[craftytam]

Originally Posted by Kimberly27

I am not a huge fan of cooking...mostly the prep and cleaning...My boys though prefer a home cooked meal over take out...We eat out a lot, too much.
Meal time has changed a lot here with the boys being gone or busy. The 17 yr old is rarely home and the 11 yr old has church on Sunday and Wednesday (this night they feed them) and musical theatre club till 5 on Monday and gymnastics on Thursday till 530pm. Thankfully I am the only picky one in my house. My boys will eat almost anything. They love salads and veggies.

We have a pizza night but we buy the pizza kits at Costco and make our own...the little one likes cheese and peppers, hubby likes everything and I am cheese sometimes pepperoni and little to no sauce.

We used to do tacos...beef and chicken but they have made me really sick lately so that one is on hold.

Stir fry is a fav. I cook rice in an instapot and chicken in a second instapot ahead of time. I use a mixer to shred the chicken and I put the pot of rice in an ice bath to cool it down (keeps it from being sticky). I cut up squash, zucchini and onion and sauté them in a wok with a little sesame oil and garlic. I also add a bag of frozen peas and carrots. Once they are crisp and onions are clear I add in the chicken and some soy sauce then rice with a touch more soy sauce...serve. A variation we have done is marinate chicken and shrimp in teriyaki sauce and grill and cook rice and veggies in wok. My boys love this one.

On weekends hubby grills...we grill chicken (using a marinade we saved from pinterest or with Italian dressing and other random spices (I rarely measure). We also grill corn on the cob and then make a tray and grill veggies (I use a Normandy mix which is broccoli, cauliflower and carrots). This is one of my boys favorite meals. They even called me from grandparents house asking for the recipes and marinade.

We do a lot of pasta...spaghetti with meat sauce and salads, tortellini and salad (we buy the Tortellini at costco), spinach ravioli and salads

Last night I got a Stoffers lasagna and fixed that with salads

Sloppy Joes and homemade fries (I use a recipe in an old church cookbook but have doctored.)...I cook meat with green pepper and onion. Drain off fat then add 1 cup ketchup, 1tbsp worchesire sauce, 2 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, 1tsp mustard or dry mustard. Simmer for about 15 mins. We chop up potatoes (I have a gadget that chops them in strips). I put them in a gallon bag with various spices (Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, oregano, a touch of sugar, onion powder) We air fry them in batches.

Chicken mac and cheese is another fav. We make the sauce from scratch add in noodles, chicken (I use canned chicken here that I have sautéed in some Italian seasonings) and top with bread crumbs moistened with butter, garlic and touch of salt bake until bubbly.

I use the instapot quite a bit too. We have done instapot chili using turkey meat (I add in onions, black beans, pinto beans to get some nutrition in there)

Boys love Taco pasta This one I add extra tomato sauce and I add black beans. I also do not mix in cheese, we just add it at the end.

Skinny Chicken Parm there are pics of this and the recipe in my gallery

Stir Fry recipe if you like to follow recipes

Burgers and homemade fries are popular. We use a really lean beef (93/7) so it can be dry. When I pat out the burgers I mix in a few slices of chopped up bacon. Hubby does a dry rub on the burgers found here

I haven't done stir fry in a while. That would be a great addition.
Pasta is one of my favorites. I should look up more pasta recipes.
I am mostly a recipe follower, just because I really don't trust myself to make things taste good without a recipe.
Thanks for the recipes!!

Originally Posted by joelsgirl

I feel you, Tammy! My husband won't eat anything that is mixed together, soup or beans. He doesn't like vegetables, either. HE IS THE WORST to feed. My boys will eat whatever; they are hungry teenagers and just want food in their bellies. Ariana is so picky and just wants to snack. I've been reading the book, Fiber Fueled, and I'm seriously worried about their gut biome!

I'm going to have to look into these tips & recipes. Streamlining the whole dinner process would significantly improve the quality of my life!

Oh, that would make things even more difficult! No casseroles?!
Hubby & our boys do a lot of snacking. I'm going to look that book up!

Originally Posted by stephc777

I hear ya, Tammy. My family can be picky as well. Thankfully my most picky eater is a grownup and no longer lives in the area. He was in town over Christmas and it was challenging to feed him things he liked the week and a half he was here (and he won't eat any kind of leftovers).

I do try to meal plan. This time of year I am usually making some kind of taco (family can customize how they want) and some kind of soup weekly. I fill in with asian lettuce wraps, hamburger helper (beef pasta is our fave), salmon, beef stroganoff or a beef roast I make in the instant pot. We also occasionally do Papa Murphy's or Dominos.

In the last month, we've discovered Johnny Carino's has 1/2 price family dinners on Monday night. They say each family dinner feeds 3-4 people. We bought a lasagna & a chicken fettucine alfredo for under $50 (we pickup) and got 2 full meals (plus 2 individual leftovers for lunch) out of it for our family for 4. That has become our little takeout luxury =)

My pickiest eater will be up in Coeur d'Alene for an internship over the summer, so that will make it a little easier.
I think I'm going to make tacos a weekly meal. That seems like an easy one. My family has decided they don't like Papa Murphy's
Oh, I'm going to check out Johnny Carino's! That would be awesome!