Rotisserie chicken… take the meat off the bones and cut into bite sized pieces. Boil penne pasta, toss with pesto sauce. Throw in chicken, a handful of pine nuts, and some canned artichoke hearts and you’ve got a meal. You might throw a loaf of bread on the table, too… and a green salad if you’re going for the whole “complete meal” thing.

Trader Joe’s has a great pasta medley in their frozen food section. It has bow tie pasta, carrots, spinach, and some great flavor. Throw it in a skillet with some olive oil and cook for 8 min or so. DONE! For some added flavor, add some shrimp or chicken, and some of Trader Joe’s Red Curry sauce (not spicy at all). I love it and so does Trinity and takes all of 10 minutes to cook!

Here are links to other ridiculously quick things:
http://castsugar.blogspot.com/2007/08/pigs-in-blanket.html
http://castsugar.blogspot.com/2007/08/antipasto-squares.html
http://castsugar.blogspot.com/2007/08/classic-pizza-by-pillsbury.html

Use your slow cooker for pieces of meals, like enchiladas
http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotgroundbeef/r/bl59c11.htm

or meat loaf
http://quickandeasydinnerrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/10/best-meatloaf.html

I tend to be a big fan of pork chops and chicken breasts. I throw them in ziplock bags the night before with some type of marinade or sauce and then throw them into the oven and microwave some frozen veggies.

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R067327

I do baked chicken sandwiches sometimes. I marinate chicken breasts in honey mustard salad dressing, then bake or grill until cooked through and serve on a bun. Or, you could chop it up and do it over salad.

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R067331

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R067330

I love this quick recipe from my childhood:
1/2 lb of ground beef
1 bag of egg noodles (more or less depending on your noodle preference
1 small onion
1 can of v8 + maybe 1/2
1 small container of sour cream

Brown the onion then add the beef and brown. Drain the fat. Add egg noodles and v8 to cover. Simmer until the noodles are cooked, about 20 minutes. Then add the sour cream and serve.

The second day, it’s chicken quesadillas with the leftovers.

Another quick&easy that I somewhat healthify is store brand hamburger helper. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef, and I add in a cup or two of frozen chopped spinach for the last 3 or 4 minutes. (Sometimes I use other veggies, but the chopped spinach mixes in well and tastes good with most of the varieties.)

Wrap hot dog wieners in flour tortilla and line them up in a casserole dish like you would enchiladas. Cover with chili and shredded cheddar. Onions even if you want. Bake for about 20 mins on 350. Just enough to melt the cheese and warm everything through.

It’s totally a kid friendly meal as most adults would want something a big more sophisticated.

Then of course you can always buy those skillet meals all thrown in a bag together where all you have to do is heat them.

My other easy favorites are baked ziti (although I use different types of pasta, I sort of love the spirals and farfalle even better than ziti) and grilled sandwiches. For the sandwiches, I just make a regular turkey or ham sandwich, lightly butter the outside of the bread, and throw it on the foreman grill for a few minutes, until the cheese melts and the bread is toasty. DELICIOUS. I have no real recipe for the baked ziti because recipes are for the weak (aka, those that can actually follow them). Just brown some ground beef, mix it with pasta sauce, layer with cooked pasta and cheese, stick it in the oven at any temp you want and bake until the cheese is all nice and melty.

The local italian pizzaria is on speed dial too. We’re not perfect!