What are some easy kid-friendly recipes?!
Answers: I am in such a rut! I just need some ideas of relatively easy meals to cook. I have cook books and magazines and stuff but a lot of those things my kids would not like. What are some of your favorite recipes?
How about grilled cheese? You could always slice a veggie or two, even sautee them first, chop them finely, then put them in the sandwich, (if you have to try to sneak veggies in like I do).
Or what about chicken nuggets? Cut up some chicken breasts, roll them in plain yogurt, then roll them in crushed cereal (pretty much any plain cereal like corn flakes or even Cheerios or even just use bread crumbs, or crushed crackers), then bake on a sprayed cookie sheet at 350-375 for 20-25 minutes... I'm estimating since my chunks are different sizes each time so it cooks different every time.
Then offer ranch, BBQ sauce, etc. You can also add in a bit of Italian seasoning with the cereal if your kids wouldn't mind.
Do you guys like pizza? I looooove to get Pillsbury's hot roll mix (found by the Bisquick)- it really is quick and yummy to make homemade crust this way. One box is $1.64 and makes 2 crusts about 10-12 inches across. Seriously, like 10 minutes tops for homemade crust. Then add jarred pizza sauce (sometimes I just use spaghetti sauce), and whatever toppings and cheese you guys would like. You can chop veggies like above, and put those on the sauce before any cheese or toppings if you like.
How about burritos? You can customize those for the kids and adults- optional fillings toppings could be refried beans, whole beans, ground beef, grilled chicken, even fish (tillapia or cod?), salsa, sour cream, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, all sorts of cheese, jalepenos, chopped onion (regular or green onions)... each person could build their own.
Boil about 1/2 cup of elbow macaroni to al dente. Drain the water from the pan (leaving the macaroni) and add a can of my favorite canned chili (mine is Dennison's). Add a couple of ounces of Velveeta or American cheese and heat. Plate up and enjoy the best chili mac you've ever had.
***** added info *****
Oh, swell. You posted your "too much chili" comment while I was typing. How about boiling about 1 cup of macaroni. Drain it, add about 1/5 cup of milk and a third of a pound of Velveeta. Melt the cheese on low, and you've got mac and cheese.
Mac and Cheese
Hamburgers
Hotdogs
Chicken
Pizza
It depends on what your kid likes really. I like to think outside of the box sometimes with dinner. We rarely get a chance to have a big breakfast together, so sometimes I'll make that. Eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, whatever. One thing I really like is frech toast stuffed with a mixture of blueberry jam and cream cheese. It's really good.
Another really simple dinner I make is ham steak. I don't know why, but my whole family loves it. I take the ham steak and put it in a baking dish sprinkle on some brown sugar and let it cook for almost 1/2 hour. Cook it longer than you would think. I serve it with buttered egg noodles that I season with a little garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. And I generally do green beans with it. Although I do green beans a lot because it's something she'll actually eat.
We also like quesadillas. It's a great compromise and use up of leftovers. Everyone can have the kind they like. I bake them with a little Pam on each side, but you can fry them.
Another idea is meatball parm sandwiches. The whole house likes them. I generally make extra meatballs and if you do spaghetti a lot you generally would do.