I was thinking about sheet pan dinners since they’re quick/easy and can be very tasty. I just made this one and liked the flavors. I used boneless breasts (halved) instead of thighs.

https://www.thekitchn.com/sheet-pan-greek-chicken-recipe-23707450

I don’t have this book but have heard it’s good.

Also, if they’d appeal, I was thinking of Ina G’s Meatloaf and Linguine With Shrimp. Both are very easy, quick and good. For the two of us I often halve both recipes. However, leftovers can be nice, too.👍🏻

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/meat-loaf-recipe-1921718

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/linguine-with-shrimp-scampi

Fajitas and tacos, or the currently popular burrito bowl is easy and fast. Beef stroganoff is pretty fast and easy, as is goulash. Stir fries, enchiladas and "just plain" steak are also quick and easy. Roast chicken takes a bit longer but is easy enough and mostly hands off after it goes into the oven, some baked potatoes can go in along with the chicken. Meatloaf or baked fish, good sausages on buns or with sauteed cabbage/coleslaw, frittata of all kinds. There is also one of my favorites, breakfast for supper which can be pancakes/waffles, eggs, meat, potatoes, whatever she has.

Annie

These days, people learn to cook by watching YouTube videos, but I learned to cook using Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals Cookbook. LINK Experienced cooks will pooh-pooh her recipes, but I learned some basic skills from these recipes like proportions for making a roux or a vinaigrette, safe temperatures for cooked proteins, etc.

Reminds me of my son going off to college, I gave him this book:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/dining/review-twelve-recipes-by-cal-peternell.html

https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Recipes-Cal-Peternell/dp/0062270303

I remember him mastering carbonara and mayonnaise, and maybe some of the rest - the text descriptions are encouraging

Just thinking, at 20 I was pretty clueless about advance prepping. Do you know of she’s aware much can be done in advance steps to make it easier…and often taste better?

The cooking once a week used to be active, but, not lately. I have been using a foodsaver for years, not only for making and freezing sauces from the garden, but also for vacuum sealing meals and soups If they want to do 1 or 2 recipes per week and freeze them, they will build up quite a good bunch of meals!

I would not poo-poo using food from Trader Joe's. I'm at the point in my life that I am sick of cooking, especially for myself and pretty much only make the effort for something from scratch for guests.

Recently, I started buying some things from TJ's that entice me to eat more healthfully and I just have to concentrate on sides. I'm especially fond of their sous vide chicken thighs and their sous vide turkey breast, both in the refrigerated section. Take out of the plastic bag and heat in the microwave for 2-4 min,. Both are delicious and not too high in sodium. I also tried something similar in beef but I don't recall exactly what it was. I make a pilaf (ancient grain blend cooked in water with some better than boullion added) and a salad. The meat could also be mixed with some sour cream/yogurt flavored with some BTB and served over noodles.

Some other quick meals I make for my grandson are their spinach tortellini (fresh, also in the refer section) served with pesto. Or their squash ravioli with a brown butter, sage sauce. Their chicken soup dumplings are delicious and I serve them over sautéed cabbage.

A nice and quick meal that is a favorite of my grandson's is marinated flank steak. I make a teriyaki marinade from scratch, but have used TJs teriyaki sauce in a pinch and it's fine. I marinated it overnight and cook under the broiler (faster than having to stand outside babysitting the grill). I cut up new potatoes and sprinkle with olive or avocado oil and lots of garlic, salt and pepper and bake them in a hot oven to crisp them up, If I don't want to make a salad, I just steam some asparagus and cut some carrots,

Instapot means a hearty beef stew is just 15 min work away! For super simple, buy 1 lb pre-cut ”stewing beef”, brown in the InstaPot in batches (4-5 pieces at a time, ) while chopping 3 lg carrots (1” pieces), 4 red potatoes (1“ pieces), 1/2 yellow onion (dice but no need to be fussy), 4 cloves garlic (peel, smash, chop a bit), dump all veg plus meat into Instapot, add small can (4 oz? whatever the cute little can is) tomato paste, 1 cup any red wine except port, enough boxed beef broth to just cover the veg and meat, heavy pinch (1/2 tsp) salt, heavy pinch pepper, some of whatever herbs she has, pressure cook 1 hour. When done, adjust S&P and eat with a store-boughtten baguette, will be a fairly liquid-y stew.

lat62, another thumbs up for the Cal Peternell cookbook; I gave copies to both my kids when they left home for college.

Olychick, I wasn’t pooh-poohing TJ's! That's been her go-to for the past year. Grab Some TJ’s ready to use and assemble a meal. She wants to make food closer to from scratch now. Probably also reign in the budget. Her mom is trying to teach her the actual cooking bit, but the mom is an instinctive cook, and the girl is not. She'll do much better with approachable recipes than a pile of ingredients staring at her with no instructions. The sheet pan greek chicken that Chloebud shared at the top looks like just the thing, and all of your suggestions are a help. Thanks!

Chicken soup is easy too with the InstaPot. 4-6 thighs, 4 stalks celery, 4 large carrots, 2 yellow onions, 5 clove garlic, heavy pinches salt and pepper, herbs if handy, water - I’d fill the InstaPot to its max fill line, rather than bothering to measure - then pressure cook 1/2 hour. Open InstaPot, remove chicken, chop up the meat, put meat and any bones back in IP, leaving skin out. Simmer uncovered 1 hr, tasting and adjusting S&P but doing something else while the soup finishes. Fish out bones before serving. A little drizzle of olive oil on the soup is nice. If noodles or rice are desired, make those on the side and add to soup bowl when serving (if left in the soup, they will swell up, absorb too much liquid, get pasty).

Roast chicken dinner. One whole broiler chicken, not frozen, rinse, remove the package of gizzard etc, pat dry with paper towels. Mix some salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, about equal parts. Lightly sprinkle this all over the chicken, pressing it onto the skin just enough that it doesn’t fall off. Sprinkle some inside the chicken. Cut a lemon in half, stick both halves in the bird.

Oven 350F. Chicken on roasting pan or sheet pan, anything with a lip and no holes, even a saucepan if the handle is oven-safe (all metal). Breast up. If feeling fancee, press a piece of aluminum foil over the breast, then remove it hafl-way through the roast (this helps reduce over-cooking of the breast). Roast about 45 min then start checking - just pull it out and slice into breast, leg, see that it’s not still red but also not dry. If forgetful, set a timer.

Can put large-cut pieces of carrot and potato in the pan around the chicken to roast and soak up the yummy liquid.

This should take maybe 15 min of actual work, then occasionally checking on the roasting bird.

I remember how fun it was to learn to cook in my 20s, I mean to cook something other than Top Ramen, Tuna Helper, and similar staples of school cuisine. Lots of under and overcooked things but it was mostly all edible and eating something you cooked yourself was an accomplished feeling, all the better when it came out well.

Not a lot of ingredients and quick cooking. Look here for some inpiration https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/books/5-ingredients-quick-easy-food/

My sister found this recipe in a Better Homes & Garden cookbook… she was probably 20 at the time.

Pork Chops Supreme

When we make it we serve it with rice or stovetop stuffing and green beans.

For a quick and easy meal, I like lemon-pepper chicken made with chicken tenderloins. Pound the chicken flat, or not. Coat with LP seasoning then saute in a skillet with some OO. Serve with broccoli and a baked (nuked) potato. Or use fish rather than chicken, or switch to a different seasoning, like cajun.

This lemon shrimp linguine is easy, quick, and very good.

Lemon Shrimp Linguine

party, the linguine/shrimp recipe from Ina is the one I posted, but your link is nice since it shows the ingredient amounts I use for the two of us (with some leftovers). It’s definitely quick, easy and good!

Chloebud, sorry I didn’t notice your link. I just did a search and linked to the recipe I found that matched the one I had from Gina on this forum. She gave no attribution. I’ll always remember it as Gina’s. lol!

Well, no matter from whom, I think it's something the girl could make, especially if she gets cleaned shrimp, and feel a bit fancy. ;)

plllog, I may have missed it, but what does the girl like to eat? Fav cuisines? Anything she avoids? Trying to be low-anything (carb cal fat etc)? Vege or vegan? How about her BF? I can post easy recipes for weeks, but left to my own devices will be veering into easy recipes for steamed whole fish or poached mackerel or saltwater eel or pork face . . . And if you tell me $ is a real constraint, I'll delve back into the super-low-cost protein recipes with pork spleen and fish heads . . . unless I am STOPPED.

LOL! She's not a “starving student” (i.e., not living on ramen) but budget conscious, and her (serious but not live in) BF is well paid, though I think the desire to cook more and better is to hold up her end since he pays for meals out. I'd say they both are in the kind of basic California realm, for meal choices. No special diets or philosophical food oddities. Both like good food. I'm not sure about the whole fish, nor if purchasing one is something either knows how to do. I'll ask her if she wants to go there, because it does sound easy. None of the other particulars you mentioned are going to be their entry level dishes. Enchiladas are fiddly (though can be shortcutted), but more their kind of budget food. A good steak or shrimp more their high end. Fifty ways to make chicken is likely their everyday thing to learn.

One pound ground round, browned and drained

1 24oz jar Ragu Spaghetti sauce,

1 16oz package Barillia thin spaghetti

One 8oz package sliced mushrooms if wanted.

Parmeseam cheese if wanted

Cook spaghetti, drain.

Add Ragu sauce to meat. I like to mix sauce with spaghett. Serve with grated parmesan, rolls and salad if wanted.

I you want the mushrooms, cook with the meat and sauce.

“Chloebud, sorry I didn’t notice your link.”

No worries! I was glad you posted it due to the ingredient amounts. The link I posted (from barefootcontessa.com) is the full recipe, along with the one in her book. The recipe you posted from Food Network has the reduced version and a much better fit for plllog’s friend.👍🏻

plllog, TJ’s sells peeled, deveined shrimp $10 for 1-pound bag. I‘ve use it for the recipe party_music posted calling for a pound of shrimp and 3/4 pound linguine. The shrimp are smaller (I think 21-30 count) but work fine.

Oooo, how about a Simplified Chicken Marbella? It is a kind of a showy dish I think.

12 chicken thighs or 6 full legs or some combination (no breast), bone-in better/boneless ok, skinless or remove skin. Make marinade from 1/2 c olive oil, 1/4 red wine vinegar (in a pinch, white wine vinegar or even rice vinegar ok, balsamic not ok), 1 c red wine (any, other than port), 1 c pitted olives (any kind really) w/ can juice, 1/3 of a small jar of capers (w/ 1/3 of the jar juice), 1.5 c pitted prunes (can sub fresh figs), 10-15 cloves garlic (don't bother to mince, just peel then smash well), 2-3 tbsp brown sugar (liberating packets of "raw sugar" from Starbucks always worked for me; if white sugar, half that), heavy pinch salt and black pepper, 2 tbsp of Generic Herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, sage, H de Provence, whatever), a few bay leaves if handy. Put chicken in marinade overnight (I like using large ziplock bags), then in a deeper roasting pan or oven-safe saucepan, chicken pieces need not be "covered" but liquid but should be at least half submerged, add wine if needed. Into 350F oven for 1 hr, turning chicken pieces a couple times during the cook so they are well coated. There is only about 15 min of actual work here. Serve over rice, couscous, etc. Sprinkle minced scallion or other green bits on top for pretty.

This Korean Beef Bowl recipe came from someone here too. It’s very quick and easy…. though I use sliced beef and add vegetables. :)

Korean beef bowl

• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Cooked rice, for serving
• In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and ginger.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in soy sauce mixture and green onions until well combined, allowing to simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.
• Serve immediately with rice.

The easiest and most reliable way I know to cook chicken is to roast or grill a Spatchcock Chicken. Fresh whole broiler chicken, of moderate size, locate the backbone and cut it out (kitchen shears, sturdy scissors, etc).

If being fancee, brine the bird. Put bird in a large ziplock bag (a freezer or gallon bag should work), add water until bag is about 1/2 full, add 1/4 c salt, close bag securely trying to get most of the air out, swish it around so salt distributes, put bag (zip end up) in a large bowl or pot and put in fridge overnight. The bowl/pot is to avoid a big mess should the zip unzip. If unfancee, skip this step.

Lay the bird opened up and flat on cutting board, skin-side up. Pat dry with paper towel. Mix up a dry rub with Generic Herbs (3 tbsp), garlic powder (1 tbsp), onion powder (1 ibsp), salt (1/2 tbsp if Kosher, less if table salt), pepper (1/2 tbsp) in a bowl. Optional a bit of chili powder or red pepper flakes if she likes heat.

Spread half the dry rub over the skin-side of the chicken, patting it in the skin. For extra credit, get some of it under the skin. Turn bird over to lay skin-side down. Spread remaining mix over the inside (the "meat side" of the bird.

Oven pre-heat to 350F. Bird on roasting pan or sheet pan, skin side down. Roast 20 min. Flip to skin-side up. Roast another 20 min or less - until skin is golden and poking chicken with a knife suggests it is cooked enough.

If grilling, use low heat, bird skin-side down, until done, then flip to skin-side up for the last 10 min. Close grill, or cover chicken with aluminum foil to trap heat. Grilling is better than oven-roasting as the skin acts as a sort of "bowl" holding all the chicken juices in the meat (and it is not improper to throw a few pats of butter in there), while the skin is getting crisped (low heat so not burned hopefully) by the grill heat. The last 10 min is to give the "meat side" a little color.

"Rest" the chicken for 10 min after cooking, then cut it up and serve..

It can make sense to cook a couple of chickens this way at a time, then have it to use in other dishes. Do on brined, the other not, just for comparison fun.

This might be 20 min of work depending on how efficiently the backbone is being cut out (nail scissors take longer). But making a whole bunch extra of the rub speeds up next time.

When I was having chemo, I didn't get the nausea that many have, but my energy levels were very low so cooking needed to be quick and easy. I subscribe to Taste and got a lot of really delicious recipes in my email feed that were quick and easy so I can highly recommend them:

Taste- Quick and Easy recipes

Well, what to cook depends on the eater. What do they like? I recommend allrecipes.com. Lots of variety and easy to follow recipes. Food.com is okay as well. It used to be RecipeZaar and was better back then, IMO. But its still a good resource for free recipes.

Also, this may not go over well here, but TikTok has been a reliable source of great recipes for me as well. As a bonus, since TikTok has very short videos. You get the recipe and the method, no fiddle faddle. No novel about the history of the recipe, no pop up ads getting in the way, no watching someone chop everything. Just BOOM, here's how to make this. I have gotten some recipes off of TikTok that have become regulars in my kitchen.

How about a generalized process for a pasta cream sauce? Could be with clams as in Clam Linguini but could also be with other proteins.

2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp olive oil, 5 minced garlic gloves, 1 minced shallot, 2 stalk chopped celery, small pinch red pepper flakes, pinch salt and black pepper, all in a sauce pan on medium-low heat until garlic is fragrant. Heat to medium, add 1/2 c white white wine (any, but not sweet/dessert), let the wine simmer for 5 minutes, then in with two 10 oz cans (or equivalent of the smaller cans) of clams (chopped or baby, little pieces anyway), with half the liquid from the cans, and also in with 2/3 c heavy cream. Optionally, add several whole clams for the looks. Stir and simmer a couple minutes. Add more cream, more clam juice, more wine, to get taste and consistency to desired. More butter is never a bad thing. Adjust salt and pepper. Add sauce to 1 lb linguini cooked al dente, stir to coat pasta, cook low heat 5 minutes. If sauced pasta gets too gummy, loosen with more cream and clam juice. Serve, top with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (freshly grated, not the stale hard pre-grated stuff), garnish with chopped parsley or scallion, and a whole clam on each plate.

I think clam linguini was the first legitimate dish I ever cooked. Found an old copy of "The Frugal Gourmet" in a vacation cabin, flipped to the page for claim linguini.

This is about a 30 minute recipe.

Bonus points - sprinkle in some bacon, microwave bacon is easy, fried lardons is cheaper/better and she can do it while making the sauce.

Just thinking of this simple one. I made the meatballs ahead, but she could use store bought. Leftovers are nice for sandwiches.

https://www.thekitchn.com/meatball-casserole-recipe-23192954

One the quickest meals I make would be a sheet pan roast with precooked chicken sausages. 400F - 425F oven, toss peeled & cubed potatoes, along with onions, peppers with a generous amount of olive oil and any seasoning blend you like, adding salt if necessary, then spread out in the pan and roast for about 20-25 minutes, then add sausages on top and roast for about 10-12 minutes more, or until potatoes are nice and soft when pierced with a knife. I like to sprinkle lemon or lime juice over the veggies when they come out of the oven.

These are my fave sausages:

Of course other meats can be subbed, along with various other veggies. There are many recipes for a variety of sheet pan suppers to be found online.

For someone who likes home cooking but doesn't want to have to prepare something daily, I like making something that can be eaten over several days.

FWIW, I have a vintage copy of Martha Stewart's Quick Cook cookbook and it has a lot of useful recipes too.

Oh, Phew! When I went to copy the recipes Chloebud's so helpful first post was gone! And now it's back. Yeah!

Carol, I've done a similar one with onions (IIRC) and a bunch of spinach, for a quickie for 4-5 of us. I got a lot of quizzical looks, but everybody loved it.

When daughter and her wife had their twins, DIL really wanted to do the all out organic everything with the kids! They found a book that introduced herbs and spices really early to the kids!( NOT happening anymore! :)) What I did give them, was a 6 month gift to Hello Fresh. It sends you all the ingredients, spices, instructions etc. to make about 1/2 hour meals . They used those for meals about 3 days a week for a year, then they were pretty confidant to start cooking on their own! I have to say, I kept a couple of their recipes! Just a thought!