Are you one of those people who work 60 hours a week? Do you have a family or wish you could make a nice dinner in a flash? Well, guess what? How about dinner in 5 minutes? Does this seem too good to be true? Well, it is not. With the right equipment, a good strategy, and the right ingredients, you too can make dinner in 5 minutes flat!

Making a quick dinner requires good preparation. Equipment is very important to get the job done quickly and effectively. Primarily, you will need a microwave, sharp knives, scissors, quality pots and pans with lids, and hot/cold water that is easily attainable. If you have a water service like Alhambra, they provide a unit you can get with a cold and hot water dispenser. Those come in very handy. If not, a simple plug-in kettle that will boil water will do fine. And if you have a fridge with a cold water and ice dispenser, that works out good too.

A good strategy is one that involves thinking of what to make for dinner before hand, having all the items required to prepare the food, and how to serve it. For example, say you wanted to make spaghetti with meatballs. If you had a package of pre-cooked frozen meatballs, and a buttered and seasoned baguette, then you could just make the spaghetti pasta, toast the bread and microwave the meatballs. Then, serve it all on a nice dish. You would not believe how fast you could do this with your equipment and preparation.

And finally there are the ingredients. This is the most important part to cooking very quickly. The right ingredients are usually pre-packaged (but fresh). This could be like frozen pre-cooked meatballs or any type of meat, pre-chopped frozen onions or veggies, and canned goods. Whatever it is, it is pre-made some how but frozen so that it will be freshly heated, or re-heated to taste like it took forever to make.

And there you have it. You just learned how to make dinner in a flash, or better yet 5 minutes. What do you think now about having enough time to make dinner? It is not as difficult as it seems. It just takes the right way to go about it. Quality equipment, a good strategy, and the right ingredients are the main keys to preparing dinner in 5 minutes FLAT! Anyone can do it, if they take the time and do it the right way.

Coral Web is the writer for the blog "5 Minute Dinners" where she shares recipes, tips, tricks and ideas for how to make meals or desserts in 5 minutes. To read her articles and recipes, please visit http://5minutedinners.blogspot.com/.

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Quick and easy dinner ideas are great when you live a busy lifestyle and need a plan of action to get meals completed. All you need to do is take some time out to do some planning ahead with buying all the ingredients you need that will allow you to quickly adapt to any rush situation during dinner time. The following ideas are a great baseline to get you started.

Pasta is always and easy foundation for any meal. You can always stir fry vegetables with pasta and add your favorite cheeses. You can make your own sauce or you can buy ready made sauce from the store. Linguine, spaghetti and bow tie pasta are all examples of different pastas that go great with Alfredo sauce or even spaghetti sauce. You can also add your favorite meat such as, ground beef, grilled chicken or even seafood. This is actually a complete and quick dinner meal.

Rotisserie chicken is always available at the local deli and is already prepared, cooked and ready to serve to the family. Add some salad greens from the market and you have an entire meal that is served with less the expense of a full meal at a restaurant.

Minute steaks are round steaks that are pounded thinner and can be seasoned and sautéed in olive oil or butter. You can add vegetables, bread and a salad. A baked potato can quickly be placed in the microwave to complete your meal.

Many quick and easy dinner ideas include chicken breasts. Chicken can be cooked and sautéed in olive oil and you can also add a can of cream of mushroom soup for flavor and gravy.

Casseroles are great and can be prepared in minutes. For example, the green bean casserole includes a can of green beans, cream of mushroom soup and also french fried onions. The mixture is baked for about 30 minutes.

I like to make a quick chicken salad to stuff in pita bread for a fast dinner. I always keep shredded chicken in my freezer for this but you can also use canned chicken, Add a diced tomato, a little poultry seasoning, some mayo and a diced onion. We top ours with Monterey Jack cheese. This makes a quick meal when you have to get the kids to soccer practice or have somewhere else to go right after dinner.

Quick and easy dinner ideas are very simple when you have on hand the right type of food ingredients. Being prepared will come in handy when you have a quick dinner to make.

If you want more ideas on saving time, money and creating a comfortable home, visit TheFrazzledHomemaker.com.

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Sundays have always been special in many aspects. One of them are the Sunday Dinners at the church. Potluck on Sundays refers to one lucky person offering food for all at the local church. Ever since I have been attending these dinners I remember, most people offered fried chicken. Why only this option? Well, it is easily available at the neighboring food store. So easy, just walk in to the store pick out a few packs of fried chicken and walk in to the church.

As far as I can evaluate it happens due to lack of time, planning and ideas. But imagine, what if you cook scratch out a bit of time, prepare something simple yet special & elegant and offer it in the potluck! So many people would be impressed! Some would be jealous! And almost all would be surprised! So much appreciation and satisfaction that you offered something with so much love and little effort! Won't you like to do the same?

Picking a fried chicken from a deli or a local restaurant might not be wrong, but, its surely repetitive, boring and certainly nothing special!

There are so many simple & easy recipes available through varied resources that you can go ahead with; for instance spicy taco casserole or the dessert items!

Here are a few ideas 7 resources for your next Sunday dinner:

1. Surf the internet.

Internet is surely a global resource to quench all your thirst related to whatever aspect it may be. Key in the right keywords and you can find several easy to cook dishes at one go. Kraft foods website offers some delicious desserts that are quite easy to cook.

2. Desserts are often a good choice for Sunday dinners.

Sweet delicacies can be made within no time just a night before. These can be frozen overnight and so can be easily carried over to serve. Such desserts that tickle the taste buds of almost all of us are easy tricks to make your coworkers envious of your culinary talent at the 'pitch ins' at work.

3. Check out the casserole recipes.

Casserole recipes are often quick, simple and delicious.

4. Try the crock pots & slow cookers.

There are several dishes that you can cook in the crock pots & slow cookers. Just fill it in with the ingredients, turn it on and sleep over. By the time you complete your health sleep, the food would be done giving out a yum aroma and you could make up to the church in a record time.

5. Read through the magazines.

Many magazines offer interesting cookery sections. Magazines offer very healthy eating options such as large salad, casserole, or a healthy dessert.

6. Opt some healthy foods.

It is not necessary to select fat filled or calorie filled dishes for the Sunday dinner.

7. Enjoy the cooking.

It is often said that the cook's mood defines the taste of the food. So, cook the dishes that you enjoy. Do not opt for any long recipes that feel you are forced to work on. Instead of being helpful, it would become more tedious and the food would get the bad taste of the cook. Hence, do not make it a stressful activity for yourself.

8. Do not repeat the same dishes.

Try a new recipe every time rather than sticking to the same thing time and again. It can make even a good dish repetitive and boring, just like the fried chicken.

9. Prepare a bank of recipes.

I suggest you to collect some recipes over time so that the next time you have to make the Sunday dinner, you do not have to vigorously search for them.

10. Treat your potluck audiences as guinea pigs.

Though every individual puts in all their effort & love in the dishes they cook, sometimes the results are not that perfect. This could also save you and your family from getting stuck with leftovers for a week. And a rather happier option, if you like the food, you can put it into rotation of recipes at home.

Now, those with little or no culinary talents go out to surprise your family, friends, and fellow church members with the correct 'simple to make' recipes. Instead of getting on to fried chicken next time, cook up something awesome and get famous with your folks!

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As a busy working Mom myself I am always looking for Easy Dinner Recipes I can cook for my family. When you're working all day, doing the school run and attending outer school activities, you really need quick and easy recipes and of course Healthy Recipes for Kids. Coming up with new and exciting meals that all the family will eat can bring many mothers to despair. I find the best way to deal with this is to Meal Plan, this works for me, before I do my weekly shop I fill in a weekly meal planner and then write the ingredients I need on to my shopping list.

This way I don't always cook the same meals every week, on the same day and I don't end up cooking Pork, Beef or Fish four days out of the seven. Chicken, I also plan what Breakfast, Lunch and snacks we will be having this really does save me some time and it helps when we do our family budgeting. Because we use this method I can also look for new recipes to try as the family are used to having a variety of meals which are healthy and nutritious.

I also love to cook One Pot Dishes as these make really simple suppers, all you generally have to do is prepare the ingredients, place them in your cooking pot and leave to do the rest, these sometimes can take a few hours to cook like Crock Pot Meals, but they are really worth the wait and your not tied to the kitchen for a long time, you can normally cook these through out the day. I have even cooked in my Slow Cooker over night for the next day. Many of the recipes can also be frozen, there is nothing better than getting a ready made meal out of the freezer that you have loving cooked yourself.

When Cooking our dinners I often cook a few more portions than are needed so that I can freeze them, for the following week or for the days when I know I just don't feel like cooking. You don't have to be a qualified Chef or Cook to prepare cook or serve your family or friends some wonderful meals, it can be quite scary when you first have a go a cooking something new. We often try a new recipe and find that we don't like it, we maybe adjust the recipe a little next time, or we don't cook it again.

Many of the Easy Dinner Recipes can be prepared and cooked in less than an hour some as short as 30 Minutes.

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You may have spent your day working in an office, chained to a desk all day. The stress has drained you and all you want to do is go home and relax. If you are a stay at home mom, you have probably chased kids around, done laundry and picked up toys all day, you are pooped and don't feel like preparing a meal. Then it happens; your husband calls to let you know he's bringing home business partners or prospects as guests for dinner. With the day you've had, dinner has not even so much as crossed your mind. Now what? While you could call for Chinese and pretend you made it yourself, but that is a costly move. And what if they ask you for your recipe? Would you hand them a phone number?

The safer bet is to go into your kitchen and find something that's quick, original and that won't require too much work on your part. Of course spaghetti is always an option and you can get it on the table quickly if you use sauce in a jar or can and boil and eat pasta and it's relatively cheap. While it's great to have that to fall back on, why not wow them with something completely unexpected and delicious. After all, they are coming to your house instead of stopping at the corner caf? for a simple sandwich. You can find something right in your kitchen that will make them glad they came to you!

Run a quick inventory of your kitchen. If you have a few regular stand-by things in your kitchen, you can pull this off! Maybe you have a piece of beef, chicken or pork leftover in the refrigerator? Even lunch meat can be turned in to a razzle dazzle meal! If you use leftover meat in the refrigerator, don't worry that each person will get a full serving of meat, you can cut it up into bite sized pieces and throw it in a casserole or toss it into a large pot with water and all of your leftover vegetables to make a home made soup or stew. Hotdogs stuffed inside manicotti noodles, smothered with canned chili and topped with melted cheese is a real fast one to wow guests with.

If you are down to only lunchmeat and sliced cheese, all you need is a refrigerated pizza crust or a loaf or French bread to make a sandwich that will knock their socks off. Take a loaf of refrigerated bread and open it up on a pizza pan, curl it up to form a large donut and pinch the edges together to seal. Season the bread with almost anything using butter, oil or a beaten egg to dampen the surface to hold the seasonings on. Bake the bread to package directions until its golden brown on top. Remove from the oven allowing it to set and cool. Gather your lunch meat and cheese, and prepare lettuce and tomatoes. Slice the bread once its cool, in half, length wise to form two half donuts. Using the bottom half, stack all of your lunch meat and cheeses on to the bread, stack any other sandwich garnishments on top and replace the top of the bread. Empty a bag of chips into the middle and you have a sandwich ring to wow a crowd with!

Once you master the art of getting dinner ready in a jiffy, you never have to worry about having guests over for dinner, even if all you've got is just a few minutes notice.

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What's for Dinner Tonight? Stuffed Mangoes looking like a work of art!

Way back when, I was the type of kid who would not eat anything that did not look pleasing to the eye. So, to my mom, presentation was everything in order to have her picky child attain good nutrition. The way she made stuffed mangoes was like Michelangelo creating the David - but of a slightly lesser omnipotence. My children do not appreciate their Grandmother's work of art in the kitchen as much as I, but in any event, I made them take a second (or two) to admire the construction of their deliciously filled, bulbous entr?e before "digging in". As a side note: I refer to this dish as stuffed mangoes, they are probably more properly known as stuffed bell peppers, but in honor my family tradition, I will continue to refer to this dish as stuffed mangoes.

Let's get back to the ingredients and preparation of this art. At the grocery store, my mother would select mangoes that are shiny and robust in color that are also firm and heavy in proportion. No wrinkles or bruises. She also took in consideration the size of the pepper to the diner, so when I was little I had a cute child's sized stuffed mango. At home, she cooked rice in a stock pot, browned ground beef (fat deleted as much as possible) with diced onions and chili powder to taste in my skillet and added a dash of salt. While those fixings were steeping, Mom used her paring knife and cut off the top of the mangoes or the "pepper pan"; remove the insides; put the washed mangoes in a casserole dish filled with about 1/3 cup of water; then she'd cover up casserole dish and let the mangoes steam for about 3 minutes. Going back to the ground beef, she mixes the rice in its skillet. The ground beef-rice mixture is then spooned into the warm mangoes with just a little overflowing the neck of the fruit. She adds a dollop of ketchup on the top and puts the delectably filled capsicums into the preheated 300 degree oven. After 20 minutes, a mango is put in the center of its own individual plate with more of the ground beef-rice mixture surrounding it. The baked ketchup on top of the mixture (while some part of its sweetness seeped through the rice) looks like a swirled cap or stem that has been re-attached to the mango. So now you see a shiny, rich green, yellow or red apple-like edible bowl with coppery brown ground beef and rice spewing out, like confetti, topped with a dollop of red sauce as its cap. The steam strings and curls toward my nose and the aroma is nothing but mouthwatering. Simply: A work of art.

So, a great meal was had by all. No left-overs again. Therefore that leaves me wondering, what will be for dinner tonight, tomorrow?

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