Is the holiday season wearing you down? This is the time of year when our lives are crazy busy. There are events and gatherings with friends and family and school and church events to attend. Not to mention shopping for gifts, planning meals, preparing for guests, cleaning the house, and the list goes on. Are you finding yourself too tired to cook? Has takeout and drive-thru become your new best friends?
Perhaps this habit of eating out is busting your already strained budget. No worries! I’m here to help. There are lots of easy meals you can make to fit your hurried schedule this holiday season that won’t destroy your budget while providing a heartier meal:
1. Tacos
Tacos are a delicious, quick meal to get on the table, and they are versatile. You can make ground beef tacos, chicken tacos, and fish tacos. You can use hard shells or flour tortillas or even crunch tortilla shells or ranch Doritos to make a taco salad. Instead of buying taco seasoning, I opt to make my own. Everyone can make their own and add the toppings of their choice, including avocado, taco sauce, cheese, sour cream, etc.
2. Grilled Cheese and Soup
Grilled cheese and soup are perfect for chilly nights. We like to make ours with Texas Toast and varied cheeses like provolone, swiss, and cheddar. Sometimes we make homemade chili to go with it, and other times we buy canned soup. It all depends on what our menu is for the week. If I’ve made chili earlier in the week, we usually have our soup with grilled cheese or make chili mac.
3. Tater Tot Casserole
Casseroles are also quick and easy to throw together. Around here, tater tot casserole is a favorite. Creamy beef and vegetable mixture topped with cheese, tater tots, and more cheese. Yes, please! I also like that tater tot casserole can have different variations. I’ve seen breakfast tater tot casserole, sloppy joe tater tot casserole, and cowboy casserole, which has tater tots in it.
4. Pasta and Sauce
This is one of the easiest meals ever and another favorite at our house. Confession: I’m a pasta-holic. There are all kinds of pasta you can choose from and tons of different sauces, too. Pastas like rotini, rigatoni, ziti, angel hair, spaghetti, farfale (bowtie pasta), etc. Sauces like traditional tomato, Alfredo, pesto sauce, vodka sauce, and three cheese sauces. Try out some different noodles and sauces and have fun. You may discover a new family favorite. Don’t forget to add a salad, steamed veggies, and some garlic bread.
5. Sandwiches
Sandwiches are another great option because they can be as simple or as fancy as you want. You can make something simple like cold cuts and cheese or chicken salad or level things up by making Italian sub sandwiches or ooey-gooey tuna melts.
Other options include making homemade subs, sloppy joes, or grilled cheese. You can also make warm sandwich fixings in your crockpot like hot turkey sandwiches or creamy crack chicken or even chicken Philly steaks. The possibilities are endless, and so are your bread options. Instead of plain old sliced bread, you can opt for sourdough bread, hamburger or hot dog buns, sub rolls, ciabatta rolls, focaccia bread, Italian bread, or even French bread. Don’t forget to add your favorite cheese, veggies, and condiments. You can serve your sandwiches with chips, salad, and fruit for a balanced meal.
6. Semi-Homemade Pizza
Homemade pizza is always a favorite, but you don’t always have time to make the dough. This is where a store-bought crust comes in handy. Buy as many crusts as you need, a jar or two of pizza sauce, and Italian cheese. We like to add a little Italian seasoning to our pizza around here.
Still, if you’re craving that homemade dough but are short on time, you can find quick pizza dough recipes online. I found a recipe for 15-minute beer pizza dough about a year ago, and it’s delicious. The dough comes together in 15 minutes so it’s super easy to make. Another alternative to traditional crust is French bread.
You can customize pizza as much as you want. You can make one with traditional sauce, garlic sauce, alfredo sauce, or pesto sauce. Toppings can range from traditional pepperoni and sausage to chicken or, my husband’s favorite, ham and pineapple. You can also add as much or as little cheese as you want.
7. Chili
Who doesn’t love a bowl of hot, steaming chili? You can throw this easy dinner together in an hour. Cook your ground beef or sausage and drain it. Then add your beans, tomato sauce, onions, peppers, and spices and let it simmer for half an hour to forty-five minutes. Everyone has their own way of making chili, and it can be as mild or as hot as you like. Some people make it really thick and others make it so it’s between a soup and chili consistency you can pour over french fries. I’ve seen recipes for white chili, BBQ chili, jalapeno chili, etc. You can find all kinds of taste profiles out there.
We usually have rolls or breadsticks with ours. Sometimes we get cheese-filled breadsticks and they are very good. If we have leftovers, my husband will make chili cheese fries or we will make chili mac later on in the week. I also love that you can cook this meal once and eat it twice.
8. Fish Filets and French Fries
You can have this meal on the table in no time flat. Throw your breaded fillets or fish sticks and fries in the oven to cook and wait for the timer to go off. Add a side of salad or steamed veggies and some tartar sauce and you’re good to go.
9. Breaded Chicken Sandwiches and Fries
Breaded chicken sandwiches are another option for a quick meal with fries, a salad, or a hot vegetable. One thing I love about breaded chicken sandwiches is how you can diversify them.
You can make a simple sandwich of chicken patty, cheese, and mayo, or you can take it up a notch with some pizza or spaghetti sauce and provolone for a chicken parmesan sandwich. If you love ranch, add ranch dressing instead of mayo to your sandwich. Chicken Cordon bleu sandwiches are another option. Add a slice of ham and swiss cheese to your chicken patty before baking it so it gets all melty and delicious, then add it to your bun with some mayo. The possibilities are endless, so you are bound to make something you and your family will fall in love with.
10. Salad and Cheesy Garlic Bread
This is another favorite at our house. I love garlic cheese bread. Buy a loaf of garlic cheese bread, a bag of salad, and whatever toppings you want for it, like vegetables, cheese, croutons, etc.
When you get home, turn on the oven, pop your bread in, and pour your salad into a big bowl. While the bread is baking, clean and chop your vegetables and put all your toppings in smaller bowls to make a salad bar. Add bottles of dressing. When the bread is done, cut it into slices and enjoy with the salad. You can also find online recipes to make your own cheesy garlic bread if you have dietary restrictions.
As you can see, dinner doesn’t have to be a chore during this holiday season. With a little planning ahead, dinner will be on the table in no time!
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SeventyFour
Carrie Lowrance is a freelance writer and author. She has had her work featured on Crosswalk, iBelieve, Huffington Post, and the Penny Hoarder. She is also the author of three children’s books, three clean romance books, one romance novella, three books of poetry, and one non-fiction book. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and hanging out with her husband, and sweet cat, Cupcake. You can find out more about Carrie and her writing at www.carrielowrance.com.
