5 Minute Easy Dinners For When You’re Too Busy to Cook

With finals less than 3 weeks away I know everyone is about to be hella stressed. That being said it is incredibly important to remember to eat plenty of food because your brain needs power!

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I know it can be hard to justify the time it takes to cook dinner, but I still think it’s a great study break and a great way to eat healthy while sticking to your budget. So here are 3 super quick, low effort meals that you can make during finals time.

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Baked Salmon

What you’ll need:

• Salmon

• Olive oil

• Minced garlic

• Italian seasoning

• Any veggies that you’re feeling

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450℉. Place thawed salmon on a baking sheet lined with foil.

2. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over salmon.

3. Sprinkle 1 tsp minced garlic over salmon and a very fine layer of Italian seasoning.

4. At this point, you can add your veggies to the same sheet if you are choosing to make them as well, and drizzle them with 1 tbsp of olive oil too.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until salmon pulls off of skin easily.

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Homemade Sloppy Joes

What you’ll need:

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1 pound ground beef

• 1/2 an onion, diced

• 4 cloves minced garlic

• 1- 1 ½ cups ketchup

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions:

1. In a large frying pan, heat butter and add ground beef, onion, and garlic and cook until beef is completely cooked through. Drain off excess fat.

2. While meat is cooking, whisk together tomato sauce, paste, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Be careful with how much ketchup you add, start with one cup and add if needed.

3. Pour mixture over meat and mix in well. Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes until heated through.

4. Serve on hamburger buns or no bun

Source// Domestically Creative

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas

What you’ll need:

• 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp peeled and deveined

• 1 yellow bell pepper sliced thin

• 1 red bell pepper sliced thin

• 1 orange bell pepper sliced thin

• 1 small red onion sliced thin

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt

• several turns of freshly ground pepper

• 2 teaspoon of chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika

• lime

• fresh cilantro for garnish

• tortillas warmed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine onion, bell pepper, shrimp, olive oil, salt and pepper, and spices.

3. Toss to combine.

4. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

5. Spread shrimp, bell peppers and onions on a baking sheet.

6. Cook at 450 degrees for about 8 minutes. Then turn oven to broil and cook for an additional 2 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.

7. Squeeze juice from a fresh lime over fajita mixture and top with fresh cilantro.

8. Serve in warm tortillas.

Source// No. 2 Pencil

I hope these recipes make you all excited to try something new this finals season, and hopefully, give you a little bit of a break too!

• fast
• finals
• food
• healthy
• homemade
• yummy