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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Murray State chapter.

During the week, dinner often ends up being an after thought, and it can be hard to find good recipes online. They usually need to be tweaked and adjusted to your personal taste. Plus, some of them have long lists of ingredients that require you to go buy a big bottle of something that you will probably never use again. Here are five easy recipes that you can make even on your busiest days.

Monday: Chicken and potatoes

Ingredients

Defrosted chicken breast

Bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon of Butter

Two eggs (for traditional breaded chicken) OR Buffalo Sauce (for a buffalo flavor) 

1 Potato

Salt

Pepper

Crushed red peppers

Italian seasoning

Garlic seasoning 

Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to  450 degrees.

Clean and cube the potato. Coat the cubes with olive oil.

Set them on a baking sheet wrapped with tin foil. Season the potato with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning crushed red pepper, and garlic powder.

Put the baking sheet in the oven for 40 minutes. Take the potato cubes out and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.

While the potato cubes are cooking, mix the butter and eggs or buffalo sauce in a small bowl. Put the bread crumbs in a separate small bowl. 

Cut the chicken. 

Dip the chicken in the bowl with butter and eggs or sauce. Then coat the chicken in bread crumbs. 

After the potato cubes are done, close the tin foil around them to trap the heat, turn the oven down to 400 degrees, and bake the chicken for 25 minutes.

Tuesday: Spaghetti

Ingredients 

Your favorite pasta sauce

Box of spaghetti noodles

Ground beef 

Crushed red pepper

Garlic seasoning

Minced onion 

Italian seasoning  

Instructions

Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Then break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them in the pot with salt. Boil the noodles for around 9 minutes and then strain them.   

While the noodles are boiling, brown the ground beef in a pan. Season the beef with crushed red pepper, garlic seasoning, minced onion, and Italian seasoning.

Add the pasta sauce into a sauce pan to warm it and add the beef to it. 

Once the pasta is done and strained, add the sauce with meat to it and serve.   

Wednesday: Tacos

This is the simplest recipe and can be adjusted to your tastes easily.  

Ingredients

Taco seasoning

Crushed red pepper

Ground beef

Salt

Shredded Mexican cheese blend

Taco sauce or hot sauce

Lettuce 

Red, yellow, and/or green peppers

Tortillas

Instructions

Begin to brown the ground beef. Sprinkle on taco seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt, and onion seasoning. Once the beef is cooked, add it to a tortilla and top it with cheese, taco sauce/hot sauce, lettuce, and peppers.    

Thursday: Crock pot BBQ

I found this recipe from Family Fresh Meals, tried it out, and loved it. Here is the link to the website: https://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2014/06/best-crockpot-bbq-chicken.html  

Ingredients

Chicken

1 cup of BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup of Zesty Italian dressing

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Put the chicken in the crock pot. 

Mix the BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Pour it on the chicken and cook for three to four hours on high. 

After cooking, shred the chicken with a fork and cook for 10 more minutes. 

Friday: Upgraded Ham and Cheese

I adapted this recipe in order to make it easier from the website High Heels and Grills. Here is a link to the original recipe: https://www.highheelsandgrills.com/baked-ham-and-cheese-rollups/

Ingredients

French bread

Ham

Your favorite cheese

1/2 cup Melted butter

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice a piece of French braid and place it open-faced on a baking sheet. Add ham and cheese to it.

Mix melted butter, poppy seeds, yellow mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. 

Drizzle this sauce mixture on top of the open-face of the sandwich. 

Warm in the oven until the cheese melts.   

      

Sydney Wedbush

Murray State

Sydney Wedbush is a junior English/Creative Writing major at Murray State. When she's not reading or writing for class, she's reading and writing for fun. Want to find her in her natural habitat? Check the book store or library, and make Harry Potter references.