Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Queen of the One Dish Dinner

I have a confession to make. Though I love to be in the kitchen, and actually really like to cook and bake, somehow, dinner frequently takes me off guard. Someone will inevitably ask, "Mom, what's for dinner?" and the response that quickly comes to mind is, "Didn't we just do that last night?"....I mean, somehow, I just don't get a "dinner" plan going very early in the day....or afternoon, for that matter.

As a result, we eat one dish dinners. We really only have one dish on the table (well, duplicate dishes...one at each end of the table) unless it's a holiday. That dish generally contains most of the basic food groups. And, just as a note, we tend to be a pretty healthy family......but we do eat "one dish dinners".

Tonight it was cottage pie. (We make cottage pie in 9x13 pans...two of them) This is one of our favorite meals. Tomorrow it will be pizza. That is a meal we have at least once a week. Tomorrow we may have it w/ salad since it is Joshua's birthday, but no guarantees.
What are some of your family's favorite One Dish Dinners?

11 comments:

  1. I love the sound of that (for the washing up too *Sigh*)

    And I always thought it was just me who had that reaction mid-afternoon... time after time after time :( I *keep* telling myself to get myself sorted out, and sometimes I do a menu plan... Works great, for a while, and then I forget to look at it the night before, or in the morning.

    Oh dear, I reckon I may just about have this whole business sorted just in time for our last child to leave home!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think one-dish dinners are a genius idea! And I believe they make clean-up easy, too. ;) Perhaps you could share your cottage pie recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Ruthie H. I would love the recipe for cottage pie - sounds delicious. I wish I made more one-dish dinner's to be honest, because it means less clean up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ""Didn't we just do that last night?""
    Exactly!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have a confession, too, Keri. I love to plan my menus for the week, and I LOVE that table of yours!! We're outgrowing ours. I think one dish meals are a great idea, especially with a larger family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. hmm... I just cook for two...so it's usually whatever is in the fridge! My family wasn't much for one dishers.... hubby use to be a meat and potatoe guy...now he's pretty good with whatever!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We really LOVE Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti!(although I just realized it really has no veggies to speak of.OOPS. You should try it anyway!)

    http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/


    We also love Lasagna, and Homemade Chicken Pot Pie...(Tastes absolutely NOTHING like that frozen junk).

    If your family likes Tex-Mex with a kick... we love Beef King Ranch Casserole. YUM.

    http://www.txbeef.org/recipe_book/casseroles_and_skillet_suppers/beef_king_ranch_casserole

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks, Nell, for the recipes! We will definately try them. We love Mexican food! ....and chicken pot pie...we haven't had that in a LONG time...great idea! I haven't had chicken spaghetti...sounds like a winner, though!
    As for our Cottage Pie recipe....
    http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/proper-english-cottage-pie/detail.aspx
    for starters, but we always put green beans in ours as well. (It does rather lend itself to the using up of leftovers!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. We like one pot or dish (pizza) meals too. As long as it has those veggies in it we know we're covered! : )

    I did get that link fixed, thank you for letting me know.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Quiche(though I usually serve a side salad with it), Enchiladas, and Chicken Divan.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My family likes one pot dishes too. ;)
    I adore your long table!!!

    ReplyDelete