What kind of stuff can I make my kids for dinner thats not the same old stuff?

Question

I'm not a big cook but I've never messed up things that I try. I want to get more of a variety in my boy's diet, but I'm bad coming up with ideas. I also don't want to make something that they'll hate. I've made all the common stuff like meatloaf, fried chicken, and pot roast things like that. I don't know what kids would like made thats not the same stuff over and over.

Answer 1

My son loves shepherds pie. You layer mashed potatoes, cooked hamburger meat (scrambled and seasoned well) and whole kernel corn with cheese between each layers and on top. My whole family likes it really. And its so easy.

Sloppy joes are great too. One of my faves.

And fried eggplant. Great and easy and healthy, kindof. haha. You slice it and soak it in salt water for about 20 minutes. Dip it in egg, cover it in seasoned flour and then fry it for about 5 minutes each. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve with a pasta or something. This is very cheap also.

Answer 2

I personally find that it gets the kids all excited when you get them involved when cooking dinner. I have also found it to be true that they like the simple things. For example a box of hamburger helper goes a long way. I like to swich things up a lot because it does get tiring eating the same old meals over and over. Here are some of my ideas and I hope the help.

1 Quesadillas or fajita
Put chicken in frying pan with a can of salsa and cook til its done. Shred it up as best you can. Pup it in between two tortillas with shredded cheese and heat in a pan or toaster. Then cut into four's. Server sour cream and more salsa on the side. You can serve this with corn or buy a box of spanish rice or both and enjoy.

I also like to take chicken breast and cut into strip. Then bread them in flour and seasoning. You can fry them and make homemade chicken strips. These are always fun when you give the kids all kinds of dipping sauces.

I like to buy pasta roni shells in white cheddar cheese sauce. I just cook that as the directions indicate and then at the end I add a can of corn and a can or tuna and it makes a great casserole. My son loves it and it takes much better than it sounds. If you are feeding more than 2 or 3 I would definately double the recipe and you can also use chicken instead of tuna if you wish.

Another thing that we love to do is make pizzas from home. You can take the kids to the store to help you pick out the ingredients and you can all make them together. You can buy the dough all ready made or you can even buy the pizza making kit. Either way the kids will enjoy it.

There are so many different things you can try and these recipes are all fairly easy to make. Of course you can add or take things out, try adding your favorite vegetables along side of these dishes. Or just little things to brighten up the table. It can proove to be really fun, but thats just for some odd reason I like to cook. E-mail me at [e-mail] if you need some more ideas!!!

Take Care

Answer 3

My son really likes most ethnic foods РIndian, Chinese, Thai, etc. He loves saut̩ed chicken with garbanzo beans & mushrooms served over cous cous. He'll eat ANYTHING if it's on a skewer.

I also see some great ideas above – I might even try some of them myself.

My contribution is a recipe that helps me introduce new veggies to my son

Baked Pasta
Ingredients:
Pasta (such as ziti or penne – I like to use up the last bits of different boxes of pasta)
Marinara Sauce
Your favorite cheeses: ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and the last little bits of whatever is around
Chopped up veggies (great way to us up what’s in the fridge!) such as:
-Carrots
-Mushrooms
-Olives
-Zucchini
-Celery
-Onions
-Broccoli

Instructions:
Cook pasta al dente
You can either sauté the veggies or simmer them in the sauce until slightly tender. Mix sauce with pasta and layer it in a baking pan with cheeses. Top with cheese, cover with foil and bake at 350 until bubbly.

Answer 4

Some things we do are make theme nights (sometimes we even use costumes, music etc to set the tone)
Fingerfood night is Erin's favorite.... everything we eat can be eaten with our hands, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, brocolli, chicken nuggets etc. It's also great for nights you don't have much time to cook.
Breakfast for dinner
Picnic on the kitchen floor
Hawaiian night
Chinese night
Stew - let them throw whatever they want into a stew for dinner (add other things to make up for deficits)
Dessert first night
White night - everything we eat is white (mash potatoes, fish, califlower etc)

Casseroles are also a good way to go - you can use whatever you have on hand, and also make them early so you can just put them into the oven and play with your kids.

Answer 5

try this easy chicken pasta skillet

you will need 2 cups of rotini pasta cooked
2 or 3 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces and put in a pan to fry once cooked add one green pepper and one onion sliced once cooked add the cooked pasta one can of primo pasta sauce (i like the garlic one) and top with a cup of shredded mozarella cheese and serve it is delicious my family's favorite meal and its super easy we have tacos quite often bc they are easy maybe your kids would like sheppards pie

actually here the best advice i can give you go to www.kraftcanada.ca and they have this engine set up where you put in up to 3 things you like or if you haven't been shopping recently three things you have already like chiken and rice or sumthing its the greatest website ever

Answer 6

Tuna gravy and toast, 2 cans of tuna, 2 hard boiled eggs diced, start cooking in a frypan, as it heats up start add ing flour and milk to make a nice medium thick gravy. Serve on toast, I love it!!!

Answer 7

make some pasta and pour on some alfredo sauce from a jar. Add in some chiken and broccoli... the kids eat theri veggies and dont complain once!

Answer 8

make pigs in a blanket. take some crescent roll dough and cut them in half and Pre cook some turkey dog or soy dogs and roll them in the crescent roll halves and cook until golden brown. you can add cheese or a variety of vegetables in them also. my daughter loves cheese and broccoli in her crescent rolls

Answer 9

One of my favorites has always been tacos. Also, pasta served with salad, hot dogs with mac and cheese...those are just a few. Just make sure that you're giving them all the food groups and try to keep it healthy.

Answer 10

Home made pizza's out of refrigerator biscuits, they can help you make them. It is quick and easy, also easy to clean up. You will need refrigerated biscuits, pizza sauce you can find in the spaghetti sauce isle and your choice of topping. Good luck.