozen pizzas, or frozen corn dogs (my personal favorite indulgence), lunch is just a little more complicated. Or any quick meal for that matter. I was frequently finding that if I hadn't planned ahead for lunch, or even dinner, we were stuck eating PB&J, egg sandwiches, or pancakes (nothing wrong with that though). Leftovers are a good idea in theory, but if I make enough of a meal to have leftovers, I'm usually planning for us to eat it for dinner the next night.

So in the past almost month we've been back, I've been making an effort to have options to put together quick meals that are healthier, and with more protein. 

Here are some of the things I've kept stocked:

* Shredded Chicken: At the beginning of the week, cook a bunch of chicken, and then shred it up. I like to cook my chicken in the crock pot with a couple of chicken cubes in the water. I also like to add some fajita seasoning if I want it to be Mexican, or you can add any other favorite seasoning. You can also cook it in a pressure cooker, or the old fashioned oven or skillet if you don't have a crock pot. Shred up the chicken and then put it in the fridge to use for various meals throughout the week (or put some in the freezer for future use as well).

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

I discovered something magical on Pinterest. Instead of spending forever shredding your chicken with two forks like I have always done, you can shred it with a stand or hand mixer.

Why on earth have I not figured this out before now? If you knew and didn't tell me, shame on you. I used my Kitchenmaid mixer, and it perfectly shredded 2 lbs of chicken in about 20 seconds. A hand mixer will do the same. Revolutionary!!

* Cooked Black Beans: again at the beginning of the week, cook some black beans (I find a pressure cooker is best for this, but you could also do so in a crock pot or a normal pot on the stove, it will just take longer). You can leave the black beans plain, or after they're already soft, cook them in a pot with some chicken broth, chopped red pepper, onion and garlic (yum). Keep them in the fridge, or freeze extras for the future.

* Cooked Brown Rice: especially since there's no "Minute" rice in India, I like cooking a cup of brown rice and then just throwing it in the fridge to use for various meals. 

* Frozen Chapatis (tortillas): A friend pointed these out to me, and they are awesome! They are definitely NOT as good as fresh, homemade tortillas, but we all know those take work and planning ahead, and also don't stay fresh for more than a day or two, so having these frozen ones work great to make quick meals.

* Frozen corn, frozen peas, jars of salsa, shredded cheese, chopped bell peppers - just keep all of these on hand!

Now here are some different creation options:

- Mix some of the rice, chicken, and black beans with some corn, cheese, and salsa for a Chipotle style chicken rice bowl!

- Use the frozen tortillas to make a quesadilla with cheese, chicken, and black beans - you can even add some extra chopped peppers or onions for more veggies. You can do these quickly in the microwave, or if you want them yummy and crispy, follow these instructions.

- Make a sandwich wrap with a tortilla with some chicken, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, and even lettuce if you can find good lettuce in your city.

- Also if you can find good lettuce, you can make a taco salad with the chicken, black beans, cheese and some salsa.

- Using some of the cooked rice, you can mix up this great veggie rice bowl.

- If your chicken is not flavored with Mexican flavoring, you could add some veggies and chicken to the rice with some soy sauce, or any other Asian sauces you like. You could even throw it all into a skillet if you have some extra time. 

Other ideas:

* Chicken nuggets - ok, the frozen chicken nuggets here just kinda weird me out. I can't ever tell if they've been cooked before being frozen or if the chicken is raw, and that just kinda grosses me out. Thankfully, I found a very easy homemade alternative right here. I made a batch and froze them, and just last night gave some to the kids by just reheating them in the microwave! Landon and Layla loved them, and I loved that I wasn't scared about giving them mystery meat.

* Hot dogs - while we were home in the U.S., my kids fell in love with hot dogs. It was a blow to come back and not have them anymore. Thankfully, I ran into a friend at the grocery store and she had these in her cart:

She has lived in India for years with 2 boys, and she said they've tried just about every brand of hot dog, and that her boys really liked these. I bought a package, and both Landon and Layla loved them. You'll find them in the freezer section.

* Mini pizzas - our grocery store in the bakery section has little mini pizza crusts. A friend suggested keeping those on hand and letting your kids make personal pizzas. You can either buy jarred pizza sauce, or you can season some tomato sauce (tomato puree) with some sugar (the tomato puree here is very bitter, so add some sugar) and some oregano/basil etc. Then add cheese and whatever toppings your kids (or yourself) will eat! Pop in the oven!

* Bean and Cheese Burritos - I haven't made these yet this time around, but on our last stay in India I made a few batches of homemade bean and cheese burritos and froze them, and those made for great quick meals as well. 

* Granola bars - This is technically a snack idea (or breakfast, or anytime), but I've been making this recipe of homemade granola bars. You can get all the ingredients here, they're super easy, and they're delicious. I like baking them, as she suggests. I also like using the Quaker Oats Plus, if you can find those. As soon as I finish off one pan, I make another just to always have them on hand!

What other quick meals do you make? I'm always looking for more options. Please comment with any other ideas!