kids dinners

Kids love lasagna cupcakes in my experience. They also love helping to assemble these. Can't find the recipe I normally use, but round gyoza wrappers look neater than square wonton wrappers. Both are available from the deep freeze section of an Asian grocer. I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta because that is easier to source. I just sprinkle tops with grated cheddar instead of parmesan.

https://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/lasagna-cupcakes/973c5603-c1e4-4790-9e6a-aef378332ef2

Slow cooker beef & broccoli (I like to add sliced carrots too): https://therecipecritic.com/slow-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/ Also freezes well if you leave the broccoli out, then just heat up a bag of frozen broccoli when you reheat.

Mini-meatloaves (here is the meatloaf recipe I like, but cook them in muffin pan instead - already pre-portioned for you and bakes a lot faster). Comes out great with the lean 93/7 ground beef as it stays moist! https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20673/glazed-meatloaf-ii/ These also freeze well, but make sure to make and freeze some extra sauce!

Slow cooker pot roast - I add potatoes and an onion, not just the carrots. I often serve with some thawed mixed veggies stirred in too because the gravy makes it all tasty: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/218547/slow-cooker-pot-roast/

Baked chicken parmesan: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/baked-panko-chicken-parmesan-506787

Turkey tacos (ground turkey with taco seasoning) - they can top with whatever they like, so that satisfies everyone usually.

Tacos and homemade pizza are the thing!

I have really picky eaters, age 2 and 4. Some of the things that have worked for me:
I have switched all pasta to whole wheat.
Stir fried rice with lots of veggies mixed in is a hit in my house, they each pick out their favorite veggies and it becomes like a hidden object game.
I mix in little chunks of the frozen cauliflower to mac and cheese, or anything with a sauce really.
Switched to turkey hot dogs.
Meatloaf with lots of shredded veggies hidden in it (carrots and zucchini mainly).

My boys love soup or stews. Our number one favorite is Green pepper ground beef soup. It's just 2 diced green peppers, 1 diced onion, saute those in a little oil in a soup pot, brown 1 lb of ground beef/drain/add to soup pot, add in 1 drained can of corn 1 drained can of cut green beans and 1 can of diced tomatoes, 3 cups of beef broth, 2 TBS of oregano and some salt and pepper. Boil for about 10 mins.

The kids like to add cheddar cheese to theirs, my husband likes parm cheese, and I like balsamic vinegar.

I'm mean, I just make what I want to make and they can eat it or not. This week I made spaghetti and tacos. The steak tacos were a good meal for my 3 year old. I gave him a rolled up tortilla with cheese in it (his idea, I don't know, he likes it) and then plopped some refried beans, steak, and guacamole on his plate and he gobbled it up.