Easy Meals for the Busy Piano Teacher: #1 Cilantro Lime Chicken

I love delicious food, but I don’t have time to cook on days that I teach! Unfortunately, that’s not my only problem with cooking:

  • I don’t happen to like to cook most of the time.
  • I have to feed a family of 5, so I can’t always wing it. If you are interested in how I do anything, you might want to read How I Get and Stay Creative (with constant distractions).
  • I don’t like meal planning.
  • Piano teaching is a 2nd shift job, so I can’t just tell my young kids to fend for themselves.
  • I don’t like to cook with more than say 7 ingredients.
  • I like my food to not be too processed.

As you can see, it’s tough to find when it comes to finding a recipe that will fit my criteria. 😉

I’ve decided that I must not be the only piano teacher with this cooking issue, so I want to start sharing a few of the fabulous recipes that I’ve found so that you too can fix delicious meals with little effort! And if you don’t want to miss a recipe, please sign up for the ComposeCreate newsletter where I’ll put all the links as they are published so that you can find them easily.

Here’s one of the easiest recipes I’ve found that’s also pretty good for you too:

Cilantro Lime Chicken for the Piano Teacher

  • 6-7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (You can get these pretty cheaply from Kroger, if you have one in your area)
  • 1 package of taco seasoning
  • 1 16 oz jar of taco sauce (I use mild because I have kids)
  • 2 T cilantro leaves
  • 3 T lime juice
  • Shredded cheese

Directions:

cilantro lime chickenMix the taco sauce, taco seasoning, cilantro leaves, and lime juice in the crock pot. Place the chicken thighs in the crock pot and spoon the sauce over the thighs. Cook on low for 4-5 hours if the chicken was NOT frozen and 5-6 hours if the chicken was frozen. When you are ready to serve, separate the chicken into pieces with forks (so easy if you use thighs).

Serving:

Serve on tortillas with cheese and other taco or burrito fixings or serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Enjoy! Stay tuned for more…and let me know if you like this new series! And be sure to sign up for the ComposeCreate email newsletter so that you don’t miss a recipe in this series! I’ve got quite a few to share with you!

Intermediate Pieces You Might Like:

15 thoughts on “Easy Meals for the Busy Piano Teacher: #1 Cilantro Lime Chicken”

  1. I also do not like cooking for all the reasons you mentioned. I think I will like this new series though! 😉 Thanks for the recipe!

  2. Great idea for a new series! My kids are old enough to share the cooking now, but I still like to do a crockpot meal or something quick & easy a couple of nights each week. Thanks, Wendy!

  3. I don’t have kids (yet) but I do have a husband who doesn’t/won’t cook, and since I teach outside my home I sometimes don’t get home until 8pm, and then have to figure out dinner. This series will be a lifesaver for me!

  4. Perfect! One of my summer holiday projects (I’m in NZ) is compiling some slow cooker meals for exactly those reasons… There is nothing worse than coming out after teaching to a hungry and sometimes grumpy family of boys! 😉 I’ll look forward to the next ones.

  5. Such a great idea, I’m looking forward to more posts in this series! I don’t get home until about 8:00 p.m. most nights which often means my husband is in charge of dinner prep. I’m always searching for quick and easy crockpot recipes that don’t require as much work from him.

  6. Love this series idea as inevitably I teach up and through the dinner hour on Mondays and Tuesdays. This will help to keep me planning ahead for those nights. Thanks for sharing!

  7. What a super idea for a series! I’m always looking for quick, easy recipes for my family, and this one looks delicious! Thanks for sharing!

  8. What a great idea for a series. I know I will look forward to all the new entries! We have the same criterias as you. Thanks for compiling these together!

  9. Know what has saved me? Emealz.com !! Cheap, easy, meal plans out of whole foods planned for a week with shopping list included. Each day has easy enough steps for kids or dad to make. LIFESAVER! Try a free week!

  10. Love this new idea! I am in the same boat as you needing to prepare dinner before I start teaching so that when I am done we can just sit down and eat. I think I have all the same criteria as you about fewer ingredients but not processed and I have kids to nourish. Happy to share some of my favorite recipes too.

  11. One of the easiest things to do is pick say 4 days a week, and each week repeat that menu. It makes shopping soooo much easier and takes the guess work out of what to cook. For instance, I cook hamburgers Sunday after church, Monday hamburger something (helper etc) Wed. Salad with chicken slices, Thursday pizza. It doesn’t matter what the food is, just whatever your family likes. I know when I grocery shop, I always can pick these ingredients in a hurry, and that morning no thinking, just lay out the stuff.

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