Dinner Solutions For The Lazy Mom

Do you ever get to dinner time and think “I just can’t today!” ? I mean, I am assuming you do, because if you don’t, then I think I want to be you. But, if you are like me, there are days where you just cannot. I have the best ever recipes for dinners like these, just make sure you follow them to the letter, wouldn’t want to mess up perfection. 

Everything In The Fridge Casserole

This recipe is mouthwatering! You will want to make it again and again. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Pick out some pasta, rice, quinoa, lentils, or whatever weird solid grain thing you have taking up space in your pantry. Boil water and get that stuff cooking. 

Now, start some butter melting in a pan over medium heat. Next, throw in diced onions and fresh garlic (go ahead be lazy here and use that vat of fresh garlic you bought at Costco and is just taking up half your fridge) Simmer for about 2 minutes until the onion is translucent. Doesn’t it smell amazing?!

Next, you will add a bit of flour, which will make everything lumpy and weird looking. Then, you will slowly pour in some sort of liquid (chicken stock, veggie stock, milk, cream, soy milk, orange juice…okay not that…but you get the idea) while you whisk. You will want about 2 cups of something here. Bring to a boil while continuing to whisk and then turn your heat to low. Whisk and simmer until it has begun to thicken. 

Congrats you’ve got the base of your sauce!!! 

Here is where it gets fun, you are going on a scavenger hunt in your fridge. 

Got some leftover veggies? Some sort of meat or tofu sitting in there from dinner 2 nights ago? Half a block of cheese? Leftover sauces from when you made too much for the spaghetti? 2 Tablespoons left in a few salad dressings that you can’t seem to bring yourself to throw away? GREAT! Take it all out. 

Now lets spruce up that sauce. Season with pinch of salt from that salt bowl you keep next to the stove and always forget to use. Throw in a little basil, oregano, or sage, or whatever you have a full jar of in the spice cabinet because your Grandma went crazy at Penzey’s Spices last Christmas. Next pour in all those almost empty salad dressing, and sauces that you grabbed earlier. Now we are cooking! The last optional step is to use a immersion blender to make the sauce creamy smooth, but that’s totally up to you. Dip a finger or a spoon and take a quick taste, bet it’s yummier that you thought it could possibly be! (It’s really hard to screw something up that starts with butter, onion, and garlic) 

It’s time to build that casserole. Grab your favorite dish from the pantry, and pour in your pasta, or other grain you boiled before. Now, open those Tupperware, or old yogurt tubs of leftover veggies, meat, tofu, or whatever else you found and dump it out all over the top of the noodles. Finally, pour that sauce over the top and use a spatula to mix it all together. Top with any cheese you may have left in the bottom of the drawer and bake for 30 minutes. VOILA! You did it! Serve with some wilted lettuce, or a loaf of sliced bread. 

The Best Leftover Soup Ever

As you know all the best things start with butter, onion, and garlic, which we went over earlier, so we are gonna whip up that roux again, but this time in a soup pot with a bit more butter and flour than you used before. And now when we pour our liquid we want about 6 cups, feel free to mix and match here, half milk/half stock, or even some water. Bring to a boil.

Dice and throw in 3-4 potatoes

Another fridge trip here! Gather those leftovers like you did before, but this time it all goes straight in the pot except for the meat, (chicken works well) that gets added last. 

Pour in all the veggies, leftover rice, sauces, or dressings. Even the end of a jar of olives, artichokes, or other weird things can get tossed in there. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. 

Now, we blend this all up, use an immersion blender if you have one, or scoop and pour into a countertop blender. Puree until smooth and creamy. Add in your meat, and season with salt and pepper. Serve with parmesan cheese, those tiny little plastic containers of croutons, (the ones that come with your salad when you pretend you are going to eat it with your take out pizza, but instead it just gets old and moldy in the back of the fridge) or panko bread crumbs. 

Your family will say…”What kind of soup is this, it’s SO good” Your answer should always be “Potato” Because it’s not a lie, it definitely has potatoes in it. 

You’re Welcome.