Quick and Easy Weekday Dinners for Busy Families

[byrd1956]

I have a really good, quick, and easy recipe for Salisbury Steaks. When I looked at the PC recipe, I thought right away that the one I have looks better. I think it came from an old TOH magazine.

Can you share??

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I liked the Salisbury Steaks and the Turkey Tetrezzini; however, neither one had mushrooms since I'm allergic to them. I used cream of celery soup for the Turkey. I thought it smelled terrible, but I loved the taste. I couldn't believe how strong the garlic was though for only 2 cloves. These are the only two I have tried - I'm on week one as you can tell.

I do love the shopping list. My DH and DS went to the store and got everything for me.

I agree the Salisbury steak took a long time to make. It was about 50 minutes for me. I had to thaw my meat in the microwave though which took extra time.

 

[meganmcg]

I made the Turkey Tetrezzini last night and DH and I both loved it! It's cool that it can be so versatile as well, use different veggies or leftover chicken in place of the turkey.

We really liked the Salisbury Steaks, too. Just thought it needed more salt and pepper, which I find with a lot of the PC recipes.

 

[chefsteph07]

Yuck.

Last night I made the Turkey Tetrezzini and was not impressed at all. I'm gonna tear up the card and won't ever have to worry about making it again.

Tonight I made the Savory Salisbury Steak. Again, not very good, and I'll not make it again. I will fall back to my delicious no-fail salisbury steak recipe from Rachel Ray.

I plan on making the Moroccan Chicken tomorrow night. It better be good, or I'm tossing all of my recipe cards in the trash.

And trust me, I LOVE to eat. I LOVE food. I'm not sure why I'm not all aflutter with these recipe cards, but I'm not.

Can you share the salsbury steak from Rachel that you make?

 

[kam]

Can you share the salsbury steak from Rachel that you make?

Heehee - I was going to ask too!

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I forgot to mention I made the Turkey Tetrezzini with low fat cream of celery soup, low fat sour cream and 1% milk and it turned out great! So if you want less fat, give it a try.

 

[kristina16marie]

I've finished both weeks of recipes and loved almost every one. The one that got the lowest rating was the deep dish pizza. DH isn't ready to give up on it yet, maybe with some tweaking he'll give it a thumbs up. I was just so happy to not have to worry about what was for dinner. In fact, I went through the new Season's Best & made up an extra weeks worth of dinners with a shopping list because I liked the idea so much! And next week, I'm going to do the same with the current SB!

 

[BadGirl]

Can you share the salsbury steak from Rachel that you make?

Heehee - I was going to ask too!

For anyone looking for an awesome salisbury steak recipe, this comes from Rachel Ray. I swear by it....it's flavorful, zesty, and is always a hit.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/meatloaf-patties-and-pan-gravy-recipe/index.html

Ingredients
1 1/3 pounds ground sirloin, 90 percent lean ground beef
1 slice white bread, spread with softened butter, then cut into small cubes
1/8 cup (a splash) milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons grill seasoning blend (Montreal Steak Seasoning), or coarse salt and black pepper combined
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium onion, finely chopped, reserve 1/4 amount


3-Condiment Pan Gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped, reserved from meatloaf mixture
2 tablespoons (a handful) all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 rounded teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon steak sauce (A-1)

Directions
Place meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center of the meat. Fill the well with the bread cubes and dampen them with a splash of milk. Pour 1 beaten egg over bread and add seasoning or salt and pepper, allspice, tomato paste and onion to the bowl.

Combine the meat, bread and grill seasoning or salt and pepper and form mixture into 4 large oval patties 3/4-inch thick. Pan fry meatloaf patties in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat 7 minutes on each side under a loose tin foil tent. The tent will reflect heat and allow the steam to escape the pan.

Remove meat loaf patties to a platter and return pan to heat. Reduce heat to medium and add butter and onion to your skillet. Cook the onion 2 minutes and sprinkle pan with flour. Cook flour 1 minute and whisk in 1 cup beef stock. Bring broth to a bubble. If gravy is too thick, thin with additional stock. Stir in condiments and remove gravy from heat.

Slice meatloaf patties and drizzle with gravy. Serve meatloaf with smashed potatoes and baby carrots, or with a tossed salad dressed with oil and vinegar.

 

[BadGirl]

mmm I loved the Moroccan Chicken recipe (that's the only one I've made). I hope you do too

Not bad. Not bad at all.

The chicken was very tender and moist.

I'd probably make this again.

 

[kam]

For anyone looking for an awesome salisbury steak recipe, this comes from Rachel Ray. I swear by it....it's flavorful, zesty, and is always a hit.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/meatloaf-patties-and-pan-gravy-recipe/index.html

Ingredients
1 1/3 pounds ground sirloin, 90 percent lean ground beef
1 slice white bread, spread with softened butter, then cut into small cubes
1/8 cup (a splash) milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons grill seasoning blend (Montreal Steak Seasoning), or coarse salt and black pepper combined
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium onion, finely chopped, reserve 1/4 amount


3-Condiment Pan Gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped, reserved from meatloaf mixture
2 tablespoons (a handful) all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 rounded teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon steak sauce (A-1)

Directions
Place meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center of the meat. Fill the well with the bread cubes and dampen them with a splash of milk. Pour 1 beaten egg over bread and add seasoning or salt and pepper, allspice, tomato paste and onion to the bowl.

Combine the meat, bread and grill seasoning or salt and pepper and form mixture into 4 large oval patties 3/4-inch thick. Pan fry meatloaf patties in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat 7 minutes on each side under a loose tin foil tent. The tent will reflect heat and allow the steam to escape the pan.

Remove meat loaf patties to a platter and return pan to heat. Reduce heat to medium and add butter and onion to your skillet. Cook the onion 2 minutes and sprinkle pan with flour. Cook flour 1 minute and whisk in 1 cup beef stock. Bring broth to a bubble. If gravy is too thick, thin with additional stock. Stir in condiments and remove gravy from heat.

Slice meatloaf patties and drizzle with gravy. Serve meatloaf with smashed potatoes and baby carrots, or with a tossed salad dressed with oil and vinegar.

THANK YOU! Looks like pretty basic ingredients. DH will probably LOVE this.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Well night 3 for me. I made the Parmesan Crusted Chicken with creamy risotto and did not like it! The chicken was good, but could not stand the creamy risotto!! Even my son who loves everything (so we thought) didn't eat it. It didn't surprise me I didn't like it since I don't like tomato soup, but my son does.

Oh well, won't be making that again. I might do the chicken w/some traditional pasta and sauce.

 

[kam]

We made the Turkey Tetrazzini tonight for dinner. We thought it was awesome. DH is very picky - so I wasn't sure what he'd think. But it was a hit.

I did not add the Green Beans (we are not green bean fans).

I also used some cooked chicken instead of the deli turkey this time (cheaper I thought). The deli turkey was $7.99/lb (store brand) and the boneless chicken is only $4.99/lb - and even though I cooked a little more chicken so it would cook down to the 1/2 lb - I still think it was cheaper. The only way I would do the deli turkey is if it was on sale.

It was slightly watery - and I was heavy-handed with the pasta - so I expected it to be drier rather than moister. When I was just microwaving the pasta with the broth for the first step - I had some liquid still in the baker that the pasta did not absorb.

Did everyone else have excess broth at this step - should I have cooked the spaghetti longer to make sure all the liquid was absorbed?

Bottom line: I loved it and I am going to add it to my list of recipes for the fall. I think it demo's just as much stuff as some of the other dinner recipes. I love the Microplane - so I will always try to pick recipes that use it - and this one does. Plus, I can let each guest try it by adding Parm to their own dish. AND, there is a stovetop option for those hosts that don't have microwaves large enough!

 

[nancyk325]

I have tried the Rush Hour Chicken Fajitas. They were really good and easy. I love the idea of the week night dinners. My husband has celiac's disease so it is not as easy to cook even the quick easy PC recipes. So I am now trying to see how easy it would be to turn them into gluten free recipes.

 

[Christascafe]

I made the Turkey Tetrazini with cooked chicken that I had on hand....my family loved it, even my picky 4 year old!!

 

[aslion]

Made the Moroccan Chicken tonight, everyone liked it. I used chicken thighs instead of breasts and long grain rice instead of instant even my 14 month old liked it!

 

[quiverfull7]

I've finished both weeks of recipes and loved almost every one. The one that got the lowest rating was the deep dish pizza. DH isn't ready to give up on it yet, maybe with some tweaking he'll give it a thumbs up. I was just so happy to not have to worry about what was for dinner. In fact, I went through the new Season's Best & made up an extra weeks worth of dinners with a shopping list because I liked the idea so much! And next week, I'm going to do the same with the current SB!

Any chance you made up that SB list on the computer and could share it with all of us who want a week 3? pretty please?

 

[ChefBeckyD]

We made the Turkey Tetrazzini tonight for dinner. We thought it was awesome. DH is very picky - so I wasn't sure what he'd think. But it was a hit.

I did not add the Green Beans (we are not green bean fans).

I also used some cooked chicken instead of the deli turkey this time (cheaper I thought). The deli turkey was $7.99/lb (store brand) and the boneless chicken is only $4.99/lb - and even though I cooked a little more chicken so it would cook down to the 1/2 lb - I still think it was cheaper. The only way I would do the deli turkey is if it was on sale.

It was slightly watery - and I was heavy-handed with the pasta - so I expected it to be drier rather than moister. When I was just microwaving the pasta with the broth for the first step - I had some liquid still in the baker that the pasta did not absorb.

Did everyone else have excess broth at this step - should I have cooked the spaghetti longer to make sure all the liquid was absorbed?

Bottom line: I loved it and I am going to add it to my list of recipes for the fall. I think it demo's just as much stuff as some of the other dinner recipes. I love the Microplane - so I will always try to pick recipes that use it - and this one does. Plus, I can let each guest try it by adding Parm to their own dish. AND, there is a stovetop option for those hosts that don't have microwaves large enough!

I was making this for my cluster meeting, so I also made it for my family. I made it in the DCB for the meeting, while simultaneously making it in the skillet for my family.

It's actually a little easier to make in the skillet, IMO. I also used chicken breast in place of the deli turkey. I cooked the chicken in the DCB first, with a little parmesan-garlic seasoning on it.

Next time, I would leave out the beans, and just serve them on the side. Very easy to steam them while you are making the Tetrazzini.
We did like this though, and I'd definitely make it again! I think this will be a skillet dinner for me though.

 

[pc_jessica]

i also made this in my skillet and thought it was super easy to do! instead of the deli turkey, because ours was $8.99/lb i used turkey ham it was only $2.89/lb and i thought it was great!!! my husband keeps asking that i make this now at least once a week!!!

 

[AmyDare]

Would the Easy Tortellini Toss work well with Turkey instead of ham? I have one guy in my household who is a non ham eater.
?

 

[jenniferm]

The one thing that is great about these recipes is that you can make subsitutions easily and still have a great meal. My kids are picky eaters and I did both weeks and they loved just about everthing. The Pronto Sausage, I added hot dogs for the kids and I had the sausage. I hope to see more recipe card sets like this...another set and we can have a whole month of dinners...and maybe they need to come out with a weekend version or something. Boy that would make it so much easier to shop in our busy lives today.

 

[mountainmama74]

Would the Easy Tortellini Toss work well with Turkey instead of ham? I have one guy in my household who is a non ham eater.
?

I actually think it might be BETTER with turkey. My kids and I enjoyed it with the ham, but I'm definitely going to try turkey, or even chicken, next time I make it!

 

[chefann]

I think the tortellini would work with turkey. I'd use a smoked piece, though, to keep that flavor in the dish.

 

[ksmedic]

My husband made the Easy Tortellini Toss this afternoon with Chicken instead of Ham. It was AMAZING!!!
So easy and sooo good. His parents loved it and he was amazed how quick and easy it was!!
A little side salad and garlic bread made for an amazing lunch!

 

[dkgriff]

I make it with grilled chicken breasts - just had it last night! VERY good...the juices from the chicken on the grill really add some great flavor to it! I do the same with the Tetrazzini too...use grilled chicken breasts. I also add about 2oz cream cheese to the Tortelinni as well...