Howell Susie Martinez Vanda - Dont Panic--Quick, Easy, and Delicious Meals for Your Family

2012 by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell, and Bonnie Garcia

www.dontpanicdinners.com

Published by Revell

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

eISBN 978-1-4412-3616-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.

Susies Dedication

Susie Martinez dedicates this book in loving memory of Laurel McGilchrist, a beautiful and trusted friend. I am so thankful you shared your life with me, Laurel. As we navigated our way through lifes joys and heartaches over the years, you were there to listen, care, and love magnificently. In your exhausting battle with a disease that would steal like a thief, you exhibited unfailing faith and trust in God. I saw him walk with you, hold you, and bring you peace. I watched in complete awe as you touched the lives of many for his glory. Although time with you was too short, I know that you are now with God, free from pain and suffering. You were a gracious and delightful light in my life. I love you, my friend, and even as you live forever in my heart, I miss you always.

Vandas Dedication

Vanda Howell dedicates this book to: my husband, Mike, who is always so grateful for whatever meal I put before him (whether at 6 p.m. or 9 p.m.). To my son, Elliott, who appointed himself as my personal food critic: with your love for food (and superfast metabolism) I have no doubt that one day you will become a professional food critic. To my mom, brother, sister, and their familiesFlo Kitashima; Tim, Shirlene, and Ani Kulin ( Ani, we waited so long to finally have you hereyou are amazing! ); and Bryan, Shari, and Lucca Kitashima ( Lucca, even though we are an ocean apart, I get to see you grow up via your dads proud [constant] videos/pics and emails .): thanks to all of you for always being my encouragementI love you all very much!

Bonnies Dedication

Bonnie would like to dedicate this latest Dont Panic project to her family: you have been with me through every step of the journey. From the time the first Dont Panic book came into being over fourteen years ago to now, you have believed in me and cheered me on. Even when I thought the last book had been written, you encouraged me to keep cooking and keep writing. Steve, Nathan, Daniel, and JohnnyI love you with all my heart.

Contents

Preface

We all need to eat. And someone is generally assigned the job of making sure we eat. Whoever has this duty eventually becomes exhausted with the endless task and begins to seek assistance.

The previous two Dont Panic cookbooks helped you store dinners in your freezer so they were on hand in a moments notice. This book also follows the concept of readily available meals but approaches the mission in another way. Here we provide you with recipes that require 30 minutes or less of hands-on preparation time. And the meals are fantastic.

We are so excited about every recipe selection you will find here! When this book was complete, our families went through mourning because the anticipation of what new and spectacular savory delight would appear on our tables each week had come to an end. But for you, the journey is about to begin.

So gather your loved ones around the table tonight and serve them something quick, delicious, and brand-new for dinner. Your taste buds will think they have gone somewhere wonderful for vacation. Enjoy!

Acknowledgments

Thank you to so many of our dear friends and readers for your input, comments, and support over the years. To those of you who contributed to this book through proofreading, taste testing, and recipe submissions, we thank you. We would like to acknowledge the following people whose recipes were included in this book. In our opinion these recipes are real winners!

Laura Beutler

Shirley Burke

Alivia Butler

Shannon Butler

Virginia Cebell

Lori Fox

Beverly Garrison

Cathy Healy

Jodi Heiser

Ruth Holm

Tylene Howell

Susan Jones

Cassie Martinez

Donna Mayberry

Heidi Messer

AnnMarie Moseley

Paula Rome

Jack Sunahara

Marcia Sunahara

Debbie White

Jeanie Wilking

Pam Zundel

Introduction

Simple and Easy... at Last!

Many things in life are simple in concept yet not very easy to do. We run into these things every day. For many of us, cooking at home is like this. It is simple in concept, but it isnt easy to pull off. In fact, the task of riffling through recipes and preparing a meal has been known to drive many women out the front door and straight to a chick-flick at the end of the day... leaving behind her husband, kids, and dog to fend for themselves.

If you are familiar with the previous Dont Panic cookbooks, then you know we base our books on a few simple concepts.

First, we provide you with recipes that truly taste good . Most cookbooks contain a greater volume of recipes than youll find in the Dont Panic cookbooks. However, in those books you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince. You may find one or two recipes in a book that you like and your family will eat. Then you put the book away until you make that meal again. Every recipe in our books tastes great because we work with a recipe until it meets our highly selective standards. So you can rest assured that you will enjoy the meal you put your time, energy, and money into preparing.

(One really fun thing in writing this book is we are finally able to share some of our longtime favorite recipes with you that we left out of our previous books because they are not suitable for the freezer.)

Second, the ingredients are items you can pronounce and are usually found in your kitchen . Our recipes do not require a Google search to define or a scavenger hunt to the next town to locate the ingredients.

Third, we help you simplify meal preparation and get the most out of the amount of time and energy you invest . Our first two Dont Panic books are freezer cookbooksthey teach a simple method of cooking that leaves your freezer full of wonderful meals.

This book takes a different turn and helps you conserve time and energy by providing you with delicious recipes that can be prepared in a short amount of time. So, with this book, we offer you one thing that is truly simple and easy (at last!). If you have 30 minutes (or less) to devote to preparing a meal, then try one of the recipes on the pages that follow. Look forward to the adventure... your family, friends, and guests will think that you cooked all day!

Susie

Cooking Quick and Easy

Lets face it; most of us live life on the run. And the three of us can attest we are no exception! As has always been the case, we are forever on a quest for how to make life easier, especially in the kitchen. Hopefully the recipes in this book will help you get dinner on the table quicklywith less than 30 minutes of hands-on prep time. We have a few other suggestions from personal experience that you might find helpful as well:

Plan out five meals for the week and incorporate them into a weekly meal calendar. The other two nights of the week, eat leftovers or treat yourself to takeout!