Category: Meals For Kids

Kid Friendly Rice That’s Not Boring for Adults

Picture of a pan with delicious Leftover rice with roasted carrots, onions, golden raisins, ginger & nutmeg

How long did it take you to grow tired of kid-friendly foods? Right. Not long. So, one of the best ways to save yourself from culinary boredom is to master a few tricks to ‘liven up’ dishes so you’re making one meal for everyone. That’s right, rule number one to save yourself from years of extra dishes, is not to make separate kids meals. Occasionally, as in for holidays and special occasions only, I will make a fancy grown-up feast but even then the side dishes are always kid-friendly then modified for us so that we’re all eating mostly the same thing.

Notice, my husband and I ate the plates on the left and the kids plates are on the right. Same meal, minor modifications, totally different experience. Continue reading “Kid Friendly Rice That’s Not Boring for Adults” →

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Roast Snapper Salad

Picture of Roast snapper salad with onions, tomatoes, carrots & spinach

Last week I broke one of my time saving rules and roasted a whole fish on a weeknight. Truth be told, I wanted to lure my husband back to the dinner table. Although we’ve both been working long hours, he typically arrives later and has fallen into a habit of grabbing food at the office and skipping dinner. In favor of a late evening snack.

I want the whole family eating dinner together every night. It’s something I care about, even though it’s not always possible. And yes, with young kids, it’s also not very relaxing … but the routine and Continue reading “Roast Snapper Salad” →

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Roast chicken breast over warm pea, cauliflower, zucchini and spinach salad.

Chicken breast over warm pea, zucchini, cauliflower and spinach salad

20 minutes or less. No fuss, One pan. Yes, seriously!

Sometimes you need a simple, yet deeply satisfying, ‘small’ meal. By small, I mean, for you. Perhaps for you and your children. My husband is traveling, which frees me up to play with small, ‘snack like’ foods for myself and ultra simple meals (read quesadillas) for the kids. After enjoying a few nights of crackers and cheese, then scrambled eggs for dinner, I decided to treat myself better tonight. Tonight, I made a proper meal.

This dish is easy to dial up, down or modify for more people. My little ones still consider chicken the Queen-of-protein, so I tend to keep it on hand, in all of it’s configurations. Breasts, thighs, on the bone, off the bone, whole … there’s a chicken for every occasion in my freezer. Tonight, I pulled out a single Continue reading “Roast chicken breast over warm pea, cauliflower, zucchini and spinach salad.” →

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Sweet potato soup with apple, sage & chili

Sweet potato sage soup

This was an accidental soup. Sunday, I intended to make butternut squash soup, because there’s half a butternut squash sitting (still) in the fridge. I had a plan for that squash but neglected to buy white potatoes and since I already started defrosting chicken stock, I thought… let’s figure out a way to make a soup with sweet potatoes instead.

To my surprise, the sweet potatoes make a light, yet richly flavored soup. This makes Continue reading “Sweet potato soup with apple, sage & chili” →

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Stealthy, Healthy Quesadillas (Kid-friendly & grownup versions)

On the quest to save time, making quesadillas has become a popular weeknight solution in our home. I usually make them once a week. Sometimes more. My children think they’re delicious and I can get dinner ‘done’ within 20 minutes. Yes… I said ‘within’ as in, less than 20 minutes from when I get home!

Kids & Grownup Versions

Sometimes I make the kids quesadillas as their ‘carb’ to accompany chicken or some other protein and vegetables, while we (grownups) eat the same protein/vegetable combination on top of salad. Other times, I make quesadillas for everyone and my husband and I get a ‘grownup’ version with more interesting fillings.

Yes… It Even Works Cooking For a Crowd

If you’re looking for a fun, casual meal that works well feeding a crowd, whether entertaining impromptu visitors or a large family, make the quesadillas in the oven to get them all done at the same time. It’s super easy that way.

About Serving Sizes

My children are young and I give my little one (newly 4) about 1/3 of one whole quesadilla and my son gets the remaining 2/3. I serve the quesadilla slices with veggies (i.e. broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, and/or peas) and a small serving (1/4 or 1/2 cup) of a protein (i.e., chicken, pork, turkey burger) on the side.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Stealthy-Healthy Kids Quesadilla – Serves 2 Children Continue reading “Stealthy, Healthy Quesadillas (Kid-friendly & grownup versions)” →

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The ‘I-Have-No-Time-To-Make-Sauce’ Sauce. 3 Pasta Sauces You Can Make In Less Than 15 Minutes

I-Don't-Have-Any-Tomato-Sauce Sauce

My husband’s new dentist is in a mall with an Eataly. Yes… THAT Eataly. Last Monday he asked if I wanted him to bring fresh pasta home…I said, ‘sure,’ especially since I didn’t have a dinner plan yet. He brought home LOTS of pasta…more than one night’s worth of pasta so I found myself in need of some quickie-no-forward-planning sauces.

My husband loves food as much as I do and we spent a lot of time pre-kids making fresh pasta. We still do (occasionally) but it’s not a weeknight project.

If you’re a purist, Continue reading “The ‘I-Have-No-Time-To-Make-Sauce’ Sauce. 3 Pasta Sauces You Can Make In Less Than 15 Minutes” →

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For the Love Of Food: 1 Chicken, 3 Easy Meals

Warm chicken salad with steamed zucchini, cauliflower & grape tomatoes.

#MomsSaveTimeCooking #KidAndGrownUpFriendlyFood #HealthyFamilyMeals

It took a while (ok years) to adjust from cooking, as a hobby (making battenburg cake, homemade cheese with my husband, perfecting my croissant dough) to cooking for sustenance (read speedier-to-cook-meals-the-whole-family-can-eat.)

Once I fully embraced this new normal, I started seeking opportunities to make it more enjoyable, delicious, mostly nutritious and yes, time-efficient.

Early on, I wrote a post about how I handle weekly meal planning because the ‘how do you cook everyday’ question is one I’m asked often.

I’d like to share one of my menu all-stars, the humble chicken. I know, I know…it’s not fancy Continue reading “For the Love Of Food: 1 Chicken, 3 Easy Meals” →

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Dinner Blueprint: My Family’s Menus Week of September 16th

Pork tenderloin over warm eggplant, zucchini, fennel & spinach salad

#MomsDinnerHacks #MomsSavingTime #LessDishesForMommy #KidFriendlyFood #OneMealForTheWholeFamily

Every year it’s a big emotional shift to move into fall…. this is not because I don’t like fall, I do…I just don’t like what comes after fall.  I’m that person who is always cold, shivering all year round, hovering under heavy sweaters at the office and still wearing my down coat well into May.  After a long impatient wait, when the average temperature is somewhere north of 80 degrees Fareneheit I’m completely in my element.

There are, however, two things about fall I really look forward to 1. fall cooking and 2. fall baking.

I’m just getting geared up for it all now.   Continue reading “Dinner Blueprint: My Family’s Menus Week of September 16th” →

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My Family Dinners The Week of July 1st

family dinner

#MomsFoodHacks #MomsSavingTime #MomsDoingDinnerFaster

For the holiday, I decided to do classic ‘Americana-4th-of-July-week’ kind of food which brought me to burgers… and also barbecued ribs.  We had an amazing string of sunny warm days and there’s now been enough ‘summer’ to practically forget about that drawn out, closed-toed-shoes+coats weather that defines much of the Northeastern year.

Ok… let’s not think about that too long.  I’m fully feeling summer. Let’s forget about the other seasons!

I’ve been shifting to stovetop and the slow cooker when possible (except for baking) in lieu of the oven and am preparing simpler, faster meals….even on the weekends. After all, when given the gift of sun shining until after dinner time, who wants to be confined by four walls?   Continue reading “My Family Dinners The Week of July 1st” →

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