We eat a ton of soups this time of year. Easy to make ahead and just reheat at dinner time. A few favorites:
Peanut Soup
http://www.food.com/recipe/mark-bittmans-senegalese-peanut-soup-271533?layout=desktop
Chickpea and tomato soup:
http://eatingwithgrace.blogspot.com/2009/12/essential-comfort-food.html
Use veggie broth to make it vegetarian. We usually make it with elbow macaroni rather than rice.
I also love lentil soup, split pea soup, minestrone-but don't follow a recipe for those. And of course, tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich!
I like a lot of vegetarian Indian dishes too. If you like Indian food that's an easy way to add some variety. You can tone down the stickiness if your kids don't do spicy food. I love aloo gobhi (potato and cauliflower) and began Bharta (roasted eggplant). They're not hard, but can be a little time consuming so may not work as we'll for you.
One of my favorite vegetarian appetizers is Jaques Pepin's butter bean canapé. Takes just minutes and is so yummy:
http://www.kqed.org/w/morefastfoodmyway/episode201.html