Whole Foods Version of 15 minute meals!





15 Minute Meals: Whole Foods Version

 

 

1. Canadian Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sandwich: Throw a skillet over medium heat. Spray skillet with cooking spray (or oil). Heat each side of bacon on medium for two minutes, and lay on paper towel to drain (this is instructions for Canadian bacon sold in the US only- Canadian bacon sold in the US is only sold pre cooked, In Canada, it’s sold uncooked and would require longer cooking times). Break an egg into the pan from the bacon (yay! Less dishes!) and fry as desired. I’m lazy so I normally just scrambleJ While egg is cooking, throw two slices of toast in the toaster. When they pop up, layer with bacon, add eggs, and top with any cheese you have available. Cheddar? Mozzarella? Monterey? Swiss? All delicious. I’m convinced any cheese makes this better.

 

2. Shrimp Tossed Pasta: This one came from my mom and sister. I couldn’t try it out because the idea of eating seafood makes me gag… But I grew up watching them devour this stuff so it must be good. Boil water in a pot.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a separate pan and heat shrimp over medium heat until pink and curled. Add 2 cans of minced clams with the juice and heat. While shrimp is cooking, add pasta to boiling water and cook as directed (8-11 minutes). Drain Pasta, toss with shrimp/clams/ oil mixture. Enjoy! (Or gag if you’re me).

 

3. Turkey Rueben Sandwiches: This is a great way to use up leftover turkey! You may also be able to buy “off the bone turkey” from your local deli (Wegmans has it- but really, Wegmans has everything), which is just carved turkey slices.  Add turkey to Rye Bread, pile on sauerkraut, drizzle on Russian dressing and top with swiss cheese. Broil under low heat for about 1 minute if you’d like it to be melted and warm.

 

Variation- Every winter Wegmans sells a cranberry orange spread that I mix with mayonnaise that tastes amazing! You can just add it to any turkey sandwich- It’s pretty delicious.

 

4. Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken: If you spend one of your days off grilling up a pack of chicken breasts – you can freeze the chicken breast (I wrap in waxed paper, and then seal in a freezer bag, removing all air.) When you need one- microwave for about 2 minutes or heat in a skillet.  For Caesar Salad, I chop up romaine lettuce, heat the chicken and slice up, lay the chicken on top, add random extras that I have around – black olives, feta or parmesan cheese, diced cucumbers etc. Then drizzle with Greek dressing.

 

5. Chicken Salad on Pitas: If you spend one of your days off grilling up a pack of chicken breasts – you can freeze the chicken breast (I wrap in waxed paper, and then seal in a freezer bag, removing all air.) When you need one- microwave for about 2 minutes or heat in a skillet.  For Chicken Salad, heat chicken, then dice up and mix with mayonnaise (add mayonnaise until it reaches the desired consistency, then add a little mustard (any type you have is fine), salt, and pepper. You can also use up any extra leftovers you have around- Dice up and add carrots, celery, onion, green pepper, or even apples (though I wouldn’t add apples to the onion!)

 

6. Home Made Sloppy Joe’s: I’m actually not a fan of canned Sloppy Joe’s, so it was clearly divine intervention when I was trying to use up some extra ground beef and found this recipe. Since I had all of the ingredients, I cooked it up and OH MY GOSH!!! Amazing!! Since it’s not my recipe, I’ll include the link here, but it took less than 15minutes to make.

 

7. Quesadillas: Heat ground beef with taco seasoning over medium heat until brown. In a pan over medium heat, grease a pan, lay down flour tortilla, add ground beef, top with cheese, and add another tortilla. Heat for about three minutes and then flip. Heat for another three minutes. Since all of your ingredients are already cooked, you’re just melting them and crisping the tortilla. 

 

8. Easiest Chili Ever: Heat ground beef in a covered pot over medium heat- stir often to break up and brown all sides. Add a can of tomato soup (or tomato paste and diced tomatoes- you really can’t mess this up), and a can of kidney (red) beans. That is a very basic mild chili recipe. You can eat it just like that, or add anything you want. Have extra onions from yesterday’s recipe? Dice them up and throw them in! You can add corn, olives, green pepper, spices, chilis, carrots etc. Again, you can’t screw this up… Experiment a little. I simmer the chili for 15 minutes, and then serve it with a hunk of cheddar cheese and bread.

 

10. Broiled Steak: This seems to be my favorite lately. Heat your oven to a low broil and move your oven rack to the highest or next to highest level. Take any steak (This works best for well done lovers if it’s thin cut – if it’s a thick cut, don’t stress you can just reduce the oven heat to 350 and shut the door after broiling, cook it another 5-10 minutes and your in well done territory) and lay on your broiling pan. Add spices or a salt and pepper rub if you would like, then broil with the door propped open an inch or two for 2 minutes per side. Take it out and slice through it- too pink? Broil in the same way for another two minutes per side. Enjoy!

11. Greek Pasta Salad: Boil shell pasta as directed. While pasta is cooking, slice up fresh basil, carrots, green pepper, and red onion. Dice up pepperoni. Drain pasta and mix with veggies and pepperoni. Add feta cheese (I buy Mediterranean feta cheese with sundried tomatoes and spices. Toss with Greek dressing and serve.