This giveaway is closed.
The next giveaway today is A Month of Meals from Jamie Ussher. She has compiled an e-book of an entire month of meals with the recipes and shopping lists – and it costs her family less than $200 a month.
Also in the book are:
- Ready to print out recipe cards! Know exactly what’s in the fridge and what to make with it.
- Helpful tips – get your child to eat, know simple ways to live a healthier life-style, and stick to your budget.
- Simple ways to be healthy and choose healthier options.
- A list of staples for every household – save money on unnecessary trips.
- Tips to having a meal plan and how it can save you a lot of money right now.
- Great tasting and healthy side options.
- The average price of items in most locations, how they vary depending on where you live, and how to compare prices.
- A better example of a food pyramid that focuses on healing foods.
- Great links – connect you to information on gardening, finding your ideal weight, and more.
Photo by Ellie Van Houtte
Jamie is giving eight Simple Mom readers a copy of her e-book!
To win, here’s how to enter:
Leave a comment at this post, answering the following question: What’s your favorite easy family meal?
The giveaway is open worldwide, and it lasts until this Friday, May 29.
I hope you win! Check back soon for one more giveaway today.
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Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and rolls! Always a favorite.
Our fall back menu item is baked raviolli. I buy a bag of frozen ravioli and a jar of sauce. Perfect in a pinch. We add extra veggies if they’re available too.
TACO NIGHT!!! Every person at the table is happy because everyone likes it. That makes mom and dad’s job a little easier those nights:)
For sure our favorite meal is black beans & rice, sometimes I had chicken to it or a half jar of salsa, but usually just plain ol’ black beans and rice…yum…yum…
Leftovers!
If you ask the boys what they want for dinner, no matter how many times we could have it that week it would be “chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes”. But from the adults point of view (who luckly win out, most of the time) we love to make speghetti.
How nice would it be not to have the same fight every night. “I don’t know what do you want for dinner?”
Spagetti with meatballs!
Pancakes! Or scrambled eggs and toast.
Anything that comes out of the freezer and into the microwave! I usually have a few frozen leftovers in the freezer as back up meals for when I don’t feel like cooking.
Our favorite easy and quick meal is breakfast for dinner! It is great on those rushed evenings or on a Sunday when I’m too relaxed to cook a big meal! Eggs, toast, bacon or french toast or pancakes.
I love to make tacos for my family. They are quick, delicious and healthy.
beans on toast…super easy. cook pinto beans in a slow cooker with onion and garlic. toast the bread, mash the beans and spread on toast and easy to add sour cream and/or cheese. yum!
Quesadillas! We make them every other week or so. You can go simple with just cheese or add any meat, beans or veggies you have.
whitney´s last blog post…homemade ice cream
Navajo Stew from the Moosewood Collective’s Simple Suppers. Either that or Roasted Vegetable Curry from the same book. They are easy to make and have wonderful flavor.
I keep a bag or two of frozen fish. When I need to make a quick inexpensive meal I thaw the fish in ziplock under running cool water. Then I throw it in the broiler for 3-4 min. turn it for another 3-4 min. I will usually put a topping on made with things I find in my kitchen. My favorite is 1 can of diced tomatoes (or fresh if they look yummy at the store) cream cheese and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Wow, what awesome comments! Tons of ideas!! Right now, a favorite is chicken salad a la The Pioneer Woman. Yum!!
danica´s last blog post…catch up
We eat pasta and homemade sauce – quick, yummy and full of those sneaky veggies : -)
It’s Taco night for us… all the kids help prepare it and there is never a complaint!
Jenni Hunt´s last blog post…Moms make the best photographers!
My mouth is watering just thinking about…curried pork over brown rice. This recipe is ridiculously easy: marinate thick strips of pork loin in soy sauce, veg. oil, red or white wine (or wine vinegar), little bit of sugar, curry powder and red pepper flakes. I put it all in a gallon size zip-loc. After 2 hrs., just take it out and bake covered about 30 min. or put it on the BBQ. Serve over hot brown rice. So much flavor and so juicy- we love it!
Definitely quesadillas. The kids pick what they want and then microwave for 40 seconds. Super quick and easy!
ThereO´s last blog post…Garden Update
Spaghetti!
My easiest meal is definitely vegetable soup. I save whatever leftover veggies we have every night – no matter how small the amount! – and add them to a container in my freezer. About once every two weeks, I pull out the container and put the contents into the crock pot – with whatever meat is leftover in the fridge and a can of V-8 juice. Not only is this the easiest meal I make, it is also the cheapest! I call it my “Free Meal” and we all love it.
TeriLynne´s last blog post…Menu Plan Monday
Our favorite easy meal is probably spaghetti, but my kids have started to request pancakes for dinner. I love that because the resident pancake maker is my husband which means I get the night off from cooking. That makes meal time really easy on me!
My favorite easy family meal would have to be crockpot curry chicken. YUM.
Katie´s last blog post…I’m still here!
It seems these days that all my meals are leaning toward a mexican flare. The easiest pleaser in the family is taco salad!! Yummy and we always have the ingredients around. Gotta love it on warm weather days!
I am the world’s most inept cook (having never learned how!), so I could really use this. That being said, my new favorite easy meal is the one I made tonight: I dumped the whole pre-seasoned chicken into the crockpot for 5 hours and called it good. It was much moister than the grocery store rotisserie numbers…
We are all about burritos…as we can make them with meat (from rotisserie chicken or leftover BBQ or any kind) or beans or tofu and fill them in with whatever is on hand. It’s fun to try new things! Our favorite is ground pork with cumin, shredded cabbage, fresh cilantro and a favorite salsa – de-lish!!
Mexican Night! It’s our Friday night tradition. All I have to do is brown some ground beef and chop veggies. It’s kind of like a taco salad I guess. We use tortilla chips as the base, then top with beef, refried beans, and fresh lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, shredded cheese and fresh guacamole (super easy – mash up an avocado and add a bit of lime juice to keep it from turning brown).
homemade pizza. super-easy, healthy and good.
black bean burritos – easy and delicious!
It depends on the season. Right now it’s Asparagus and Lemon pasta from Moosewood. During the winter months its Navajo Stew also from Moosewood.
My favorite is definitely the best recipe ever for baked chicken. Just a few spices on a whole fryer and it goes in the oven for a couple of ours. We use the meat for endless dishes.
My favorite to make is stuffed bell peppers. The recipe is memorized and is quick to assemble and the only long part is the baking…and I can do other things while it cooks. The fam always raves…that’s the best part.
Nothing like eggs and toast for a quick meal any time of day!
I love making tacos for an easy meal. The kids absolutely love it.
Karla | modern media mom´s last blog post…Headlines for May 26th, 2009 from 8:50 AM to 9:01 AM
oooh, great book concept!!
One of our favorites is pseudo-Caesar salad: lettuce, grated Parmesean, grilled chicken, and sliced almonds (instead of croutons). Plus whatever other veggies are fresh! It’s super yummy, and can be thrown together in the time it takes to cook some chicken on the Foreman grill.
Katherine´s last blog post…Ten on Tuesday
Hm… chicken adobo. I throw chicken, soy sauce, cider vinegar, black pepper corns, and garlic in the crock-pot in the morning. Later on, I cook rice and steam broccoli, and we’re good to go! My husband’s from the Philippines, so he loves this dish, and so do the kids!
Stacy (mama-om)´s last blog post…Whatcha reading?
Our fav is bean burritos!
The favorite “go to” meal in our house is sloppy joes, right out of the Brownie girl scout try-it book. I have other recipes that I like better, but my 7 year old daughter is a willing helper if we use her recipe.
1 lb ground beef
a squirt of mustard
about 1/cup katsup
1 can tomato soup or tomato sauce
brown the meat, add the other ingredients, cook until thick. Serve on hamburger buns with a fruit salad on the side.
It’s gotta be beans and rice. I’ve been making it the same way since college, and never get tired of it.
Joanna´s last blog post…I have not dropped off the face of the earth!
Meatloaf cups are my new easy meal.
Tacos with all the fixin’s
Ruth´s last blog post…Three Months
How cool!! Well I would say our families fav is homemade pizza or cereal. HA!
I think our favorite easy meal is chicken quesadillas – quick and yummy!
Tacos or fajitas.
Jamie´s last blog post…Joshy-Boshy-Squashy
Pasta. I throw whatever I find at the Farmer’s Market into it with oil and cheese. Easy and it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.
Casey´s last blog post…Weekend Sewing
A go-to meal for us is almost always pasta. I keep some filled pasta in the freezer and a jar of hearty four cheese sauce in the pantry. That way if we get home late or if I forgot to leave something out I can have dinner on the table in about 10 minutes. I also halve loaves of pre-made garlic bread, wrap them in foil and freeze them. 10 minutes in the oven while the pasta is cooking and we’re good to go with a pretty decent dinner!
Tuna pasta salad.
quesadillas with ‘all the fixins’ – spinach, tomatoes etc. AND we love Taco Soup.
reneegrace´s last blog post…The birthdays…
spaghetti or pasta carbanara
My favourite fast family pleaser is pressure cooker risotto. I have a basic recipe that I can jazz up with whatever we have in the pantry/fridge, and it takes about 15 mins to put together. The kids love sausage and tomato risotto the best, my husband and I love pumpkin and pinenut.
Melissa W´s last blog post…A change of routine.
We tend to eat spaghetti as a quick meal. I started adding carrots to the sauce to make it a bit healthier.
Jessica Brammer´s last blog post…Ice Cream After Bedtime
my favorite simple meal to make is ham steak, steamed broccoli, rice pilaf, and bread. The boxed pilaf takes the longest to prepare, about 25 minutes… I start that first then put everything else together while it cooks.
our favorite family meal is steak fajitas with rice and beans.
favorite meal is black beans, brown rice, cheese and corn tortillas. top with avocado, sour cream and salsa!
Fav meal? Slow cooker chicken tacos – add chicken and green salsa to the cooker in the am, easy taco filling.
Kristin´s last blog post…Man’s Apron
My family and I like risotto. You can add it with different vergetables and its very nourishing.
Spagetti served with crispy bacon and loads of stir-fried vegs (esp. broccoli and asparagus).
Pizza! Its a guarantee that everyone will eat it and love it.
Our favorite quick & easy go-to meal is Spaghetti and garlic bread.
Second place would be Sheperd’s Pie
Crockpot BBQ chicken. Place your meat and a jar of BBQ sauce in the crockpot in the morning, turn it on low and you’ll have a yummy dinner by evening. You can even shred the meat or use pork instead!
Spaghetti Bolognaise.
I buy good quality mince, (which is still cheaper than other meat cuts) then bulk it out with plenty of vegies. It uses up any leftover vegetable scraps, it’s filling, reasonably healthy, tasty and freezes easily.
I really wanted to be cool and say something like tabbouleh (which ok, is a bit of a pain to make, but I always make enough for a week and we eat it with everything) – but in all honestly the easiest meal is fish fingers (or these awesome fish cakes with hidden peas and sweetcorn) and potato waffles (we buy potato and carrot waffles) with baked beans. The beans go on the hob or in the microwave and everything else goes under the grill. I can set the table while it’s all cooking and then 15minutes later we eat! Very easy.
Curried red lentil soup with naan on the side.
Now that I’m staying home with my little guy, my idea of easy has changed… easy used to mean quick, but I didn’t care about how much prep and supervision was included, as long as the overall process was quick. But now I like meals with little prep and supervision, even if they take longer – much easier for me to pop something into the oven an hour before dinner than to have to stand there with a toddler at my feet for 15 or 20 minutes stir-frying. So my new favorite easy meal is Shake and Bake Quick Oven “Stir-Fry”… we found the recipe on the Shake and Bake box, but it is here too:
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/shaken-bake-quick-oven-87558.aspx
We usually make it with red onion and pepper strips, but you can use broccoli, carrots, zuchini, etc. We also use the BBQ glaze Shake and Bake instead of the Teriyaki. I don’t use instant rice either, we have a rice cooker, so it’s just as easy to use regular rice… actually, we use Jasmine rice, it’s our favorite. Anyway, a bit of chopping at the start, but then I throw it in the oven, throw the rice in the rice cooker, and set the timer.
I marinade chicken breasts in Italian dressing right in a freezer bag. Pull them out the night before and they marinade as they thaw. Toss them on the Foreman and you’ve got dinner in five minutes.
Lasagne! Admittedly it takes a little time to prep but I tend to make a batch of 3 or 4 so that I have some in the freezer. I also make different sizes so they can feed the two of us plus our 10 month old daughter (she loves it) with leftovers for the next day or feed 8-10 people on a family night. I love to put a layer of spinach in and hide extra veg in the bolognese to make it extra good for everyone too. When it comes to eating it, salad and garlic bread! Easy!
Spaghetti. We adore spaghetti. =)
Lamb pilaff, gets bunged in the slow cooker at the start of the day and transforms into something GORGEOUS in time for dinner in the evening – all the family will eat this one!
Right now we love veggie quesadillas for lunch. Just saute some onion, add thawed frozen corn and a can of black beans plus some seasoning. Throw it all on the tortilla with some cheese and bake. Yum!
My husband loves, loves, loves pasta so we usually have one clean-out-the-fridge pasta every week. Last night it was ziti with onions, garlic, red bell pepper, parsley, kalamatas, evoo and grated cheese on top. It’s different every time I make it!
Our favorite one is black beans, corn and canned diced tomatoes. You mix them together and warm them up and serve with shredded cheese in a tortilla. Very healthy, quick and easy.
Grilled chicken. I have a couple different rubs to change it up. I’ll make extra and the next day or two we have chicken salad for lunch (I add green onions, celery and mayo).
Turkey Chili Mac: ground turkey, tomatoes, corn, black beans, Mexican seasoning, macaroni. Served with homemade corn break…yummy!
Tracy´s last blog post…And now for a completely gratuitous post….
Our go to lately has been salad greens, tomatoes, and pan-sauteed chicken sliced up. It takes no time at all!!
Allegra´s last blog post…Awesome Item of the Day
My no-fail throw-together meal is whole wheat pasta (usually penne) with broccoli florets and alfredo sauce from a jar (from Trader Joe’s). A little freshly ground pepper on top — yum!
Omelets. I can short order those to please individual tastes which is something I don’t usually do.
Oven baked BBQ chicken pour (bottle-Sweet Baby Ray’s or homemade sauce) over bone-in chkn breasts and bake at 350* for 35-40 mins.
Corn Bread
Broccoli Slaw: pkg slaw, sunflower seeds, almonds and beef ramen noodles crunched up, save season pkt. Dressing: 1/2 of season pkt, 1/3 c canola oil, 1/4 c apple cider vinegar, 1/4 – 1/3 c sugar, MIX and pour on salad JUST before serving. YUM! All my kids GOBBLE this up.
This book sounds awesome!
My easy meal is pancakes and/or eggs.
Wet burritos. They can be thrown together from scratch and baked and on the table within an hour!
I love to make baked potatoes and then load them up with grilled chicken, cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, black olives, onions, salsa, and sour cream… YUM!
Sheila´s last blog post…Thank God for Synonyms
easy meal = taco salad. I don’t have to worry about pleasing everyone – they make their own!!!
My favorite easy meal is a chef salad. I get lean ham and turkey sliced very thick from the deli. I hard boil the eggs while I cut up the fresh vegetables and two kinds of cheese. I use mixed lettuce from a bag. I try to keep a box of croutons on hand. When the eggs are done, I set them in ice water to cool, then peel. I serve with rolls and fresh fruit on the side. Dinner is ready.
I change it up by substituting peperoni for the deli meat and egg. I use mozzarella or provolone cheese, and add black olives for an Italian flair. Serve with bread sticks.
We also love quesadillas, but my daughter’s favourite meal is green gnocchis. Cook a pack of ready made gnocchis in boiling water for 2 minutes. In the meantime defrost a few frozen ‘stones’ of spinach and some peas, add pesto. Toss the gnocchis in the sauce and vegs. Ready in 5 minutes and yummy!
Breakfast for dinner…only because it is too cute to see the kids excitement, it’s like we are breaking the rules!!
Breakfast for dinner!
Definitely homemade pizza! Easy-peasy, always tastes great and works with anything we have in the fridge or garden
Our simple meal is crock pot salsa chicken. It’s easy peasy to make and there are always leftovers to make frozen burritos afterwards! De-lish!
We like bread crumb chicken. I pour a couple of tablesponns of butter over chicken breasts, then sprinkle with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Then bake in the oven. Yummy!
Our favorite, quick, too-tired to cook meal is grilled cheese sandwiches with baby carrots on the side.
Blessed´s last blog post…What a week.
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches – classic!
Thanks,
Alison
Noodles with butter and parm cheese! Not healthy but quick and loved by all.
now that it’s warm outside … grilled chicken and veggies!
we love anything on the grill!
brandiandboys´s last blog post…Sheila’s Story…
My favorite is anything in a tortilla – my girls love quesadillas; my husband and I love breakfast burritos or soft tacos. All of that is easy to pull together for dinner (and the soft taco stuff can cook in the crockpot all day.) Yum.
My favorite easy meal is pancakes! We make them at least once a week, usually for lunch on a weekend, but we often have them for dinner as well. We top them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
alianora´s last blog post…Not Quite Free to Good Home
Scrambled eggs with veggies and toast is our easy meal. I love eggs!!!
What an awesome giveaway! Our favorite easy family meal is homemade mac and cheese with fresh green beans and salad. We also love stir fry. Throw some frozen veggies in the wok with a little sauce and you’re done!
Tracie´s last blog post…Cutie pie LIam
Thai chicken stirfry with brown rice, whatever veggies I have on hand, coconut milk and cilantro.
Burritos.
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