Help! I need school day dinner menu ideas!

[Lisa96]

AWD mentioned allrecipes.com which is great - one of the best things is that you can adjust the recipes easily; just change the number of servings and the recipe reprints with the correctly adjusted ingredient list. Also, Kraft (www.kraftfoods.com) has good recipes and will send you a free magazine 4x a yr. with good meal ideas, new product announcements and coupons. They also do an e-mail newsletter which is nice. Pillsbury also has a good website and e-mail newsletter. But definitely you need to do some planning ahead.
I love meals that I can make and freeze, like meatloaf or chili or shepherd's pie. (I am a hamburger queen! Although sometimes I will use some ground turkey too!) The chili I make in big batches, portion it in those reuseable ziploc containers and freeze, then use it to top baked potatoes, or by itself or sometimes even in tacos. Meatloaf can be a great way to sneak veggies into your kid's diet - add grated carrots or mix in spinach to the meat mixture. And "frosting" it with mashed potatoes is a neat touch that kids usually like. If your kids are picky about regular meatloaf they might eat it if you shape the mixture into patties - these make nice salisbury steak dinners too when topped with a gravy (those McCormick ones are very good, and usually all you have to do is mix w/water and heat - DH can handle that!)

 

[HisEllyNelly]

Crockpots are the best invention in the world. Also....I have in the past, made a menu...for a month worth of meals...1 week at a time. Rotate the meals...helps make the shopping easier, and put the menu up on the fridge so everyone knows what the meals for the week are. Takes some work to get it going....but saves a lot of time and aggravation in the long run.

 

[sn00zn]

You should absolutely check out the book and website www.savingdinner.com.

This is really the only cookbook I use now outside of special occasions.

The focus is on healthy dinners using whole unprocessed ingredients that taste good (even to kids!) and can be made quickly and easily. Try the sample recipes on the website and I bet you'll be hooked!

snoozn

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

How about chicken souvlaki - very easy to make and fast!

Marinate chicken in Greek salad dressing (I use Kraft) and then grill.

Serve with a salad sprinkled with feta cheese along with grilled pita bread.


I have an extremely picky family - DH & DS will not eat any vegetables except corn!, no ham, no pork, no fish - I could go on and on.



Any more recipes out there? I would love a few more!

 

[MinnieM21]

If you want something that is quick and easy I recommend you check out Rachel Ray's "30 minute meals." Take a look at the food network website and you might find some easy ideas for dinner. Her recipes aren't complicated but they're delicious.

 

[Trish Bessette]

Here are some quick ideas:

Sloppy Joes / onion rings

Hot Hamburg or Hot Turkey Sandwich - buy deli turkey, heat in pan with turkey gravey (jar) goes great with french fries & a veggie.

Fish Sticks - I love the Haddock fillets by vandekamp.

Chicken fahitas or tacos - very quick and easy

Ham steak with mac & cheese

Do a breakfast night, kids love it, pancakes & bacon or french toast or omlets with a frozen hash brown

English muffin pizzas - so easy! English muffins with pizza sauce, mozeralla cheese and any topping they like. Heat in oven

Grilled cheese & soup night

Chili served over white rice - or try serving chili over a baked potato - yum!

Sweet Italian Sausage sandwiches with onions & peppers on sub rolls

Shake n bake pork chops, stove top stuffing, veggie & applesauce

Steak, steamed brocolli, baked potato

I can't stress enough how great a crock pot is. Throw it all together in the morning and dinner is ready when you get home! I do beef stew, chicken alfredo, corn chowder, pot roast, you name it!

Hope these help!

 

[pjlla]

Sorry this is so long!! I feel your pain! I am a SAHM who hates to cook... and on top of that, DH is on Atkins, I am on WW and I have one child with food allergies....YIKES! Coming up with something is always tough. And I am just like the previous poster who said she has stuff in the freezer getting dried out, but never remembers to defrost anything!

But I do have a few standby recipes from our pre-Atkins days. I made a modified chicken cacciatorie in my crockpot with chicken parts (anykind is okay.... I usually used skinless leg quarters as they were cheapest)...., canned spaghetti sauce (I like Hunts, again because it is cheap and tasty) and sliced onions and peppers (which you can get at the salad bar if you don't have time/desire to chop). If I am really rushed I put it all in the crockpot on high for a few hours at least. (Just be sure there is enough sauce to cover the chicken totally). If I have a bit more time I saute the onions and peppers before I throw them in. Serve with a side of plain macaroni or rice (and put some of the sauce on it) and garlic bread and a green salad if desired. Since there is always left over sauce I usually put it over spaghetti or ravioli a few days later.

Eggs and bacon for dinner is also an easy treat at my house.

Also I must share my meatloaf "trick". I get several pounds of ground beef on sale. To that I add my regular meatloaf ingredients, which for me includes a soybased meat substitute (until we discovered DS's soy allergy that is!), plain oatmeal, bread crumbs, eggs, ketchup, worcestershire, broccoli slaw (sold in the produce department.... looks like coleslaw), and any other leftover cooked veggies in the fridge, including mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, whatever!

I mix this all thoroughly with my bare (just washed) hands. Then I line a jelly roll pan with foil. I also line a small loaf pan with plastic wrap. I load the loafpan with the meat mix until it is level with the top. Then I turn it upside down and unmold it on the jelly roll pan (the plastic wrap helps keep it from sticking to the pan). I do this over and over until I have used all of the meat mix. I have been known to make upwards to 20 meatloaves at a time. Pop the jelly roll pan in the oven and bake as you would for just 1 meatloaf. I use a small loaf pan because DH can't eat much of this due to the oatmeal and bread crumbs, and DS doesn't much care for it, so a small loaf is enough for us.... but you could make any size loaf you wanted. I just like to make them uniform size so that they cook evenly. When they are cooked and cooled I wrap them first with saran wrap and then with foil. Then I put three or so in a ziploc freezerbag. Label and into the freezer they go. They can either defrost in the fridge the day before serving and then just heated in the microwave , or be defrosted in the microwave the day you serve it. A quick salad and/or veggies along with instant mashed potatoes or baked potatoes and you are all set!! I cannot tell you how many times this has saved me!! HTH......................P