Share-time: Your favorite 30-minute meals

Our quick dinner on Saturday

• tuna salad on dressed shredded cabbage
• garlic toast
• cinnamon apples (not shown)

I was in a bind on Saturday and knew I would only have 30 minutes to get a dinner onto the table in the evening. I realized this in the morning, so I was able to make 1 item/ingredient ahead, the pasta. 

So, with some cooked pasta, a can of tuna, 2 previously boiled eggs, fresh celery and green pepper, frozen peas, mayo, relish, olive oil, vinegar and salt, I made a pasta-tuna salad. I served this over dressed shredded cabbage, with garlic toast (using burger buns), avocado wedges, and cooked cinnamon apples on the side. 

From the moment I walked into the kitchen in the evening to the moment plates were served up, 33 minutes elapsed. That's pretty good, I think. It included cooking the apples, making the garlic toast, shredding cabbage and chopping/assembling everything for the salad.

So, my question for you is what is your go-to, mostly scratch meal you make that takes about 30 minutes to get onto the table? Share in the comments, please. I know some of you are very adept at cooking on short time.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for a Very Chicken-y Week

I was thawing a whole chicken over the weekend and roasted it on Monday. One whole chicken yielded 4 family dinners, leftovers for 3 days of lunches, and extra stock for the freezer -- all delicious. However, I'll now be glad to have beans, canned tuna, and beef for a few meals. What are your favorite ways to use leftover cooked chicken?

Friday

Friday
scratch heart-shaped pepperoni pizza (made by daughter)
cabbage, celery, tomato salad in creamy vinaigrette
frozen mixed vegetables

Saturday

Saturday

Valentine's Day Brunch:Mickey waffles, using my thrifted waffle iron from Goodwill a couple of years ago

turkey sausage links

pork bacon

fresh strawberries

orange juice

coffee

Dinner: Mexi-burgers, hamburger patties, topped with avocado, green pepper, onion, tomato, cheddar, salsa on homemade buns

roasted frozen broccoli

orange wedges

cherry pie

Sunday

taco bowls, cooked pinto beans, canned corn, tomatoes, avocados, salsa, cheddar, baked corn tortilla chips

frozen peas

leftover cherry pie

Monday

Monday

roast chicken and gravy

oven-roasted potato wedges in beef fat

frozen mixed vegetables

beet and celery salad

fruit salad

Tuesday

Tuesday

Chicken Divan casserole, using leftover chicken, cooked pasta, homemade Mornay sauce, frozen broccoli cuts, shredded cheese, bacon bits

carrot-raisin salad 

stewed prunes

Wednesday
just before baking
I made these in individual baking dishes.

Wednesday

chicken and biscuits, using leftover chicken, gravy, potatoes from Monday, frozen mixed vegetables, and herbs

carrot-cabbage slaw

gingered pears

Thursday

Thursday

chicken-vegetable soup, using more leftover chicken, various vegetables, plus mushrooms

buttered toast

cabbage-green pepper-avocado salad with salsa and avocado oil dressing

dried prunes from last summer

Shopping this week
I stopped at Walmart twice since last week. Last Friday (day before Valentine's) I went to Walmart to buy some chocolate candies for my family for Valentine's day. As I had to pass through the produce section, I stopped to see how the strawberries looked. They actually looked very good for February strawberries. I bought 1 pint. So at least if I'm going to impulse buy something, it;'s the smallest of what Walmart offered. I spent $1.97 on that pint of strawberries. And yes, they were very good for commercial strawberries.

This morning I needed a couple of items from Walmart -- laundry detergent, ibuprofen for my husband, milk, and bananas. The milk and bananas cost $4.37.

So for this week's shopping I spent a total of $6.34. That feels a lot better than the almost $200 from two weeks ago. Our fridge and freezer still has a lot of produce to use. I won't shop again until at least the fridge looks more bare. It could be my big spend a couple of weeks ago was because I simply bought a lot of food.

How were your meals this past week? Did you make anything heart-shaped on or near Valentine's Day?