Suggestions for make-at-home dinner for family with two young children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Try chicken tikka masala

Looks complicated, but it's not. Don't let the long list throw you, most of the list is spices. You are doing like three things: making a past, cooking chicken in a pan and combining everything to cook. Try it on a Sunday to get a hang of it and serve it that night and monday. For the kids drop the jalapeño and get some naan.

1 tbsp. ground turmeric
4 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. red food coloring (optional)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1  2 1/2" piece ginger, peeled and chopped,
   plus julienned strips for garnish
1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts,
   cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup Greek yogurt, such as Fage
Kosher salt, to taste
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tbsp. paprika
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Cooked basmati rice, for serving

1. In a blender, purée turmeric, 2 tsp. garam masala, coloring, garlic, ginger, jalapeños, and 1?2 cup water. Put paste into a bowl. In the same blender, purée tomatoes. In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp. paste, chicken, yogurt, and salt; marinate for 30 minutes(you can do this the night before or in the morning, cover and put in the refig).Place oven rack 4" from heating element; heat to broil. Transfer chicken to a foil-lined sheet tray; broil until cooked, 5–6 minutes; set aside (or just cook the chicken in a large pan and remove when cooked- one less thing to clean up)

2. Heat butter in 6-qt. saucepan(same pan you used to cook the chicken, don't clean it)over medium-high heat. Add coriander and cumin; toast 4–6 minutes. Add paprika and onions; cook until soft, 6–8 minutes. Add remaining paste; brown for 5–6 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and 1 cup water; boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, 6–8 minutes. Stir in remaining masala and chicken; season with salt. Serve with garnishes and rice.


Lady, you are smoking some interesting crack if you think an 18-ingredient dish is easy or quick for someone who is exhausted and hangry!

You don't cook do you? It so hard to measure a few teaspoons of spice, garlic, ginger and water and turn on a processor....wow!

[Anonymous]

Out dinners are super simple meatloaf or baked chicken plus salad plus either steamed broccoli and rice or roasted butternut squash and some other grain like buckwheat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Try chicken tikka masala

Looks complicated, but it's not. Don't let the long list throw you, most of the list is spices. You are doing like three things: making a past, cooking chicken in a pan and combining everything to cook. Try it on a Sunday to get a hang of it and serve it that night and monday. For the kids drop the jalapeño and get some naan.

1 tbsp. ground turmeric
4 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. red food coloring (optional)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1  2 1/2" piece ginger, peeled and chopped,
   plus julienned strips for garnish
1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts,
   cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup Greek yogurt, such as Fage
Kosher salt, to taste
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tbsp. paprika
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Cooked basmati rice, for serving

1. In a blender, purée turmeric, 2 tsp. garam masala, coloring, garlic, ginger, jalapeños, and 1?2 cup water. Put paste into a bowl. In the same blender, purée tomatoes. In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp. paste, chicken, yogurt, and salt; marinate for 30 minutes(you can do this the night before or in the morning, cover and put in the refig).Place oven rack 4" from heating element; heat to broil. Transfer chicken to a foil-lined sheet tray; broil until cooked, 5–6 minutes; set aside (or just cook the chicken in a large pan and remove when cooked- one less thing to clean up)

2. Heat butter in 6-qt. saucepan(same pan you used to cook the chicken, don't clean it)over medium-high heat. Add coriander and cumin; toast 4–6 minutes. Add paprika and onions; cook until soft, 6–8 minutes. Add remaining paste; brown for 5–6 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and 1 cup water; boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, 6–8 minutes. Stir in remaining masala and chicken; season with salt. Serve with garnishes and rice.


Lady, you are smoking some interesting crack if you think an 18-ingredient dish is easy or quick for someone who is exhausted and hangry!

You don't cook do you? It so hard to measure a few teaspoons of spice, garlic, ginger and water and turn on a processor....wow!

Your recipe sounds delicious, but I get what the pp is saying about this dish being a bit overwhelming and time consuming. It adds extra time, clean up, and concentration to prepare a recipe like this. I wish I could do this for my family, but I'm more likely to buy a jar of prepared sauce or prepare this dinner on a Sunday for a special meal.

It's a lot of steps and I'm very slow in the kitchen and I'd likely mess something up or frustrate my family while trying to prepare this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On a related topics, for folks with both parents WOHP and cooking semi-home cooked meals for every meal (no take-out, no packaged/frozen meals -- cutting your own veggies, some meats, tofu, or the like), do you end up with the kitchen a disaster E.V.E.R.Y night? And how do you manage to clean it up and get kids to bed and do all the other chores around the house.

By the time we have kids in bed, cleaning the kitchen disaster is all I have energy for, and thus cleaning the rest of the house and laundry gets lumped into the weekend, which I had hoped would be family quality time not WEEKEND OF CHORES.

Yes, we've looked at a cleaning service, but not in our budget or logistics right now. And we deal with the "clean before the cleaners" problem so common, where they can't really get started until we address the chaos.

We are trying to enlist the kids, but I feel between the homework, language study, practicing piano, and computer homework we are always directing them to work, and never give *them* anytime to be kids...

No. We basically clean as we go. Prep and then put food in oven, then clean prep dishes that are dirty. If everyone helps it takes like five minutes.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to PP who suggested a bit of quinoa in the quesadillas - great tip! Can your kids (ie my DH, lol) detect the quinoa texture or anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jambalaya! Boxed rice mix from zatarains with sliced sausage and/or chicken and a salad.

Homemade Mac and cheese with broccoli and ham. Buy a ham steak and cut into chunks, steam some broccoli or use frozen. Make the cheese sauce and elbow noodles, add the broccoli and ham and bake it all together.

Thin boneless pork chops breaded with Panko and Parmesan and baked- serve with lemon juice squeezed on top and boiled potatoes tossed with butter and herbs.

I make my own jambalaya (saute onion, green pepper in olive oil and white wine. Add cut up chicken breast and kielbasa. Season with pepper, garlic powder, sprinkle with Frank's hot sauce to taste. Serve over rice.)

Zatarains Dirty Rice mix with ground beef or even Hamburger Helper - are super quick hits in my house. Not the healthiest, but oh well.

Meatloaf, baked salmon. Rotisserie chicken. Pork chops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Try chicken tikka masala

Looks complicated, but it's not. Don't let the long list throw you, most of the list is spices. You are doing like three things: making a past, cooking chicken in a pan and combining everything to cook. Try it on a Sunday to get a hang of it and serve it that night and monday. For the kids drop the jalapeño and get some naan.

1 tbsp. ground turmeric
4 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. red food coloring (optional)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1  2 1/2" piece ginger, peeled and chopped,
   plus julienned strips for garnish
1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts,
   cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup Greek yogurt, such as Fage
Kosher salt, to taste
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tbsp. paprika
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Cooked basmati rice, for serving

1. In a blender, purée turmeric, 2 tsp. garam masala, coloring, garlic, ginger, jalapeños, and 1?2 cup water. Put paste into a bowl. In the same blender, purée tomatoes. In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp. paste, chicken, yogurt, and salt; marinate for 30 minutes(you can do this the night before or in the morning, cover and put in the refig).Place oven rack 4" from heating element; heat to broil. Transfer chicken to a foil-lined sheet tray; broil until cooked, 5–6 minutes; set aside (or just cook the chicken in a large pan and remove when cooked- one less thing to clean up)

2. Heat butter in 6-qt. saucepan(same pan you used to cook the chicken, don't clean it)over medium-high heat. Add coriander and cumin; toast 4–6 minutes. Add paprika and onions; cook until soft, 6–8 minutes. Add remaining paste; brown for 5–6 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and 1 cup water; boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, 6–8 minutes. Stir in remaining masala and chicken; season with salt. Serve with garnishes and rice.


Lady, you are smoking some interesting crack if you think an 18-ingredient dish is easy or quick for someone who is exhausted and hangry!

You don't cook do you? It so hard to measure a few teaspoons of spice, garlic, ginger and water and turn on a processor....wow!

Np. Most, or at least many of us, don't readily have those ingredients on hand. And the multiple steps involved (marinating!)...not what I would call quick/easy/throw together meal. But the recipe does sound good - I want to try it!

[Anonymous]

I just want to say, I finally tried the baked pesto chicken I've seen on here and my WHOLE FAMILY loved it. Even my husband and the 1 year old. Could not be easier- pesto in the bottom of a baking dish, chicken breasts, salt and pepper, pesto on top of those, bake 40 minutes at 400, add fresh mozzarella slices on top til melted. Served ours with orzo with parmesan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Try chicken tikka masala

Looks complicated, but it's not. Don't let the long list throw you, most of the list is spices. You are doing like three things: making a past, cooking chicken in a pan and combining everything to cook. Try it on a Sunday to get a hang of it and serve it that night and monday. For the kids drop the jalapeño and get some naan.

1 tbsp. ground turmeric
4 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. red food coloring (optional)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1  2 1/2" piece ginger, peeled and chopped,
   plus julienned strips for garnish
1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts,
   cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup Greek yogurt, such as Fage
Kosher salt, to taste
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tbsp. paprika
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Cooked basmati rice, for serving

1. In a blender, purée turmeric, 2 tsp. garam masala, coloring, garlic, ginger, jalapeños, and 1?2 cup water. Put paste into a bowl. In the same blender, purée tomatoes. In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp. paste, chicken, yogurt, and salt; marinate for 30 minutes(you can do this the night before or in the morning, cover and put in the refig).Place oven rack 4" from heating element; heat to broil. Transfer chicken to a foil-lined sheet tray; broil until cooked, 5–6 minutes; set aside (or just cook the chicken in a large pan and remove when cooked- one less thing to clean up)

2. Heat butter in 6-qt. saucepan(same pan you used to cook the chicken, don't clean it)over medium-high heat. Add coriander and cumin; toast 4–6 minutes. Add paprika and onions; cook until soft, 6–8 minutes. Add remaining paste; brown for 5–6 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and 1 cup water; boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, 6–8 minutes. Stir in remaining masala and chicken; season with salt. Serve with garnishes and rice.


Lady, you are smoking some interesting crack if you think an 18-ingredient dish is easy or quick for someone who is exhausted and hangry!

You don't cook do you? It so hard to measure a few teaspoons of spice, garlic, ginger and water and turn on a processor....wow!

Oh come on (not pp). With a 3 year old and a 12 month old underfoot I'm not measuring all that shit out after work. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Really easy stuff:

Put a few boneless/skinless chicken breasts in a baking dish (pound or cut into thinner sections so they cook faster). Cover with your choice of sauce/seasoning: pesto, coconut milk & curry paste, marinara, apricot jam & cider vinegar & oil, BBQ sauce or seasoning. Bake at 375 - 20 minutes if they are thin (1/2 inch thick or less), 40 minutes if you left them regular thickness (1-2 inches). Changing the sauce up is an easy way to vary this for new flavors throughout the week.

Cut any cut of beef into thin strips. Marinate in teriyaki (20 minutes while you prepare veggies, or overnight, doesn't matter). Grill or broil. It only takes a few minutes. You can skewer them if you like, but it's extra work and not really necessary IMO. This is good with an inexpensive cut like round steak/roast.

Serve either of these with a basic veggie (roasted, steamed, or pan-fried in EVOO) and carb - I like rice or purchased bread rolls for convenience (hint: make a huge batch of rice, it doesn't take any longer, and you can re-heat portions all week).

[Anonymous]

Something that I've started making that everyone likes is just roasted sausage and vegetables. I cut up a bunch of different vegetables (cut them in pieces roughly the same size), some sausage (we like kielbasa but chicken sausage works too), toss it with olive oil and seasonings (I often use salt and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute), dump it in a roasting pan, and roast at 425 until the veggies are carmelized--you can judge how well you want them done, but I like ours nice and brown. I think it takes 20-30 minutes to roast? For veggies, I often use sweet potatoes, peppers, and onions, but I'll also throw in regular potatoes, brussels sprouts, carrots, etc--whatever I have in the veg drawer that needs to be used. In terms of how much veg to use, I basically fill a large roasting pan (maybe 6-8 cups of chopped vegetables?). For a family of four with two young kids, we easily eat the whole 12oz package of kielbasa or chicken sausage, so you may want to add a little extra sausage. Since this uses pretty sturdy vegetables, you can chop them in advance so that all you do when you walk in the door is preheat the oven and dump everything in the pan. I even mix everything with the olive oil and seasonings right in the roasting pan. One dish meal!

[Anonymous]

Tacos are always a hit with our 5 and almost 3 year old. Turkey meatballs and wild rice are also a favorite.

[Anonymous]

I make pasta a lot with marcella hazan's tomato sauce. (Diced tomatoes, butter, onion)

[Anonymous]

I do similar things to a lot of these meals-- just a few variations:

Stir fry: meat and vegetables (often frozen) first, then add garlic and ginger, then jarred lime juice, soy sauce, and fish sauce at the end. Often over 90 sec rice or couscous because it's fast. This can also be fried rice-- I then add an egg at the end.

Mexican breakfast: scrambled cheese eggs, salsa, beans over tortilla. I add sour cream and avocado if I have it.

Pasta: Costco pesto over pasta, steamed frozen shrimp (takes like 2 mins in a steamer basket), diced cherry tomatoes. Or, stir fried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil, turn off heat, mix with feta, pasta and steamed shrimp. Add dried basil or fresh if you happen to have it.

Crockpot pulled pork if we have the time.

[Anonymous]

OP for a really easy weeknight meal I sometimes make crepes.

You make a simple crepe batter

1 C flour
2 eggs
1/2 C milk
1/2 C water
1/4 t salt
2T melted butter


Mix it all together well. Flour and eggs first, then add milk and water; then the salt and melted butter.

Let the batter sit for a few minutes while you get the fillings. I use whatever ham or cheese we have in the cold cut drawer; or whatever leftover cooked vegetables we have from earlier dinners (like leftover chopped up cooked asparagus, spinach, etc) Get out leftover goat cheese, etc.

STart cooking the crepes very thinly, for about 2 minutes, and fill with a slice of ham and cheese, or some mushrooms, asparagus, etc. Keep the filled crepes warm in the oven until they are all ready. If you have enough batter you can make dessert crepes at the end.