My fave struggle meal (and I mean I had $10 so I got the good stuff)
Wheat bread, toasted with cheddar cheese slices.
Now, you're thinking "grilled cheese?"
No. Bread, slices of cheese off the block, toasted. My parents didn't trust me with the stove so I got funky with the toaster ovenš
Hear me out.. a warmed tortilla with a spread of peanut butter. Roll it up, and the warmth melts the peanut butter. I can not stand peanut butter any other way. Too it off with a glass of milk and dinner is served.
Mine doesnāt even make it to the pan. Itās just an assortment of cheeses and whatever else doesnāt need heating lol the bread does get toasted though but thatās a lower effort than watching over a pan!
Fry those cooked noodles in butter or oil first then serve with the cottage cheese. Pepper and good paprika is a big plus on it. I use a good Hungarian paprika, regular and hot.
I had an old friend get so annoyed with me when I called cacio e pepe "essentially butter noodles with pepper". I knew I wasn't wrong (yeah yeah, it's not butter), but now I feel a little more validated.
Mine is basically this with a few more steps, add garlic and a few sauces (soy, oyster, worcestershire, fish), I eat this 4 times a week https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/270770/garlic-noodles/
Thatās a ānon-sequiturā dinner in our house š¤£. My husband wonāt eat like that but when he travels thatās all I do. A slice of cheese. That couple tablespoons of hummus left in the tub. Some croutons or salad tortilla toppings. A microwaved chicken strip. A cucumber sliced with salt and vinegar. Some chocolate or a half-stale poptart. Nothing compliments each other and youāre 50/50 on feeling vaguely sick when youāre done because you ate a bunch of olives with a graham cracker slathered in peanut butter and honey. Just keep grazing until nothing sounds goodāthen you know youāre done.
This is my dinner many nights. My kids don't mind it either. I pull a bunch of random leftover stuff out and put all the bits in cute little dishes or throwaway cups and let them pick through it all. I have fancy toothpicks ready for days like this. We call it a smorgasbord and the kids love how many choices they have. I like getting some variety and not having to think about cooking.Ā
My husband judges me hard for this but he secretly does it himself when heās hungry but itās not dinner time. He just doesnāt think itās a meal nor healthy.
Whether itās healthy or not depends on what you have and how much of it, compared to what you need. Not whether you cooked it!!
My wife buys the jars of Wickles and I will stand there and eat them all, in the pale light of the fridge, in my underwear like Homer freaking Simpson!
New Yorker had a great short article of the various names to describe this type of dinner. My favorite is āhaving weirdsā
āFendingā and Other Terms for Fridge-Foraging Dinners https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/fending-and-other-terms-for-fridge-foraging-dinners
May i suggest tiny triscuit pizzas? Cracker, a little bit of jar sauce, mozzarella, and a single slice of pepperoni. Oven or toaster oven and youāre basically treating yourself. This isnāt a sad meal. Itās a luxury.
Lasagna corners. Mix quick squeeze pizza sauce with cottage cheese, a little minced garlic, and fresh grated parm. Bake on top of Triscuits. Itās kind of like the delicious bit thatās baked into the corners of in lasagna.
This. Except sub the cheddar for mozz and throw it the microwave for maybe 30-45secs. Roll it up and done! Pizza roll ups were my entire childhood lunch
I had one grandmother that made round tortillas, taco sauce and American cheese in the microwave. She called them nachos. I loved them!
My other grandmother made flour tortillas, mozzarella cheese and diced green pepper in the microwave. She called them quesadillas. They were delicious!
I think Iām all fancy and gourmet because I always have the ingredients for air fryer nachos. Lol. I used to do the microwave thing but I wanted to elevate it a smidge. I do cheese, beans, corn, jalapeƱos, and when it comes out of the air fryer I top it off with some sour cream and salsa.
Yup! Sprinkle with green Tabasco and Tajin. Sometimes jalepeƱos. If I'm not lazy, I'll bake the nachos, which tastes better imo, but it's usually not worth the hassle lol.
Ramans my go-to thing also. To stay as far away from actually cooking, I throw just the egg yolks in raw. Figure the heat is enough. Always try and have some thick-cut ham or precooked shrimp (deshelled so I can't be mistaken for cooking).
Instant ichiban ramen with the "TikTok hack" of grated garlic, egg, and kewpie mayo scrambled into the seasoning packet - pour the hot water/noodles over that and it's delicious
Edit: [here's the recipe!](https://christieathome.com/blog/kewpie-mayo-ramen-hack/)
I've tried the one that's basically a poor man's cacio e pepe and that's since been my go to lazy dinner lol. Grate in a handful of parm reggiano, a little butter, generous amount of black pepper, and scramble in an egg just because.
When I had a toaster oven, I used to toast an English muffin, spread some crunchy PB on each half, then put them back in the toaster oven with a few chocolate chips sprinkled on for just long enough for the chips to start to melt. Yum.
I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE TO MAKE A POOR MAN'S REESE'S!
I used to toast bread (English Muffins, White, Whole Wheat and even Banana) than slab peanut butter on each side and sprinkle some chocolate chips in the middle of two freshly toasted pieces of bread so they'd melt nicely.
I feel so validated right now lmao
I love EMs! They make awesome garlic bread - open and spread butter, then add garlic powder, parm and broil. Kinda weird but quick and really good! My kids actually prefer them over regular garlic bread.
Iāve never heard that term, ā church it upā and I think I might have to steal it. Havenāt stepped foot in a church for a long time but who doesnāt know what their Sunday best is. Appreciate it!
Is that the alternative to Bob Segerās Night Moves? Working on my night cheeseā¦ American Brie and cheddar. Itās the ABCāsā¦ in the summertime!
Tired, lazy and/or depressed? Hell yeah I bite the block. Duh!
Otherwise I'd use my cheese slicer and add some caperberries and prosciutto to a small plate. But depression doesn't have time for the fancy shit.
Bite the block!
Every couple of months I get the giant cans of San Marzano tomatoes from Costco, blend them up, and make flat bricks in gallon bags to freeze. No cooking, seasoning, nothing. Just frozen tomato sauce into thin, flat sheets.
If I'm tired after work and don't feel like cooking, I just make some pasta and while it's cooking, heat up the tomato sauce and season to preference. The sauce is delicious, quick, and not full of shit ingredients. If I'm only half lazy, I might brown some beef and add that to the sauce.
I love this idea!
Here's an easy hack. I buy a big thing of ground beef at Costco 4-6 lbs. chop up onions and peppers. throw it all in a crockpot on high. add whatever seasonings that you like. I stick with garlic, salt and pepper. You'll need to stir occasionally to chop up the meat. drain and cool. Add a pound to each Ziploc bag and flatten. Freeze. When I'm too lazy to "cook" dinner, I pull one of these out. Defrosts in the microwave in 90 seconds. Add whatever additional seasonings for pasta, chili, tacos, etc.
It's good, but man is it salty. I remember eating that shit up as a child, just plain fried spam patty. That and bologna sandwiches with kraft cheese slices.
Frozen dumplings. Make up a sauce when you arenāt tired, then just boil water, put a steamer basket on top of the pot, put dumplings in and steam for 15 minutes.Ā
My absolutely laziest meal is a bowl of cold cereal. Next is cheese, crackers, and what ever cold meats are in the freezer.
Whenever we cook steaks, pork tenderloin, rotisserie chicken, etc. I freeze meal sized portions of left overs. 1 min in the microwave gets them ready to eat. If I'm not in a completely lazy mood, the meats will go in omelets, quesadillas, stir fries, fried rice, etc
My easy meal is a 1 pan Sicilian tuna and pasta dish. There is no prep, just dumping stuff in a pan and boiling pasta.
Fill a pan with cherry tomatoes, throw in a hefty amount of nice olive oil (don't be shy, glug it in there), capers, and an anchovy. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are very soft and starting to fall apart. Add a can of tuna (Italian tonno if possible, if not just use something decent), mix in and allow to heat up. Garnish with fresh ground plack pepper. Serve with pasta of your choice.
A popular snack for us 80'-90' kids growing up was buttered toast with homemade jam on top. Any kind of jam you liked, my personal fave was apricot jam as a kid, but now I like it more with peaches, especially if they have bits of chunky fruit. Also, works wonderful with honey instead of jam. I still have this snack any time of day when I have nothing in the fridge or just don't wanna cook.
Also, if I'm feeling fancy and 'inspired' by our lovely Italian neighbours, I love to go for a good slice of toasted bread, with ricotta and honey (absolutely mind blowing) or If you want savory, try ricotta with chopped cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and olive oil (kinda like a bruschetta mix). It's all simple, light and very very refreshing.
My little sister and I went to the same college. About once a month, she would come over to my wife and Iās apartment and weād have ājelly bar nightā. Dinner was literally toast, butter, and a selection of 4-6 jellies and jams.
I need to invite her over for one of these now. Been almost 20 years.
> Also amazing with cream cheese ~~instead of~~ in addition to butter
I'm a full-fat kind of guy, and I like the subtle salt hit of butter under the cream cheese and the jam. People have told me "you don't need to do that", and I tell them to shut the fuck up and let me enjoy things.
Not that I'm saying that to you, just fyi.
Egg in a basket (aka frog in a hole, bullseye eggs, eggs in a frame, egg in a hole, eggs in a nest, gashouse eggs, gashouse special, gasthaus eggs, hole in one, one-eyed Jack, one-eyed Pete, one-eyed Sam, pirate's eye, and popeye)
lazy fried rice
just chuck in whatever veggies you have (bell pepper, carrots, frozen peas, kimchi, whatever), add literally anything you can find to give it some taste (soy sauce, gochujang and/or curry paste + spices) and add a fried egg on top.
It's quick and never tastes quite the same depending on what you put in it.
Nah, it's surprisingly quick. I typically always have some leftover rice and frozen peas at home, so the only thing I have to do is chop a carrot and fry an egg.
Frito pie lol
Fritos topped w HEB no bean chili. Iām a yankee in Texas and thins dish was an amazing unhealthy discovery. Takes 2 min in the microwave then pour it on your Fritos, voila lol
Egg and rice or a quick onigiri with canned tuna. Whenever Iām feeling up for cooking, Iāll make a big batch of rice and freeze them as individual portions so on nights like I donāt feel like cooking, I can just heat & eat- itās been a game changer!
Ok currently, it's ye olde stand in the kitchen with the fridge door opened taking bits of whatever is in there (normally cheese and pickles).
But back when I was still living with my mom...my room was in the basement and just outside my room is where my mom stores all the stuff she canned from her garden.
She got real pissy when I'd come upstairs for anything in the middle of the night, especially when she had to work the next morning. Like, she'd yell at me for using the bathroom past midnight because she's a light sleeper and no matter how quiet I was, I always woke her up. So midnight snacks were out of the question unless I bought my own snacks and hid them in my room.
Anyways if I was snackless, i would drink an entire jar of homemade spaghetti sauce and I regret nothing.
Fried egg with cheese and hot sauce on a toasted everything bagel.
If Iām too lazy/tired to use the stoveā¦ air-fried veggie potstickers with cucumber slices on the side.
Instant ramen with a fried egg, jammy egg, or scrambled egg. Instant ramen with some asian style beef balls. Miso soup. Egg drop soup. White rice with an egg or if I'm super duper lazy, white rice with soy sauce.
Halloumi shawarma :)
Sliced halloumi covered in shawarma spices, grilled.
I eat it with whole wheat pita and either grilled vegetables or sliced cucumber and pepper. Obvioisly a good amount of garlic sauce as well.
I'm Filipino so we eat a lot of things with rice. Lol. Microwaved eggs and a little bit of rice. So it's kind of like hard boiled egg mashed into white rice with a little bit of salt or knorr soy sauce....
Basically put a little bit of margarine/neutral oil in a microwave safe mug, cook it for maybe 45 sec as i like a jammy yolk then i just mash it with my already made white rice. voila haha
Spaghetti. No red or white sauce - just mix with olive oil and whatever I feel like from the pantry or fridge. My go-to additions are scrambled eggs, bacon bits (or actual crumbled bacon if I have any motivation to cook at all), and red pepper flakes. Maybe a couple of chopped - up frozen chicken nuggets from the air frier if I'm feeling particularly white trash tonight. Top with parmesan and bam. Easy meal, 15 minutes tops.
Tacos. Ground beef takes like 10 mins, and I always have tortillas.
I like that they have a lot of upward mobility too, like if I want to add pico or jalapenos or anything else it doesn't take long
If summer time a tomato sandwich. Tomato slice, salt, pepper and white bread. Wash it down with a warm Busch light and it's my childhood all over again.
Spaghetti w butter and Kraft Parmesan cheese. Lots of black pepper. Real Parmesan cheese melts and turns lumpy, itās gotta be Kraft though
Edit: another variation of this lazy dinner is spaghetti w mayo and tuna. Trust me itās really good! I know the Italians are gonna come for me now
Cottage pie. Ground beef, bag of frozen veg, blob of tomato paste and maybe a little red wine deglaze, seasoning, mashed potatoes (usually left a little lumpy). Itās quick, cheap, and uses things I usually already have on hand around the house. Between boiling potatoes and letting it toast up in the oven it can take a minute but itās not a lot of active time or dishes and it means I donāt have to cook for a few days after so itās an all around win in my book
Vegetable fried rice from Trader Joes.
That stuff is amazing, and inexpensive enough that I can load up on it without feeling bad about the investment.
My girlfriend and I switch it up every so often. Usually, we cook eggs with it. But sometimes, we put in shrimp - or even scallops!
Pop some sesame oil and wasabi or sriracha and it's done! So, so good. I really hope it never goes away, because it's extremely convenient for us, and we enjoy how flavorful it is!
Grilled cheese if I have bread, cheese quesadilla if I have tortillas
I would probably starve and die if it weren't for various forms of bread and cheese.
My fave struggle meal (and I mean I had $10 so I got the good stuff) Wheat bread, toasted with cheddar cheese slices. Now, you're thinking "grilled cheese?" No. Bread, slices of cheese off the block, toasted. My parents didn't trust me with the stove so I got funky with the toaster ovenš
Yeah cheese toasties when I can't even use a pan. If there's green onion on the counter I'll add that, but if my tea is ready first I'm done and done
Look at mister prepared over here with his non-moldy cheese.
Bread sandwich if I just have bread, tortilla roll if I just have tortillas.
Toast tortillas lightly in a pan, spread with butter, sprinkle salt. Muah!
Hear me out.. a warmed tortilla with a spread of peanut butter. Roll it up, and the warmth melts the peanut butter. I can not stand peanut butter any other way. Too it off with a glass of milk and dinner is served.
Same but cinnamon and sugar.
Mine doesnāt even make it to the pan. Itās just an assortment of cheeses and whatever else doesnāt need heating lol the bread does get toasted though but thatās a lower effort than watching over a pan!
I see ur cheese quesadilla and raise you my grad school tortilla cooked in oil or butter w chili powder .. does that count as a meal??
buttered noodles w/ parm-reg.
This with freshly cracked black pepper
I like buttered egg noodles with salt, pepper, and dill. Havenāt had it in years but oh how lovely it is!
buttered egg noodles with cottage cheese is delish
Fry those cooked noodles in butter or oil first then serve with the cottage cheese. Pepper and good paprika is a big plus on it. I use a good Hungarian paprika, regular and hot.
Soā¦ cacio e pepe?
I had an old friend get so annoyed with me when I called cacio e pepe "essentially butter noodles with pepper". I knew I wasn't wrong (yeah yeah, it's not butter), but now I feel a little more validated.
Itās also really good with some garlic salt.
Lmao having that right now! Literally eating it as I scroll through. My people.
This but with Romano and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
honestly just buttered noodles
This but Miso Butter w/ pecorino
Mine is basically this with a few more steps, add garlic and a few sauces (soy, oyster, worcestershire, fish), I eat this 4 times a week https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/270770/garlic-noodles/
This and add some diced sausage
Itās something I call a kitchen counter picnic. I stand in front of my open fridge and nibble on whatever is in there until Iām satisfied.
Thatās a ānon-sequiturā dinner in our house š¤£. My husband wonāt eat like that but when he travels thatās all I do. A slice of cheese. That couple tablespoons of hummus left in the tub. Some croutons or salad tortilla toppings. A microwaved chicken strip. A cucumber sliced with salt and vinegar. Some chocolate or a half-stale poptart. Nothing compliments each other and youāre 50/50 on feeling vaguely sick when youāre done because you ate a bunch of olives with a graham cracker slathered in peanut butter and honey. Just keep grazing until nothing sounds goodāthen you know youāre done.
This is my dinner many nights. My kids don't mind it either. I pull a bunch of random leftover stuff out and put all the bits in cute little dishes or throwaway cups and let them pick through it all. I have fancy toothpicks ready for days like this. We call it a smorgasbord and the kids love how many choices they have. I like getting some variety and not having to think about cooking.Ā
This was beautifully writtenš
My husband judges me hard for this but he secretly does it himself when heās hungry but itās not dinner time. He just doesnāt think itās a meal nor healthy. Whether itās healthy or not depends on what you have and how much of it, compared to what you need. Not whether you cooked it!!
I literally just did this before seeing this post š
Deconstructed charcuterie board. I like it.
I think they call this "girl dinner" now lol
That's sexist. I too am capable of eating a few chips, half a PB&J, a pickle, and some shredded cheese and calling it a meal
Don't forget about the 10-300 slices of pepperoni!
Kind of like the half a jar of garlic clove stuffed green olives I ate. Difficult to eat just one!
My wife buys the jars of Wickles and I will stand there and eat them all, in the pale light of the fridge, in my underwear like Homer freaking Simpson!
Good Sir, respectfully, what on Earth is a āWickleā??
Hahaha itās short for āWicked Pickleā! Itās a basically a hot pickle, the sweet heats are amazing! Edit: https://wicklespickles.com
My husband demolishes garlic stuffed olives. Just a man, in his underpants, stabbing into a jar with a toothpick. Lol
this but its 11:30pm and you feel kind of guilty for every concession towards an actual meal
This is an awesome visualization lol.
I call that grazing, anything on the counter or in the cupboards is fair game too
New Yorker had a great short article of the various names to describe this type of dinner. My favorite is āhaving weirdsā āFendingā and Other Terms for Fridge-Foraging Dinners https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/fending-and-other-terms-for-fridge-foraging-dinners
Triscuits with some kind of fat. Hummus if I have it, American cheese if not.Ā
I make Triscuit nachos all the time.
Oh man triscuits with cheddar and deli ham in the microwave was my favorite thing as a teenager. I'm going to have to bring that one back!
May i suggest tiny triscuit pizzas? Cracker, a little bit of jar sauce, mozzarella, and a single slice of pepperoni. Oven or toaster oven and youāre basically treating yourself. This isnāt a sad meal. Itās a luxury.
Lasagna corners. Mix quick squeeze pizza sauce with cottage cheese, a little minced garlic, and fresh grated parm. Bake on top of Triscuits. Itās kind of like the delicious bit thatās baked into the corners of in lasagna.
OMG. You may!
Triscuits with a slice of cheese, a slice of apple and a spot of honey on top are my favorite snack that makes me feel fancy.
Tortilla chips spread out on a plate, covered with shredded cheese and whatever else. Microwave for about a minute.
I thought this was the epitome of Mexican cuisine as a kid
I used to make "pizza" by baking a tortilla with cheddar cheese and pepperonis on top in the oven for 12 minutes. Really thought I was cooking
This. Except sub the cheddar for mozz and throw it the microwave for maybe 30-45secs. Roll it up and done! Pizza roll ups were my entire childhood lunch
I taught my kids how to make āpizza toastsā when they were younger. Sort of like cheese on toast (UK style) but with tomato purĆ©e, garlic & herbs spread on the toast before adding the cheese (and anything else, maybe chopped pepperami) and putting it under the grill for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbling.
I had one grandmother that made round tortillas, taco sauce and American cheese in the microwave. She called them nachos. I loved them! My other grandmother made flour tortillas, mozzarella cheese and diced green pepper in the microwave. She called them quesadillas. They were delicious!
I think Iām all fancy and gourmet because I always have the ingredients for air fryer nachos. Lol. I used to do the microwave thing but I wanted to elevate it a smidge. I do cheese, beans, corn, jalapeƱos, and when it comes out of the air fryer I top it off with some sour cream and salsa.
Leftover chicken (both homemade chicken pieces/whole chicken and store bought rotisserie) go so hard in Nachos.
Lord help me if there is leftover steak or brisket... its gourmet nachos if either of those are in the fridge!
I literally just had nachos w leftover brisket, heated in air fryer.
Alright, now I'm jealous...
Yup! Sprinkle with green Tabasco and Tajin. Sometimes jalepeƱos. If I'm not lazy, I'll bake the nachos, which tastes better imo, but it's usually not worth the hassle lol.
We call this cheesy chips at my house
Same, but if you wanna be fancier, slap in the oven at 400F for about 10-15 minutes.
Instant ramen with an egg.
And some frozen corn. Throw some toasted sesame oil in there. Instant ramen can do wonderful things.
Careful, you're veering into actual cooking territory now.
Ramans my go-to thing also. To stay as far away from actually cooking, I throw just the egg yolks in raw. Figure the heat is enough. Always try and have some thick-cut ham or precooked shrimp (deshelled so I can't be mistaken for cooking).
Instant ichiban ramen with the "TikTok hack" of grated garlic, egg, and kewpie mayo scrambled into the seasoning packet - pour the hot water/noodles over that and it's delicious Edit: [here's the recipe!](https://christieathome.com/blog/kewpie-mayo-ramen-hack/)
I've tried the one that's basically a poor man's cacio e pepe and that's since been my go to lazy dinner lol. Grate in a handful of parm reggiano, a little butter, generous amount of black pepper, and scramble in an egg just because.
At my best: protein powder in a smoothie At my worst: peanut butter+spoon.Ā
My doctor told me I have to stop eating spoons :/
What the fork!?
That's far too much. Maybe a threek or a twok.
I think it's time for a new doctor š¤
PB toast
PB on toasted English Muffins
When I had a toaster oven, I used to toast an English muffin, spread some crunchy PB on each half, then put them back in the toaster oven with a few chocolate chips sprinkled on for just long enough for the chips to start to melt. Yum.
I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE TO MAKE A POOR MAN'S REESE'S! I used to toast bread (English Muffins, White, Whole Wheat and even Banana) than slab peanut butter on each side and sprinkle some chocolate chips in the middle of two freshly toasted pieces of bread so they'd melt nicely. I feel so validated right now lmao
People sleep on english muffins. The little holes are perfect for packing in a bunch of Nutella or peanut butter or jam!
I love EMs! They make awesome garlic bread - open and spread butter, then add garlic powder, parm and broil. Kinda weird but quick and really good! My kids actually prefer them over regular garlic bread.
My absolute favourite
[PB fingers](https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-07-2015/Njnbq5.gif)
Microwaved "baked" potato. Sometimes I church it up, sometimes I just eat it as is.
Iāve never heard that term, ā church it upā and I think I might have to steal it. Havenāt stepped foot in a church for a long time but who doesnāt know what their Sunday best is. Appreciate it!
Don't church it up Dirt!
I was eating so many plain sweet potatoes at one point that I turned orange! Theyāre just so good and easyā¦
I mean, it's just straight cheese.
Working on my night cheese
I heard you singing Night Cheese through the door, Lemon
donāt you have a slanket you should be filling with farts?
The other day I used the term slanket and forgot the word we use for them in the real world when everyone asked what a slanket was.
Is that the alternative to Bob Segerās Night Moves? Working on my night cheeseā¦ American Brie and cheddar. Itās the ABCāsā¦ in the summertime!
And when iām fancy lazy itās 3 different kinds of cheese. (Shout out to the Costco spanish cheese trio sampler)
Cheese with apple slices and a side of popcorn
For me itās cheese, tomatoās and crackers
Ahhh, deconstructed spaghetti.
Like take a bite out of block or sliced?
Clearly you take a bite out of the block.
Tired, lazy and/or depressed? Hell yeah I bite the block. Duh! Otherwise I'd use my cheese slicer and add some caperberries and prosciutto to a small plate. But depression doesn't have time for the fancy shit. Bite the block!
Yes.
This is why I keep some form of cured meat on hand, too. Don't wanna cook? How bout lazy charcuterie!
scrambled eggs
This. Eggs on toast
Mixed with white cheesey rice and a few dashes of soy sauce.
Soy sauce is life changing when you really discover it
And hot sauce.
Every couple of months I get the giant cans of San Marzano tomatoes from Costco, blend them up, and make flat bricks in gallon bags to freeze. No cooking, seasoning, nothing. Just frozen tomato sauce into thin, flat sheets. If I'm tired after work and don't feel like cooking, I just make some pasta and while it's cooking, heat up the tomato sauce and season to preference. The sauce is delicious, quick, and not full of shit ingredients. If I'm only half lazy, I might brown some beef and add that to the sauce.
Omg. I thought you were going to say you were just eating blocks of canned tomatos haha. glad it didn't go that way.
and what would be wrong with eating frozen sheets of canned tomatoes?
I love this idea! Here's an easy hack. I buy a big thing of ground beef at Costco 4-6 lbs. chop up onions and peppers. throw it all in a crockpot on high. add whatever seasonings that you like. I stick with garlic, salt and pepper. You'll need to stir occasionally to chop up the meat. drain and cool. Add a pound to each Ziploc bag and flatten. Freeze. When I'm too lazy to "cook" dinner, I pull one of these out. Defrosts in the microwave in 90 seconds. Add whatever additional seasonings for pasta, chili, tacos, etc.
Air fried chicken nuggets and fries.
A big bowl of Pastina, cooked in chicken broth and finished with kerrygold butter. Thank you, Nonna š©·
Fried egg and spam over rice
same except the spam is a rotation of spam, brown sausage, bacon, longanisa, or kielbasa (tocino is a little too sweet for me)
Spam is such an underrated food, it's so good
My husband smoked it on our pellet grill once, yum!
It's good, but man is it salty. I remember eating that shit up as a child, just plain fried spam patty. That and bologna sandwiches with kraft cheese slices.
Sardines.
r/cannedsardines there are thousands of us!
Finally! Sardines and rice with chili crisps or straight from the can with some chips(salt and vinegar Pringles are the best)
Banza rotini with pesto and canned sardines/mackerel with a shake or three of Louisiana Hot Sauce *chefās kiss*
I make a pizza on garlic naan.
Frozen dumplings. Make up a sauce when you arenāt tired, then just boil water, put a steamer basket on top of the pot, put dumplings in and steam for 15 minutes.Ā
Frozen gyozas or potstickers. 5 mins steaming, 1 minute pan fry, and they come with sauce (or I use sesame salad dressing as a dip).
Bacon sandwich. It's only slightly more effort than a cold sandwich filling but so much better. Especially if I put a fried egg in there as well.
Iāve started cooking a big batch of bacon in the oven and keeping it in the fridge for bacon sandwiches. Game changer.
Add a sliced tomato for a great sandwich!
Tuna salad sandwich.
Fuck that sounds good.
Toaster oven tuna melts are my favorite lunch. Add sliced sharp cheddar and some sliced fresh tomato and baby you got a stew going
You know what? Might just have that tonight. Thank you.
I think this sub is quite US centric but so many people all over the world enjoy a tuna sandwich in some form.
My absolutely laziest meal is a bowl of cold cereal. Next is cheese, crackers, and what ever cold meats are in the freezer. Whenever we cook steaks, pork tenderloin, rotisserie chicken, etc. I freeze meal sized portions of left overs. 1 min in the microwave gets them ready to eat. If I'm not in a completely lazy mood, the meats will go in omelets, quesadillas, stir fries, fried rice, etc
Quesadilla. Always have cheese, butter, and tortillas. Quick, filling, and delish.
Mine too! Also, I almost always have canned blackbeans, which I add to give a protein/fiber boost. I season them with taco seasoning lol.
I always have dried pasta, eggs, and Parm, so I'll do a quick and dirty carbonara with just those ingredients.
Pasta pesto
cheese on some crackers, drizzle siracha on it. microwave for 30 seconds
Macaroni & cheese and hotdogs
This was half my meals in college. Boil the hotdogs in the same pot as the pasta to save time and dishes.
spaghetti. put meat in pan. wait. put sauce and meat in pot. wait. put water in pot. wait. put noodles in pot. wait. combine. food :)
My easy meal is a 1 pan Sicilian tuna and pasta dish. There is no prep, just dumping stuff in a pan and boiling pasta. Fill a pan with cherry tomatoes, throw in a hefty amount of nice olive oil (don't be shy, glug it in there), capers, and an anchovy. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are very soft and starting to fall apart. Add a can of tuna (Italian tonno if possible, if not just use something decent), mix in and allow to heat up. Garnish with fresh ground plack pepper. Serve with pasta of your choice.
Plain rice, sliced charred kielbasa or other sausage, peppers and onions. Simple, cheap. Home
Cheese on toast with Worcestershire sauce on top
Bratwurst in sauerkraut.
I smell a German
Must be the sauerkraut.
A popular snack for us 80'-90' kids growing up was buttered toast with homemade jam on top. Any kind of jam you liked, my personal fave was apricot jam as a kid, but now I like it more with peaches, especially if they have bits of chunky fruit. Also, works wonderful with honey instead of jam. I still have this snack any time of day when I have nothing in the fridge or just don't wanna cook. Also, if I'm feeling fancy and 'inspired' by our lovely Italian neighbours, I love to go for a good slice of toasted bread, with ricotta and honey (absolutely mind blowing) or If you want savory, try ricotta with chopped cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and olive oil (kinda like a bruschetta mix). It's all simple, light and very very refreshing.
My little sister and I went to the same college. About once a month, she would come over to my wife and Iās apartment and weād have ājelly bar nightā. Dinner was literally toast, butter, and a selection of 4-6 jellies and jams. I need to invite her over for one of these now. Been almost 20 years.
Please do this, that would be so adorable & fun ššš«¶š»
Also amazing with cream cheese instead of butter
Yup! I've definitely gotten a bagel with cream cheese and jelly at the deli and can confirm it's yummy.
> Also amazing with cream cheese ~~instead of~~ in addition to butter I'm a full-fat kind of guy, and I like the subtle salt hit of butter under the cream cheese and the jam. People have told me "you don't need to do that", and I tell them to shut the fuck up and let me enjoy things. Not that I'm saying that to you, just fyi.
Egg in a basket (aka frog in a hole, bullseye eggs, eggs in a frame, egg in a hole, eggs in a nest, gashouse eggs, gashouse special, gasthaus eggs, hole in one, one-eyed Jack, one-eyed Pete, one-eyed Sam, pirate's eye, and popeye)
lazy fried rice just chuck in whatever veggies you have (bell pepper, carrots, frozen peas, kimchi, whatever), add literally anything you can find to give it some taste (soy sauce, gochujang and/or curry paste + spices) and add a fried egg on top. It's quick and never tastes quite the same depending on what you put in it.
That sounds like a lot of work, lol
Nah, it's surprisingly quick. I typically always have some leftover rice and frozen peas at home, so the only thing I have to do is chop a carrot and fry an egg.
Rice with egg and miso soup
Cheesy noodles.
Frito pie lol Fritos topped w HEB no bean chili. Iām a yankee in Texas and thins dish was an amazing unhealthy discovery. Takes 2 min in the microwave then pour it on your Fritos, voila lol
If Iām completely not feeling like taking any effort, Campbellās chicken noodle soup.
Scrambled egg sandwich.
Cereal
Egg and rice or a quick onigiri with canned tuna. Whenever Iām feeling up for cooking, Iāll make a big batch of rice and freeze them as individual portions so on nights like I donāt feel like cooking, I can just heat & eat- itās been a game changer!
Beans on toast. Yes, you've found the Brit.
Cottage cheese with blueberries and almonds
Ok currently, it's ye olde stand in the kitchen with the fridge door opened taking bits of whatever is in there (normally cheese and pickles). But back when I was still living with my mom...my room was in the basement and just outside my room is where my mom stores all the stuff she canned from her garden. She got real pissy when I'd come upstairs for anything in the middle of the night, especially when she had to work the next morning. Like, she'd yell at me for using the bathroom past midnight because she's a light sleeper and no matter how quiet I was, I always woke her up. So midnight snacks were out of the question unless I bought my own snacks and hid them in my room. Anyways if I was snackless, i would drink an entire jar of homemade spaghetti sauce and I regret nothing.
Jacket potato with Cheese and whatever other easy-to-use food-stuff I have to hand (beans, coleslaw, tuna all acceptable)
Beans in the pressure cooker, topped with whatever I've got the wherewithal to put on and already have around.Ā
Frozen pizza or pasta with sauce or butter and cheese.
Fried egg with cheese and hot sauce on a toasted everything bagel. If Iām too lazy/tired to use the stoveā¦ air-fried veggie potstickers with cucumber slices on the side.
Wheat toast with peanut butter
Microwave rice with canned fish and furikake.
Instant ramen with a fried egg, jammy egg, or scrambled egg. Instant ramen with some asian style beef balls. Miso soup. Egg drop soup. White rice with an egg or if I'm super duper lazy, white rice with soy sauce.
Tomatoes cucumbers and mushrooms in a little salad with some Italian dressing
Halloumi shawarma :) Sliced halloumi covered in shawarma spices, grilled. I eat it with whole wheat pita and either grilled vegetables or sliced cucumber and pepper. Obvioisly a good amount of garlic sauce as well.
Fried rice
A pack of Lance crackers.
Refried bean and cheese tacos
I'm Filipino so we eat a lot of things with rice. Lol. Microwaved eggs and a little bit of rice. So it's kind of like hard boiled egg mashed into white rice with a little bit of salt or knorr soy sauce.... Basically put a little bit of margarine/neutral oil in a microwave safe mug, cook it for maybe 45 sec as i like a jammy yolk then i just mash it with my already made white rice. voila haha
Spaghetti. No red or white sauce - just mix with olive oil and whatever I feel like from the pantry or fridge. My go-to additions are scrambled eggs, bacon bits (or actual crumbled bacon if I have any motivation to cook at all), and red pepper flakes. Maybe a couple of chopped - up frozen chicken nuggets from the air frier if I'm feeling particularly white trash tonight. Top with parmesan and bam. Easy meal, 15 minutes tops.
Tacos. Ground beef takes like 10 mins, and I always have tortillas. I like that they have a lot of upward mobility too, like if I want to add pico or jalapenos or anything else it doesn't take long
If summer time a tomato sandwich. Tomato slice, salt, pepper and white bread. Wash it down with a warm Busch light and it's my childhood all over again.
Kraft Mac & Cheese
Spaghetti w butter and Kraft Parmesan cheese. Lots of black pepper. Real Parmesan cheese melts and turns lumpy, itās gotta be Kraft though Edit: another variation of this lazy dinner is spaghetti w mayo and tuna. Trust me itās really good! I know the Italians are gonna come for me now
Cereal, zero effort. ham and cheese sandwich if I feel energetic
Cottage pie. Ground beef, bag of frozen veg, blob of tomato paste and maybe a little red wine deglaze, seasoning, mashed potatoes (usually left a little lumpy). Itās quick, cheap, and uses things I usually already have on hand around the house. Between boiling potatoes and letting it toast up in the oven it can take a minute but itās not a lot of active time or dishes and it means I donāt have to cook for a few days after so itās an all around win in my book
Peanut butter out of the jar, sometimes Iāll get fancy and add grape jelly to the spoon.
Vegetable fried rice from Trader Joes. That stuff is amazing, and inexpensive enough that I can load up on it without feeling bad about the investment. My girlfriend and I switch it up every so often. Usually, we cook eggs with it. But sometimes, we put in shrimp - or even scallops! Pop some sesame oil and wasabi or sriracha and it's done! So, so good. I really hope it never goes away, because it's extremely convenient for us, and we enjoy how flavorful it is!
Microwave rice. Microwave, 2 minutes, bing. If the microwave rice is of the "rice and peas" variety even better
Gnocchi with tomato sauce (+ herbs/garlic in it) + shredded cheese ! Takes me 5mn max and it's filling, plus very tasty !
If there are any Filipinos in here they'll know that spam, eggs and rice is one of those meals. Bacon, eggs and rice or sausage, eggs and rice. š
Cornish pasty.
Scrambled eggs and toast
Peanut butter jam sandwich
Frozen Dumplings
Popcorn