1. 30 minutes or less

1lb of ground beef cook and drain

2 pkgs of brown gravy add to hamburger and add water
this makes a awesome hamburger meal.
I also make mashed potatoes and pour hamburger and makes an awesome easy meal

2. Penne Al'Arrabbiata

It is a classic! It's healthy, vegetarian, easy to make, and the fiery tomato sauce will please all the spice lovers out there
Pasta Arrabbiata literally means "angry pasta" in Italian.
Although not in the classic recipe, I like to add onion

Ingredients: (serves 4)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus an extra dash for cooking the pasta
2 medium hot chillies, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3 garlic cloves, crushed & chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
A little salt & ground black pepper
A handful of basil leaves
600g/1lb-5oz canned chopped tomato
400g/14oz penne or rigatoni pasta
Parmesan shavings & sprig of basil to serve

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the chilli, onion and garlic to the pan. After about a minute, add the basil leaves and gently wilt them in the flavoured oil
2. Add the chopped tomatoes to the frying pan. Simmer for at least 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened a little. Add salt & ground black pepper to taste
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in large saucepan of boiling, salted water with a dash of olive oil.
4. Drain the pasta and add the tomato sauce to it.
Serve with shavings of parmesan and a sprig of basil

3. Pizza Pinwheels

Ingredients:
1 8-oz can of Pillsbury crescent roll dough
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
24 slices of pepperoni
1 14-oz can of pizza sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2. On large baking sheet, pinch crescent-dough-triangles into four rectangles.
3. Layer each rectangle with 6 pepperoni.
4. Layer each rectangle with equal amounts of cheese.
5. Tightly roll each rectangle lengthwise and slice into four pieces.
6. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Serve with hot pizza sauce for dipping.

4. Avocado tacos

Ingredients
3 ripe avocados
1 1/2 pounds of hamburger
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion
1 cup of tomato based salsa
1 cup of sour cream
1 cup of finely shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup of roughly shredded lettuse
1 package of taco seasoning

Directions
In a skillet brown the hamburger, and the onions, crushing the hamburger up into small pieces. Add the taco seasoning, to suit your taste while cooking.
When the hamburger is done drain and put it into to a bowl.
Cut the avocados in half, and remove the seeds. Carefully remove the avocados from their skins, OR you can leave the outer skins on, your choice.
Put each half on a serving plate with some of the shredded lettuce.
Put the cooked hamburger, onion, and taco seasoning mixture into each avocado half.
Add some salsa, a dollop of sour cream and the Mexican cheese blend on top.
Eat out of the skin using a spoon, or eat taco style if you removed the skins

5. Ruth Reichl's Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 3

1 pound spaghetti

1/4 to 1/2 pound thickly sliced good quality bacon (I prefer Nueske's)

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 large eggs

Black pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese, plus extra for the table

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. When it is boiling, throwthe spaghetti in. Most dried spaghetti takes 9 to 10 minutes to cook,and you can make the sauce in that time.

Cut the bacon crosswise into pieces about 1/2 inch wide. Put them in a skillet and cook for 2 minutes, until fat begins to render. Add the whole cloves of garlic and cook another 5 minutes, until the edges of the bacon just begin to get crisp. Do not overcook; if they get too crisp they won't meld with the pasta. Meanwhile, break the eggs into the bowl you will serve the pasta in, and beat them with a fork. Add some grindings of pepper.

Remove the garlic from the bacon pan. If it looks like too much to you, discard some, but you're going to toss the bacon with most of its fat into the pasta. When it is cooked, drain the pasta and immediately throw it into the beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly. The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs and turn them into a sauce. Add the bacon with its fat, toss again, add cheese and serve.

6 Loaded Mashed Potatoes w/ _

Prepared instant mashed potatoes
Shredded Cheddar
Dried Chives
Dried Parsley
Bacon Bits
A sandwich of your choice
A salad of your choice

Prepare instant mashed potatoes as per package directions.
Sprinkle on your choice of cheddar, chives, parsley and / or bacon bits
Serve with sandwich and/or salad

7. Simple fast dinner

Kraft Mac n Cheese (Made per package)
Tuna, one can
Half can of mushroom soup (more if preferred)
Small can of sweet peas

Put in a pot and heat to taste!

8. Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole

This is a quick dinner using pre-cooked chicken but oh is it good. The ingredient list can easily be adjusted to taste so don't take these measurements as verbatim. I usually just start grabbing from the refrigerator whatever sounds good to go in this. So if you've got leftover carrots or potatoes, throw them in.


Cooking spray
1 (10.75-oz.) can condensed cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup (4%) cottage cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sliced chives
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (if you want extra spicy add more)
4 cups cooked shredded chicken (the precooked chicken in grocery stores works well)
1 cup frozen peas
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (or any shredded cheese you have on hand)
31 Ritz crackers (from 1 sleeve), crushed (about 1 1/3 c.)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Chopped fresh parsley, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease an 11" x 8" baking dish with cooking spray (cooking spray works better than any other for this particular dish because it is very sticky to the bowl when it's cooked because of the cheese). In a large bowl, whisk soup, cottage cheese, sour cream, chives, garlic powder, and cayenne until smooth. Fold in chicken and peas; season with black pepper. Transfer to prepared baking dish and smooth in an even layer. Top with cheddar.

In a medium bowl, combine cracker crumbs and butter. Sprinkle over cheese.

Bake casserole until browned and bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let stand 5 minutes. Top with parsley (if using).