am i the only person who can't seem to find any new ideas for child friendly meals that don't take 2 hours to make? i have a few tried and tested favourites but the kids are getting bored of these as we have them all the time. anyone know any good sites for recipes?

We have to use a special diet, so we tend to make our quick fix. One hour to prepare is about normal, but there is actually not much prep time, just cooking time.

One of my favorite sites for menus is the Woman's Day "month of menus" feature--if you don't want to buy the magazine, it's online at http://www.womansday.com/menus

Looking over a couple of months of these menus, I can say I don't agree with a lot of the choices--corn on the cob in the winter, for example, is something we just don't do. But if I see polenta on the menu, I think, "Haven't had that in a long time." And some of the menus seem skimpy (we have 7 teens right now, and busband is a big guy), so I usually add whole grain bread and a second vegetable.

Another site is
http://www.tasteofhome.com

If you use the advanced search, you can find recipes by prep time.

To be honest, my kids now do most of the cooking. They are divided into teams, with a cook and a helper, and they plan and cook meals a week at a time. This works out well--the kids aren't fussy eaters, as they know they will have to cook, and they are all good cooks, and learning about budgets, etc. Our 14 year old boy is a terrific cook, and would cook all the time if he could.

The general rules are: 2 meatless meals, 2 fish, 1 chicken, 1 beef, and one other dinner. Weekends we eat sandwiches, soups, pizza.

GG

Personally, I love http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf because it has not only the recipes, but the nutritional values and even has recipes that are budget friendly and kid-friendly meaning that they can help in the kitchen with certain meals. It really helps cooking and meal time become a full family event. In fact, here is the link that I use to help find tasks for all of my kids to help out with safely. http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/YourKids/KidsInTheKitchen/ CookingSkillsByAge.htm?smid=1002099

Post edited by: MrsReilly, at: 2008/02/06 13:18

A few years back I subscribed to "Quick Cooking" magazine for a year... that has paid for itself many times over!!! They have an article each month called "the busiest cook in the country", which always makes me smile, these very sweet ladies who have 2 or 3 kids, ha, if they only knew...

I made up something new recently, that everyone here liked. (I brown all of my ground beef when I bring it home from Sam's club, then freeze it in 2-lb. packages, so this is quick for me)... I thawed the beef, then added ketchup, mustard, and relish (to your family's taste), and plopped it on bread, topped it with a slice of cheese, and grilled it in my Panini-maker (or you could do it in the pan just like grilled cheese)... threw in some homemade fries and opened a bagged salad to go with it... they loved it! Cheeseburger taste w/o the mess of grilling them!

I used to get Quick Cooking - before that, just the regular Taste of Home. We still use some of the recipes we adapted from that magazine, but for the most part, cooking mags aren't much use to me now because of our dietary restrictions.

We also used to do a lot of "pre-cooking". Saves a TON on quickfix when you always know there is something fast you can do. It is also a lifesaver when you have special dietary needs.

Pre-cook and cube chicken.
Pre-cook ground sausage.
Pre-cook ground beef.
Pre-cook a beef roast, and slice it thin, refreeze.
Bake large batches of applesauce oatmeal muffins and freeze them.
Bake large batches of cinnamon rolls to freeze.
Bake large batches of cheese rolls to freeze.
Pre-bake pizza crusts.
Assemble lasagna, pot pie (with pastry crust), or other bakable meals and freeze for quick use later.
Pre-cook large pots of potatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, onion. Freeze in quart zips with the broth Just add boullion and chicken or beef for soup, thicken for stew, tetrazzini, pot pie, a'la king, etc.
Make cheese sauce in large batches, freeze the extra.

Quick-fix is the most likely thing to blow the budget, or cause long term dietary problems. Making your own saves in many ways.

Laura
Mom to Eight

Quick and healthy lunches, snacks:

TORTILLAS! WE have a grocery near here that sells lots of Spanish foods, and they have tortillas REALLY cheap. My kids will eat the flour ones rolled up with ANYTHING... cheese, peanut butter, cream cheese, refried beans, cubed cooked chicken or turkey + cheese, salsa, you name it! We have a cold this week (and I'm 11 weeks pregnant), thank God I stopped by on Sunday and grabbed some tortillas, otherwise we would've starved!

This was the biggest hit this week, made by one of the healthy kids:

corn tortillas, cut into small triangles... spray them with Pam on both sides, sprinkle with chili powder and salt to your family's taste, bake at 350 for 12 minutes or so. Serve with salsa, refried beans, and sour cream. Colleen made us homemade salsa, it was INCREDIBLE... chopped tomato, sweet orange pepper, and onion, mixed with a bit of lemon juice, dried cilantro, and salt. YUM!!!!!

Marcia (happily married to Michael for 25 years, eleven blessings here (ages 25-2), one in heaven, and one in the oven!

We use whole wheat tortillas, which are not as inexpensive, but they do fill you up better.

Mexican Lasagna - layer taco seasoned meat, Monterey Jack cheese, chopped tomato (canned is fine), olives, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tortillas in a pan. Top with a little more cheese. Bake until the cheese is melty and bubbly. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Laura
Mom to Eight