Hi. Just discovered this site. I'm a working mom and we always eat take-out food or call in for deliveries--and this translates to a hefty food budget and increasing waistlines. Any ideas for quick but yummy meals for busy people like me?

Healthy, yet fast food. Hmmm. I know how you feel.

Get some instant mashed potatoes. Keep some frozen vegetables around. That takes care of everything but the main dish without hurting quality of nutrition.

If you have an hour, a beef eye of round roast is lean, and only needs a pepper seasoning. Cook at 350 degree f for an hour.

Another idea off the top of my head is chicken or turkey spaghetti. Or turkey sloppy joes. Both of those will cook in under 30 minutes.

Season the spaghetti with Spatini, or McCormick spaghetti seasoning. Serve with a whole wheat pasta.

I use Manwich (at times) for the sloppy joes. If you have the stuff on hand, a little chopped onion, chopped green pepper, and tomato sauce will have less salt and just as much flavor as the Manwich.

Wow. Thanks! That's a lot of ideas. But half the time, I don't have an hour. But hopefully, I can revert back to my chef-extraordinaire mode again once the project I'm working on is finished. I'll defnitely keep your suggestions in mind.

I love McCormick seasonings. I think I have their whole selection (except two).

Tinker - did you ever think of doing a mass cooking on your day off?? Oh - I know you need to rest - been there, done that! But if you could take a day and prepare a large roast with the trimmings, a pot of sauce, a pot of stew or soup, and a large casserole, even bake a cake, brownies or pie! Then package everything up as homemade TV dinners. I had to do that for quite some time - it got to be that my oven was my best friend. Open the freezer and choose a meal for dinner. Put it in the fridge and when I got home - put it in the oven. That gave me time to do a load of laundry and take a bath. I would make a salad mix and keep it in tupperware, add tomatoes and cukes when I was ready to eat. It was healthier than fast food and junk food!
Or while a pot of water was boiling to cook some pasta, the sauce was re-heating in another pot. There is a lot you can do!

I try to keep the following in the house for quick meals:

- Ingredients for taco soup (recipe in soup thread)
- Pasta, tomato paste, and spaghetti sauce mix - for spaghetti of course
- Ground beef/turkey, taco seasoning, cheese, tortillas - for quesadillas
- Pasta, ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream - for beef stroganoff