Graduate Student Chow!
Plain version: 1 lb brown rice 1 1-lb can baked beans 8 oz frozen corn kernels 4 oz frozen spinach
Prepare brown rice by boiling rice with a 2:1 ratio of water to rice, then simmering for 1/2 hour.
Heat baked beans, corn, spinach in a pot together until defrosted and warm.
Season with whatever spices you have around (pepper and cinnamon work well).
Makes enough to fill all the Tupperware you have. Can be eaten twenty minutes before a sports practice and stay down.
You got a Crock Pot? I'd like to share my stupid-easy method of making delicious chicken tacos.
Ingredients:
4-5 big chicken breasts
2 packets of McCormick's chicken taco seasoning
4 or 5 bell peppers, diced
2 red onions, diced (optional)
In the morning, throw the chicken breasts in the bottom of the Crock Pot. Pour ~1/4 cup of water in. Sprinkle one packet of the seasoning on the chicken.
Next, dump the diced veggies in. Sprinkle the second packet of seasoning on top.
Put the lid on, set it on LOW, and come back in 8 hours.
Remove the chicken breasts and shred them with a pair of forks. Mix in the cooked veggies.
Serve with tortillas, rice, beans, etc.
My go to place for finding a coking muse:
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/
Send the link to your kids, ask them to pick out what looks good and set a time for them to have it on the table for when you get home.
I love to cook, but I get home from work late so I have quite a few quick meals that I make for the family. Here are a few that haven't been mentioned...
Sloppy Joes. We call them sloppy Daddies, and the kids love them. Ground beef, Manwhich, mozzarella cheeses. Add onions, sautéed mushrooms, red peppers as requested. Buns work, but here is a cheap and tastey tip- Walmart sells loaves of bread- French, sourdough, Italian, ect. for $1. Cut to length, custom sizes sandwhich rolls. Bonus points if you grill it first on a pan with butter like a grilled cheese.
Use the same bread to make French bread pizza. I put the sauces and toppings out on the counter and let my kids make their own.
French toast for dinner. My kids favorite. Make it a treat with fruit and whipped cream. It can get a bit out of hand and turn into more of a dessert, but it's fun once in a while.
This is kind of unique, but my family loves it and it's super easy. Gyros. Some grocery stores carry the meat, flat bread, and cucumber yogurt sauce (much better than it sounds.) Usually near the deli, my store carries the Oopa brand or something like that. The meat strips are pre cooked, just grill in a pan to heat and brown for about a minute or two. Heat the bread. Add lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled onions. Very quick and tastey, just hard to find in the store.
Crock pot wins every time. I like to take bone-in chicken breast, salsa (sub for canned tomatoes if kid don't like salsa), corn paprika, salt, pepper, garlic. When you come home, shred the chicken and take bones out. Make a pot of rice or pasta when you come home. Done.
Other options chili (again, crock pot). Throw some ground meat + beans+tomatoes
Fried rice. Be sure to use day-old rice since it will be less sticky. Add peas, tofu and or meat, broccoli.
Beans and rice. Canned black and pinto beans. Top with broccoli or other green that you guys like. Actually, now that I type this list out, I'm noticing that basically everything I eat is the same with some twists...
Other more conventional quick meals also include: Sandwiches. I know some will scoff at this, but a good sandwich (tuna, turkey, or otherwise) can be way better than a hastily prepared hot meal.
Salads (see sandwich above). You can add whatever you want to it and if you buy the pre-bagged lettuce and/or spinach it take like 10 minutes even with some preparation of a meat or cut cheeses.
Diner-style open faced turkey sandwiches with gravy in under 10 minutes
Items needed to make:
Loaf of crusty bread
Heinz turkey gravy in a jar
Sliced turkey breast thin cut deli style
Butter
Frying pan
Toaster oven
Put the gravy in the frying pan on medium low and add 6 slices of turkey per sandwich to the gravy to warm up.
Slice crusty bread and top with butter pats, toast in toaster oven until golden. Plate.
Use tongs to place warmed turkey slices on top of toasted bread, cover with gravy. Salt & pepper to taste. Goes great with crinkle fries.
EastCoastMojo wrote: Diner-style open faced turkey sandwiches with gravy in under 10 minutes Items needed to make: Loaf of crusty bread Heinz turkey gravy in a jar Sliced turkey breast thin cut deli style Butter Frying pan Toaster oven Put the gravy in the frying pan on medium low and add 6 slices of turkey per sandwich to the gravy to warm up. Slice crusty bread and top with butter pats, toast in toaster oven until golden. Plate. Use tongs to place warmed turkey slices on top of toasted bread, cover with gravy. Salt & pepper to taste. Goes great with crinkle fries.
My mom makes something like this but with French onion soup, roast beef, and melted cheese. It is amazing
Mexican tacos are easy - refried beans on top of a tostada with crumbled Monterey Jack melted on it. Top w lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, whatever.
I'm a huge fan of my rice cooker as well. Makes any meal easier.
chaparral wrote: Graduate Student Chow! Plain version: 1 lb brown rice 1 1-lb can baked beans 8 oz frozen corn kernels 4 oz frozen spinach Prepare brown rice by boiling rice with a 2:1 ratio of water to rice, then simmering for 1/2 hour. Heat baked beans, corn, spinach in a pot together until defrosted and warm. Season with whatever spices you have around (pepper and cinnamon work well). Makes enough to fill all the Tupperware you have. Can be eaten twenty minutes before a sports practice and stay down.
A POUND of brown rice? That seems like an awful lot...
Dead easy one from my "Holy E36 M3 the wife will be home from work in 20 minutes and I am still berkeleying around in the garage!" repertoire:
2-15 oz. cans of chicken broth...30 oz appropriately 1 9 oz package of cheese ravioli or Tortelini (Butonni) is you can find it...or any fresh pasta type. 1 cup of salsa.....any brand (from mild to hot) 1 15 oz can of black beans....drained to serve...sour cream and cilantro (optional and served on the side)
Bring chicken broth to a boil....add ravioli, turn heat down to simmer and simmer for 5 minutes or until pasta is tender.....add salsa and beans and cook for another 5 minutes. You're done...
In reply to Son_Of_Toyman :
Diced chicken breast or chicken breast fillets take a matter of minutes to fry. Just and a spice to the chicken choose your sides, whether you cook fries, wedges or make a salad. it's all very quick.
Then scale it up? I might even have this storage just not sure but I'm tempted to go look. 
Wonder if that's served in a canoe?
I don't have a lot of specific recipe advice, but I will say frozen veggies are your friend here. They go on sale often, stay good forever, and heat up quick with no prep work/chopping. A lot of professional cooks even say that they prefer the texture of certain frozen vegetables over fresh.
Tossing some reheated frozen broccoli florets, peas, or spinach into whatever simple meal you're already making is an instant upgrade and boosts the number of servings you can get out of it, too.
Also, canned unseasoned beans are a good cheap protein that are also easy to toss into most meals. I usually keep black beans, white beans, and lima beans on hand. One of the most magic recipes I've ever found is literally a soup made of 3 cans of white beans with some garlic, rosemary and chicken stock tossed in. Blend up one can's worth of the beans, put the blended beans in a pot with garlic, rosemary, the other two cans of whole beans and about two cups of chicken or vegetable stock and heat till boiling. Boom, healthy filling soup.
Canned chicken is also cheap, lasts a long time, and is easy to toss into a lot of recipes to make them go further.
We tried "Taco Mac" the other day. It's Chili Mac with taco seasoning. Turned out pretty well with a side of green beans.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:Wonder if that's served in a canoe?
When we go canoeing - which is sometimes necessary to get to the good fishing spots - our meals consist of the fish we catch, potatoes au graten (in a box, add water and boil), macaroni and cheese, and beans - don't forget to let them soak in the morning while you're out fishing. Make sure you package all of your stuff in burnable containers so you don't have to pack that trash out with you. And if you make it, you eat it. No waste allowed.
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