Simple, kid friendly, low calorie dinner?

skylily4ever
skylily4ever Posts: 28 Member
in Recipes
I'm trying to find a simple easy dinner that's low in calories and kid-friendly. No onions or peppers. Something that is easy to make that will only take 30-45 minutes. An hour max. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,787 Member
    I'm lazy. I like to bake frozen battered fish filets and make "fish tacos." They're not gourment or authentic, but they're pretty good -- two of the filets (I use Gorton's beer-battered, but there are lower-calorie options than that), two corn tortillas, lettuce & tomato, and some chili-lime hot sauce makes a surprisingly tasty dinner. I'm having it tomorrow with a giant side of Brussels sprouts for under 400 calories. Kiddos can have the tacos if they're feeling fiesty, or you can cut the fish into "fish sticks" and serve it to them with a dipping sauce, some of the tomatoes you cut for the tacos, and a couple of tortillas fried into giant "chips."
  • cuinboston2014
    cuinboston2014 Posts: 848 Member
    go to skinnytaste.com adn check out what they have

    I make a lot of chicken breast and pork tenderloin. The chicken I marinate myself in easy things like Italian dressing or maybe olive oil and seasoning and grill up. The pork I buy pre-marinated and all you have to do is put it in the oven. I'm not sure what age you are talking but these are foods that we've eaten a lot since my daughter was 4 or 5 - she's 7 now.

    We also make potatoe wedges instead of french fries (though a serving of Ore-Ida french fries made in the stove don't have a ton of calories)

    Make hamburgers with lean ground beef/ground turkey and small buns.
    Sometimes we make lean cuisine pizzas. We all liek them. Or even our own individual pizzas made on tortilla shells. My daughter never eats more than one so it's usually under 300 or so calories.

    This is huge on personal preferences...
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You can make 'chicken tenders'.. just roll chicken strips in egg whites and panko crumbs then bake for 30 minutes. Homemade fries are good too (baked). Tacos work, plus they love assembling it. Breakfast for dinner. My kids eat what we eat most of the time though.... they love grilled sausage, green beans, broccoli...
  • ncl1313
    ncl1313 Posts: 237 Member
    Tortilla pizzas. Lightly oil both sides of a tortilla and put on a baking sheet. The kids can put on whatever toppings they like (bonus if your kids like different things), you can control the topping variety. Bake at 400 until tortillas start to crisp.

    Breakfast for dinner.

    Stir fry.

    Shredded chicken tacos. Sear boneless chicken in a frying pan then add about a half inch of water, a can of tomatoes (I use Rotels with chiles) and a packet of taco seasoning (or make your own spices). Cover and simmer about 20 minutes and then shred with forks.
  • eimaj5575
    eimaj5575 Posts: 278 Member
    bump
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I'm lazy. I like to bake frozen battered fish filets and make "fish tacos." They're not gourment or authentic, but they're pretty good -- two of the filets (I use Gorton's beer-battered, but there are lower-calorie options than that), two corn tortillas, lettuce & tomato, and some chili-lime hot sauce makes a surprisingly tasty dinner. I'm having it tomorrow with a giant side of Brussels sprouts for under 400 calories. Kiddos can have the tacos if they're feeling fiesty, or you can cut the fish into "fish sticks" and serve it to them with a dipping sauce, some of the tomatoes you cut for the tacos, and a couple of tortillas fried into giant "chips."

    Muffin Tin Taco Bowls would be fun. Plus they're baked. A little Pam....and a 5 or 6 minutes in the oven. Kids can put in whatever toppings they like.

    http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=muffin+tin+taco+bowl&qpvt=muffin+tin+taco+bowl&FORM=IGRE

    6" shells for a regular sized muffin tin ..... 8 or 9" shells for the Texas sized muffin tins.

    I like Shake'N Bake potato wedges. You dip potato wedges in oil, then roll in ShakeN'Bake. Bake about 20 minutes. Homemade chicken nuggets (as mentioned) are good with these. I like the crushed corn flake ones. Have a side salad.
  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
    Why no onions or peppers?? Is there a food allergy? Aside from peanuts, eggs and and raw honey early in life- ALL food is kid friendly, even mildly spicy food. Sorry, in the medical world when we hear "kid friendly" it is often code for " I don't want to make my kid eat his veggies" as an FNP I have watched people feed themselves an amazing array of organic produce and healthy food while giving their kids a completely separate diet that was incredibly narrow in scope and carb heavy because they didn't want to parent. I cook on my off day and the weekend and we all eat the same food. If I have it all wrong and this is not the case here are the quick meals we all enjoy when we run out of other food. Tuna salad on wheat with cottage cheese and fruit, grilled cheese on wheat with tomato soup, lentil soup with SAMs club chicken asiago sausage, veggies and hummus with Jiffy corn muffins, smoked oysters and cream cheese on toast with tomato salad, scrambled eggs with Stouffers spinach soufflé. Canned chicken flaked with BBQ sauce heated and served with fresh hoecakes(made from Jiffy corn muffin mix cooked like a pancake), light bologna wrapped around celery sticks and Stouffers corn soufflé. Farinata served with any soup, tom ka soup- 'cause it mostly comes from cans (canned chick, canned straw mushrooms,canned chick broth, canned bamboo shoots, coconut milk powder and garlic powder to taste). Pasta bake-1 cup tricolor rotini boiled and mixed with 2c frozen mixed veg and 2 sliced up asiago chicken sausages tossed with seasoned tomato sauce and topped with Parmesan and baked. Venison sloppy joes and pineapple carrots. Whole grain soft tacos and guacamole. All of these meals can be made in less than 45 min except Farinata which takes 1hr and 12 min. Only cause the batter has to sit for an hour, but you can make the batter 2 hrs ahead of time. Only take 12 min to bake, but it keeps for a week. Hope this helps.

    Forgot two others, egg salad in pita with yogurt fruit salad, shrimp and grits
  • j_bark
    j_bark Posts: 1,274 Member
    I love English Muffin Pizzas.

    Split muffin in half, top with sauce, and have a topping bar. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until cheese is browning.

    I also like to do a black bean salsa pizza sauce for me.

    That way everyone gets what they want and they can have different kind. They measure out about 150-200 calories each.
  • Pamela_in_Progress
    Pamela_in_Progress Posts: 197 Member
    Bump
  • janine2355
    janine2355 Posts: 628 Member
    steak, potatoes, (red or white) and a vegetable. It's so easy. You can add a salad too. Or chicken cooked any way, with the same sides. You can also make home made french fries. Just add olive oil salt and pepper. Smoked paprika is also good on them, or some garlic powder too.
  • janine2355
    janine2355 Posts: 628 Member
    how about for nights you don't want to cook, tuna sandwiches, pickles and "baked potato chips"? you can also do breakfast for dinner, and make turkey sausage (low in calories) have one egg for yourself or one egg mixed with one egg white or make an egg white omelet for you and regular eggs for the kids. If you want toast, you can have two slices of light toast for yourself ,peperidge farm and some other brands make 45 calories per slice! Then use light butter on your toast ( I like the land o lakes light butter) or skip the butter and just use some strawberry preserves.:drinker:
  • MissJay75
    MissJay75 Posts: 768 Member
    Not knowing anything about your kids and their specific nutritional needs, this advice may not be apt. However, unless your kids are overweight, I would caution you about fixing your 'low-calorie' dinners for them. Kids need a lot of calories. One thing I do is up my kids' carb portion of whatever I'm fixing for the family and up the veggie portion for the adults. So we might all have turkey meatloaf, roasted potatoes & salad. We all get the meatloaf, hubby and I have just a few potatoes and a huge salad. The kids get a small salad and as many potatoes as they want.
  • nmcrosier
    nmcrosier Posts: 268 Member
    My 8 year old eats a lot of grilled/baked chicken, wild grain rice and broccoli; baked potatoes; stuffed chicken with creamed spinach; spanikopita (spinach pie); lamb kabobs with rice; lean red meat (tenderloin/filet/flank) fajahitas; ahi tuna fish tacos; salmon; whole wheat pizza...

    We are still discovering what he will eat...sometime he turns his nose up without a bite - so we have a 3 "no thank you" bite rule. After 3 bites, not nibbles...he's allowed to say no thank you, and he is allowed to have something else, or just eat the other things on his plate.
  • linka411
    linka411 Posts: 101 Member
    I think these are pretty good, and my husband (who's a child at heart and can get picky about certain foods) absolutely LOVES these

    http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/02/hearty-black-bean-quesadillas/

    A bit of prep time in the beginning, but it makes tons of them that can be stored in the freezer.
  • dognamedpig
    dognamedpig Posts: 38 Member
    saved for later
  • janine2355
    janine2355 Posts: 628 Member
    Not knowing anything about your kids and their specific nutritional needs, this advice may not be apt. However, unless your kids are overweight, I would caution you about fixing your 'low-calorie' dinners for them. Kids need a lot of calories. One thing I do is up my kids' carb portion of whatever I'm fixing for the family and up the veggie portion for the adults. So we might all have turkey meatloaf, roasted potatoes & salad. We all get the meatloaf, hubby and I have just a few potatoes and a huge salad. The kids get a small salad and as many potatoes as they want.
    Thats exactly what I do. No reason to eat like a rabbit, and the kids, they have to eat a lot. They need good, wholesome food. I could see not wanting to give them junk food, or limit junk food, but the kids definitely have to eat a lot and good :wink:
  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
    My 8 year old eats a lot of grilled/baked chicken, wild grain rice and broccoli; baked potatoes; stuffed chicken with creamed spinach; spanikopita (spinach pie); lamb kabobs with rice; lean red meat (tenderloin/filet/flank) fajahitas; ahi tuna fish tacos; salmon; whole wheat pizza...

    We are still discovering what he will eat...sometime he turns his nose up without a bite - so we have a 3 "no thank you" bite rule. After 3 bites, not nibbles...he's allowed to say no thank you, and he is allowed to have something else, or just eat the other things on his plate.

    This is wonderful because you are developing his palate. We did this with my daughter and yellow squash, 2 yrs later she loves it. She is still working on coconut Lol!
  • kewpiecyster
    kewpiecyster Posts: 154 Member
    I love budgetbytes.com!
  • nmcrosier
    nmcrosier Posts: 268 Member
    I forgot squash - he does eat that too...but only the green..he thinks the yellow is "sick" and needs time to make itself healthy, LOL!

    He still is not a fan of coconut either - I've tried - he spits it out everytime. Must be an aquired taste ;)
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    I'm trying to find a simple easy dinner that's low in calories and kid-friendly. No onions or peppers. Something that is easy to make that will only take 30-45 minutes. An hour max. Any suggestions?

    Why no onions or peppers??? those are very kid friendly!
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    Why no onions or peppers?? Is there a food allergy? Aside from peanuts, eggs and and raw honey early in life- ALL food is kid friendly, even mildly spicy food.

    How early in life??
    I am pretty sure all food is kid friendly - Honey may not be infant friendly but definitely kid friendly
    Allergies being the exception

    My daughter has been eating eggs, and peanut butter since she was 7 months old, as well as everything else we eat.
    She loves spicey, curry, red pepper, cayene
  • ninav1980
    ninav1980 Posts: 514 Member
    My 8 year old eats a lot of grilled/baked chicken, wild grain rice and broccoli; baked potatoes; stuffed chicken with creamed spinach; spanikopita (spinach pie); lamb kabobs with rice; lean red meat (tenderloin/filet/flank) fajahitas; ahi tuna fish tacos; salmon; whole wheat pizza...

    We are still discovering what he will eat...sometime he turns his nose up without a bite - so we have a 3 "no thank you" bite rule. After 3 bites, not nibbles...he's allowed to say no thank you, and he is allowed to have something else, or just eat the other things on his plate.

    Wow, lucky kid. If we didnt like what was on the table for dinner, we didnt eat! lol. Guess thats why I am not very picky now. I take what I get :)

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