type='text/javascript'/> A Latte Talk: Foody Friday - Convenience foods

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Foody Friday - Convenience foods


Let's do a comment festival today! No Mr Linky, just comments, so everyone can play.

Tell me your favorite convenience-y food that you make on nights when you're not organized enough to pop a previously-prepared casserole in the oven, don't want to spend the money or ingest the calories of eating out, and don't want to eat cereal for dinner.

MY favorite convenience food, which I dare say I should have pulled out tonight.

Trader Joe's Orange Chicken. With rice. And steamed veggies.

Yours?

14 comments:

Emily said...

Ha - love the theme. So easy.
Here's ours (we get them at Aldi)... 1. Frozen Ravioli. Served with Spaghetti Sauce. 2. Frozen Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza

I wish we had a Trader Joe's. Never been :(

Anonymous said...

I'd say that we basically do the same - frozen chicken ravioli from Costco with spagetti sauce or frozen pizza (funny thing - those frozen pizzas have really appealed to me .. before hand I hardly touched them with a 10ft pole and insisted that we would pick one up!) Or, I just grab a soup out of the freezer .. I am really into making extra and freezing it ahead of time.

Jenny said...

Ooh, Emily, you reminded me of another one we get at Aldi - they have these big bags of stir-fry veggies, enough for 2 meals, for just a couple dollars. I sometimes cut up Turkey kielbasa and stir-fry it with the veggies, and serve with noodles or rice. ;) Love Aldi.

Shari said...

Ok, I seriously need to check out the new rave, Aldi.. everyone talks about it and the money they save.
Anyhoo! Our quickie easy dinners when Patrick is working weekends are usually black bean quesadillas w/ cheese and rice or a frozen meal.. we like the Chicken Fried Rice at Trader Joes :o). Grilled cheese and tomato soup make the list some nights too.

Jen D said...

We'll do the ravioli as well, with marinara. Or, Green Giant makes these veggie stir fry kits that you only need to add chicken to (I stock up on those when they go on sale at the grocery store) and then serve it with rice. Another favorite is tacos.

tiffany said...

Trader Joe's Orange Chicken! That is TOTALLY our fav convenience food. Of course we have potstickers on the side too (first time having those was at your place:) I always keep a couple of bags of the chicken on hand. YUMMM!

J mom said...

I have to admit it is usually pasta and garlic bread. I usually keep a loaf of french bread in the freezer and sauce in the cupboard for just such emergencies. Another family favorite is to whip up a taco dip and have chips. Seth isn't that big of a fan so we usually have to make him a quesadilla or something similar but Jason and I love dipping chips! Here is a great one that sounds complicated but really isn't at all.

Mix a half of package of taco seasoning with a can of refried beans and layer on a plate or 9 in. pie plate. Then spread on a think layer of sour cream and add any topping you like such as lettuce, tomato, cheese, black olives, etc. It scoops up onto tortilla chips super easy and goes down oh so yummy!

Kelly @ Love Well said...

I'd say I reach for eggs when I need a convenience food. Breakfast is fast, easy and relatively healthy. Scrambled eggs with veggies, bacon, fruit and toast -- aaaandddd we're done.

Anna - Three Sneaky Bugs said...

Geez! When I think convenient I think barely any work but all these comments on boiling pasta and cooking chicken... I'm feeling pretty lazy with mine. It's Morning Star Farms. Veggie burgers, veggie corndogs, veggie chicken patties, veggie whatever. Everybody gets to pick the one they want, zap in the microwave, add a side dish which is usually chips or applesauce or something equally easy. They're yummy and healthier than the real thing.

Dawn S. said...

instead of writing anything I will say: read emily's comment. except I don't get it at Aldi but it sounds like I should.

Anonymous said...

We do appetizer night once a month.
Step 1: Shop Aldi's frozen section
Step 2: Fry
Step 3: Eat
I know it's not extremely healthy, but it's extremely good, and all things in moderation. We heat up the fryer and in minutes have an appetizer feast that could rival TGIFridays; chicken strips, mozzerella sticks, fried green beans & ravioli, onion rings, egg rolls, you name it the possibilities are endless.

With a diet coke of course.

Blessings, Whitney

"Intentionally Katie" said...

It sounds like I need to try TJ's orange chicken! I usually buy the grilled chicken strips that are pre-cooked at Trader Joes and add that to something. Either pasta (to be quick and easy) or I usually have TJ's pizza dough in the freezer...I'll roll that out, slap some pesto on there (Costco sells it cheap-ish in a Costco-sized jar), sprinkle the grilled chickn and some mozzarella cheese and pop it in the oven. It takes about 4 minutes to layer everything together (except that I need to pull the pizza dough out ahead of time) and dinner's done.

Okay, I just made that sound really complicated...it's not. But I guess my convenience food is the grilled chicken strips. They are also a great addition to salad, quesadillas, etc. Or you can have your hubby grill up some extras some weekend and chop them up and freeze them yourself. Much less money if you prepare them yourself than $6/bag!

Sarah said...

Easy, Quick, Healthy, NO Fuss here.! I always have Amy's bean burritos in the freezer. BTW, they are cheapest at Target. Even the regular Targets usually have them in the freezer section. Wrap them in paper towel, nuke them for 2 min, and tada, dinner! Serve with tortilla chips, salsa and guac. if you have it on hand...yummmm! Elle loves them and we love them! Also, Morning Star Spicy black bean burgers. They taste best fried with some sprayed oil. They aren't very spicy and Elle loves these too :-) Now I am on a misson though for TJ's orange chicken...... Thanks Jenny :-0

Anonymous said...

Chicken nuggets and tater tots. My kids like the dinosaur ones from Costco so they can bite the heads off. (and I have 3 girls!) Not that healthy, but oh so easy and fun.