[baffled111]

Kim, have you thought about subbing pork tenderloin for the chicken? They're quite inexpensive, very tender, very tasty and very lean too. We have them pretty often with some different veggies on the side and, like chicken, you can coat them with a bunch of different spice rubs or marinades to create the illusion of variety.

[EZMONEY]

Chicken~broccoli~rice

Boy KIM does that bring back memories for our family!

I had been divorced for 6 years before I met Angie, 13 years ago. Although my ex-wife and I co-parented our kids 50/50, I was usually responsible for their meals since Brenda didn't get home from work until after "normal" dinner time. My kids grew up with year round sports/scouts/dance/church youth groups. Since we spent so many nights at practices and games I had to grab quick meals between "kid" runs. Unfortunately I did many fast foods runs and meals like crap dinner mac and cheese with some high calorie hot dogs thrown in for fiber A bad habit....very bad....was developed out of convenience.

If you knew my wife you would know she is not a fast food kind of gal...fast food...YES!...but made healthy and at home. Being a girl.....chicken~rice~veggie meals every single day were OK for her...not for me!

I will say, as our lives and family grew together over the years, it went from..."WHAT? chicken-rice and veggies again! to....(after I started cooking a couple of days a week for the family) "WHEN can we have chicken~rice and veggies AGAIN!?"

Angie had turned our kids into health freaks!

What we found out, for our family, that worked for a go to and quick meal was:

Burritos ~ tostadas ~ mock tacos

We always bought low fat hamburger at Costco...we would place 2 pounds in freezer zip lock bags...smash them flat for easy freezing and quick defrosting.

We always have tomatoes~lettuce~onion and cheese on hand...ALWAYS!

We always have refried~pinto~black beans on hand...ALWAYS!

We always have sour cream and salsa on hand...always!

We always have flour~corn tortillas ~tortilla chips or tostada shells on hand...ALWAYS!

On any given night we can make tacos, burritos, tostadas, tacos or mock tacos (everything over tortilla chips or fritos corn chips) in a flat hurry!

It is a meal we all enjoyed anytime.

Another meal that was quick was all the above except substitue a rotisserie chicken from the store for the hamburger.

chicken~rice~veggies....

[CountingDown]

~ Veggie stir fry with Morningstar Farms chicken or steak strips (you could substitute the real stuff)
~ Rosetto squash or pesto ravioli with a quick Béchamel sauce or marinara sauce from a jar and steamed veggies
~ Progresso soup with a Flatout bread and grilled portobella mushroom and lowfat cheese - baby carrots on the side
~ Homemade waffles (high protein) with fruit topping and a salad on the side

[clvquilts]

Salad, salad, and more salad. Sometimes with broiled salmon or tuna.

Spagetti

When I'm alone, sometimes just peanut butter on one slice of bread.

[lilybelle]

My quick go-to dinner meals are pretty boring usually.

I always have stuff for grilled chicken breasts, green beans cooked with onion and olive oil, and a large dinner salad.

Like Gary mentioned, in any pinch we always have the stuff available for burritos, tostados, tacos and such. When I make this for the family, I just eat mine on top of salad and forgo the shells.

We have been known to have whole wheat pancakes or omeletes for dinner.

[Glory87]

Funny, I call them "loser" meals (meant in a self-joking way), dinners that are so easy to make it's not really like cooking.

Loser meal #1 - maple glazed salmon, steamed broccoli, brown rice (I buy the microwave brown rice from Trader Joe's - SO easy).

Loser meal #2 - veggie tacos - nuked/crumbled veggie burgers, 50 calorie whole wheat tortillas, a little low fat cheese, shredded greens, tons of salsa

Loser meal #3 - omelets - 3 extra omega 3 eggs, tons of filling (my favorite is spinach, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomato, red onion, crimini mushroom, a tiny bit of feta) topped with tomatillo salsa

loser meal #4 - home made pizza - Boboli whole wheat crust, a little spicy low cal/low fat pasta sauce, garlic, onions, sun dried tomatoes, spinach and kalamata olives

loser meal #5 - BBQ salad - I keep a package of Trader Joe's frozen chicken around at all times. Big bowl of greens, a little corn, black beans, chopped up jicama, grape tomatoes, chicken broiled with bbq sauce, chopped avocado, red onion, tiny bit of low fat ranch dressing on the side

[nineteen]

lately..

broiled lamb chops with green beans & brown rice

such a yummy combination!

[JohnKY]

We have a stir-fry-type dish we throw together when we get in late and are short on time.

We take a bag of brocco-slaw (this stuff is great for lots of fast meals, tastes a little like beansprouts when cooked)

A can of chicken/leftover very lean meat/egg whites

Chop up an onion

Take whatever leftover greens and salad veggies we have in the giant salad container.

And put them in the microwave along with a dash of sesame oil, garlic, pepper and soy sauce.

Nuke for 6 - 8 minutes until the onions aren't obnoxious anymore.

Sometimes if there's barley leftover from breakfast we'll have a little in place of rice.

It's really very good.

Other times we'll have a giant salad with chicken and beans, or a taco salad with beans, low-fat cottage cheese and hot sauce.

We've got very efficient at chopping veggies!

When we have a little more time we tend to do a soup/stew in the pressure cooker.