Emergency Meals

It happens…even with the best meal planning efforts occasionally something comes up: a late meeting; traffic jam; whatever the reason…you don’t have an hour to prepare dinner.   You receive weekly meal plans from DinnerSelect with easy, balanced recipes that can be prepared in an hour or less.  Nevertheless be prepared for those inevitable crazy nights by periodically stocking up on ingredients in the five basic “emergency meals” listed below. This way you will always have an extra-fast, inexpensive, family-friendly dinner available at home to help you avoid the nearest fast-food drive-through.  By our definition, emergency meals must meet these criteria:  Hands-on preparation time is 5 minutes or less; Total preparation time start-to-finish is 30 minutes or less; Meal is suitable for paper plates; Ingredients may be purchased well in advance and stored.

Emergency Meal Ideas

1. Frozen pizza

Preheat oven and prepare according to package directions.

2. Macaroni and cheese

Prepare according to package directions.

3. Baked chicken with lemon-pepper seasoning and rice pilaf mix

Preheat oven to 375F. Defrost chicken. Sprinkle lemon-pepper seasoning on chicken. Bake chicken until done, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile prepare rice mix according to package directions.

4. Spaghetti with prepared tomato sauce

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile simmer sauce in sauce pan over medium heat until spaghetti is ready, stirring occasionally. Serve sauce over pasta.

5. Mixed frozen vegetables with flavored rice mix

Prepare rice mix according to package directions. Meanwhile cook vegetables in microwave until tender.