In case you're starting to hate me because of all the advise I've been cranking out this week here is your chance to give me some advise.
I need help with dinner ideas.
I'm not a huge fan of cooking to begin with. And the kids don't do anything to make it better. Cooking with kids underfoot is probably the most stressful part of my job. It's almost impossible to keep everyone safe and still have a decent dinner.
Brandon has been the main cook in the family. He comes home from work and makes dinner while I keep the kids entertained. This has worked for us, but I feel bad that he has to do that after a long day.
And then there is the picky eater aspect. The girls don't like any food that is mixed together. They prefer everything plain. Plain noodles, plain rice, plain beans, etc. It is so disheartening to put a lot of effort into dinner only to have the two most vocal members of the family decide they "don't like it anymo."
On days that Brandon is gone I don't make anything elaborate. I'm completely outnumbered so I just make what I know the kids will eat. Which is getting pretty old. Last night we had scrambled eggs and toast for dinner because I couldn't stand the thought of eating Macaroni and Cheese one more time.
What do you like to eat? What do your kids eat?
I need ideas for meals that:
1. Take less than 30 minutes to make (anything longer isn't worth the effort)
2. Are made mostly from scratch. (I hate recipes that are considered "easy," but contain ingredients like Pillsbury biscuit dough.)
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This post was originally published on East Idaho Collective on January 31,
2023. EIM closed on February 15, 2023. I have moved my posts to this blog
in ord...
3 years ago
At about the same age as the girls, Ethan started to become a picky eater. I felt like a bad mom not giving him the nutrition that he needed. Not to mention totally monotonous. Then I read up on it and found that not only is this part of them growing into their independence, but is because they now have a finer attuned sensitivity to texture. Great combo, right? The only solution that has worked for us is to work with the foods that he likes and start adding little twists to them. To introduce completely new foods to them right now could backfire big-time and make them unwilling to try anything new. It also makes it a little less daunting to find recipes. Another tactic we have used is getting him to try one bite of something before he rejects it. From what I've read, it can take sometimes as many at 10 exposures to a new food for a child to really start liking and eating it. These things take time. Ethan is 4 and we are still working on it. But I can say that he will eat broccoli, which sounds small but is one of the biggest accomplishments I have ever made as a parent.
ReplyDeleteThe last thing I'd say is that you don't have to have a meal per se. if you get your kids to eat a variety of healthy side dishes for a meal, you have success. I am talking fruits and veggies, raw or minimally cooked. It is so much easier to microwave some frozen vegetables or pull out fruit from the fridge. Just takes minutes.
Do you have an email address? I just wrote a really long response about recipes but apparently exceeded the "characters" limit.
ReplyDeleteOkay first of all I recently learned about "your taste buds haven't come in for that yet" and love it because it gives them the opportunity to like it later.
ReplyDeleteHere's one solution that has worked for my family...I make a dinner and usually have them try it, but I leave the rice or noodles or whatever plain and then I give them those while I get the nice food.
For example I made swiss chicken (take thawed chicken put some swiss cheese on top. Then combine a can of cream of chicken some milk (about half a can) and pour that over the top. Then add some bread crumbs drizzle melted butter over the top and cook it in the oven at 350 for an hour) and then I had rice as a side. I gave my girls a lot of rice (because they like it:) and a little bit of chicken to try. Then I had the swiss chicken on my rice. It was delicious!!:)
I've made casseroles with noodles and left some noodles out for them to have (in fact yesterday I made macaroni salad and left some out:) or rice. You could do taco soup pretty easy and leave out some beans for them.
Now for some easy recipes. Tacos, chilli spaghetti (to make homemade sauce I just take some cans of tomato sauce put them on the stove to warm up and add some spices), bbq chicken (take frozen chicken and throw it in a crock pot with half a bottle of bbq sauce and some water, cook for 3-4 hours on high or until the chicken is cooked:), Noodles, you can cook some chicken in a crockpot, on the stove...and add some butter and spices (herbs) Chicken is easy to cook on the stove, just boil it for about 40 minutes if it thawed, double that for frozen. For a variation on cheese sandwiches you can put pizza sauce on some bread then ham and cheese and dip it in egg. Stir frys are pretty easy. Cut up some veggies (I like peppers for stir frys) and then marinate them (I like to use italian salad dressing) and then cook them until tender. I like to put marinated chicken or polska kielbasha sausages sliced with the veggies. Cheeseburger pie is pretty easy (I'm sure you can look up how to make that one:)
I hope that helps, I'd be happy to come up with more. For most of those meals I add a side of rice, potatoes, pasta. Good luck!!:)
Well, this one does require Puff Pastry dough, but other than that -- 15 minutes start to finish and very loved by Ryan and the girls: Inside Out Chicken pot pie; cut and bake the dough while in a pot you put 1 large cream of chicken soup, 1 c. milk, 2 c. cooked chicken, 3 c. frozen veggies or canned, salt and pepper to taste. Heat, ladle on the browned puff pastry dough. :)
ReplyDeleteWe eat lots of egg sandwiches -- eggs sunny side up with mustard, miracle whip, cheese, pesto.
We eat a lot of salad with chopped carrots, celery, cheese, cucumbers... and for the girls and RYan, R-A-N-C-H!
Cooked rice with steamed veggies (broccoli or cauliflower) with cheddar cheese and ranch.
Best of luck -- I always need help with thinking of meals too. It's tough, especially when you're pregnant and either not hungry for what you're making or just not energetic for cooking.
Do they eat ground beef at all? Our favorite meal that the kids eat is Cheap Korean Beef. It's sweet b/c it has brown sugar & most kids like that :) They can keep the meat separate from their rice if they are like that. Here is the recipe: http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/2011/12/cheap-korean-beef.html. We often double the sauce & then add steamed California Vegetables.
ReplyDeleteWhat about pizza? Do your kids even like cheese pizza? I do homemade pizza all the time. I have two pizza doughs on my blog as well. I mix up the dough. Let it sit for 10 minutes & then roll it out top it & bake it for 12 minutes. It might take slightly longer than 30 minutes start to finish, but it's definitely a kid favorite.
You can always do Hawaiian Haystacks too & keep the chicken & gravy separate from the rice. That one is easy to start in the morning in the crock pot if you are using cream of chicken soup. If you want a homemade version here is mine: http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/2013/01/hawaiian-haystacks_24.html
Good luck!
Here are a couple of easy meals that are all around pleasers at our house.
ReplyDelete*Pizza (Artisan Bread in Five has super easy pizza dough recipe a that we love.)
*Gnocchi Al Forno - Super easy and delicious. Sometimes Cooper even eats the spinach.
* Creamy Garlic Pasta - Can add veggies to make it more exciting.
*Black Bean Burgers - These are not a hamburger replacement, but something else entirely delicious.