I am a mom of four kids - family reciepies anyone?

wolfie209

I don't think I would have as much trouble if I weren't trying to feed the family as well. I see so many receipies that are expensive and complicated and that the kids usually wont eat. So I fall back to meat and potatoes type family dinners. No help. What to do? So many sites and advice but what are your favorites? i need serious help.

annacataldo

there is nothing wrong with meat and potatoes... its how u prepare them... i have taters all the time cuz of the vitamins in them (potassium is very high in potatoes). i roast them in the oven with seasonings and using a olive oil pam spray, or boiled potatoes with seasoning, or home french fries in the oven--same as roasted potatoes just cut different, baked potatoes, etc.

NancyAnne1960

Found a high fiber Navy Bean and lean ground beef soup. Makes a lot and is very tasty.

1 - 16 oz. bag navy beans (soak as directed on package)

Saute in a big quart pan:

In olive oil, 1 med. onion, 2-3 carrots finely chopped, 2-3 stalks celery finely chopped, garlic.
Add white wine, low sodium beef broth, then beans. Simmer an hour or so (depending on how tender you want the beans) pinch off pieces of ground beef, and simmer again for 15 min. to 1 hour.

You can search Navy Bean and Ground Beef Soup on the internet, and it will give you a lot of choices, but all are close to the same.

Justamom410

I'm cooking my favorite as I type. Crock pot chicken.

Chicken Breasts
Jar of your favorite salsa

Dump everything in the crock pot...cook 6 - 8 hours (depending on if the chicken was frozen or not) on Low. Cook up some Jasmine rice and serve! My 2 year old LOVES it.

Today, I added some fresh pineapple and green pepper I had leftover in the fridge. The house smells amazing!

Justamom410

I'm cooking my favorite as I type. Crock pot chicken.

Chicken Breasts
Jar of your favorite salsa

Dump everything in the crock pot...cook 6 - 8 hours (depending on if the chicken was frozen or not) on Low. Cook up some Jasmine rice and serve! My 2 year old LOVES it.

Today, I added some fresh pineapple and green pepper I had leftover in the fridge. The house smells amazing!

mill1295

I would recommend going to the library and looking for a '30 minute' cookbook or 'one pot meals' cookbook. They generally have fewer ingredients and take less time. You can browse before you check out and then make photocopies if you end up wanting to make the meal again..

fredd500

Burgers and Wedges...

Minced beef (lowest fat content you can find, or turkey or pork or whatever you fancy), finely chopped onions and maybe some herbs or spices (whatever you like really). Throw it all in a bowl and mix well. Add a single egg if it is too dry then make into burger shaped things and grill until cooked.

Cut the potatoes into wedge shapes, spray them with a tiny amount of oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until cooked.

Serve with a salad, or whatever side you like to eat with burgers where you are.

Yummy...

jennmoore3

O.K. I have 12 yr old twins and a 9 yr old... all girls. We do BBQ chicken.....

Cook chicken breast on the skillet. Season them to your tastes. We like garlic powder. So, you cook them till they are done on the outside but pink in the middle. Toss them into the crock pot. Cover lightly with any BBQ sauce. We use Sweet baby rays. Cook on low for about 1-2 hours. You will know when they are done if the chicken pulls apart easy with 2 forks. Then you can either eat it like that, or we shred it up and mix it with the BBQ sauce, maybe adding more sauce. once shredded we toss on a bun. We also like cheese on the bun with the chicken.

Sorry there are no measurements. We vary the amount of chicken depending on who is home that night. But as a usual we do 2 -3 breasts. depending on the size.

Another thought is we grill a ton. So why not make your own burgers, or grill chicken. Not sure how old they are...

annacataldo

for things like meatloaf/meatballs; mince up celery, mushrooms, onion, peppers, and use oatmeal instead of bread crumbs. and use egg whites instead of whole egg. will lower the calorie count and u cant tell the difference. For things like spagahetti sauce, soups, etc you can do the same thing---adding veggies will lower calories per serving.

dont add salt to anything; use seasonings instead--garlic, onion, italian seasonings, etc.. the potatoes i was talking about i season well enough i dont use salt.. avoid canned veggies cuz of sodium content, but i understand its cheap feeding a family. frozen veggies arent as high sodium as canned and cheap too (fresh is best but not always feesable). Rice dinners is good too.

suzikelley

I have 5 kids - and three of them are PICKY EATERS!! lol This is a recipe my whole family LOVES!!!

Oven Fried Chicken

8 - 4 oz chicken breasts.
1.25 Cup Dannon plain nonfat yogurt
52 Reduced fat Ritz crackers

Preheat your oven for 350. Crush the cracker crumbs in a zip lock bag (I use a rolling pin) then pour in a bowl. Dip the chicken breast in the yogurt, then in coat in the cracker crumbs. Spray a baking dish with PAM, and place the chicken in the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!

per serving:
calories: 238
carbs: 17
fat: 7
protein: 31
sodium:; 255

Laceylala

My newest favorite: Cornbread chili casserole

1 box of lowfat cornbread that only takes an egg and some water - like Krusteaz
Plain greek yogurt (sub in sourcream but you need a lot)
Cheddar cheese
Chili - preferably homemade
1 small can of diced mild chilis


Prepare the cornbread mix and add chilis to it, spread in a 9x12 pan
Dollup greek yogurt on top of the uncooked cornbread mix - lots of it. Its high in protein and good for you.
Spread chili on top of it (I always add corn to it so you get more veggies in there)
Top with just enough shredded cheddar cheese to taste

Bake until cornbread is done at 350 degrees - its about 40ish minutes.
Serve with salad that has some corn in it, topped with lemon juice/olive oil mix

We had this last night, more than enough to feed a fairly large family. We are family of three and with all three of taking left overs today, there is still half a pan left. YUMYUMYUMMMM

Aprilstar480

I have 4 kids also and this is a MAJOR issue! One thing we all enjoy together are stirfry with veggies and shrimp or chicken with whatever sauce you'd like (sweet-n-sour or teriyaki are good ones). I cook the veggies and meat with just olive oil or even simply steamed with water... then we can add the sauce to individual plates that way you can measure out yours (cause thats where most the calories come from). We also do a Taco Soup that has kidney bean, stewed or canned tomatoes, corn, and ground beef ( I substitute ground turkey.. they have it preseasoned for tacos )... It's suppose to be served with tortillas or tortilla chips again something you can measure out or omit to fit your calorie allowance. Homemade soups are usually good choices. You determine what goes in therefore you can make it as healthy as you'd like.

I'm not big on making separate meals in order to stay within calories but I have found that having lettuce prepped for salad in the fridge really helps when I know I can't have what everyone else is having. I will take the ingredients from the dinner prepared that I know are healthy and use them in a salad (learned this technique beings that my husbands favorite dinner is taco/burittos!) .

Good luck with your search.. Great topic! I'll be checking back for more recipes myself:bigsmile: