If I find myself at a restaurant, like actually in the restaurant, chances are it is a special occasion. A date night, lunch with a friend, etc.
If I find myself picking up restaurant takeout or in a drive throughs line, chances are something went wrong that day. I am exhausted and out of energy to make dinner.
And in those cases, I often feel guilty about the unnecessary money I spent on food! I know I could have had dinner at home, but I just DID NOT feel like cooking!
Enter in, emergency dinners.
This is guideline number 5 from The Simple Dinner Solution (the guidelines that help me cook 7 nights a week!) – always have a backup plan!
I talk about this guideline in that post and the accompanying YouTube video. But now I am going to give you several of my favorite emergency dinner ideas. Check them out below or watch the video.
Why these are my favorite options?
They are 1, self-stable or frozen items allowing me to always keep these options on hand without them spoiling and 2. they aren’t complete, all-in-one meals. Think frozen pizza, lasagna, etc. Those can be great options but the following options are cheaper for what you get compared to a full dinner like a lasagna. PLUS, has anyone else noticed how skimpy those meals can be?! In a family sized, frozen chicken broccoli rice casserole you will be lucky to get half a pound of chicken and even an equal amount of broccoli florets to hard broccoli stalk pieces.
But I digress. On to my favorite emergency meals!
Baked tortellini is one of my go-tos because I consider it a complete meal – counting the pasta sauce as a vegetable- and because it’s a very cozy and comforting meal. Often a need on a night you are reaching for an emergency meal!
Turning grilled cheese into oven ”grilled” cheese makes this a very hands-off option!
I like this one well enough that it is sometimes on my meal plan and not just used as a backup dinner idea! You can change up the filling to whatever suites your family’s taste. You could do cheese quesadillas and keep jarred salsa on and for dipping- and that also counts as a vegetable in my book- or bell peppers and onions from package of pre-chopped frozen bell pepper mix. I would suggest cooking those, however. They”d be soggy otherwise! So that option is a bit more work.
So what do you think?
This was a short and sweet post but it is a simple concept! If you want to have dinner at home more frequently, this is my number one tip!
Will you give this concept of keeping backup dinners on hand to avoid the drive thru a try?
Found these ideas helpful? Pin them for later!
