new dinner ideas for teens/kids who eat a lot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On sundays we grill a ton of meat so we have leftovers for a week. I like to make big pots of beans, pasta salads that I can add some of the meat to. Like PP we make a lot of quesadillas (which can be a side added to a regular dinner) Also rice bowls with tofu, vegetables, dumplings

Great ideas. In addition to quesadillas, roll those babies up into burritos and freeze.

[Anonymous]

Baked ziti with spinach, salad, garlic bread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also always running out of ideas.

Tonight, we're having a homemade twist on Chipotle. I bake or grill a whole baking pan of chicken thighs with taco seasoning, either from an envelope or my own made-up version.

Cook a pot of rice.

Roast a container of cherry tomatoes, cook some frozen fire-roasted corn, slice avocado and lime, serve.

This usually leaves at least a little chicken for the next day, when it can be used on a salad or in quesadillas. It's hard to have leftovers with the big eaters, though.

Here are a few of my teens’ favorites that are pretty easy:

We do a lot of rice bowls like this. Also an Asian version with peanut sauce. Various veggies to add. Protein might be shrimp, chicken, salmon, grilled flanks steak, pulled pork - really anything.

Huevos rancheros, rice and beans (sometimes with chicken mixed in), and sweet potato “nachos” (smothered with meat, cheese, beans, salsa, guac, Greek yogurt) are also favorites.

Kebabs (homemade chicken or the ground lamb ones from Whole Foods) served with pitas, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce and homemade tzakiki or similar sauces. Sometimes we swap in falafel or Costco gyro meat if we’re being lazy.

Also pulled pork or pulled chicken sandwiches - smoked or made in the instant pot - served with various veggies. I’ll often do a big batch that we can use for rice bowls, salads (me!), enchiladas, empanadas, quesadillas etc through the week. One of my kids is pretty obsessed with smoking things.

In the winter we do a lot of chili, stews, and braised chicken with various grains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti with spinach, salad, garlic bread.

+1

It's my two athletic college-aged sons and me. These are some of my hearty dinners, off the top of my head.
Chicken Pot Pie with salad (double recipe)
Shrimp and vegetable Fried Rice with eggrolls (double recipe)
Butter chicken (double recipe, and I add spinach to the sauce) with salad and Naan bread
A typical Sunday dinner that makes enough for Monday leftovers: I rotate Fried Fish (3lbs), Salmon patties (about 15 medium-sized), or Baked cod (3lbs) [you can insert whatever protein you want] with baked sweet potatoes (I cook 5), roasted broccoli, and homemade rolls.
Dirty Spaghetti (double recipe) with tomato and avocado salad, and rolls.
Tacos with white rice and salad. (I make around 15 tacos - a mix of blackened shrimp or ground beef). I make a salsa of chopped avocado, jalapeno peppers, corn, black beans, red onion, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and tomato to top the tacos.
Sometimes we do breakfast for dinner, so I typically will do:
Fried potatoes with peppers and onions, blueberry pancakes or blueberry waffles, bacon/sausage patties, grits, and scrambled eggs with onions, spinach, and peppers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teriyaki marinated chicken thighs, either grilled or broiled. Serve with rice or sesame noodles, and steamed broccoli.

Meatloaf. Not kidding, my teens love it. We have it with roasted or mashed potato, some kind of green veggie, and salad.

Any kind of pasta dish. Carbonara, shrimp scampi with angel hair, Alfredo with grilled chicken, bowtie pasta with sausage and peppers, you name it. Big salad on the side.

I made meatloaf the other night and my 15 year old boy saw it and said “yes!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti with spinach, salad, garlic bread.

+1

It's my two athletic college-aged sons and me. These are some of my hearty dinners, off the top of my head.
Chicken Pot Pie with salad (double recipe)
Shrimp and vegetable Fried Rice with eggrolls (double recipe)
Butter chicken (double recipe, and I add spinach to the sauce) with salad and Naan bread
A typical Sunday dinner that makes enough for Monday leftovers: I rotate Fried Fish (3lbs), Salmon patties (about 15 medium-sized), or Baked cod (3lbs) [you can insert whatever protein you want] with baked sweet potatoes (I cook 5), roasted broccoli, and homemade rolls.
Dirty Spaghetti (double recipe) with tomato and avocado salad, and rolls.
Tacos with white rice and salad. (I make around 15 tacos - a mix of blackened shrimp or ground beef). I make a salsa of chopped avocado, jalapeno peppers, corn, black beans, red onion, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and tomato to top the tacos.
Sometimes we do breakfast for dinner, so I typically will do:
Fried potatoes with peppers and onions, blueberry pancakes or blueberry waffles, bacon/sausage patties, grits, and scrambled eggs with onions, spinach, and peppers.

My sons would LOVE these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Big salads (light on the dressing of course). Load it up with hearty veggies like cauliflower, tomatoes, broccoli.

Chuckling at offering this to my 16 year old son. He would assume it was the appetizer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti with spinach, salad, garlic bread.

+1

It's my two athletic college-aged sons and me. These are some of my hearty dinners, off the top of my head.
Chicken Pot Pie with salad (double recipe)
Shrimp and vegetable Fried Rice with eggrolls (double recipe)
Butter chicken (double recipe, and I add spinach to the sauce) with salad and Naan bread
A typical Sunday dinner that makes enough for Monday leftovers: I rotate Fried Fish (3lbs), Salmon patties (about 15 medium-sized), or Baked cod (3lbs) [you can insert whatever protein you want] with baked sweet potatoes (I cook 5), roasted broccoli, and homemade rolls.
Dirty Spaghetti (double recipe) with tomato and avocado salad, and rolls.
Tacos with white rice and salad. (I make around 15 tacos - a mix of blackened shrimp or ground beef). I make a salsa of chopped avocado, jalapeno peppers, corn, black beans, red onion, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and tomato to top the tacos.
Sometimes we do breakfast for dinner, so I typically will do:
Fried potatoes with peppers and onions, blueberry pancakes or blueberry waffles, bacon/sausage patties, grits, and scrambled eggs with onions, spinach, and peppers.

Never heard of dirty spaghetti but happen to have all the ingredients on hand, so think I’ll try that this week.

We do some kind of burrito/taco bowl pretty much weekly, just vary the contents depending on what’s in the house.

[Anonymous]

Grilling a big salmon filet from Costco — grill in foil with butter or olive oil, old bay, herbs. Serve with orzo with peas or grilled vegetables mixed in. Leftovers go on salad or can make salmon burgers (add egg, bread crumbs, curry powder, green onion and fry—serve with drizzle of spicy mayo.).

Pork in crock pot with a beer, garlic, oregano cumin. Shred it (can use the kitchen aid paddle to shred quickly). Can put in bbq sauce and eat on rolls or fry later in week as easy carnitas on tacos.

Slice chicken breasts, saute with garlic and salt and olive oil, add whatever vegetable you like and serve over protein pasta with grated Parmesan.

Buy premade Indian sauce and saute cod in it, add peas towards the end. Serve over rice.

Cheaters bolognese sauce — grind a carrot pr two in min prep or blender, sautee with ground beef, salt, chopped garlic, throw in a bottle of Raos or similar and serve over pasta. You could add mushrooms too to fill out even more. The ground carrot makes it extra filling.

[Anonymous]

Instant pot butter chicken — double it

[Anonymous]

My almost 14 yo DD is an athlete. Tonight for dinner we are having Peruvian rice with chicken and egg, it’s leftovers from restaurant dinner last night. I make extra egg to make the rice go further.
She’s on her 2nd bowl.
She’s also having a handful of cherry tomatoes and a sliced apple.
Eggs are an easy protein source in our house.

Tomorrow we are having salmon marinated in pesto, potatoes ( cooked in microwave) corn on the cob, peas.

Tuesday we are going out to eat and that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

[Anonymous]

Baked potato or baked sweet potato topped with all sorts of things...beans, pulled chicken, etc. easy to bake a bunch and turn extra into soup, chili, hash browns, mashed potatoes, or other things.

Fried rice or moo shu (we use tortillas for the wraps) are also pretty quick and flexible.

Not every casserole we have tried is a hit but broccoli cheddar rice casserole was well liked. We also do various egg bakes and pasta bakes.

We also do a "burger salad" with romaine lettuce, tomato, pickles, red onion or crispy fried onions and a dressing of mayo, ketchup, pickle juice, and mustard. We cook lentils and season with a burger spice blend, but crumbled ground beef or turkey would also be good. We usually serve with oven fries.

[Anonymous]

Marry me chickpeas with French loaf or focaccia is super filling and delicious. I do a 50% split between low fat ricotta and heavy cream to reduce the calories instead of only using heavy cream. Takes 15-20 min to cook.

Deconstructed manti pasta is really good and easy and so filling. You can search that and find a bunch of recipes.

Smash beef with garlic yogurt and pita is another good one (I use the NYT version and then modify to taste)

A huge thing of Shakshuka with bread is usually a hit too for lazy dinners. Can just add eggs or so eggs and beef or sausage or whatever. World is your oyster with the Shakshuka base.

Healthy hamburger helper - lots of recipes online

[Anonymous]

Just double the portions.

[Anonymous]

Stuffed shells and meatballs

Steak with chimichurri and scalloped potatoes

Grilled fish, corn on the cob, cucumber tomato feta salad

Sometimes I make a flatbread pizza and cut it into wedges as an “appetizer” while the rest of the food cooks

None of this is new but those are my defaults currently