You know you have to eat – actually you benefit from eating – but, except a visit to Mom results in her sending you home with a ready to eat care package, you might, too regularly settle for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and leave it at that. While your Mom may be a gourmet cook, there are many people who either do not like cooking or just do not have the time to be spending fixing meals. If you are a college student, far from home and Mom’s home cooked meals, or anybody who’s a member of the I-hate-to-cook club, here’s a week’s worth of simple food recipes that do not need more than fifteen minutes of prep time. A few need a short wait in cooking time, but you can just put the timer on and go about your business until the food is done. This is about as easy as it gets! A lot of of our easy food recipes give leftovers, which you can either use for lunch another day, or congeal the rest for another dinner next week.

1. One of the healthiest and easiest meals to prepare is fish. Drizzle with a small amount lemon juice. Heat a can of corn, green beans or make a dinner salad while the fish is cooking. With a fork, part the meat in the thickest part to check for doneness. For a one inch thick fillet, all you need do is nuke it for one minute on each side. If the meat is opaque, with no clearness, you are done.

2. Although the sub sandwich may not be the most graceful meal, what it lacks in presentation, it more than makes up for in both nutrition and taste. Go to the deli counter and opt for four or five deli meats and cheeses. A little lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes, jalapenos or anything strikes your fancy makes a tasty, nourishing and filling meal in a hoagie roll or pocket bread. Furthermore, there are more variations on this easy food recipe than you can use up in several months. If you buy in half-pound portions, take what you need for tonight’s dinner and divide the rest of the meats in sandwich sized portions. Cheese can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks, so long as you wrap it tightly. Separate each portion with waxed paper and slip it into the freezer.

3. Boneless chicken breasts make an easy food recipe indeed. You can also slice them before cooking and fry over medium high heat in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, for 3-5 minutes. You can nuke them whole, for perhaps 3-4 minutes per side. The whole chicken breast can be dressed with salsa, brushed with barbecue sauce or eaten plain. Serve one over rice and make a chef’s salad with the other. If you slice and cook a couple of chicken breasts at once, you will effortlessly have two meals.

4. The chef’s salad, much like the sub sandwich, is easy and unimpeded by everything but your preference. Hey, put in that remaining chicken breast from our easy food recipe #3! Lettuce, your favorite veggies and a bottled dressing is all you need.

5. Boneless ribs are a snap, requiring almost no prep. Back in the oven for 10 minutes and you’ve got dinner! Lay them on a broiler pan and into the oven they go, at 375 degrees. After 35 minutes, pull them out and brush with barbecue sauce. A couple of them, in fact. A most easy food recipe!

6. You will have leftovers, which you can transform into a sandwich or pork fried rice. You have probably seen those void packed pork loin roasts which are already marinated in a delicious sauce, generally sold in a 2 pound portion. Nuke a potato and heat a can of veggies while the roast cooks. Put it on your broiler rack and bake as instructed. This is the high end version of the easy food recipes.

7. Add whatever type of meat you have on hand, be it a slice of ham, leftover chicken, or ribs. Cook up a batch of rice or pasta as soon as you walk in the door. (Instructions are on the package.) Chop an onion, julienne a bell pepper; add a can of sliced water chestnuts or black olives. Corn. You will use leftovers and not waste! Almost anything works. Our simple food recipe lineup is intended to give you a free hand.

You might be ready for guests! Trying these easy food recipes, after just one week, you will have eaten well and may get to like cooking just a little more than you did.