No More Excuses About Cooking Dinner!

Stress! I hear about it all the time.  It seems to be the number one complaint.  It seems to be the NUMBER ONE reason for lack of dinners in the home! Stress of making dinner.  I have some other theories as to why that happens too AND I do think women pressure themselves to constantly make different over the top meals!  Save the fancy stuff for when you really have time

Here is a simple meal I did EVERY.SINGLE.WEEK and still do!!  I didn’t care if they got BORED, such is life, eat it and be glad food is on the table!   It beat fast food.  It was and is  healthier than the other alternatives and we ate as a family!!  It is what I love to say, “easy peasy”.  Stress Free!! And, sometimes I used paper plates ( not a lot) but in a time crunch or when you have hit that wall and need a break from major cleanup.

The main course, Hamburger.  I like Ground Chuck.  It is worth the extra dollars it is low in fat and grease!! Healthier with whole wheat buns!!

I  made the burgers a tad large, so  for my family of four  I got 1lb and a half of ground chuck.  To round out the dinner I made a salad using Romain hearts.  Sometimes I added fresh spinach and carrots.  Add, any vegetables your family likes.  I never added cheese or croutons to our salad. Why you ask? Those things add unnecessary calories! I taught my children early on they were not needed.  If they wanted a bun and cheese on their hamburger then forgo the unneeded cheese and croutons in your salad!  Then, we had a fresh fruit,usually strawberries.   VERY RARELY did we have french fries with this meal. Why you ask?  Teaching my family that the bread and large burgers were and are enough! It turned out they never missed the french fries and if they were in ‘the mood’ then I made the burgers smaller and we used a smaller bun.

If you have a grill you can see this meal is rather easy.  No cooking really! You women know what I mean, no messy pan in the stove or grill but if need to do this inside then you can cook the burgers in a pan on the stove,or broil or even bake the burgers.  Your choice.  We can grill year round, so we grill!!

Ingredients for a family of four and for larger burgers!!!

1lb and a half of Ground Chuck

2 eggs

1/4cup of Whole D Milk (any milk will work)

1 cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs

1 teaspoon of Garlic Salt

1 teaspoon of Salt (if you use sea salt or kosher use less)

2 teaspoons of dried Parsley leaves

Whole Wheat Buns

Side Dishes!

1 package Romaine Hearts

Fresh Spinach

1 package of small carrots

1 container of Organic Strawberries (if you don’t eat right away be careful buying organic, they will go bad fast)

Steps!

1.  Place raw meat in bowl.

2.  Pour bread crumbs over raw meat

3.  Add two eggs

4.  Add milk

5.  Add the rest of the dry spice ingredients.

6.  Mix well.  If it still feels a tad dry, add a touch of milk.

7.  Make four patties.

Nice thing about the hamburger patties, you can do them the night before, in the morning or right before grilling. Whatever fits your busy,crazy schedule!!!

Now,while the patties are cooking to your desired doneness  ‘make’ the salads.  I cheat, that is why I used ‘make’ in quotes! I use the Romaine hearts in a bag, so I separate the bag into four bowls, rip up some of the fresh spinach over each bowl throw some small carrots in too and give each bowl a nice mix, then top off with a little dressing.  Personally, I only like a touch of vinegar and salt. ( my reason for not mixing in a big bowl, I don’t have to wash another bowl lol)

Next I cut up the Strawberries and stick them in a bowl.  My family likes their strawberries cut, don’t ask me?

This meal takes about an 30 minutes of your time including cooking time! This is so much healthier than some other alternative AND you will find that most people find the hamburgers tasty and 30 minutes isn’t bad!!!

Oh, I forgot, if you like cheese, which we do, make it a cheeseburger by topping it with a slice of cheese right at the end of cooking the burger

From the photo you can see it was a paper plate night LOL and in the far corner you can see the salad in a regular bowl.  That night it was just the two of us (me and my husband or is it my husband and I?) and sometimes, well, to be honest, a lot of times we watch a television show while eating dinner

So, what is your easy peasy home cooked meal?

Having fun with Katherine’s Corners favorite Things!

 

 

 

Tagged as: Cooking, eating dinner at home, healthy cooking, home cooked meal, no more excuses about cooking dinner, Stress free cooking