Magic Years Nursery

Posts Tagged ‘easy food’

Feeding a family is a big job. Kids want to have food on the table three times a day, seven days a week. Mom knows she needs a bunch of emergency recipes that can easily be created in minutes. When you’re running late, and time’s running out, you want meals that Dad can put together, too. Here are some fast meal ideas that you’ll love.

Dip It: I haven’t met a kid yet that didn’t like to dunk carrots into ranch style dressing. Build on that “meal” by creating a whole arrangement of vegetables to dip. Choose some nice fresh cucumbers, celery, broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper, green bell peppers, radishes, and cauliflower, and arrange them on a plate just for your little dipper. Watch your picky eater devour their plate of vegetables before they even know what they’re eating.

Saved by a Sandwich: Start with two waffles, an English muffin, bagel, croissant, or a hotdog, hoagie or hamburger bun. Simply add jam, peanut butter, fruit slices, meat, hummus, veggies, eggs, or cheese. The possibilities are endless.

Never Fail Noodles: Every pantry should have an assortment of noodles at the ready. When dinner plans are unsure, noodles will be there to pull off a family-friendly meal in a minute. Start some noodles boiling and search the kitchen for goodies to add. Try adding some leftover vegetables to your hot noodles and topping with cheese. If you have a can of chicken broth you can make a quick soup with noodles and some celery and onion. A skillet dish with some hot, cooked noodles, pasta sauce stirred in, and topped with cottage cheese makes a great mock lasagna.

Wrap it Up: If you’ve got tortillas and leftovers, you’ve got a wonderful meal. Warm up your leftovers and wrap them up in a tortilla with some cheese. Voila! Leftovers Burrito.

Potatoes If You Please: If you want a really nutritious quick meal, try potatoes. You can peel and boil a batch, mash, and top with a quick gravy made with leftover chicken or beef, cut up and added to some melted cheese and milk. It only takes about 5 minutes to microwave a potato, so you can quickly serve a baked potato topped with anything that happens to be in your pantry or refrigerator, like black beans, onion, and diced chicken, and top it all with cottage cheese.

Simply Soup: When you have leftovers, you can make a soup that will please everyone. Start with some broth, add some onion, garlic, and celery and bring it to a boil. Now turn it to a simmer and start adding your bounty. Leftover potatoes, rice, or noodles are a good start. If you have leftover spaghetti sauce with noodles, add those and you’ll have the start of a minestrone.

Sundown Breakfast: Scramble up some eggs, put some pancakes on the griddle… it’s time for dinner! Breakfast is an all-hands-on-deck meal where everyone can get into the act. Dad, scramble those eggs, Mom, flip those pancakes, Brother, pour the milk, and Sister, butter the toast. Now, doesn’t everyone feel all nice and warm inside?

When dinnertime is rushed and your creativity goes out the window, come back to these ideas and your family will have a meal in minutes.