It’s been a bit of a hectic week with my dad in the hospital. He was moved to the rehab floor where he’ll be for 7-10 days. My mom goes to the hospital twice a day, and I go with her once each day, so I haven’t had a lot of time to work on projects or write blog posts, but I try to work on things in small chunks of time when I can. My family has eaten a lot of fast food this week, and they aren’t complaining, but I know it’s getting old. It’s times like this that I wish I had some freezer meals made ahead of time that I could pull out and cook, but since I don’t, I needed to find some quick and easy dinner ideas, so they could have a fresh meal on real plates, instead of lukewarm food in a paper wrapper. It’s been chilly here this week, so I wanted a hot meal that sticks to your ribs, and BBQ beef brisket with veggie side dishes sounded good.
I found Farm Rich® Smokehouse beef brisket and Birds Eye Steamfresh® Ranch Broccoli and Sour Cream and Onion Potatoes in the freezer section at Walmart, but you’ll find them at most grocery stores.
You can heat the beef brisket in the oven or microwave, and while the meat heated up, I cooked the potatoes and broccoli in their microwave pouches.
I set the table, cut open some crusty rolls, and dinner was ready by the time the brisket was hot and ready to serve.
In less than 15 minutes, I had a delicious, balanced meal on the table, giving me time to head out the door and visit my dad before he went to bed for the night.
I’ve got lots more easy dinner options now, because Farm Rich® Smokehouse also has BBQ pulled pork and chicken, as well as dry rub smoked pork, chicken and BBQ mustard pulled pork.
Birds Eye® has many recipes on their website, organized by cook time and season of the year, and I found a bunch of new recipes to try when I need a quick and easy dinner!
We’re getting close to finishing our entryway makeover., so tomorrow I’ll show you some of the progress we’ve made!
For a limited time, earn $0.75 on Birds Eye Vegetables and unlock $1.00 off one Farm Rich® Smokehouse product with Ibotta while supplies last.
If you haven’t used Ibotta, you have to download the app available on iOs and Android. Before you shop, be sure to unlock the rebates for both Birds Eye® Vegetables and Farm Rich® Smokehouse. Then, shop! Buy the products that you’ve unlocked at major retailers. Finally, verify your purchase by scanning your barcodes and submitting a photo of your receipt!
This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Birds Eye®, and Farm Rich® but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FullnRichFlavor http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
hope your dad continues to improve…..sounds like he is…..
freezer foods have improved over the years…..we eat afew choices….we really like Amy’s brand….the cheese enchiladas are pretty good….those and some pouches of ready rice Spanish rice and bag O salad would be tasty too.
Thanks Shelley! His physical therapy went really well yesterday, so we hope he’ll continue to do well and get his strength back quickly.
Went through this with both my parents! My prayers are with you. Never easy to be the parent to your parents and manage your own family. This was the time in my life when I discovered the wonders of my crock pot!
Thanks so much, Patty! I need to get organized and shop for some crock pot meals!
It’s always great to find good quick choices and I appreciate that the BBQ is gluten free, too! Glad your dad is doing well in the rehab area!
Hope things keep getting better for your dad and mom. Slow cookers are the best,i went through a time like this and i even put frozen chicken potatoes and other veggies in at the same time and it was delicious.Desperate people take desperate measures. My prayers are with you know how hectic it can get.
I need to use my slow cooker a lot more often, Marlene. I love smelling it cooking throughout the day and having it ready when we are.
Angie, I hope your dad improves. I remember going through this with my mom. Here’s a pretty easy and quick meal that we’ve discovered recently and has become one of our favorites. To start, clean and boil small red potatoes whole until fork tender. (This is from Ree Drummond. She has a name for them but we call them Smash Potatoes.) While those are boiling, work on the Pork chops: we use boneless and a little thicker than thin. Coat with Italian flavor Panko crumbs (whatever brand is easy to find).
On a cookie sheet coat with olive oil where you will put your potatoes and your pork chops. There are only two of us so we can fit our whole dinner on one pan. If you’re cooking more you’ll have to use two.
Heat oven to 425 F. Lay your coated pork chops onto the pan. When your potatoes are ready put them on the pan and smash them with a large fork, potato masher, or even the bottom of a mug. Sprinkle some olive oil on the top of the potatoes. Sprinkle fresh ground pepper and kosher salt on top of them. I also add rosemary to mine because it makes them taste awesome.
Put pan with potatoes and pork chops into oven. After 15 minutes turn over pork chops. Leave in another 10. All total 25 minutes in oven and not much preparation. Easy peasy and very yummy !
That sounds delicious, Patty! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I know prepared foods are quick and taste good. Occasionally ok. However, not sure they are any healthier than fast food. For the sake of knowledge….check fat, sugar and sodium content in those bags of easy dinner items. You will be surprised. I know, bummer.
My mom was in the hospital for a week last month and if my family had gotten a home cooked meal like you described in your post – they would have been very lucky! Doing the best you can is the best you can do !
Your poor Dad being stuck in rehab for seven to ten more days…I dearly hope he makes it through okay and that the rehab helps him to feel good as new! I`d imagine yours and your Mom’s visits seem like a lifeline to him right now…you must hate having to leave him!
I have never heard of the Bird’s Eye brand of frozen food before now…if I can find it here, I’ll have to give it a try…it looks good and any meal including veggies can’t be bad for you, right? I personally do a lot of cooking big batches of stuff on the weekends and freezing it, both in family size portions as well as single portions…this makes meal preparation a lot easier throughout the week and there is no excuse for anyone to say they are hungry and there is nothing to eat. How is it they still do, though? 🙂
Thanks so much, Susan! He’s making good progress with his rehab and we hope he might get released early next week, but don’t want him to rush it. He’s very anxious to get out!
You certainly can’t blame your Dad for anxiously awaiting his release…staying in hospital is just the worst…I think even health providers feel the same way and this is part of the reason why they try their best to get patients back home as quickly as possible. But I’m glad they aren’t rushing your Dad and want to ensure he is well on the mend before they release him…that attention to his care bodes well for him! I am soooooooo happy and relieved to hear he is making good progress so far…I’ll continue to keep him in my thoughts and prayers and send tons of positive energy his way…and to his daughter, too, who is also having a rough time in her own right…please feel much better very soon, Angie!
I hope your dad keeps getting better!