What's Cooking?
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Meal Ideas for the whole family to eat????
Hi.
I always lurk here because I'm always looking for new ideas for what to eat...but, we have and 8 y.o. and a 2 y.o. and I find myself doing the same rotation of dinners that we all will eat, or, making them dinner and then something different for me and DH because well, we just cannot eat spaghetti or chicken pot pie again.
So, my question is do any of you have a great dinner idea for the whole family that everyone likes and isn't too spicy/crazy looking/too-long prep time/ healthy? (I know, it's a tall order!)
Thanks!
Re: Meal Ideas for the whole family to eat????
Ditto Jaime's advice. I rarely cook 2 meals in my house. The only time I do that is if I make something spicy. My DS doesn't like spicy foods and I don't expect him to eat something like that if he doesn't like it.
Things that my DS really likes are:
Meatloaf (I have several recipes in my blog)
Pot Roast (my favorite is the pioneer woman's recipe)
Oven Fried Chicken
http://reservationsnotrequired.blogspot.com/2009/05/oven-fried-chicken.html
I agree with PP'ters but I also think to make your life easier you might benefit from doing a meal that everyone can customize
I.e.
Burger Bar (have either beef, chicken, salmon, black bean patties as protein) and then allow everyone to "make their own" with toppings - you can have different cheeses', vegetables, sauces etc. For the 2yo, you can chop-up whatever protein you serve, and serve it with "toppings" on the side, and sauces for dipping (this also works on fine motor skills).
Taco Bar (again - different proteins allow for options!), with veggies etc.
Chili - have a basic chili and then have toppings/additions that everyone can add (i.e. jalapenos for hubs and you, beans if only you like them, sour cream, cheese etc.).
This butternut mac and cheese is always a crowd pleaser, plus your kids get a serving of veggies too!
I think it's about getting everyone involved, and encouraging them to try new things.
Like pp's, DD eats what we eat. There's some adjusting, like I generally use pastas like penne, rotini and farfalle instead of spaghetti or linguine, or DD eats tacos "deconstructed." She doesn't like salad greens or lettuce, so I make sure that there's other stuff like cucumbers and carrots in the salad that she will eat. If there's something new on the table, she has to eat just one bite and then she can have a special treat after dinner. She almost always eats all of the new food.
I also just don't cook what she doesn't like, the same as I do with DH. If she's tried something, and really doesn't like it, I don't force the issue.