If you have young kids - on your rotation?
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Anonymous
| If you have young kids (k and 3rd grader), and serve dinner for the whole family.. what do you serve? I’m looking for quick, healthy meals ..I have energy to make quick soups (chicken noodles) or stir fried foods.. or pasta. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Sheet pan meals. There are a ton, they're easy, and they hit the major food groups. |
Anonymous
Food52s harissa chicken is a favorite in my house, but there are so many. |
Anonymous
| DH makes dinner mostly, not me. He makes a salad, a main and a veg. Sometimes a starch, sometimes not. He works from home most days and can start cooking around 5:30. Sometimes he asks the nanny to help the kids prep part of dinner - usually the salad and setting the table. |
Anonymous
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In Summer, we incorporate a lot of fresh fruit and veg, even it doesn't feel like a "meal" to you, try to keep the kitchen cool, so lots of sheet pan meals of fish and roast veg/potato; omelets; roast veggie pastas (roast squash or beets or just tomatoes, puree in blender, and swirl over pasta); crust-less quiche is a big one, usually zucchini.
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Anonymous
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In the winter I make copycat Olive Garden soups, broccoli cheddar, etc, but go heavy on veggies and light on cream.
Frittata or breakfast casserole with fruit and yogurt is our go-to breakfast for dinner. Mu shu is my current favorite stir fry |
Anonymous
What part of this did you think would be helpful to OP? |
Anonymous
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One thing that helped me was having a formula.
I used to make a lot of vegetable heavy soups and freeze them. Easy things like lentil soup, minestrone, hamburger soup, taco soup, chicken noodle soup with lots of veggies, that I could put together in 30 minutes, with a lot of that hands off time. I also bought a lot of caesar salad kits, because my kids would eat those. Then most days, I'd make an entree that was protein + carb, and serve it with milk either soup or salad another vegetable (raw carrots, raw peppers, raw cucumber, frozen peas, steamed broccoli from the microwave were the ones that got eaten the most) Fruit Here are the entrees we ate the most: Grilled cheese sandwich Quesadilla (sometimes with leftover chicken or taco meat, if I had some, or with black beans but sometimes just cheese) Scrambled eggs with toast Frozen ravioli with hamburger browned in marina sauce. Cut up granny smith apples and potatoes fried with some Italian turkey sausage Pizzas we made on homemade na'an Pork chops on a sheet pan with cut up sweet potatoes Hamburgers or turkey burgers or veggie burgers on whole grain buns Sloppy joes with a mix of meat and lentils on a whole wheat bun Tacos with a mix of meat and lentils in hard shells Homemade chicken nuggets (I'd make a ton and freeze them) with sweet potato fries Canned beans with brown rice Baked beans on toast Cabbage and baby carrots and potatoes steamed with some turkey kielbasa Store bought rotisserie chicken, with store bought corn bread If I had more time, I'd do something like roast chicken, or pot roast in the crock pot and use the leftovers for soup, quesadilla filling, salad toppings etc . . . |
Anonymous
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Two quick and easy ones for our very picky eaters are tortilla wraps with a protein and salad /broccoli slaw mix (just buy precut slaw).
1) Sautee ground beef or turkey or whatever (add chopped onion if you have time). Then top with whatever easy condiments of choice. Lately been into Japanese bbq sauce which isn't at all spicy (this one - https://bachans.com/products/the-original-japanese-barbecue-sauce) and squeeze it on when almost done cooking and a little extra over the meat in the wrap. Throw into tortilla with a salad/slaw/whatever mixture and serve. 2) Black beans seasoned with olive oil, honey, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper. No cooking necessary. Top with crumbled queso/cojita/whatever cheese and some salad/slaw/whatever mixture and serve. Cilantro if you're being fancy. For whatever reason, my kids will eat some proteins better if hidden in a wrap and buried under other things. Whatever works. |
Anonymous
OP asked what's on the rotation. I said - a salad, a main and a vegetable. We don't always include a starch. |
Anonymous
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I have started trying to make meals that DH and I like more, and then buying a baguette to go with it. They get to try some new things, and if they aren't into it, they at least eat some bread and butter.
But this is because I am so bored with our meals! It's hard to branch out because my kids don't want "mixed" up items (like trying to make an interesting pasta dish). I am actually trying this tonight, but I'll also make some chicken legs and they can just eat those if they don't like the pasta. |
Anonymous
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Sunday nights - big casserole of baked ziti w/ meat sauce. Sneak in extra veggies if you want. Lasts us a couple dinners and lunches. Too hot for me to think about right now, but great meal in the winter. This recipe with Rao's for the tomato sauce:
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_ziti/ Admittedly not super healthy, but you can cut and sub with lower fat meats and cheeses as needed and use whole grain pasta. |
Anonymous
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I try to alternate categories. One week we'll do spaghetti and meatballs, another week we'll do spaghetti with chicken parm, another week we'll do linguine with shrimp.
Also alternate between grilled cheese and tomato soup, with salad and sandwich bar, or falafels. Salmon is a weekly staple but I'll change up the seasoning and sides. Teriyaki one week, lemon pepper the next. Breakfast for dinner in a pinch. |
Anonymous
We eat food...hope that was helpful and just some fun facts DH works from home while the nanny takes care of the kids. Hope that helps with your meal planning. |
Anonymous
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Nachos,
Tacos, burritos All the same meat! Just reheat and add different toppings. (Taco meat and beans can be cooked in a big batch and defrost/reheat in microwave easily) |