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Recipe Rescue
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 5:00AM Okay, friends in Blogland. I desperately need your help!
Try as I might to prepare and place nutritious and yummy dishes on my family’s dinner table nightly, I have hit a culinary roadblock. I cannot seem to find anything that all four of us delight in eating, except for breakfast foods. And while I enjoy breakfast foods for dinner, I cannot in good conscience serve breakfast two times a day, seven days a week.
I have come to the place where I completely understand why some parents fix four different meals for their family just to ensure that everyone eats. However, I am not willing to cave to this practice…yet.
So, I am asking you to come to my rescue.
Please, please, please take a moment and share with me a family-friendly recipe. I am desperate!
And…for the person who shares the recipe that my entire family will eat, you will receive your choice of a $10.00 Starbucks, Target, or Panera Bread gift card!
I cannot wait to see your recipes and to try each one.
I will keep you up to date on our progress and on what the others will eat or not eat.
Now, I am on my way to fix what else? Breakfast!
Have an awesome day!
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Reader Comments (9)
A box of penne pasta, cooked. Two packages of your favorite Knorr pasta sauce, cooked. One pound of your favorite ground sausage, cooked. Use a 2 qt. casserole dish, combine all ingredients, top with grated parmesan and pop in oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 mins., or long enough to heat all the way through. Serve with salad, veggies and garlic bread. Enjoy!
Baked Chicken & Rice - Mix in 9 x 13 baking pan, 2 cans of cream soups (cream of chicken, celery or mushroom or combination of any two) 1 can of milk. Whist together. Mix in 3 cups minute rice. Lay boneless./skinless chicken breasts atop the rice mixture. Bake covere in foil until chicken is done. Top with grated cheese (cheddar, cojack, whatever you like). pop back in over until cheese melts. Serve with a veggie or salad and bread. This also works well with pork chops! Hope you like it! Terry
Kristen,
I can totally relate! Awhile back I finally began a 3-ring notebook titled: "The Kitchen of Lori Prince." I separated it into breakfast (sound like you'd have this one already covered! :) ), lunch, dinner, & holidays. As the years go on I include ONLY recipes that we all will eat. I'm hoping to be able to pass this down to future daughter-in-laws! :) heehee... It took me many years for it to sink in, but, my family in particular...enjoys the same, tried n' true dishes. They don't like my taste 'for something new' tonight! :) So, I let my creative side out by decorating the dinner table in different fashions! They are all boys...so I'm sure they really don't care too much about this either...but, they know it is important to me. To have the family table look nice! I really do get carried away...more so, now that they are older and I have more time to do this! Something that you have to look forward to!
Anyhow...here is one of my tried n' true recipe's that they LOVE...the good thing is too-you can freeze it! I make it up and cut it into individual size portions and put the individual containers in the freezer. They are perfect for when your boy's are older and need more to eat...you can pop one out of the freezer and you have a meal right then.
Taco Bake
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion chopped, very finely -my boy's aren't onion lovers like I am!!!
3/4 c. water
1 package taco seasoning
1 can, 15 oz. tomoto sauce
large package of shells (any type and I vary this part...macaroni, open shells) *cook this according to the package directions...drain well...set aside
1 can chopped green chilies - 4 oz.
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
In a skillet, brown beef and onion over medium heat.
Drain fat.
Add the water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce.
Mix.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat/simmer 20 min.
Stir in macaroni, chilies, and 1 1/2 c. cheese
pour into a greased baking dish.
sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 350- 30 min.
It easily serves our family of 4, w/ portions left-over to freeze!
I serve this with a large mixed green salad...
I hope your family enjoys this like ours does!!!
Lori - Mesa, AZ
Kristen: I think you have my recipes, so here are 2 suggestions: l. Have the person I've known the longest in your household (Hubby) be responsible for the meal once a week.
2. Time for Big Guy and Bird to step up to the plate - have them prepare simple meals such as sandwiches, English muffin pizzas, pigs in a blanket, etc. Mom2
I feel the same way, I am in a rut fixing the same things over and over. I don't have a recipe, but tonight I am grilling. I have marinated boneless skinless chicken breasts in Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing all day and will grill them for dinner tonight. If all else fails, have tacos every night.:)
OK, Kristen, here is one receipe and then another that my niece, Kerri, fixed for her smaller children and they loved it.
Mostaccioli
Brown 1 pound ground beef
Add onion to ground beef
Stir in 1 can tomato pieces
6 ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Bring to boil.
Cook 1/2 pound mostaccoili noodles or penne pasta or pennette pasta
Drain.
1/2 pound sliced Velveeta Cheese
Arrange in alternate layers once or twice - noodles, meat mixture, cheese in 9x13 casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.
Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 6-8 people.
Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups chicken breast, cut up
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 8 ounce 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 cup salsa, divided
8 8 inch flour tortillas
Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Cheddar Cheese
Combine chicken, green pepper, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup salsa in a saucepan; cook over low heat until cheese melts, stirring often.
Spoon 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto center of each tortilla; roll up tortillas. Arrange filled tortillas in a 13x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Top with remaining 1/2 cup salsa. Yield: 8 enchiladas
Enjoy
So I asked the boys their favorite meals I cook, and here is there favorites!! They are both slow cooker meals, as who has time to slave over the stove anymore!
Tacos, with shredded beef
Shredded Beef Recipe
1 4lb rump roast
1 large jar of salsa
3 T. of crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch green onions (or to taste)
1 c. chopped fresh cilantro
Place roast in slow cooker, it can even be frozen, just allow for extra cooking time. Pour salsa, garlic, salt and pepper over the top. Set it on low for about 4-5 hours thawed, 9 if frozen. When done it should shred easily with a fork. Shred the roast into the juices, mix in onion and cilantro. YUMMMMY!
Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
4 frozen ckicken breasts still pretty frozen, cut into strips
1 can cream of ckn soup (Healthy request if you like)
1 can ckn broth
1 packet Italian Dressing Mix (dry mix found in the dressing section)
1 small tub chive and onion cream cheese (low fat if you like)
Put chicken in crock pot, mix soup, broth, dressing mix and pour over chicken. cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Remove chicken, with the cream cheese at room temp. whisk into remaining sauce in crockpot. Add chicken and let it cook another half hour or so. (or if you are in a hurry like me, after wisking in the cream cheese, I pour it into a bowl and microwave:)
We love it severd over egg noodles. Enjoy!
Allrecipes.com is an AWESOME place to get ideas. If you need one more for breakfast, type in and search for French toast Souffle, it is fantastic! My boys would gobble it up everyday! A great way to use day old bread/ buns, etc.
What's cooking? My favorite recipe is "Eating Out at a Restaurant".
Hi Kristen,
Sorry for the late response, life is sometimes hectic. I'm sure you know what I mean.
Here is an old family favorite and I do mean old.
Hobo Dinners
Make 4 ground beef patties, mixed with lipton onion soup mix. Make the patties as big or small as you like. You control the portions.
Place each pattie on a large piece of aluminum foil.
Place a handful of sliced potates, uncooked (do not peel) covering 1/3 of each hamburger pattie.
Handful of either frozen or can green beans (drained) covering 1/3 of each pattie
Handful of canned or frozen corn (drained) covering 1/3 of each pattie
You can use any assortment of vegetables you like, again you are in control.
Season according to your family taste.
Wrap each meal completely covered in aluminum, rolling outside edges tightly.
Place on baking sheet and bake 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, hold each pattie meal over a bowl and poke a hole or two in bottom with a fork to drain excess fat. Open foil and flip each meal onto an aluminum pie plate.
For fun, use empty cans (washed before using) for you drinks.
aka: Hobo dinner, nothing fancy.
Brenda