Quesadillas cooked in the oven. Fill the tortilla w/ beans, veggies, cheese, meat, etc. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 400. Serve with avocado/guac, salsa, etc.

Make a bunch of burritos and stick them in the freezer. You can usually cook them in the microwave pretty quickly. Buy a bag of russet potatoes for baked potatoes. Make meatballs and flash freeze them and store them in a ziploc bag without the sauce. You take out however many you want put them in a pot of sauce on the stove and they will be ready by the time the pasta is done. Chili/soup in individual servings usually go from freezer to ready pretty quickly too. Anyways, the freezer is your friend.

One of my favs recently is canned chickpeas tossed with olive oil, sea salt, and good store bought harissa served on top of couscous, made the 5 minute way. Another fav is "healthy ramen" (i.e. http://www.amazon.com/Koyo-Tofu-Ramen-2-Ounce-Packages/dp/B000VKA680/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1324321902&sr=1-1) tossed with frozen peas and corn and topped with an egg.

i'm a sucker for being able to make whatever veggies we have in the fridge or freezer into either a pasta blend (olive oil, dried herbs, garlic, parmesean) or stir fry (sesame oil, teriyaki sauce, quick cook rice). That can get us through some tough spots.

huh, mimi - I've never made quesadillas in the oven. Gotta try it.

Also, look up Thomas Keller's favorite chicken reciepe on epicurious. It takes an hour, is AMAZING, and you have food for at least a couple days. This plus sauteed chard (two minutes tops) and microwaved brown rice is a great meal.

Stovetop quesadillas are quick too (cast iron skillet no oil required).

pot roast is meat plus vegis all in one (crock pot makes it even easier, too).

When we are super busy I like to make a Mexican style shredded beef or pork in the crock pot. I'll put half of it in the fridge to make quick tacos with and freeze the rest for later.

During finals week I made a huge pot of lentil and veggie soup that I could heat up quickly. I took a tip from this site and froze half in muffin tins so I had individual portions I could grab quickly. It worked great!

Buy a big rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store (or even two). You can have chicken straight the first night, then there are endless possibilities for using up the rest of the chicken that are really easy. Chop it up for chicken salad, saute it with beans, tomatoes and chili powder for quick tacos or make a chicken soup.

I also like to use frozen veggies to save time- it's really easy to cook a protein (maybe a frozen tilapia filet or a chicken sausage) on one side of a pan and saute some veggies with butter and garlic on the other. It's nothing fancy but it's a full meal with only one dirty pan and almost no prep time. If you aren't into frozen veggies, try a fresh veggie that doesn't require a lot of prep like kale. I've found that my 12 inch skillet has just enough room to hold protein and veggies for two people.

This healthy and tasty Pinto Bean Chili might require a little bit of planning, but you can make several batches and freeze: http://foodandstyle.com/2010/03/08/pinto-bean-chili-with-pan-roasted-spices-and-chipotle/

Then all you have to do is make a pot of quinoa while re-heating the chili - super easy! I love having a batch in the freezer - especially when we're back from a trip, are tired, but feel like a warm, healthy meal! Good luck with your whirlwind month.

Roast chicken (roasted at 450 in a baking pan or cast iron frying pan for 1 hour) plus salad. (and then you have meat for several days)
Canned tuna in olive oil mixed with canned white beans, chopped red onion, capers,basil, white wine vinegar and parmesan (on top of salad or bread).
Canned white beans + canned green chili's + cumin and cayenne and cooked shredded chicken makes white bean chicken chili.
Mussels are an amazingly simple meal- sautee onion and garlic in a big pot, add a few cups of white wine and/or chicken broth, bring to a boil then toss in the mussels and stir them until they're all open (about 5 minutes). Serve with crusty bread and a side salad.
Boil some frozen brussel sprouts or broccoli, serve on top of quinoa with olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese, top with a fried egg.
Omelets full of cheese and veggies.

i can live off of different types of pilafs.. rice, wheat berry, quinoa and other whole grains, cooked with veggies, greens like kale, spinach, and nuts and chickpea, beans for protein! eg A rice pilaf with kale, cashew, veggies and pomegranate. http://hobbyandmore.blogspot.com/2011/12/rice-pulaopilaf-with-kale-and-veggies.html

when i'm in a pinch, i'll make a mixed bean salad. 1 can of mixed beans (drained and rinsed), half an onion (diced), a few tablespoons of olive oil, a few tablespoons of lemon juice, and salt, pepper, and crushed mint to taste.

it takes five minutes if you use canned beans and would be a great side for two (i'll sometimes just eat this on my own... better than a box of crackers).

BLT/BLT+Avocado on biscuits.

In the time it takes to heat up the oven and bake the canned biscuits, you can easily fry up a few strips of bacon. The hot biscuits make it a little nicer than just a cold BLT.

I threw this together as a last minute dinner a couple of weeks ago and my husband loved it. I added sliced pepperoncini peppers to his.

Frozen fish fillets thaw and cook very quickly, seasoned up however you wish. Serve with whatever else you've got handy or ready, pasta/rice/veggies/salad/rolls/whatever, and you've got a surprisingly elegant meal about ten minutes after deciding to make it.

Packaged whole wheat gnocchi crisped in a skillet with olive oil, stir in a good jar of pesto, half a pint (or more) of halved grape tomatoes...heat through and top with crumbled goat cheese, plus salt + pepp to taste.

Vegetable slaw - get your salad fix with something that will hold up in the fridge without wilting. My favorite is bok choy, shredded carrots, julienned apple, and peanuts with a sweet and sour sesame vinaigrette. Serving is easy - just scoop and eat.

I'm also a huge fan of refried beans as a delicious, simple, and filling dinner/lunch. Puree or mash a can of pinto beans, stir in a little bacon fat, top with cheese, and serve either as a dip for chips or fill tortillas and top with pickled or raw chopped onion with a little citrus.

A quick, satisfying evening meal is quick chickpea and tomato soup. I sautee a small onion in olive oil, then add a can of chickpeas and two cans of tomatoes, undrained. Cook until the chickpeas are hot and softer, then serve with plenty of fresh bread and butter. You can add cooked chicken or a sprinkling of parmesan cheese if you want, but it's just fine without it. You could even melt some anchovies with the onions if you want extra flavor.

Something I ate a lot in college - frozen cheese perogies and frozen broccoli boiled for a few minutes, drained, then topped with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Yum!

If you have a crockpot, let it do the work for you. There's some minimal planning involved with dumping in all the ingredients several hours beforehand, but otherwise, you're good to go.

Where I grew up, pinto beans and cornbread were popular, and my mom always used her crockpot to cook the beans. Of course, she threw in a hunk of bacon, but when I stopped eating meat, I based my "soup beans" on this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/terrys-texas-pinto-beans/. Be sure to use enough liquid to keep the beans from getting too dry.

I also make this lima bean soup in the crockpot: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/luscious-lima-bean-soup/. Add in a can of tomatoes, whatever herbs you like, and don't bother to cook the veggies first--it all goes right into the crockpot.

Eggs! A dozen can be stretched in so many different ways -- over easy on some yummy toast (maybe spread with goat cheese) or over a salad of peppery greens; scrambled, omelets, or tortillas with whatever left-over veggies or meats you have; eggs in hell (poached in leftover marinara); fried on top of a pizza; hard boiled for on the go; egg salad sandwiches kicked up with a little paprika or chopped pickles; fried rice; french toast...

I'm so happy I finally took the plunge and became, sorry but I really DO say this aloud, a crock wh*re. I use it to make minestrone, chili, etc, and then try to freeze those in single or double serve portions. I also love lentils & brown rice with caramelized onions - that'll keep in the fridge for several days but can be bagged and frozen too - and if I'm really in a pinch for time I buy Trader Joe's ready-to-eat rice and ready-to-eat lentils then sauté some onions and just mix them together (if you eat meat then a market rotisserie chicken is a nice accompaniment but the lentils & rice and protein enough on their own). So it's easy to make a crockpot worth of food that you can then freeze & reheat in the microwave. If you're moving then a cooler, filled with two ice blocks, will keep all your frozen food solid for up to 2 days (until you can hook up your fridge and shift everything).

what about white chicken chili? you can cook it in the crockpot while you pack. it makes a ton and the leftovers freeze beautifully.

http://falling4food.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/need-some-comforting/

One of my favorites is pulled pork sandwiches. Throw a pork roast into the crockpot until cooked, shred, throw on bottled BBQ sauce (and let that warm through) and throw on some bread/buns.

Check out the stonesoup blog. The author does 10 minute recipes using only 5 ingredients.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/documerica-images-of-america-in-crisis-in-the-1970s/100190/

"fried" pasta with egg has been working hard for me this month. I start with a veggie or two; once that's cooked through I throw in whatever pasta is sitting in the fridge then crack eggs on top and cover until the whites are cooked.

Tomato sauce + 1 can tuna + capers + lemon zest (over pasta or polenta or w/bread)

Baked sweet potato w/black beans, cumin, canned tomatoes, yogurt

Sauteed greens (I like swiss chard) in garlic w/a fried egg.

Good luck, happy holidays:)

Two words: Slow Cooker