Originally Posted by Kristine

Hi. I work until 6:30 pm on my regular shift, so I hear you on wanting a quick, hot meal. One of my favorite kitchen toys is my George Foreman grill. Do you have one of those? It makes it a breeze to cook a couple of smoked sausages, frozen burgers, wieners, fish portions, pork chops... I particularly like the vacuum-packed pre-seasoned variety of the pork chops. I stock up on them when they're on sale for two bucks/pair and the expiry date is usually really far away. They have some sugar in them, and it looks like you're still on induction, but I'll trade that 2 g carb for the convenience and high HOB score (Husband On Board. ) Plain raw pork chops probably work, too, though I've never tried them on the clamshell.

If you don't have a grill, a fry pan will do, but I imagine it would take a bit longer to cook. The grills are cheap, heat up really quickly, and easy to wipe up afterward. (Big thanks to whoever it was on this forum who suggested putting wet paper towels on it as soon as you're done cooking, then wipe after dinner. )

I do make lots of soup and chili, and have lots of portions in the freezer, but you said you're souped out. One of my trick for non-soup meals - and I just did this yesterday - is cook large portions of meat fairly plain, so I can do something different with the leftovers - maybe a quick curry, a stir fry, salad, etc. I cooked up 3 large chicken breasts that I bought from the reduced rack, and I just cooked them in plain chicken broth for use later this week. I cooked a beef roast and had it 'au jus' with veggies, and later in the week, I can either do leftovers the same way or a stir-fry. Frozen mixed veggies have become my best friend for these quick weeknight meals.