“Is dinner ready yet?” That sentence usually pops up around 4:15 pm on any given day, right when you are starting to cook and wondering why you even bother. My kids come home from school, have a snack or two, and by 4 pm they are acting like they have not eaten in 3 days. I always say the same thing, “Guys, it is 4:00 – GO PLAY, it will be ready when it is ready.”
I am going to share some easy, and quick recipes below in hopes that it makes cooking dinner a little bit easier. Now let me just say, I am no chef! However my husband is, he is an executive chef and he is an amazing cook, but when you cook all day at work you typically do not want to do it when you come home. So … dinner usually falls to me. (Do you know how hard it is to cook something a professional chef might like?) It is not an easy task, but luckily my husband keeps his opinions to himself … sometimes. So I am going to share some easy recipes that my kids and husband both like.
Spinach Alfredo Lasagna:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, combine ground meat and one jar of Alfredo sauce, stir together. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta and drained cooked spinach, and stir.
In a 9 x 13 baking dish, place one layer of lasagna noodles, edges overlapping. Pour meat and Alfredo sauce mixture over the noodle layer and spread evenly. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella over ground meat mixture. Top with another layer of noodles. Spread spinach mixture evenly over noodles. Pour 1/2 of the remaining jar of Alfredo sauce over spinach mixture, spread evenly. Sprinkle another cup of mozzarella over sauce, lay on the final noodle layer and top with remaining 1/2 jar of Alfredo sauce, 2 cups of mozzarella, and salt and pepper to taste.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the top, is brown and bubbly.
My family’s FAVORITE thing to eat at home is steak and vegetables.
We can honestly cook a steak with some Brussel sprouts or asparagus in about 20 minutes. I will typically go to Ralph’s or Rouse’s grocery stores and look for steak. They always have good deals where I can get 4 ribeyes or 4 New York strips for less than $25. I am an OK cook (like it is edible) but not top chef quality by any stretch of the imagination …. but this dish is one my husband has helped me cook and it is one of my favorites to do. Now we do not have a BBQ pit and honestly, I would catch the house on fire if I tried to use one, so I learned how to cook a steak on the stove and oven. (TRUST ME… it’s YUM)
Steak and Brussel Sprouts (or vegetable of your choosing):
- 2-4 Ribeye Steaks
- One package of Brussel Sprouts
- 2 tablespoons butter
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Take a skillet that you can sauté in but also put into the oven (so no plastic handles), heat it on the stove.
Take your steak and season on both sides.
Place the steaks on the preheated skillet and sear on both sides (Do not cook all the way through)
Once both sides have a nice brown sear, place the entire skillet in the oven and cook the steaks all the way through. My husband can do this thing where he pokes the steak and can tell you if it is Rare, Medium, etc. (I can not do that – so I use a thermometer)
| Rare | 130 to 135°F | 130 to 140°F |
| Medium Rare | 140°F | 145°F |
| Medium | 155°F | 160°F |
| Well Done | 165°F | 170°F |
While the steaks are in the oven you can cook the Brussel sprouts. Cut each Brussel in half, season and place in a heated sauté skillet with butter. Cook through until they have a light brown coating (Not dark brown – I say this because I have burnt them before)
And last, but certainly not least, I give you the easiest Peach Pie recipe on the PLANET.
I found it via Google and my kids and husband eat the entire thing in one day! The hardest part is peeling the peaches, and that is not even that hard. The peaches can be on their last leg before you throw them away; they do not have to be perfectly ripe. I usually make this pie when we have leftover peaches that are about to go bad because nobody ate them.
Easy Peach Pie:
pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie (buy the pre-done kind in the cookie dough section)
2 tablespoons sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Stir together flour, 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon and set aside.
- Wash, peel, and slice fresh peaches.
- Mix together peaches with the combined dry ingredients.
- Turn into pastry-lined pie pan and dot with butter.
- Cover with top crust, cut slits in it, seal the edges.
- Sprinkle top with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Cover the edges with foil to prevent over-browning; remove foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
- Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.
I hope you guys enjoy the recipes above, and please comment and let me know if you tried them and what worked or didn’t work for you.
If you are not like me, and you want to try some harder more professional recipes, you can check out my husband’s website.
