Roast chicken or a simple beef or pork stew.

Tacos or fajitas -- you can get as fancy as you want for the adults and adventurous kids (marinated meats, homemade guac or salsas) and even the pickiest kids will usually eat a tortilla with a meat or cheese inside.

Homemade breaded chicken? Grilled chicken drumsticks with rice pilaf and some sort of veggie/salad?

We love this recipe and it was a surprise hit with the kids at a recent party we had: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peruvian-Grilled-Chicken-239923

http://www.food.com/recipe/moroccan-ground-beef-kebab-skewers-291700

I make these like meatballs and serve them on pita or couscous with tzatziki and these carrots....


http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipe/cajun-carrot-fries/

Ina Garten's turkey meatloaf is great, and you can reserve half of it to bake in individual muffin cups for the kids. That with a pan of mac-n-cheese (Stouffer's if I'm lazy, homemade if I have time), roasted carrots and/or steamed broccoli and cookies for dessert.

Anonymous wrote:I love Lebanese Taverna as well. But I'd like to give my friends a home-cooked meal...

Middle eastern would be pretty easy to recreate at home.

One platter with eggplant dip, hummus, and tzatziki (for those who can do dairy) with pita and veggie spears (pepper, cucumber). One with grilled chicken (just use some ME spices). Rice? A big salad with olives and (on the side) cheese.

You could broil beef/chicken/veg kebabs - make a boxed rice pilaf on the side - also a salad and cut up fruit.

Pulled pork made in the crockpot. Always a hit.

Tacos! Make a meat filling and a bean filling and then have the fixings for everyone to choose their own.

Roast chicken? Make 2 of them (about 4 pounds each) and that there there will be 1 drumstick for each kid. I prefer my own roast chicken to supermarket rotisserie chicken. Leftovers can be used for soup, chicken salad, casseroles, etc. And any sides work well.

I love Lebanese Taverna as well. But I'd like to give my friends a home-cooked meal...

We get takeout from a Lebanese restaurant and supplement with crudités and fruit. You can get something to please almost everyone at Lebanese Taverna.

I'm in a rut and could use ideas other than pasta or chili. Four adults, four kids ages 7-3, no dairy or egg, a reasonably accomplished cook. We lean more to the "cussedly normal" end of the DCUM spectrum, rather than the "stress to impress" crowd.