I am going to be completely honest here; I have never really been good at cooking or enjoyed it. I much prefer the eating portion of the process. However, after starting a family I have begun to really care about feeding my family actual meals. Below is a list of our tried and true recipes that my family loves that are fairly quick and not overly complicated:

1. Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf

This is a new recipe I started making for my family and it is a huge hit! I am never able to get my toddler to eat beef of any sort but she gobbles this right up!

2. Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken

I love this recipe for buffalo chicken; however I am not a fan of blue cheese so I usually don’t include that. I have also added half a block of cream cheese before as well to help bring down the spiciness which makes it more edible for my husband.

3. Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Taquitos

Cream cheese chicken taquitos is such a simple and flavorful recipe for when we’re craving a little Mexican food but don’t want to eat out with a toddler.

4. One Pan Dinner: Chicken, Potatoes, and Green Beans

One pan seriously says it all about this recipe! The less clean up the better!

5. Baked Ravioli

My daughter loves ravioli but I much prefer this over the canned product, plus having it baked just makes it taste more like comfort food to me.

6. Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles

This is a very simple recipe that I love to make on the weekends, but if I were to make it during the week instead of adding the noodles into the crock pot to cook for an additional 2 hours, I would just cook them on the stove top and add together when everything is finished.

7. Crock Pot Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Garlic parmesan chicken has such a flavorful and creamy taste to crock pot chicken. If I’m going to let the chicken slowly cook all day I like to use chicken broth in the crock pot to help keep the chicken from getting dry. This is a great one to make when you have guests over because it doesn’t taste like you just threw it together last minute.

8. Ham and Cheese Pockets

This recipe reminds me of pizza and hot pockets, which my family loves. The pastry breading with warm, melted cheese and ham is so good and doesn’t take much more effort than making a sandwich.

9. Tuna Casserole

This is a recipe from my family that is easy, filling, and always has plenty of leftovers:

Ingredients:

2 cups of elbow macaroni
1 can of peas
1 can of mushroom soup
1 can or package of tuna (the amount for this is really preference)
1-2cups of shredded cheddar cheese
12oz milk (I just fill the mushroom soup can for measurement)

Directions:

Boil pasta as directed on box. While boiling pasta, mix mushroom soup and milk in a bowl until combined. Then, add your drained can of peas, tuna, and a cup of shredded cheese. Once the elbow macaroni is cooked and drained, combine with other ingredients. Spread into a casserole dish (I use a 9×13). Sprinkle the top with remaining cheddar cheese to your liking. Then place in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the center of casserole is warm.

Tip: You can also add other vegetables such as cut up carrots or green beans, my mother-in-law would also always make this with egg noodles instead, as another option.

10. Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

Pork butt or shoulder roast (Usually about 3 lbs)
1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 can of pineapple rings
1 tsp of liquid smoke
Approximately ½ to 1 cup of brown sugar

Directions:

Mix BBQ sauce, liquid smoke, and the juice from the can of pineapple rings in a mixing bowl. Rub brown sugar over the pork roast and place in the crock pot. Pour liquid mixture over the top of pork roast. Let cook in the crock pot for approximately 6 hours on low or until the pork is tender enough to shred; once shredded, let cook for another hour. Then remove shredded pork to eat on sandwiches or whatever you choose. We serve it on hamburger buns with BBQ sauce and a pineapple ring.

I am always on the lookout for easy and tasty meals to feed my family. Scavenging Pinterest can be so frustrating after a few meals don’t turn out as expected. So, please share some of your favorite recipes with us! Whether it goes in the crock pot, is a one pan meal, or a new twist on a traditional meal, I’d love to hear about it!

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