You come home from work, the kids are hungry, the dog wants to be fed, you are so tired all you want to do is collapse into a chair – but dinner needs to be made, homework done and everyone readied for bed. Sigh. I remember those days well. So how can you ensure that you ALWAYS have something in the pantry for dinner? Here are the 5 easy steps which should take you about 20 minutes to prepare:
1. Have chopped salad in the fridge
2. Have frozen chicken breasts or thighs in the freezer
3. Have canned chopped tomatoes in puree in the pantry along with Lawry’s seasoning salt
4. Have basmati rice and a rice cooker handy
5. Have fresh fruit – bananas, apples and oranges – and store bought ( or home baked at another time) cookies
1. Salad
Always have a bag of chopped greens, a couple of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and bottled dressing – cut, toss and add prepared dressing
2 and 3. Protein and Canned Tomatoes in Puree
Keep frozen skinless boneless chicken breasts and thighs in the freezer – and pop them into the microwave under defrost while you are tossing the salad. Choose any one of my simple recipes for Chicken – e.g. Use Lawry’s seasoning salt on both sides of the chicken, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, brown the chicken on both sides, throw in a can of chopped tomatoes in tomato sauce and let that simmer while you prepare the rice.
4. Starch
Put the right amount of rice ( according to the package) into the rice cooker, add water and salt and leave it to do its thing while you prepare the fruit.
5. Dessert
Slice the bananas, apples and oranges into pieces – arrange on a large plate along with chocolate chip cookies ( store bought)
