Easy-to-Cook Meals

Turn canned chili into a full family dinner with a little help from cheese and crackers. Warm the chili in the microwave and spoon it into individual bowls. Top each bowl with shredded cheddar, crumbled soda crackers and chopped green onions. Nuke each bowl for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Serve the chili with a dollop of sour cream or ranch dressing on top and place extra crackers on the table for scooping up the warm meal.

Basic breakfast ingredients are all you need to create a quick and tasty brunch or lunch sandwich for kids. Beat a little milk into the eggs and scramble them using nonstick cooking spray instead of butter to keep the meal healthy. Spoon the scrambled eggs between two pieces of whole wheat toast and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cut the sandwich in half to make it easier for little fingers to grasp. Increase the protein content in the sandwich with a layer of crispy bacon, Canadian bacon or sliced lunch meat.

Frozen veggies and precooked meat turn a quick macaroni and cheese lunch into a well-balanced family dinner. Steam the veggies on the stove or throw them in the microwave while the macaroni cooks. Mix the prepared macaroni, meat and warm vegetables together and serve. Try diced ham and peas for a classic meal or diced turkey sausage and sliced green beans for a low-fat dinner. Stir browned ground beef, sliced bell peppers and salsa into the macaroni and cheese for a spicy kick. Toss up a crisp green salad and line up a selection of the family's favorite salad dressings.

Use a grilled cheese sandwich as garnish to turn plain tomato soup into a tasty lunch or dinner. Lightly smear yogurt-based butter over whole wheat bread and don’t overdo the cheese, to keep the sandwich healthy. Warm the soup in the microwave and pour it into individual bowls placed on dinner plates. Cut the grilled cheese sandwiches in half. Cut one sandwich half into cubes and sprinkle them into the soup. Leave the remaining sandwich half on the plate next to the soup.

The key to turning a quick stir-fry dinner into a truly lightning-fast meal is to replace the raw chicken with canned chicken breast meat in water. Drain the water from the can and you have cooked and shredded chicken meat ready to eat. Throw a package of stir-fry veggies into a pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Stir the meat and flavoring, such as teriyaki sauce, into the veggies as they cook. Serve the warm mixture over leftover or quick-cook rice for a meal in less than 10 minutes.