Work together on the weekends to make larger size casseroles (lasagne, chix enchilladas, etc.). Eat that night & freeze leftovers in two-person size packages so you don't have to cook much during the week.

Also, breakfast for dinner is quick & easy. Eggs, hash browns, ham, muffins/biscuits, fruit, etc.

I have all the empathy in the world for back problems!

/tricia

Great ideas, Tricia. I don't know why I didn't think to make some ahead and freeze. I will certainly do some of that. Thank you for the suggestion.

I would still like some recipes that fit the criteria though. It's usually dinner for 6, not just the two of us. Mom lives with us and DD and grandsons have dinner with us at least 4 times a week.

My MIL wasn't the best cook, but she made something she called company casserole that wasn't bad. Boil egg noodles, brown hamburger with onion and green pepper, mix noodles, hamburger mixture and spaghetti sauce (she always used jar sauce), then layer it with cream cheese, ricotta, and cottage cheese mixed together, then bake at 350 until heated thru. Everything's basically already cooked. And you can leave out the pepper and onion if the chopping is too much (maybe you can use the frozen stuff instead? This isn't exactly gourmet fare!!) and you can use all or only one of the cheeses as well. It's pretty filling, which is why I think she made it as she had 7 kids to feed, and you can make it ahead and it freezes fine.

Lisa

Try this. It only requires slicing an onion. Sliced onion, hunk-o-beef (chuck is good), S&P, mashed garlic, 1 cup of red wine, in crock pot for a few hours.

Great for french-dip style sandwiches, or as a pot roast.

Another idea is to prep things the night before (when you're there to help). All he would have to do the next day is dump into the crockpot and turn it on or put a casserole in the oven.
I do this for myself since I get home too late to start cooking something that take a couple of hours.

Also, since this sounds like a temporary situation, don't discredit the simple things in life....
Canned soups
Bagged salads
Sandwiches
Deli chicken
and take out if necessary!

Try to plan things that can be turned into 2 or 3 meals with a couple of changes.
Roast a chicken: have chicken, mashed potatoes and veggie the first night.
Make chicken salad out of the leftovers and have wraps for lunch or dinner in a day or two.

Do all the prep work for tacos on a weekend (or days off...) and throw the leftovers into a bowl with bagged salad, sour cream and salsa for a giant taco salad later.

Hope your DH feels better soon.
Deanna

Good old standby:

No Peek Casserole

From Anne @ The KT Recipe Exchange This is a recipe that my family literally will fight over. It makes a delicious gravy (what they fight over) and absolutely nothing to making it.I double the recipe and there is still none left at the end of the meal.

No Peek Casserole
2 lbs stew meat (I use 3 lbs)
1 can Campbell's Chicken Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Ginger Ale
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 4 oz jar mushrooms, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 300. Combine ALL ingredients (DO NOT brown meat and DO NOT dilute soup with water) together. Mix well. It will be lumpy before it's cooked. Pour into a casserole dish and cover. Bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours. DON'T PEEK!! Serve over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes. The smell as it's cooking is WONDERFUL

I add garlic, a chopped onion and use real mushrooms.

Baked chicken. Put the chicken parts in a pan, pour in a can o' beer. Sprinkle with garlic powder, s&p, or whatever spices you like. Bake for an hour. Make some rice to go with it. Total prep time = 5 minutes. You can make a salad to go with when you get home. Or skip the rice, just put some stuffing (stove top or the prepackaged in a bag) in the bottom, mixed with a can of cream o' soup and put the chicken on top of that.

Baked fish. Top with panko mixed with appropriate spices. Sit fish filets in a pan with white wine mixed with lemon or lime juice. Bake however long according to the thickness of the fish. Serve with rice & salad.

Mish mosh (aka May's Deluxe Dinner): Boil noodles. Throw in some browned ground beef and sautéed onions. Throw in whatever frozen veggies you have on hand - chopped broccoli, chopped spinach, corn, peas, or whatever. Throw in some tomato sauce and spices or premade spag sauce. Maybe some shredded cheese. Mix it all up & bake.

Another idea: burgers. Sit down while they cook, just get up to flip 'em. Everyone fixes their own bun.

Wishing your husband a speedy recovery!

I have a meatloaf cooking in my crock-pot as I type; the easier/quickest crock-pot dish I had ever made; it came from the users manual of my Rival crock-pot.

Magic Meat Loaf

2 lb ground beef
2 eggs
2/3 C quick cooking oats
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1/2 C ketchup

Reserve 2 TBSP ketchup. Combine ground beef, eggs, oats, soup mix and remaining ketchup. Shape into a loaf. Put in crock-pot. Top with remaining ketchup. Cover; cook on low 8 to 10 hrs (High: 4 - 6 hrs). Maybe doubled for 5 quart pot. 8 servings.

Cal: 337
Pro: 23G
Fat 21 G
Carb 11 G
Chol: 128 mg
sodium: 636 mg

We have tried this recipe; both the big and little boys liked it. I didn't. Too much sodium and too little fibers. So I tweaked it a bit; the two boys now love it!

Instead of using dry onion soup mix I season the meat loaf with salt, sugar, and pepper. Depends on my mood, I often add various types of herbs and spices i.e. fresh chopped ginger root, minced garlic, fresh parsley, fresh green onion, sage, basil, cumin, and any other Italian seasonings into it.

To increase fibers and to make it a more nutritious meal, I chop up a couple stalks of celery, grate carrots, chop onion, sometimes even a bit of nuts/seeds to mix into the meatloaf.

I use 1/2 C of quick oats, 2 eggs, and ketchup. You can use other gravy and sauce but my two boys love ketchup; that's a must-have with the meatloaf. I put less ketchup in the meat and more on top of the loaf so if I don't feel like eating the ketchup, I just scape it off with my knife.

Another quick meal I often make is fish cakes. It's also a good way to use up the leftover mashed potatoes. Season mashed potatoes with salt and pepper and any other spices you like. Mix in some quick oats, beat in an egg, and add a can of salmon/tuna until well blended. Grill or bake or pan fry. They always turn out good. Go very well with any salads.

Al

All good ideas! Angelaid, I saw your post on the KT forum after I posed my question. That sounds like a winner, both in taste and time. Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll be sure to try a few of these.