I'm pretty lazy when it comes to cooking, but here are a few reliable recipes:

Meatloaf is always a good standby. Squish together 1 lb or so of ground beef (sirloin) or turkey, a scant cup of Italian bread crumbs, and 1 egg. Layer half of the meat mixture in a loaf pan, sprinkle with mozzarella and fresh basil. Add other half of meat, top with spaghetti sauce and more cheese if you like, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. If you want to have a Mexican flavor instead, replace the Italian crumbs with plain and add another 1/4 cup. Add 1/4 cup salsa and layer meat with Mexican cheese instead of mozzarella. Spread top with more salsa or other Mexican sauce, maybe mole? If you bake this in a round pie pan, it will cook faster.

Bake a salmon fillet (one big enough for 2 meal-sized portions) at 400 until the fish flakes when tested with a fork. Dump a big bag of spinach leaves in a large bowl. Shred fish and add to bowl with 1 can drained mandarin oranges and a few handfuls of chow mein noodles or sliced almonds. Toss everything together with sesame-ginger dressing.

Find two giant Russet/Idaho taters and bake them at 400 until they're soft when squeezed (this takes 1-2 hours but can be done in advance). Split them open lengthwise and fill the slit with fresh broccoli. Sprinkle with the cheese of your liking, then return to the oven until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and top with sour cream and pico de gallo. You might not think this is much, but it includes three of four food groups (four if you top with a little bacon), is very healthy, and trust me, it's really filling.

Lazy Chili: Buy two cans chili beans, one can black beans, one can dark kidney beans, one can Great Northern beans, two cans diced tomatoes with chiles/green peppers/onions etc. Dump them all together in a Dutch oven/large pot. Add seasoning to taste (I usually just add chili powder). Stir and heat over medium heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions, bacon, etc., and serve with cornbread (or over cornbread) or biscuits. You can also add ground meat or steak to this. I've also made it with every bean on the market, including chick peas and pigeon peas.

You may want to invest in a slow cooker. You can leave that thing on all day, just dump all your ingredients in there and you'll have a nice meal when you get home. Just remember, you may have to reseason everything as the long cooking decreases the flavors.

Also, soups are generally pretty easy to make and you can easily make a double batch and with some purchased bread, you'll eat for at least 2 days.

Some great suggestions here.

One I'd like to add is a subscription to the magazine "Everyday Food." The magazine focuses on recipes (each issue is a mini cookbook), yet includes a few educational pages on basic cooking skills, interesting ingredients and even such things as how to plan a menu for the week. The recipes are exceptionally simple. A great way to get started cooking in my opinion.

website:
http://www.marthastewart.com/everyday-f ... =brandtray

subscriptions:
https://secure.customersvc.com/servlet/ ... KX=EFADFH0

Wheattoast wrote:Some great suggestions here.

One I'd like to add is a subscription to the magazine "Everyday Food."

Great idea. This is a fabulous magazine and I've tried quite a few recipes from there with good results. The best, I think, might be the Tofu Chocolate Pudding, the recipe for which goes a little something like this: 12 oz silken tofu blended with 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup melted chocolate chips until smooth, then refrigerated until set. Mmmmm tasty!