“The Ultimate Shortcut”: 30 Lazy But Delicious Meals For When You’re Too Tired To Cook

Frozen vegetables is the ultimate shortcut in cooking.

I have been dealing with depression for a long long time in my life. Sometimes I wouldn't think about feeding myself for weeks. But, this one thing has changed things momentarily.

Don't get me wrong. All those microwavable meals and instant ramens are always in my pantry. But there is one thing that really helped me to break my depressive routine. I could so easily cook meals and prepare a main dish without thinking more. I don't have to make sure that the vegetables haven't gone bad by sitting in the fridge for too long. I don't have to think about if I can use the whole head of cauliflower before it goes bad. I don't have to think about chopping the vegetables. And I don't have to think about dealing with the rotting remains of the vegetables.

I just want to highlight something that has really worked out wonders for me. Hope some of you can benefit from it.

Love to all.

Snack dinner. Salami, cheese, crackers, olives, nuts, glass of wine. I’m happy.

Bagged Caesar salad and grocery store rotisserie chicken.

Egg roll in a bowl - ground meat of your choice, and a bag of two of coleslaw or broccoli slaw mix, sautéed with some soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and a splash of sriracha. Good stuff, and takes like no time.

Pesto pasta.

Pesto, penne, cheese. Boil pasta, drain and add cheese and pesto. Love it.

Meals that I freeze when I'm not too tired to cook for exactly that purpose.

Pasta with jar sauce.

Beans and rice. The added bonus is it means I know I won't have to worry about tomorrow's lunch either which is comforting on those kind of nights.

Instant ramen with an egg thrown in and chopped romaine lettuce.

Frozen pizza, just slap that bad boy in the oven, hop in the shower and it's done soon after you are.

Pita pizza— pita bread, tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella. Bake til crispy like a thin crust pizza!

Breakfast for dinner, and there's a good variety for that.

Soup and PB&J sandwiches.

I also keep several (homemade in advance) containers of pasta sauce in the freezer. All I need to do is heat up the sauce and make whatever pasta and dinner is done.

My husband's favorite 'meal' as a kid was mac and cheese and baked beans. So, sometimes we do that. (yeah, I know, but he loves it and I don't mind)

And when all else fails, Chinese or Mexican food.

Two fried eggs on toast. If I can muster up the energy to dig thru the freezer, I toss some tater tots in the pan too.

Costco has like a 5 lbs. bag of gyoza that take like 10 minutes to make and very little effort. Eat with a side salad, EZ meal.

edit: here’s my not so secret anymore dipping sauce recipe, a couple bits of bacon microwaved for 10 seconds, combined with dark soy sauce, normal soy sauce, hot sauce, and a couple drops of rice wine vinegar. It’s very meaty and savory.

Some sort of pasta aglio olio. So much better than the sum of its parts and the most tedious part is waiting for the water to boil.

Cereal. No cooking involved and it's ready within 2 minutes depending on how fast you get the bowl, spoon, milk and cereal of choice all together.

Honeycombs! Dinners done!

D**n guys, I just throw frozen chicken nuggets and fries in the oven for 20 minutes. That or a frozen pizza.

Tacos.

We don't have central a/c, so in the summer time, it's anything that won't heat up the kitchen. Breakfast, pork bowls, sandwiches, oatmeal and fruit, etc.

A nap usually.