Lately, with the King being gone and all, I have really been struggling at dinner time. In fact Elizabeth and I had this same conversation on the phone today. I don't want to go all out and make a complicated meal for basically myself. The girls can be picky. At the same time the idea of fish sticks or chicken nuggets every night is simply nauseating. Going out to eat is always an option, but I don't want to serve them fatty foods all the time and financially that can be straining. How about some kid friendly appetizing meal ideas. Even if you don't have kids, what kind of meals would you make for yourself? I'd really appreciate some suggestions! And look at these faces, they need your help :)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Dinner Dilemma
Posted by Family_Dauk at 7:56 PM
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5 comments:
I won't comment on what I fed my kids for dinner tonite. LOL I struggle with this big time so I'm curious to see what the others have to say for this. Thanx for chatting today, I should call more often! :)
As you probably guess from my blog, I'm not the best person to ask about cooking...but I do enjoy tostadas. They are fast, easy and pretty healthy when you use FF refried beans. (3 of them for around 5 points but I don't add cheese).
I don't have kids, but I'm a picky eater, so here are a few of the things I like (or liked when I was younger).
Homemade pizzas! So good and easy for picky eaters because they can pick and choose what they want. They're also great because the kids can help with them.
Shepherd's Pie is one of my favourites, and with only beef, corn and potatoes, not hard to make, and not easy to be picky with. You can add cheese on top if you like.
Also, anything that can be made in a crock pot :) Soup, Chili, Stew... easy because you just have to throw it together early in the morning, and let it cook all day. Plus if you make extra, you can freeze it for another time.
Homemade Mac & Cheese is healthier than the boxed stuff, I throw in a can of Tuna and some peas to make it a little more balanced.
Not sure whether you're having problems with any specific foods that they refuse to eat, but if so, there are lots of ways to make things healthy and "tricking" the kids to liking it... you can add carrots, celery or any other veggies to pasta sauce and purree it so they don't know they are in there.
Also you can use whole grain pastas or pizza dough instead of white because they have more nutrients, and when they are slathered in sauce or cheese, you don't notice anyways.
Anyways, not sure if this is what you were looking for, but if it is, hope it helps!
PS... breakfast for dinner is always fun :D And with my experience working with kids, getting them involved when you can is really good for getting them excited about a meal. Especially if you make it fun (use cookie cutters to cut fun shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, or pancakes)
Sorry, I meesed up my first post.
Here's a couple of our staples:
Quesadillas or Pizzadillas:
just spread a little butter on a tortilla, top it with shredded cheese and another buttered tortilla and cook it on a griddle until it's nice and melty. There's a huge variety of things to put on it, but we'll do a little pizza sauce and pepperoni with the cheese. And you can always do healthy (or not healthy) dips.
Pancakes, muffins, scrambled eggs and toast, any kind of breakfast.
Bagel sandwiches are good. My kids like them just toasted with cream cheese. My favorite is a plain bagel, toasted, topped with swiss cheese, ham, turkey and a good layer of plain cream cheese. Pop the whole thing in the microwave until it's melty and it's soooo good. You could add lettuce or sprouts to veggie it up a little.
Homemade lunchables are good. We'll do crackers, sliced or stick cheese, ham and/or turkey, slices of bread cut into quarters and anything else you have on hand. The kids like making their own little sandwiches. I usually cut up some apples and carrots to go along with it.
This site has some good creative ideas:
http://www.kidskuisine.com/?cat=7
and your library might have some good cookbooks for kids food.
My kids really like noodles, so any kind of pasta is usually good. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Incredibly-Easy-Chicken-and-Noodles/Detail.aspx
I often make one simple thing for the kids and do a lot of snacking myself. Carrot sticks, healthy crackers, cheese, whole wheat toast and peanut butter, etc. Sometimes I think if I see another box of mac and cheese or grilled cheese sandwich, I'm going to vomit, so it's a necessity. And of course, when it comes to making our own dinner, I always freeze! You can also check out sites like 30daygourmet.com for good recipes to make ahead and freeze. It really does help! I hope that will get you started :
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