Yes, I've searched this site already and didn't find what I needed.
Having our best friends over who have a 4 and 6 year old and we have 2yr old twins and a 4 year old. We have big get togethers all the time but usually BBQ or have pizza. I'd like to do something nicer since it's a much smaller group than we are used to. What's your favorite meal to make that kids enjoy as well? Don't want to do tacos, BTW, or spaghetti. Pork tenderloin? I'm horrible at coming up with meals! Friend is bringing a salad.
Pork tenderloin is good or one thing my kids love it beef tips & gravy over rice. You could do noodles also. It's done in the crockpot and it sooooo good.
I made an easy recipe that was chicken and buscuits and everyone loved it. You mix up the chicken with some sauce, pour in a 9x13, add buscuits on top and bake. You can serve it with buttered peas (the recipe actually said to put peas in the sauce, but I kept it out for the kids and served on the side) and the salad that the friend brings. I would also maybe make a fruit salad too. And something chocolate for dessert. Good luck and have fun!
ETA: Here is the recipe, I think I doubled it:
CHICKEN & BISCUITS
Printed from COOKS.COM
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2 c. cooked chicken, cut up
1/2 c. milk
8 oz. sour cream
Salt & pepper to taste
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can peas
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 tube butter milk biscuits
Mix chicken, milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, cream of mushroom soup and peas in an 8 x 8 glass casserole dish. Top with cheddar cheese and buttermilk biscuits. Bake, uncovered, in oven until biscuits are golden brown at 350 degrees.
NOTE: May wish to heat milk, sour cream, salt, pepper and cream of mushroom soup prior to adding chicken and peas, but this is optional. Helps make mixing of casserole easier.
My kids have always preferred simple food. No sauces, no gravies, all foods seperate. Any meal that has meat, a starch and veggie all seperate works for us. Pork tenderloin in a Greek marinade served with greek lemon roasted potatoes or rice and veggie would work. Or roast chicken or ham with mashed potatoes and veg, chicken breasts with rice and veg. When you serve foods seperate and simple it is always a safe bet.
Hello, it's hard cooking to please everyone. Do you know if the kids love mashed potatoes? Usually they do. Grill some chicken, mashed potatoes, a veggie (corn on the cob), salad and dinner rolls. Oven Roasted Potatoes are good, too. All recipes.com has a good one. If not, make the potatoes for grown ups and buy the crinkle baked fries for the kids. They can dip chicken/potatoes in ranch or catchup. I know you said no spaghetti, but how about Baked Ziti with meatballs. That's always good for a large crowd.
All kids love pasta! Make with a sald and dinner rolls. Hope this helps and good luck!
Yep... steaks.
Grill some nice steaks for the adults. And some for the kids as well, but you can cut them for them to share (once they are finished cooking). For the really little kids (the 2 and 4 year olds) moms can cut the meat into bite size pieces.
Our favorite side (besides baked potatoes) is to take new potatoes (the small red ones) and bake them. Wash, cut them up into bite size pieces (kind of like home fries, nice size chunks--not diced), boil them for 5 minutes, drain. Let them cool a little bit. Take a quart freezer bag and sprinkle a TB or more seasoning (parsley or basil, whatever you like) some Lawry's seasoned salt, and a TB of olive oil and mash it all around until blended. Then add the cooled/cut potatoes to the bag and mix/shake until coated.
Preheat oven to 350 cover a baking sheet with foil, spray lightly with cooking spray or olive oil. Spread the potatoes out on the pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Then using a flat spatula I "flip" or stir them around, and return them to the oven until they are nicely golden (another 10-15 minutes?)
My kids prefer these over baked potatoes. But you could do baked for the adults if you want, and save the oven "fries" for the kids. About 6-7 potatoes usually covers a pan, and would be enough for the kids you are talking about.
I would probably also serve the kids' "salad" as an array of raw veggies, rather than mixed up. A spear of cucumber, a couple of carrot sticks, quartered radish, sticks of red bell pepper, etc.
Enjoy!
My kids are 2 and 4 and they love pork tenderloin. I think you are safe with that. I like to marinate mine in honey mustard or even raspberry or peach jam or dressing. Steaks on the grill is a good idea too. The adults would love that and you can make some kid friendly sides that are sure to please with either of those options.
You could also do some sort of chicken dish. I make Greek Chicken a lot for a crowd and it's easy and delicious...basically buy some bone-in, skin-on chicken, season it liberally with salt, pepper, oregano, dot with butter and stick it in the oven. It's ridiculous...and the only thing that makes it Greek is the oregano, but every Greek I've ever known makes this and calls it this! LOL! But, chicken breasts on the grill or in the oven are good too. In fact if you go to the kraft recipe site they have an awesome (and easy) recipe for bruchetta chicken that is super yummy.
Honestly you don't have to make "kid food" if you don't want to...my kids would eat all of the above. The only thing to consider though that no matter what you make for them, they're not going to eat much of it because they'll probably be too busy and excited to play with their friends. This is always the case with us. Even if it's their favorite meal, they will likely take 3 bites and be done just so they can go play again!
steaks on the grill...baked potatoes or scalloped potatoes with a salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert
If it were my kids they would only eat mac and cheese, hot dogs, tacos, spaghetti, etc...they would look at pork tenderloin and eat a slice of bread and be done. They need simple foods.
How about looking at your local library in the periodicals section. You can find magazines like family fun. They always have tons of ideas for meals. You could go on their website too.
Taste of Home magazine used to have a section for brown bags. It had excellent ideas of foods to fix that kids would like. Maybe you could find something in that section. It's not online that I can find.
Chicken fettuccine alfredo - it's easy, and my kids love it!
Roast chicken, potatoes, roast carrots --all on the grill! Kids always love this meal. Haven't met a kid that wouldn't eat it. Simple, and no dishes!
-steaks on the grill
-kabobs
-shepherd's pie (easy, good, feeds a lot)
-ribs, corn on the cob, grilled veggies (squash, red onion, eggplant)
-steaks in the pan on stove, grilled onions, sauce, mashed potatoes,
steamed zucchini, baguette of bread w/butter
Lasagna. Feeds a crowd, everyone loves it. :)
That's my go-to for feeding family, since even the kids like it (cheese, noodles, sauce? what's not to love. :)
