Easy and Inexpensive Casseroles For Picnics, Potlucks, Reunions, and Your Own Dinner Table

One of the most inexpensive ways to feed a family is to serve a casserole as the main dish. Casseroles are also easy to prepare as they don't take long to put together and you are free to continue with the other parts of the meal while they bake. But one of the best things is how tasty and nourishing they are. So whether you are looking for some quick, simple, and inexpensive meals for your family table or whether you need a dish for a potluck, family reunion, etc. go back to basics with these delicious casserole recipes.

The Green Bean and Burger Bake is sure to please the kids with it's sloppy Joe flavoring. You have meat, vegetables, and dairy in the form of cheese, all in this one dish. Add a salad, a favorite bread and just that easily you have a complete meal. For another, but different, easy casserole that should please the kids as well as your spouse. try the Simple Hamburger Hot Dish. Again, the meat ingredient is ground beef. With noodles, cheese, cream of mushroom soup, onion, etc., you can quickly have a tasty meal on the table that is both nutritious and pleasing. Add a green vegetable or carrots for color and extra vitamins, and you have another simple but delicious meal.

GREEN BEAN AND BURGER BAKE

1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 oz pkg sloppy Joe seasoning mix
1 cup water
6 oz can tomato paste
2 cans (16-oz each) French-style green beans, drained
1 jar (2 1/2-oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef in a large skillet; drain off all fat. Stir in the seasoning mix and water and cook until thickened. Add tomato paste. Cover the skillet, lower the heat to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and mushrooms. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 2-quart casserole dish and top with the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until bubbly and heated through.

Yield: 6 servings

SIMPLE HAMBURGER HOT DISH

This recipe is from a very old community cookbook.

1 pkg (8-oz) egg noodles
2 lbs ground beef
2 cans cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 med onion
8 slices cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Cook noodles in salted boiling water, drain and rinse. Brown ground beef and onion together, season with salt and pepper. Mix noodles, meat, and soup together and put in a 9x13 lightly greased baking pan or dish. Lay the cheese over the top. Cover the pan with foil and bake 30 minutes at 300 degrees or until the cheese melts and the casserole is bubbly.

Serves 8 to 10.

Enjoy!

Easy Fast Dinner Recipes - Inexpensive and Quick Recipes

Have you just arrived home from a long work day and want to prepare something simple? You look in the refrigerator and the only thing that looks easy is the not-so-tasty frozen dinners, so instead you hop in the car and it's off to the fast food restaurant.

Here are some quick and easy to prepare delicious recipes:

1. A Quick Dessert

Ingredients:

- 4 Pieces toast
- 4 sl Cheese Nutmeg
- 1 1/2 c Applesauce
- 1/4 c Sugar

Direction:

- Add sugar and nutmeg to applesauce.
- Put applesauce on toast, about 3 tablespoons on each piece of toast.
- Lay a slice of cheese over the sauce.
- Bake in a moderate oven until the cheese melts. Serve hot.

2. A Quick Way To Decorate Cake

Ingredients:

- 1 pk Marshmallows
- Vanilla to taste
- Green food coloring
- 1 pk Red hots
- Box of cornflakes (4 1/2 c)
- White angel food cake

Directions:

- Melt marshmallows, add food coloring and vanilla.
- Add the cornflakes, stir until well coated.
- Spread this onto a cookie sheet, shaping into holly leaves.
- Place a red hot in middle.
- Let dry about 5 hours.
- Then top a white frosted angel cake with the holly leaves.
- Makes a very pretty cake.

3. A Real Easy Cookie

Ingredients:

- Graham crackers
- Pecan halves
- 1/2 c Sugar
- 2 Sticks cutter

Directions:

- Melt butter and sugar.
- Bring to a boil.
- Boil for two minutes ONLY.
- Place graham crackers on foil lined sheet.
- Place nuts on cracker center.
- Spoon butter and sugar mix over graham crackers.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes on top rack.
- Cool completely before breaking apart.

4. Baked Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

- 1 cn (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
- 1/2 cn Milk
- 1 ts Prepared Mustard
- 1/8 ts Pepper
- 2 c Hot cooked Elbow or medium shell Macaroni (1 1/2 c dry)
- 2 ts Margarine or Butter, melted
- 1 tb Dry Bread Crumbs

Directions:

- In 1-quart casserole, combine soup, milk, mustard and pepper.
- Stir in macaroni.
- In a cup, combine margarine and bread crumbs.
- Sprinkle over casserole.
- Bake at 400 degrees F.
- 20 minutes or until hot and bubbling.
- Makes 2 1/2 Cups = 2 main dish servings or 4 side dish servings.

5. Beef and Rice Crisp

Ingredients:

- 1 lb Lean ground beef
- 1 c Coarsely-chopped onion
- 1/2 c Coarsely-chopped green pepper
- 2 tb Ketchup
- 1/4 ts Salt
- 1/2 ts Dry mustard
- 1 1/2 c Cooked rice
- 1 c Milk
- 1 (10 oz) can cream of Mushroom soup
- 1 1/2 c Shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 ts Worcestershire sauce
- 2 c Corn flakes, coarsely crushed
- 3 tb Butter, melted

Directions:

- Saute beef, onion and green pepper in a large frypan until meat is browned; drain off any fat.
- Blend in ketchup, salt and dry mustard.
- Turn meat mixture into a 2 quart round casserole; spread rice on top.
- Gradually stir milk into mushroom soup.
- Stir in cheese and Worcestershire sauce.
- Pour over meat and rice layers.
- Combine crushed corn flakes and butter; sprinkle evenly over casserole.
- Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven 35 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Makes 6 servings.

A Healthy Quick Dinner Recipe For Busy Families - Orange Chicken

It seems that our days are getting busier, and it's often hard to get a healthy and quick dinner recipe on the table at a reasonable time. Family dinners are an important part of the day and worth planning ahead to make sure there is a healthy quick dinner recipe available. Finding healthy recipes that are quick and easy can be a challenge, but with a little planning ahead cooking dinner can be a snap.

Plan a weeks worth of menus in advance and shop using a list. This will save you money on impulse items, and you will have a quick menu planned for every night of the week. When planning, be sure to take into account any regular weekly activities such as little league or dance lessons. Sometimes a crock pot meal or a cook ahead entrée is best for these nights.

Here is a healthy quick dinner recipe that is simple to prepare, then cooks quickly in only 15 minutes in the oven while you prepare a box of rice pilaf and green vegetable. This healthy quick dinner recipe will help solve tonight's dinner crisis and provide you with a winning entrée fit for a company meal. As a bonus, it can be halved or expanded to fit the number of servings needed and uses only one bowl and one baking dish, so cleanup is easy.

If you're a dark meat fan, you could also use chicken thighs and legs for this recipe, but you would need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Healthy Quick and Easy Orange Chicken Dinner 4 chicken breast halves, skinned and boned

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

pinch black pepper

1 cup orange juice

grated rind of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Arrange the chicken breasts in a 13x9x2" baking dish
Drizzle the chicken with the melted butter and sprinkle with paprika.
Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken.
Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, until fork tender, basting occasionally with the pan juices.
Serving Suggestion: Serve with a wild rice pilaf and green beans or a salad.

15 Minute Dinner - A Healthy Quick Recipe For Stir Fry Chicken With Zucchini

This dinner- a healthy quick recipe for Stir Fry Chicken with Zucchini and Noodles is a busy mom's dream come true. It is an extra quick and easy chicken recipe that is inexpensive to boot. The noodles cook in 1 minute once the water boils and the chicken only needs a few minutes of stir frying. The dish is low in fat and healthy, and sure to be a hit for dinner on those busy nights. Why not bring out the chopsticks and practice up on your skills.

To thinly slice the chicken, place the breasts in the freezer for a few minutes to partially freeze the meat. The breasts will then be firm but not hard and easy to slice thin. Be careful not to freeze solid however, frozen chicken is nearly impossible to slice. Instead of the ramen noodles, you could also serve this recipe over stir fried rice or alone with additional vegetables.

Stir Fry Chicken with Zucchini and Noodles

1whole or 2 halves chicken breast, diced or sliced thin

1 Tablespoon oil

1 clove garlic crushed, or 1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1/2 cup bamboo shoots, sliced into matchsticks

14 cup canned mushroom slices

1 1/2 cups diced zucchini

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup water or chicken broth

3-4 packages chicken flavored ramen noodles depending on your guests

Put on the water for the noodles. Ramen noodles cook fast, follow the package directions, but you will drain them for serving. There is no need to cook them separately, just do them all in the same pot. When the cooking time is up, take them off the heat; keep them warm until the chicken is done, then drain.
Stir fry the chicken over high heat with the garlic in a small amount of oil. When it turns white, add the soy sauce and continue stirring for a 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the zucchini, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms. Continue cooking for a few more minutes
Mix the cornstarch with the water or broth. Stir into the mixture and cook, stirring until thickened.
Serve the Chicken with Zucchini over a bed of drained ramen noodles. Serves 4.