Quick and acceptable meal train dinners

yiddishmom

Thu, May 19 2022, 8:44 am

pause wrote:

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups flour
4 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup oil
4 eggs

Mix dry ingredients right in the 9x13 pan. Add oil and eggs and mix until you get a thick consistency that pulls away from the sides of the pan. Bake at 350 for about half hour.

Topping: I take baking chocolate and rub it across the top of the cake while it's warm, until the chocolate melts all over the top. Sprinkle on top with whatever I have at home: chocolate sprinkles, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, or nothing.

If I want to be fancy, I do two toppings, half on one side and half on the other and then I slice the cake into bars, arrange on a platter with alternating toppings. Looks really nice.

Thanks for posting! And the topping idea is brilliant!

Is it supposed to be 1 cup sugar and 1.5 cups flour?

↑ pause

Thu, May 19 2022, 8:48 am

yiddishmom wrote:

Thanks for posting! And the topping idea is brilliant!

Is it supposed to be 1 cup sugar and 1.5 cups flour?

Thanks for pointing out the mistake. I'm going to edit the post. It's 1.5 cups sugar (which I usually cut down since the topping adds additional sweetness).

amother

Pink

Thu, May 19 2022, 8:51 am

I just made a meal for a dad and 2 teenage boys.
Nothing fancy
Dressed coleslaw
Meatballs
Mash potatoes
Stringbeans with sautéed onions
Cake balls- homemade I had in the freezer

I don’t make fancy just good home made food

But I hear what ppl send and it’s intimidating

Why so fancy for a weekday meal

amother

Oxfordblue ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 8:51 am

For a side dish, I do cut canned potatoes (whole ones, just cut them in half or quarters), toss with oil, paprika, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder. Roast at 425 for a half hour + on a cookie sheet. Yummy and a little different, kids (and adults!) love.

For a veggie I send a 9x13 pan of cut up cucumbers, peppers and baby carrots (sometimes more, like snow peas or baby corn, depending if I'm in the mood) and a deli container with pareve Lipton's ranch dip.

I will send these with a simple side of salmon, schnitzel, or chicken on the bone.

I work pretty full-time, and these are all easy for me to prepare in advance the night before and only take 30-45 min of actual cook or re-heat time the day of.

amother

↑ Oxfordblue

Thu, May 19 2022, 8:55 am

If I have time I will send a blended soup with a deli container of croutons, too-

Sautee onions, add sliced zucchini (unpeeled) and canned sliced potatoes. Cover with water, bring to a boil. Add basil, black pepper, salt, garlic powder to taste. Let simmer until vegetables are cooked through. Blend.

Sautee onions, add frozen butternut squash. Cover with water, bring to a boil. Add a pinch of nutmeg, some salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste. Let simmer until squash is cooked through. Blend.

keym ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 8:59 am

Chicken and rice
Roasted string beans
Either cut up fruit, fresh cut up veggies, soup (if I have in the freezer)
Sometimes cake or cookies (if I have in the freezer).

I don't usually send to random strangers.
Usually it's friends, coworkers and family who I know appreciate my simple and very filling meal.

Im generous with the chicken and I've gotten reports back that usually even pickier eaters tend to appreciate it.

amother

Aubergine ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:07 am

The only simple meal on this thread (at least in my opinion) is roasted spiced chicken and potatoes (not peeled, just cut into chunks and spiced).

In what world is shnitzel or meatballs easy or quick?

amother

Purple ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:07 am

I do a Salad. Soup. Breaded cutlets, but I bake not fry. Baked potatoes. Dessert. I usually crush Oreo cookies onto a pie crust and pour whip on top and freeze. Takes 3 min
What I don’t get is why people send chicken bottoms instead of chicken cutlets. It’s so much better and presents much nicer

↑ keym

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:10 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

I do a Salad and pita chips. Soup. Breaded cutlets, but I bake not fry. Baked potatoes. Dessert. I usually crush Oreo cookies onto a pie crust and pour whip on top and freeze. Takes 3 min
What I don’t get is why people send chicken bottoms instead of chicken cutlets. It’s so much better and presents much nicer

Uh?
Cost.
And because in my world chicken on the bone is a perfectly acceptable supper for my own family or for others.

amother

↑ Purple ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:11 am

amother [ Aubergine ] wrote:

If I spend 5-10 min in the morning breading the chicken and just pop it into the oven in the afternoon, that’s easy for me. But you can do a cutlet with a sauce and that’s even simpler.
And I’m just curious, do you never spend more than 5 minutes on your own family’s dinner? You never serve shnitzel? So In a meal train I send my nicer suppers and keep the chicken and potatoes for my own family

amother

Aquamarine ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:15 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

I think ppl assume schnitzel is fried.

You can egg and bread chicken super fast. And bake.

But as a previous poster. Cost is a big deal right now. Chicken cutlets for a family of 6 is over $20 right now. Thin cutlets is even more.
Thinning and cleaning takes time.

Chicken on bone and ground beef are cheaper right now.

watergirl

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:17 am

keym wrote:

Uh?
Cost.
And because in my world chicken on the bone is a perfectly acceptable supper for my own family or for others.

Seriously! Boneless skinless chicken breast is at least 3x the price of chicken on the bone. And BH, in my world it is also considered a beautiful weeknight main (and also pretty standard for shabbos also). These days, chicken in general is very costly in and of itself. Not to mention, you have to really know how to cook to make chicken breast (bone in or boneless) come out not dry (other than shnitzel, which, if fried, not everyone wants anyway).

amother

↑ Purple

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:18 am

amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:

I think ppl assume schnitzel is fried.

You can egg and bread chicken super fast. And bake.

But as a previous poster. Cost is a big deal right now. Chicken cutlets for a family of 6 is over $20 right now.

Chicken on bone and ground beef are cheaper right now.

I wouldn’t fry because I rarely fry for my own family. Spray with cooking spray and bake on 400 till crispy. I’m not quite sure but I think that in Israel, where I live, chicken on the bone is the same price as cutlets. Don’t shoot me if I’m wrong!

amother

↑ Aubergine

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:19 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

I think it would take longer than that to prep shnitzel for 2 families.

To satisfy your curiosity, I do spend more than 5 minutes on my family's dinner. Maybe even more than 10.

tichellady

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:28 am

Every meal I have received was super appreciated and great. Quickest meal for me to make is salmon, rice and roasted veggies. I try to include fruit and/or soup if I have the time but it’s definitely not required. I think people have the sechel to know what counts as a meal and what doesn’t. I don’t think we need a thread on this. And chicken with potatoes definitely counts as an acceptable meal

amother

Lightcoral

Thu, May 19 2022, 9:28 am

When I hear (and say) the word schnitzel it means fried. ‘Oven baked’ is not schnitzel to me. That’s why people like me are wondering how schnitzel is quick or easy

amother

↑ Magenta

Thu, May 19 2022, 10:04 am

amother [ Lightcoral ] wrote:

When I hear (and say) the word schnitzel it means fried. ‘Oven baked’ is not schnitzel to me. That’s why people like me are wondering how schnitzel is quick or easy

That's funny because I don't think I've ever fried schnitzel since I got married!

I wrote above what I received recently, I don't send that often but what I usually do is just make double or triple of what I'm making for my own family and either freeze it and pull out of the freezer when someone I know has a baby, or plan to make an easily multiplied supper on that day or day before.

I often make a chicken vegetable stew which uses chicken cutlets but stretches them very economically, and tastes good still because it has a great sauce. I use easy vegetables for it like frozen peas, corn and broccoli. Goes well with rice or if I'm in a real time crunch, instant couscous. I'll send with soup that I pretty much always have available in the freezer and a baked good from Dinner Done that takes 5 minutes to make.

amother

Amaranthus ↓

Thu, May 19 2022, 10:18 am

doodlesmom wrote:

Just put into my oven the baked chicken and minutes steak and realized it’s also easy and gives 2 diff options for families,
Layer onions, minute steak and chicken bottoms and spice, cover well, bake for a long time on 300*.
Use sides etc. suggested above.
Or
Potato salad whatever…

How long for minute steaks? What spices?