What's for Dinner Tonight?

I'm in college, so of course I don't usually have the time (or energy, or money) to cook a full-course meal for my boyfriend and myself.

I'm looking for some quick, simple, and (relatively) inexpensive dinner ideas that DON'T involve takeout. I've already mastered spaghetti and tacos (meaning my boyfriend is absolutely sick of them) and we're both tired of hamburgers, and hamburger/tuna helper.

Also, if possible, I'd also like recipes that can stand alone when it comes to dinner (ie pasta).

Note: he refuses to eat olives, spinach, any kind of Chinese food (there's something wrong with him), and mushrooms.

Seriously, you need a George Foreman grill.

We just bought a new house and found that the stove has a gas leak. We have been relying on our George Foreman grill. They are easy and fast and the latest model can cook almost anything in minutes.

How about "sandwich" style meals such as Tuna melts, Sub sandwiches, french bread pizza, grilled cheese, hot ham and cheese, etc. Those are fast and easy.

Also a crock pot works wonders. Throw your ingredients in when you wake up in the morning and dinner is done whenever you are ready in the evening.

reply to post by snowflake_obsidian


I do have a crock pot, and a big book of recipes to go along with it. XD My difficulty with that comes from me being half-dead in the mornings and barely able to function enough to get to school, much less to cook. I've thought about throwing stuff in the night before, though, so I may try that in the near future.

A George Foreman grill, huh? I'd never thought about one of those. My boyfriend's dad is wanting to give us a FryDaddy (I can hear my arteries shrieking with fear already), do you know if they're similar?

The night before is even better regarding a crock pot, then the meat you put in comes out even more tender and marinated.

A frydaddy is a deep fat fryer. it contains a big vat of hot oil that you dunk stuff in to cook it. Yes deep fried food is delicious but extremily unhealthy. I'm trying to resist buying one myself...lol.

The George Foreman grill is designed to actually extract as much fat as possible away from the meat. It's like an electrical broiler pan almost. The latest version comes with a baking/frying pan attatchement, a waffle making attachment and an omelet making attachment. I especially like using it during the summer (if I can't grill outside) because then I don't have to heat the house up with the stove or oven.

quick pasta dish:

cooked pasta of any sort
basil pesto
fresh basil (optional)
cherry or plum tomatoes
parmesan cheese


cook your pasta, toss with basil pesto over low heat, add sliced tomatoes, add basil. serve with parmesan cheese.
it's also good with little chunks of raw spanish onion.

yum