Family Meals for Your Children

Tuna noodle casserole. Yummy. My boyfriend hates it with peas and I like mine with, but I just serve peas on the side for me. We also like pot roast, corned beef and cabbage, and pork shoulder all from the slow cooker. With any of those you can vary it so everyone is satisfied. For instance my boyfriend wont eat cabbage when I make corned beef and cabbage, so he will make a sandwhich out of his, while I serve mine like a soup.
One meal for both, just have to be clever as to adjust it for everyone. We also like Panko crusted chicken breast (I cut them into strips) with white rice and teriyaki/garlic dipping sauce (trader joes for the panko crumbs and the teriyaki/garlic sauce was a marinade I found at Ralphs). Have fun! =)

Fajitas usually work well for us - each person can make their own so they put on what they like and make them spicy or not. I usually cut up a bunch of different things (carrots, fresh spinach, etc.), not just what you traditionally would put on fajitas.

There are several websites that will send you dinner menus/recipes each week along with a grocery list. All of them are healthy and I can recommend them personally. I started this because my kids got to the point where they would only eat a few things and I was bored of making the same few things. Now we rarely have the same this twice in a 3 month period. Most meals can be ready in under 30 minutes. My family is a tester for one of them (see below). Whenever I make anything new for dinner, especially when my kids were younger, I would tell them we are testing a new recipe (even if we weren't). I would then let them give me a rating. Anything under a 6 I would not make again. It let them feel like they had a say in what was going to be made in the future.

www.thescramble.com - this does have a cost and my family is a tester for this site (I get nothing if you subscribe). The meals have been "kid-tested" and has great variety. This has really transformed my kids into becoming adventurous eaters.

www.savingdinner.com - this one is great because there are different options each week - low carb, heart healthy and regular. It even gives options if there are only 2 of you in the house.

www.rachaelraymag.com - this one is free. Rachael's recipes are not necessarily the healthiest but my kids always love her recipes.

There are others - just search on "menu mailer," "dinner planner" on Google.

Good luck!

There is a school of thought that if you start being a short-order cook, then you will always be one. Serve one meal for everyone, every meal. If they don't like it, they won't eat it. If they are hungry enough, they will eat. Kids will not starve themselves. Let them serve themselves. Let them help grocery shop. Let them pick the veggies at the store. Have them try one new thing every week or two.

Now for my recipe:

Hamburger Casserole

1 1/2 pound lean hamburger, cooked and drained
1 large can sloppy joe sauce
1 box corn bread mix (better if you make it yourself from scratch using recipe on side of corn meal package)
Cheese (we like cheddar jack, but you can use American slices or whatever else you have or like)

Make cornbread according to package directions. Pour into pan (I use 8X8, but you can use 9X13).

Brown hamburger and stir in sloppy joe mix. Drop small spoonfulls all over top first, then carefully spread. (If not, you will get pieces with lots of cornbread and pieces with lots of hamburger instead of it being uniform.)

Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes until hamburger mix is set. Top with cheese and bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted or golden. Cool and enjoy! Serve with a salad or green vegetable.

Okay, first I know they sound weird but don't knock it, til you try it. My children favorite meal is what we call Sassy Enchiladas but don't let the name fool you. We layer these like a haystack. It sounds odd but I promise its good. First is Fritos or other corn chips (don't normally care for them but its not as good without them), chili, cheese, (this is where is gets weird) dill pickles, sweet pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa (or not) and sour cream. Like it said I know it sounds weird. My husband turned up his nose the first time I served it but its one of his favorites too. The pickles make the meal.
Cheesy Tuna Muffinlettes, 2 c cooked rice, 1 c shredded cheese, 1 can tuna, 3/4 c black olives sliced in thirds, 1 T instant chopped onion, 1 T parsley flakes (more if they are fresh), 1 t seasonall salt, 2 eggs, beaten, 2 T milk, Mix and divide into 6 muffin tins. Bake at 375 until done (I wait until the edges are slightly brown, about 20 mins. Serve with lemon juice or Tangy Butter Sauce (1/4c melted butter, 2 T lemon juice, 1/2 t seasonall salt and 1/2 t parsley flakes. Spoon over muffinlettes)
Corned Beef Casserole 2 oz pk noodles cooked and drained, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can chilled cubed corned beef (easier to cut if cold), 1 c milk, 1/2 c chopped onion, 1c grated cheese. Mix all ingredients, put in 2 quart casserole dish, top with buttered bread crumbs bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
Grilled cheese sandwiches are a favorite. My son also likes Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie and my oldest daughter likes Tuna Noodle Casserole. My youngest likes nothing until she tries it.

We do breakfast for dinner every week, either eggs and a meat, or blueberry pancakes or waffles. They love to help. My kids like to eat simple things (not mixed together) so in the summer we do corn on the cob a lot and fruit salad. We also make spaghetti a lot, my husband does homemade sauce with greens blended in. Those are probably our standards.

My daughter is a very picky eater. We are basically at the point that she can eat what we're having for dinner or she can have a peanut butter sandwich instead. She's 4.5 and lately I even have her make it herself. I've let her know I don't enjoy cooking more than one dinner. Sometimes if I know it's something neither kid will eat I might make something else for them, but mostly it's dinner or a sandwich. Sometimes I make sure the sides are something she will eat. Like if we have BBQ lentils, I'll make corn on the cob on the side or roasted sweet potatoes (because there are sweet potatoes in the lentils so cutting up a little extra isn't going out of my way). There are a couple things everybody eats though:

Vegetarian bean chili

Homemade pizza and garlic rolls- We buy pizza dough from the bakery dept of our store and add our own stuff.

Soup and something on the side like toast, or tater tots or these things made by MCAIN called Smiles (mashed potatoes in the shape of smiley faces). My husband and I will also have a salad or some other vegetable.

These are 2 of our favorite easy, healthy recipes:

http://weelicious.com/?s=banana+bites

http://weelicious.com/2008/05/14/wee-nuggets/

The younger the children the more picky they might be. The older my kids get, the more willing they are to expand.

We now like to have grilled cheese sandwiches (using sourdough and cheddar) with tomato soup.

They LOVE to have breakfast at dinnertime.

BBQ'ed meat is always a favorite,specifically we marinate a tri- tip all morning in soy sauce and sugar and water, and then bbq it and serve it with yoshidas sweet and savory sauce...serve with rice.
My kids like brocoli, I steam it fresh, with soy sauce in the water.

I make my own pizza dough, out of only 4 ingredients. You throw it in a bowl at 7pm, pop it in the fridge overnight, and the next day it has risen and is ready to use! People who come to my house love my pizza.
This dough also makes french loaves too.

We have a passdown recipe called bbqed franks and noodles (hot dog cassarole) it is a favorite in my house.

Also sweet and sour meatballs served over rice. The recipe is in the Betty Crocker cookbook and it is the staple at all our parties, it is so loved.

Email me for the recipes. ____@____.com

The only time I will make something different for dinner for the kids is if I know they truly don't like it, like my girls don't really like steak. I always try to have at least two options that they will eat served with dinner. They eat a lot of stuff which I am thankful for. I know they both like chicken, fish, pasta, ground turkey. My oldest LOVES tacos, the youngest not so much but there is stuff that we can put on her plate for her. They also love Shepard's Pie. (ground turkey, mashed potato, corn and creamed corn). Good luck!!

easy
would be hobo dinners. you can throw in whatever you want. usually i make ground beef patties, and throw them in a 9x13 pan, around it i put sliced potatoes, baby carrots, asparagus, corn in cob (broken in half), put a cup of beef stock, cover with aluminum foil, and bake on 400F for 1 hr 15 min (you can check when potatoes are ready).
same idea but instead of beef patties i put pieces of chicken.
then my kids love meatloaf with side of mashed potatoes and carrots.
i make whole wheat pasta with black olives, leek etc.

When we are in a hurry, I make canned (I know...bad, sodium, bad) vegatable beef soup (I use one famiy size can made as directed and add one more can rinsed off in a strainer-that way it's double the veggies without double the water or condensed soup 'sauce') and mini peperoni nacho's (bite size round chips, extra sharp cheddar square and a bite size pepperoni broiled until cheese melts).

We also love broccoli/ham/pepper jack cheese baked potatoes made in the microwave!

My son likes 95% of what I cook, most of the time. The "most of the time" is because I occasionally go on either a certain ethnic binge (that he doesn't like), or an experimental binge. When I'm experimenting I end up eating sandwiches myself rather frequently.

We have a house rule, however:

"If you don't like it, you can make a sandwich."

Menu for the past couple weeks:

- Chicken Marsala
- Philly Cheesesteak w/ fries
- Cobb salad
- Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas (mild)
- Carne Asada w rice and beans
- Chicken Katsu w/ Miso soup
- Seared scallops, red swiss chard, & roasted veggies
- Stir Fry
- Thai Curry w/ Cod over Basmati
- Mushroom Swiss Burgers w fries
- BBQ'd shrimp, portobellos, corn
- Chicken Tikka Masala over basmati w/ veggies
- Crab Cakes w/ greens and broiled portobello mushrooms
- Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese
- Quiche
- Biscuits and Cream Gravy
- Pizza
- Mussels Marineire w/ grilled dill toast & fennel salad (kiddo had a sammie)
- Calamari, grilled corn, & watermellon
- Gazpacho
- Tempura & Udon
- Breakfast for Dinner
- Chopped Salad

Pasta with pesto, feta and olives, served at any temp (good made with orzo).

Pancakes and bacon

Rice Pilaf is a favorite side dish

My kids love spanakopita. It's easier to hide the fact that it's spinach if you do the appetizer triangles instead of the layered pie.

Good luck!

Sweet potato french fries...super easy...slice into strips, drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper and if you want, paprika...bake until soft (they won't get crispy). We like ours on top of a huge romaine lettuce salad with feta, olives and hard boiled egg. I usually throw together a vinigrette of some sort from allrecipes.com

Another favorite is ground turkey, seasoned with cumin and some fried onions in olive oil, served over a bed of whole wheat couscous...and a green veggie

My two girls are very selective eaters so I try to give them options as much as possible. We like tacos because everyone can fix them they way they like. We also do a "potato bar" which is fun, cheap and easy. Just bake some potatoes and then put out a bunch of toppings (leftovers work great) - meatballs, bacon bits, shredded cheese, sour cream, butter, spices, broccoli, spinach, etc.

I know my kids will eat chicken and fish no problem...so those are staples. I cook mine and my husbands according to whatever recipe I am using and cook the kids plain. Then I serve a starch and a veggie, sometimes two veggies...usually what is on sale that week fresh...broccoli, asparagus, green beans, spinach, brussle sprouts, etc. I mix them up. Any pasta is a hit with my son...so I fix his plain with Parmesan cheese the way he likes it and a more complicated sauce for mom and dad.

Just keep it simple if they see the same meats and veggies week after week they will start eating them...they have to try them about 10 times to get the new flavor to be acceptable. On nights when I know the recipe i am serving might not be a huge hit...I will make rolls...each child I know will eat one...so if they don't each a lot of what I fixed at least they had a roll. But only one...unless they clean their plate then they can have a second.

I am curious what other mom's are serving...

We do some simple dinners here. I have an aversion to casseroles. I generally do a meat, chopped fresh veggies and a starch. So for dinner last night we had ham steaks, mac and cheese, and broccoli. Tonight we are having oven baked fish, corn on the cob and sweet potato's.

Nachos, breakfast for dinner, enchilada bake, tacos, pizza casserole, mexican soup, spaghetti, lasagna, steak with grilled veggies, homemade stromboli, etc. If any of them sound good to you and you want a recipe, let me know! I feel like I also get into the same rut at times!