Recipe Time: Easy Meals for Busy Nights

This actually seems like kind of a funny topic because: are there any other kind of nights?  Especially now that school's back on, reading logs are due again, fall sports practices are in full swing... and whoops, tonight's back-to-school night at two different schools.

Okay, maybe my weekend nights aren't always so bad.  But since at least five out of seven of my nights are always at least a little harried, if not downright crazy, "Easy Meals" is about all I cook.  Seriously.  I am in and out of the kitchen in 20 minutes or less, pretty much every night.  My husband is the one who spends eight hours making chili or some kind of spectacular smoked ribs or something like that.  Me?  If it doesn't pass both the "under-25-minutes" and the "most-of-my-kids-love-it" tests, I'm not making it.

Since I don't meal plan (talk to Marcia about that, she does it and has great success with it), I can't tell you what we'll be having this week.  But I can tell you what we had last week:

Monday
BEAN AND CHEESE QUESADILLAS
As simple as it gets: Smear re-fried beans (homemade or from a can) on a tortilla. 
Heat a skillet, put a plain tortilla inside, arrange slices of cheese on top, lay bean-y tortilla on top of that. 
Cook til browned, flip and repeat.
Serve alone or with taco toppings (tomatoes, lettuce, avocados), or with tomato soup.

Tuesday
SAUSAGE AND RICE
Slice two pounds of kielbasa-style sausage, brown in skillet.
Add three packages of "Red Beans And Rice" mix (find in the section with Rice-A-Roni in your grocery store)
Follow directions, which are roughly: add water, heat to boiling, cover and simmer.
Serve with canned green beans.

I don't have any "Red beans and rice" left right now, but this is our favorite
brand, and two other really good flavors to choose from.
Just add sausage, ham, cooked chicken, whatever, and you've got dinner.

Wednesday
TOMATO PASTA GROUND BEEF SOUP    (I know, I make up great names, right?)
In a large pot, combine:
1 lb Frozen previously cooked ground beef
5  8-oz cans tomato sauce
5 cups water
10 beef boullion cubes
Seasonings to taste: garlic powder, minced onion, Italian seasonings (start with a couple of tablespoons of each)

While soup is simmering, cook 1 lb any shape (smaller is better - we like ditalini) pasta.  When done, drain and add to pot.
Soup is done when everything is hot.
Serve with a green salad or rolls.  Or nothing, which is how we did it. :)

Thursday
SPAGHETTI
Same as everybody else: Sauce, either from a jar or can, or else homemade, plus previously cooked and frozen ground beef, over spaghetti noodles. :)

Friday
HAM AND POTATOES
Leftover ham from Sunday's dinner.  (Here are some other ideas for leftover ham.)  Slice and fry in butter til browned and smelling like bacon.
Potatoes: also slice and fry in butter, add some salt for flavor.  The only trick here is keeping the lid halfway on as you cook, so that the potatoes halfway fry and halfway steam.  That way, they're soft on the inside and crispy on the outside... perfection.
Serve with salad, or whatever your family's favorite vegetable is - we're evenly split between corn and green beans around here. 

Saturday
PIZZA NIGHT
Marcia's pizza crust recipe here - I do bake it a couple of minutes before putting on the toppings, so it's done more quickly.  Also, I heat the butter with the seasonings in it, to help the flavor spread more uniformly - I use 1 T garlic powder and 1 T Italian seasonings.
Our favorite toppings are pretty standard: cheese, browned ground beef, pepperoni, ham, bacon, pineapple.

See?  I told you: I don't do fancy, I do quick and yummy.

Kate