Yummy Easy and Kid Friendly Dinner Idea-please Share

See the cookbook LOVE MORE FEED LESS

It is loaded with healthful meal recipes that can prepared in minutes.
Loaf of Beef
Oodles of Noodles and Zuckles (Zucchini Pasta)
Pot pie made from leftover homemade Chicken Soup
Yammin Ham made with pineapples.
Etc etc etc.
Also the author includes High Altitude tips for adjusting recipes to higher grounds.

Any kind of stir fry.
We alternatie straches. Chowmein noodles, rice, and pastas, Udon.
Alternatie vegetables.
Alternate meats.
Alternate sauces. Sweet & Sour, Teryaki, Soy, Alfredo, Butter, Garlic, Pesto, etc.
Sometimes I just do meat, vegetables and a sauce and serve it with a nice bread instead of having a noodle or rice in it.
Whatever you absolutely don't like you can pick out easily and there is something for everyone.
Ok...so im also lazy and this is a one pan dish mostly....not a ton of clean up. lol.

A real simple treat in our house is buttered pasta. You can use fiffernt pastas (farfelle, angel hair, egg noodles, etc.), cook it a variety of ways (oil or butter, and add things to change it up and keep it healthy (peas, brocolli, spinach, carrots, peppers, cheeses, shreaded meat, garbanzo beans, mushrooms).

My favorites, but maybe least healthy are:

egg noodles in butter with garlic, grated parmesean, and peas
egg noodles in butter, with cheddar and brocolli

boil the noodles al dente
drain and add back to pot
add butter (don't need much, just to keep them from sticking
toss with grated cheese and add steamed veggies still firm not mushy

I have a friend that tosses the noodles in broth to keep them from sticking, and then uses less fat, but I like the buttery taste.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,178,145180-251192,00.html

Hamburger/Tater Tot casserole?

I like all recipes.com for "not my" ideas.

In our family, we like broccolli and carrots and cauliflower with rice or potatoes or pasta and beef and chicken and pork.

In a big pot place beef broth and the cut broccoli stems. Boil the broccoli stems until almost tender. Add the broccoli crowns, cauliflower and the rest of the beef broth and rice. (One cup of rice for every can of broth.) Brown hamburger in a frying pan. Season with diced onions, garlic granuals and pepper. Pour the cut up hamburger, onion mixture in the pot with the boiling water, vegetables and rice. (I don't drain the hamburger because I use 85/15 grind and draining it pours off a lot of the flavor.) Add one or two cans of cream of mushroom soup and the suggested can(s) of water. You get a thick cassarole. Add more broth or water and you get soup.

Occasionally I'll got to the 99 Cent store and get a can of nacho cheese sauce, heat it up and pour the sauce over the finished cassarole.

If you like mac and cheese, you can cook any kind of pasta (I haven't tried spaghetti) and add the nacho cheese sauce mentioned above and you have mac and cheese and its much cheaper than the boxed kind.

Of course you can do shrimp or chicken or beef alfredo.

I have a chili recipe that I've won several chili cook offs with. But its only kid friendly IF you like chili. I do and my kids do. I'll add it if you are interested.

Good luck to you and yours.

My kid LOVE monsters and really gross things. I have done Ramen noodles, put in green or blue food dye (so it makes it look like water or seaweed) get a hotdog, and slice it up longways to make it look like it has legs ....I make my hotdog look like an octopus and decorate its head with mustard and catsup for eyes and mouth...sometime I will through a couple gummy fish for decoration.. Not the most healthiest thing but my kid thought it was fun and its basically eating noodles and hotdogs
Another thing I do it I get chicken nuggets in the shapes of animals, dinosaurs or (currently) whales. I will make something around it to encorporate the animal. Last night she had Blue dip for her whales (ranch dressing with blue food coloring.
My kids favorite food is Mac and Cheese BUT it HAS to be the scooby doo or spongebob noodles (she does not like the elbow macoroni)
The dinosaurs have green beans THEY eat and then some of the dinosaur are dead and have blood (catsup) Again my kid loves monsters and gross things (and only 2.5) but she loves having an imagination with her food. I often here the chicken nuggets battling it out as to who is going to go in the green pond water first (gaucomole)
I have also made mini sandwiches with crackers (deli meat, cheese and crackers..if I can, I will put a toothpick through them to make car wheels.
My PERSONAL favorite is having breakfast for dinner. over the weekend, I make BIG BIG breakfasts (like Denver scramble)..and then on Tuesday, I will serve left over breakfast for dinner..SUPER easy and kids get the veggies
This stuff is only on occasion and not all the time. most of the time she gets our left overs from the previous day. Daddy gets home too late so she usually eats before we do.

I have been cut and pasting "easy" recipes into a word doc for several years. If you or anyone else wants a copy, just message me your email address and I will send it to you. =)

One of my favorite sites for family meals is www.weelicous.com :)

I love to try new recipes:

this one is super nutritious and a great way to introduce new textures and flavors to kids, it is colorful too!

eatingwell.com/recipes/fusilli_with_italian_sausage_arugula.html

this is a yummy "chicken fingers" dish, my two year old loves the dip with it!!!

eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_nuggets_blackberry_mustard.html

Nothing quite like sneaking is some veggies to a "classic" like mac n' cheese:

eatingwell.com/recipes/no_bake_macaroni_cheese.html

These sandwiches are delicious, and I made some extra sauce on the side to store in the fridge because it was so tasty:

foodnetwork.com/videos/hawaiian-pork-sandwiches/73750.html

Smoothies are a fave too... add milk, yogurt, frozen vanilla yogurt, or almond milk (like .5 cup), some bananas, berries, oranges, even avacodos are yummy! A little stevia can sweeten it up if you want a tastier treat.

and this recipe has become a family staple:

Spaghetti with Beef and Mushroom Sauce (6 servings)

from 1953 Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (I use 93% lean)
.5 cup chopped onion
1 10.75oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup (or other "cream of" soup)
1 10.75oz can condensed tomato soup
1 4oz can sliced mushrooms (opt)
.5 tsp italian seasoning
.5 tsp chili powder
.25 tsp black pepper
.25 tsp bottled hot sauce (I use sriracha)
12oz spaghetti (I actually use whole grain farfalle "bowties")
Grated Parmesean Cheese

1. In a large saucepan or a dutch oven cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir in mushroom soup, tomato soup, mushrooms (if desired), Italian seasoning, chili powder, black pepper, and if desired, hot pepper sauce. Bring sauce to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes stirring occasionally

2. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. serve sauce over hot spaghetti. If desired, sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

Cal: 512, 22 grams of total fat
(the calories may be somewhat less if you use healthier and lower calorie ingredients like lean meat. I also love to sneak veggies into the sauce, like slices of zucchini, fresh spinach, and broccoli. I toss my pasta with my sauce and serve it up already mixed)

Good luck!
-M.

two of mine, the kids love them:

cheesy chowder:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2011/01/smoky-corn-and...

upside down pizza:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2011/08/upside-down-pi...

Can't go wrong with pizza!
We do make your own pizzas. Sometimes on a bagel or french bread or even an english muffin in a pinch. I put out spaghetti, bbq, and alfrdeo sauce. Cheese, pepperoni, chicken, and what ever veggies I have. The kids usually make themselves peperoni and cheese. I usually make myself and husband bbq chicken or alfredo chicken.

Sometimes I buy the canned dough in the biscuit section. Lay it out flat and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with powdered garlic and italian herbs and bake until ti starts to brown just a little, then add my toppings to it and back in the oven. I can make half what they like and the other half what we like.