What easy meals do you cook for company? (ingredient, lasagne, shrimp)

[OHNot4Me]

Here is our favorite super simple crockpot chuck roast recipe:

1. Dump one can of whole berry cranberry sauce in the bottom of a crockpot. Add salt and pepper to taste and about 3 T. of water, then mash it all together with a fork.

2. Plop in a round metal crockpot rack (keeps the roast up out of the gravy).

3. Plop in a 3# chuck roast. The original recipe called for the roast to be browned first in a frying pan, but I am seriously adverse to creating more greasy pans to wash, and having made the dish both ways, I could never tell the difference between browning or not browning...so I don't bother.

4. Tent the roast lightly with a circle of aluminum foil, replace crockpot lid, and cook all day on high.

5. Transfer the meat to a serving plate. I reuse the aluminum foil tent for a few minutes to keep it warm.

6. Pour the gravy into a small saucepan and thicken with some corn starch if desired. This gravy is brown, sweet and looks nothing like cranberry sauce. No one can ever guess what's in it. The combination of salty and sweet is the bomb!

Delicious served with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, baby carrots or whatever. The meat just falls apart.

Never have any leftovers, and it literally takes less than 5 minutes to throw together.

[Debsi]

I always have some of my homemade spaghetti meat sauce in my freezer, and currently I also have some fabulous vegetarian sauce I made during peak tomato season.

Everybody likes spaghetti and salad.

[MillennialUrbanist]

I make a no-bake casserole.

Ingredients:
* 1 Rotisserie chicken
* 1 lb (1 box) Non-spaghetti pasta
* 10.5 oz (1 can) Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
* 12--16 oz (1 bag) Frozen peas, carrots, and/or green beans
* 8--12 oz Mozzarella cheese
* Salt and pepper, to taste.
* Seasonings, to taste

Preparation:
Cook pasta according to package directions; save 1/4 cup of pasta water. Cook frozen vegetables according to package directions. Shred or chop rotisserie chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Cooking:
Put the cooked pasta into a large pot. Pour in the pasta water you saved. Pour in the cream of mushroom soup. Stir thoroughly. Mix in the chicken, including the juices in the container. Mix in the vegetables. Stir again until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Set aside 2 oz of cheese as topping; stir in the rest. Add in salt, pepper, and seasonings. Top with the remaining cheese shortly before serving. Serve hot, with garlic bread or focaccia (sp?).

[hertfordshire]

I used to make that ^^^ all the time, except I didn't use mozzarella cheese, and I topped with crushed Ritz crackers drizzled with melted butter. YUM!

[fleetiebelle]

I'm a big fan of your standard lasagna/garlic bread/salad. It's not super creative (though you can always tweak ingredients,) but it's easy and most people like it.

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

I used to make that ^^^ all the time, except I didn't use mozzarella cheese, and I topped with crushed Ritz crackers drizzled with melted butter. YUM!

Thanks. I also have a seafood version of it, that's more like a pasta dish than a casserole. The recipe is quite similar, only it uses a bag of frozen seafood mix in lieu of rotisserie chicken, chopped mushrooms in lieu of frozen vegetables, and cheesy tomato sauce in lieu of cream of mushroom soup. Other ingredients are the same.

Cook the seafood mix according to package directions. Fry the mushrooms lightly in a neutral-tasting vegetable oil; discard the oil. Then, mix everything together, like in my other recipe.

[Gerania]

It depends on how much time I have. When my husband came home with a friend who was going to eat dinner with us, if there was a tuna casserole in the oven, that's what he was eating. With a 24 hour notice, it would be something better.

Older, single guys are all over meatloaf, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy. That's what mom used to make and they don't.

[take57]

Since moving to the Phoenix area (and getting LOTS of visitors now that winter weather is setting in elsewhere) I've been doing a taco bar for my guests.

Fortunately fresh and authentic ingredients are cheap and plentiful. I'll have 10 or 12 different items to build from, a few big old pitchers of margaritas (traditional and prickly pear) and just stand back and let folks do their own thing. They seem to enjoy the Southwest fare while in the Southwest. I enjoy the ease of preparation (and the beverages )

[Jan Alaska]

I make Jamie Oliver's crispy and sticky chicken, it takes minutes to prepare and then its in the oven to cook, I usually serve it with steamed veggies or a nice crisp salad.

Easy Peasy

Crispy and Sticky Chicken Thighs with Squashed New Potatoes and Tomatoes Recipe | Jamie Oliver | Food Network

To add, I usually add extras like mushrooms, zucchini and even asparagus.

[Dirt Grinder]

Shrimp and sausage gumbo or lasagna.