Shadowing Practice: 5 Lazy Dinners for When You’re Too Tired to Cook (One-Pan, Slow Cooker & More) | Allrecipes - Learn English Speaking with Video

Here are five lazy spring dinners that are simple, tasty, and perfect for nights when you don't feel like cooking.

I'm starting with the laziest dinner of all, the five-minute French dip.

This was a little viral sensation we put on TikTok, and I'm gonna show it to you.

When you hear the word lazy, you know there are gonna be shortcuts involved, but this one, I'm telling you, you will not mind.

Just grab a saucepan, and in goes one can of beef consomme and one can of French onion soup.

And then I'm gonna add in some water.

You gotta have plenty of the dip liquid with a French dip.

Okay, so you get that heating up.

And we just use deli roast beef.

This stuff is so good.

As our liquid heats up, we're also gonna kinda gently heat the roast beef.

Okay, and while this heats up for a few minutes, we're going to toast our buns and melt the cheese.

So I'm gonna take the bread, wedge it open.

And then you're gonna take some provolone cheese, You're gonna put two halves on each half.

So each hoagie roll gets two slices of cheese.

You can make two, four, six, eight, whatever you're feeling, recipe makes four.

By the time the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted, our roast beef and our dip sauce will be warmed through.

Pop this under the broiler.

I like to do my broiler on low because you just have a little more control.

But if you go on high, this will only take like, you know, less than a minute.

Toasty, cheesy, melty bread.

I'm notorious for burning the bread.

Everything's cooked.

You're just heating things through.

That's why this dinner takes no time.

That French onion soup mixed with the beef consomme is the ultimate combo, I'm telling you.

And then to round out the meal, just a little bag salad.

I don't know that I ever eat a sandwich without chips.

Okay, you know how to eat it, right?

I'm swimming the sauce.

Mm.

You don't really want it to be that good because it took you no time and zero effort, but it is that good.

The flavor, like I said, of those two soups combined, it's perfection.

I think it's what makes it taste less like just a simple canned soup, because we like combined flavors.

The fun dinner your family will love that could not be any easier is the five minute French dip.

This next one might take longer than five minutes to cook, but it could be even easier than the French dip.

This is my one pan chicken dinner.

I keep it kind of a blanket statement with that because you can really change out the flavors however you want.

This one's more of a cooking technique and less of a recipe, but I'm gonna give you the recipe.

For today, it's gonna be a one pan Parmesan garlic chicken with potatoes and green beans.

Just for ease today, I'm using these triple washed, it says, gold potatoes that are kinda bite-sized.

I am gonna cut some of these in half just to make them even more bite-sized

and help them to cook a little more evenly.

But what you will notice is I'm not going to dirty one other thing, okay, except this one pan.

And that is what Lazy Dinners is all about.

Okay, and then green beans, however many you want.

It says four servings in here.

Also says washed and ready to use.

So you know what that means.

Take off any little stems I see.

And I like to kind of break them in half into just more fork-friendly portions.

So like I said, this is a technique.

So you could do sweet potatoes in here.

You could do a different kind of potato.

You could do no potato and just different veggies.

But what happens is kind of magical in this kind of dish.

We're gonna place our meat on top, which today is gonna be chicken thighs, but you could also do a pork tenderloin here, or pork chops, and as that meat cooks,

the juices that render from it are gonna flavor all the veggies underneath.

Now I like to kind of build it in layers.

So I'm gonna take a little olive oil, salt and pepper, toss that, and then I'm gonna take bone-in skin on chicken thighs, because to me this is the ultimate flavor.

Just place them right on top.

And I like doing it in this kind of pan instead of a sheet pan, because you're going to get way more sauciness in there.

So you could stop here.

You're going to get a perfectly flavorful dish.

And it was three ingredients.

Or you can add a fourth ingredient, which is whatever sauce you want.

It could just be Italian dressing.

It could be ranch dressing.

It could be barbecue sauce.

I'm going to do this Parmesan garlic wing sauce.

And a little bit goes a long way.

I'm just going to put a little kind of on top of the chicken

because it'll blend with the chicken juices and create the sauce.

This sauce also has that Parmesan cheese in it, so it's going to kind of help with some caramelization on the top.

I'm telling you when this mixes with the juices, it's liquid gold.

Then this goes into the oven.

This one's going to take close to an hour.

What you're going to want to do if you peek at it

and some of these veggies are sticking out and they look, you know, undercooked, you can give them a little zhuzh under the chicken about halfway through and just rotate the pan.

But other than that, kick your feet up, go for a walk, enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

Roasted chicken goodness.

You can see the juices bubbling underneath.

Green beans are tender.

Potatoes are good and tender.

This is why you want to kind of give it a little

zhuzh about halfway through just to be sure all those potatoes can get submerged a little bit

otherwise you're going to have some on the top that aren't going to be cooked as much

but I mean look at that perfectly roasted potato

because this is the vessel that absorbs the flavorful liquid

so you've got your meat and your two sides in one pan that took roughly

zero effort three ingredients zero effort one pan parmesan garlic chicken

that was a good dinner

if you think going through a drive-thru is easier than this

you're wrong let's show you the chicken don't get any juicier than that

immediately melts in your mouth there's a lot of flavor in

that sauce but remember you can play around with the flavors of the sauce

because this one does have a kick so if your family is not Big on spicy.

Might want to use something else.

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Perfect bite of the veggies.

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The potato is unmatched.

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And you don't even have to put a sauce, I promise you it's gonna taste just as good.

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The way it absorbs that savory chicken as it's cooked, 15 out of 10.

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For this meal, we are making honey garlic meatballs.

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I'm gonna serve this with broccoli and rice, minimal effort.

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And what's good about this, as the weather's getting warmer in the spring and summer, you don't have to heat up the kitchen.

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So I'm gonna start by creating the sauce directly into the slow cooker because there is no need to dirty a bowl.

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We're doing just a simple sweet and savory sauce.

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The base is a little bit of ketchup, but don't be scared.

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It works.

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A little bit of soy sauce.

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I like to double what the recipe calls for because I like it a little more salty.

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Honey, because honey, garlic.

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And also a little brown sugar.

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So that's some sweet stuff, but we're gonna kick it up and give it a little bite with some fresh garlic.

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And then chili garlic sauce.

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This has a little bit of a bite, but it's not too, too spicy, but it's got great depth of flavor.

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This is just a good thing to have on hand.

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It's very affordable, and you can add it to other things like marinades or scrambled eggs or whatever you want.

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Recipe calls for some Chinese five spice, but I'm gonna leave that out.

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And I'm gonna add in a little bit of onion.

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That's just because I want it.

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Not in the recipe, but it's gonna kinda add a little flavor and a little more moisture to the sauce.

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I don't always cook with frozen meatballs, but when I do, it's because I'm lazy.

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I like to get these smaller bite-sized meatballs because it's gonna be easier to serve my dinner this way.

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In they go, toss it all together, set it, and forget it.

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And of course, everything's cooked in here, so it's just a matter of everything heating through and coming together.

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So I'm just gonna go low for about four to six hours.

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All right, let's take a look at our meatballs.

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They're smelling amazing.

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To round out the meal, I'm gonna go in with some broccoli for about the last 20, 30 minutes.

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Got it in a small floret so that it cooks pretty fast.

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You could just steam this on the side and add it later when it's time to serve, but since it's already hot in here, this shouldn't take that long to cook.

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I'm going to crank it up, let it go high for just a little bit until that broccoli is a little bit crisp tender.

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It just takes about 15 more minutes on high and our broccolis become tender.

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To me, I like this sauce.

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It's not really thick, but if you want to thicken it, you can add a little cornstarch slurry.

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Then all you have to do is microwave a little rice and dish it up.

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There's lots of this good sauce under here, so don't be shy.

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Then you can finish it with some fresh green onion.

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A little sprinkle of sesame seeds, if you please.

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Minimal effort, few ingredients, and I'm pretty sure this is going to have tons of flavor.

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I was right.

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Lots of flavor, both sweet and spicy.

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The The meatball kind of acts as a sponge to soak up all the flavor.

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The crock pot can become the MVP when it comes to lazy dinners.

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We didn't have to do hardly anything to this dinner, and there is so much flavor in one pot.

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Next up, I'm doing a quick and easy Alfredo with shrimp.

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Springtime weather calls for more springtime grocery items.

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This is when I start getting into the seafood.

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The only thing you have to prep, and this is also optional, is a little shallot.

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You could also just do some onion, green onion, just to kind of give some flavor to our sauce.

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So this is a quick and easy Alfredo

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because it just kind of takes the guesswork out of all

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of it by using cream cheese as the base of this Alfredo instead of a bunch of heavy cream.

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A shortcut to making dinners lazier to get your shrimp already peeled and deveined.

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Keep cleanup easy.

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I'm just gonna open it right on the packaging that came in and season it.

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I'm going to kind of, you know, springify this alfredo, the little lemon flavor.

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So I'm going to add in some lemon pepper to season these.

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It already has salt and pepper in it, so that should be good.

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And the time it takes to cook our pasta, we'll have the whole dinner completely ready.

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Let me show you.

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All right, I've got a pot of boiling water and then the pan that you're going to cook your alfredo in.

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Go in at the same time.

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So bring some water to a boil and then you want to season it well.

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We're also going to use our pasta water to help our sauce.

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It's a little two-for-one special.

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No oil in our pasta water.

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Just drop it, give it a little stir, and it'll be just fine.

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I'm gonna saute my shrimp very briefly and then finish cooking it later, but I'm gonna kind of get the base flavor of our sauce going first.

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Make sure it's good and hot

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because I just wanna get some color on it without cooking it all the way through

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just to kind of set a tone for the rest of the dinner.

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Get it in a single layer, let it go for just a couple minutes.

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What makes this a lazy dinner is the fact that we're using a little shortcut in the cream cheese.

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It's not as lazy as pouring already made Alfredo sauce, but this one is going to taste better.

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But also the fact that it comes together so fast.

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So just gonna give them a little flip and then pull them out.

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This kind of just sets the seasoning on the shrimp.

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Just gives them better flavor than stirring it in raw.

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To those drippings, your shallot or your onion and the cream cheese.

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This adds a tanginess that you might not get in normal Alfredo because you're just using heavy cream.

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So I think it goes really well with that shrimp and there are spring vibes.

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Set it in.

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Let it melt with the help of a little milk.

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And the cream cheese just kind of helps create a more stable sauce so it's not going to break.

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And just stir it until all that melts and it's good and thick and creamy.

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Also going to add in a little garlic powder.

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A block of cream cheese is cheaper than a jar of Alfredo sauce.

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I am because you might already have that on hand along with milk and cheese.

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This could be a dinner that you only have to buy the shrimp.

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I think that this week's worth of dinners would be great to cook.

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You know y'all could cook this whole week's worth because it gives you variety, different meat options.

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They're all affordable.

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It's not chicken every night which is what my son says all the time.

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Mom, chicken again.

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It's thick and creamy.

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I'm going to finish it off with some grated parm and

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And now I'm gonna toss the pasta in and the shrimp

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and if it tightens up too much you use some of that pasta water.

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Olga.

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Pasta in, shrimp in, and then

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brighten it up for spring with a little lemon zest and juice and then just toss to coat.

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It'll thicken up pretty easily so that's when you can grab some of that pasta water.

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Just loosen it up just a little bit.

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This is one of those dishes that looks anything but lazy.

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A little pinch of pepper.

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Taste your food.

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It's delicious.

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This just screams spring. So creamy.

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Something about this cream cheese alfredo is just, it's a little something different.

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Finish it with a little more cheese, and this is the green for this dish.

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Some fresh parsley.

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Lazy lemon shrimp alfredo.

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it doesn't look lazy.

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Mmm. That lemon.

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This is just a good crowd pleaser.

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Your family will love it.

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It kind of feels a little more special and it's customizable because you can do it with chicken.

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You could do it with no meat.

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But whatever you serve it with, it is definitely quick and easy.

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We're just hitting them all out of the park if you ask me.

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For my final trick, I'm doing something I haven't done in forever.

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It just feels a little lazy and it also feels very springy

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because you can make this in the oven over the campfire or on a grill.

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This is going to be a southwestern style burger.

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It's going to have all the essentials in here, your meat and your veggies in one pouch.

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So I'm starting with a little bit of sweet potato.

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I like that sweet kind of flavor with the smoky kind of spicy flavors of the southwest.

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I'm going cut these kind of small because it's not going to cook for that long.

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You could add onion in here if you want.

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I'm going to add in a can of fiesta corn and a can of black beans.

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Drain and rinse.

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And now we're just going to flavor this up.

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A little olive oil.

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Of course some salt and pepper.

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A little chili powder.

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I like the smokiness with a little tad bit of heat to go with that sweet potato.

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And a little garlic and onion powder.

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This is really whatever that is, you know.

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Veggies down.

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And like when we did the one pan chicken bake.

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As the meat cooks, it's going to flavor these veggies too.

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Now you can make this even lazier if you get the pre-made burger patties.

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Shape them, place them down.

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Okay, we'll season that too.

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Just put a little salt and pepper on these.

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A little flavor shortcut here, some salsa, and then some pre-shredded cheese.

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Fold them up.

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You just want to be sure they fold up so the liquid doesn't drip out.

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I think anything that doesn't involve you having to stand over the stove is perfect for lazy.

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So these are ready for you.

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You could build these ahead of time and then hand them off to your husband at the grill, you know.

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But I'm gonna do them in the oven.

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These cook at 400 degrees for just about 40 minutes.

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Let's see what we got.

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Love like a surprise.

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It's like opening a little present.

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This is kind of a fun thing to do for some spring and summer outdoor entertaining.

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You can hand everybody one and then you can top it how you would, you know, your tacos or your burgers or both.

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Be careful, guys.

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It's hot in here.

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Dewy melty cheese, salsa, burger.

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This looks better than I thought it was going to work.

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So you can build almost like a little burger bowl.

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See, it's like a little Southwestern hash in there.

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Place our little burger on top.

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I'm going to top it kind of like I would my tacos.

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And this is a lot of flavor for not having to do a lot of work.

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A little hot sauce and some cilantro.

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I can see all the perfect bites going on right here.

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Can't you?

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Mm-hmm.

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Yes, I can, Nicole.

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A little bit of everything.

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It's like a burger and a taco had a baby.

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All these little veggies on the side make for the perfect little bite.

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Potatoes and everything cooked perfectly.

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Perfect for a fun spring weekend dinner.

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I think I have just shown you that being lazy is not always a bad thing.

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Five delicious dinners, perfect for springtime, are right here.

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I hope you'll try them.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing Practice: 5 Lazy Dinners for When You’re Too Tired to Cook (One-Pan, Slow Cooker & More) | Allrecipes - Learn English Speaking with Video

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