I know some very simple recipes that kids enjoy, provided they are not ridiculously picky eaters.
Rice is just about the easiest thing to fiddle with- Cook a cup of rice, add a pat of butter and mix in shredded cheese and hot cooked peas.
Cook the rice in broth or boullion instead of water, add chunks of cooked chicken, beef, tuna, any veggies he will eat.
Quesadillas are super easy.
Welsh Rabbit, which is a open faced broiled cheese sandwich, with some milk, egg yolk, a dash of dry mustard mixed with shredded cheese, topped onto a piece of bread and broiled till the cheese melts.
ANything else?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2012 05:36PM by Itzpapalotl.
Cube some potatoes to about 1/2" cubes. Slice up some kielbasa or other sausage. Saute in a frying pan until the taters are soft, throw in a small bag of frozen corn, cover, cook on medium until corn is cooked.
Make some taco meat with McCormick's taco seasoning in a fry pan. Bake some taters in the microwave. Slice open the taters and put in the taco meat. cover with grated cheese and sour cream.
Wash chicken parts. Put in pan. Salt and pepper. I use a little dried oregano so my chicken tastes more like turkey. Bake for 60 to 90 (for large chicken breasts) minutes at 400 degrees.
Tuna casserole:
Boil macaroni until soft. Place a couple of cans of tuna fish in a casserole dish. Add chopped up pieces of cheddar cheese (about 1/2 of a block of cheese). Add some sliced and chopped onion if you desire. Add the cooked macaroni. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Bacon and eggs:
Microwaveable dish (such as a glass pie plate). Fold a paper towel in quarters and place inside the bottom of the plate to soak up grease. Add a couple of paper towels unfolded on this to hold the bacon. Lay 8 - 10 strips (depending on how wide), one layer of bacon. Cover with a couple more paper towels to soak up the grease. Place in microwave. Cook it for about 6 minutes then check if the bacon has cooked. If not, cook in 30 second increments until done.
Cook eggs (I like scrambled) in skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Toast a couple of slices of bread (or more) in your toaster. Add jam.
Easy waffle (or pancake) batter. Plug in waffle iron.
Mix one large, heaping tablespoon (use a large soup spoon) of mayonnaise in a bowl filled with about two cups of Bisquick. Add a little water (about a couple of teaspoon fulls).
Pour in waffle iron or cook in a skillet as pancakes (flip pancakes when the batter begins to bubble).
Most kids love mac and cheese. For years it was the only thing my niece would eat other than chicken nuggets.Buy a box. It hs everything you need and easy directions. You can also add hamburger, sausage or chhopped up hot dogs to it. If he will eat it, you could also add some peas and have a complete meal.
Grab a bag of chili mix and follow the instructions on the back. Double it, it freezes well. There's always premade meals. Cook up some chicken and add a bag of frozen vegetables - he can microwave right?
Here's a cheap and easy meal, more of a breakfast, but works for dinner too:
Faux souffle
4 eggs 3 cups milk Salt and pepper cheese 8 slices of bread
Beat the eggs and milk together with salt and pepper
Break apart half of bread (in half or quarters) and line the bottom of a square dish. Pour half the egg mixture on top and press on the bread to make sure it's saturated. Toss some cheese on top. Break up the rest of the bread and place on top of the mixture. Pour the rest of the egg mixture on top and again make sure the bread is saturated. Add more cheese.
Most kids like to help cook and create their own meals. Not sure what age young'n is but might get him involved. Many ways to fix potatos,, macaroni,,rice,,hamburger,,,sloppy joes,,cornbread,,carrots,,,eggs,,many cheap and good value meals. Also some good basic cook books out there.
Potato soup - cut and peel two potatoes per person and one small onion, chopped. Put in a pot and cover with chicken broth until just covered, then boil til soft about 20 min. Pour into a blender and grated sharp cheddar cheese to taste and blend til smooth. My kids loved this when they were younger.
Baked potatoes w/ cheese, sour cream and crumbled bacon are good too. Grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas were popular with my kids. Breakfast food, pancakes, french toast, waffles work as well.
My kids favorite was dipping dinner. We'd have either chicken nuggets or little hamburgers the size of chicken nuggets, which we dipped in BBQ sauce. We'd have whatever veggie dipped in ranch dressing and apple slices dipped in caramel or cinnamon sugar. The kids loved the little bowls of sauces and dipping the different foods into the different sauces. It got them to eat fruits and veggies w/o complaint. Sometimes we'd substitute apples for bananas dipped in hot cocoa powder or yoghurt or we'd add tater tots and/or fries dipped in ketchup.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2012 06:07PM by CA girl.
If you do not have one get a blender. That way you can blend up veggies and stick them into things like pasta sauce, eggs,soups and other various things works wonders for the picky eater.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2012 06:13PM by eldorado.
Most young children seem to love salmon as much as they do chicken. If you can buy it in very large portions, like at Costco, it isn't so expensive. I buy salmon at Costco, cut it into fillets, then wrap each one in foil and freeze them for later use. *If* you have a few extra minutes, it's worth the time and effort to add a little salt and pepper to each fillet, plus a slice of lemon, before wrapping and freezing. Then just pop in an oven at 350 F for about 20-40 minutes for a main dish.
Most kids also love yams, and they are highly nutritious and cheap. You don't need to peel them first--just steam or bake them with the skins on, then split open and scoop out the flesh. You can put a little brown sugar, syrup and/or butter on top if you want even more flavor. This makes a very filling side dish.
English muffin pizzas with spaghetti sauce & shredded cheese
Homemade burritos (vegetarian refried beans, cheese, and salsa wrapped up in a wheat tortilla with your choice of: lettuce, olives, onions, and sliced avocado)
Progresso Hearty Tomato soup with orzo (orzo takes 9 minutes to boil in a pan on the stove. It's tasty and less messy than spaghetti).
celery bites with Nutella (apple slices are great with Nutella, too)
Quinoa with anything (quinoa is a complete protein). I mix it with a little olive oil, roasted red peppers, olives, and Parmesan. Quinoa is fast, easy, and tasty.
I buy the pre-made pie crusts because that's one thing I never mastered. This is just ONE quiche recipe -- there are probably a hundred of them.
4 eggs 1 cup half-and-half 1/2 cup real mayonnaise 2 tablespoons flour 1/3 cup minced onions Salt and garlic powder 8 ounces shredded Swiss or sharp cheddar cheese 1 package frozen chopped spinach 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Hand whip eggs, half-and-half, mayonnaise, and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into an unbaked 9-inch, deep pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.
When cooking for my grandchildren -- they tend to be picky -- I use green onions instead of regular onions. I pair the quiche with a salad (just buy the bag from the supermarket but go for the colorful lettuce instead of the iceberg -- color has more vitamins) and dinner rolls. My grandchildren really like the hawaian rolls you can buy from walmart too.
Also, quiche freezes easily (just slide the cold leftovers into a sandwich bag one slice per bag and throw them in the freezer) and reheat beautifully in the microwave (remove them from the sandwich bag, of course).
Allrecipes dot com is a great cooking resource. If you choose to make from scratch, just type that in your browser and then type the dish you're looking for. Some other recipes I use with the grandkids:
Impossible Cheeseburger Pie (also served with salad)
Homemade Pizza (I make my own dough and it's easy and pretty fool proof but you can also buy pizza crusts premade. I buy the already grated mozzerella but, if it's a hamburger or taco pizza I mix the mozzerella with cheddar. Ranch dressing makes a very good "white sauce" pizza sauce for chicken pizzas.)
Tacos
Chicken placed on a sheet of aluminium foil and covered with a marinade sauce like Orange Chicken Sauce, Barbeque Sauce, Garlic Herb Sauce (all bought pre-made at the supermarket) and then wrapped in the foil (fold it so that the folds are all on top of the chicken) and then baked at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. I usually serve the chicken with pasta (alfredo) or rice and a vegetable (broccoli is a favorite as are freshly steamed carrots).
Ramen Noodles (take an egg and beat it just like you would for scrambled eggs. Put three cups of water into a saucepan on high heat. Add the flavor packet right at the start. When the water is boiling, pour in the eggs and stir with a fork. then add the noodles. You can break them up if the long noodles are too great a challenge for the little guy. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 4 minutes until the noodles are done. You can also add vegetables like peas and carrots or small broccoli florets.)
Oh, and we make our cheeseburger macaroni from "scratch". We make a package of Mac and Cheese but we add fresh shredded cheese to it. The hamburger you cook as if for spaghetti and drain and then just mix it in with the macaroni. This is a good meal for carrot and celery sticks -- with ranch dressing for dipping -- on the side.)
Lot's of meal options out there once you start looking. Supermarkets will sometimes have little recipe cards by their produce too. (Well, Safeway does, I'm not sure about other stores.)
Good luck -- kids can be a challenge at mealtimes.