Author Topic: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook  (Read 6589 times)

Hula Hoop

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I've got yet more fish sticks in the oven as I write this.  Had a hard/crappy day at work.  Got home late and there's nothing much in the fridge.  In the freezer we had fish sticks, frozen ravioli and frozen chicken breasts.  So I'm cooking the fish sticks, boiling some more of the enormous bag of potatoes we got from a friend whose family has a potato farm and steaming some winter veggies that were in the crisper (broccoli and brussels sprouts).   

Does anyone else have tips for kid friendly meals when no one has any energy at all to cook and there's not a lot in the fridge?  Our go tos are pasta plus salad, scrambled eggs/omelette, frittata and toast with raw veg on the side or fish sticks plus veg and carb but it's getting really boring.

ETA - and does anyone have any good potato recipes?  We have to get through a huge bag of (really delicious) potatoes. So far, we've had baked potatoes, boiled and French friend potatoes.  I may make a potato soup on the weekend.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 12:00:41 PM by Hula Hoop »

I'm a red panda

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2019, 12:02:41 PM »
Bowl of cereal? Breakfast for dinner-eggs or pancakes?  I personally think it's fine to have an unbalanced meal every now and again. 

Potatoes? I'm going with baked potatoes, but basically anything on top of them, doesn't have to be traditional toppings.
Here's some inspiration: (Scroll down to Classic Potatoes and beyond)
http://www.potatoshackhuntsville.com/menu/

TOgirl

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2019, 12:23:58 PM »
I often do "picnic" dinner for them if I don't feel like cooking. I get a 12 cup muffin tin out, or a large plate and I go through the food groups - I add things like cut up cheeses, naan/bread/crackers, a couple fruits cut up, several vegetables cut up, hummus/dip, and sometimes pepperoni/turkey/salami slices rolled up. When I do this, I cut up too much on purpose, and use it towards their lunches the next day. Sometimes they love it just at the table, or when the weather is warm we take it out in the backyard to make an actual picnic.

They are also keen on smoothies for dinner sometimes - I use baby spinach, frozen avocado chunks, frozen mango and raspberries, with almond milk, yogurt and a scoop of vanilla protein powder, and a few ice cubes - blend it all up and they never complain.

Another easy one is letting them make their own naan or pita pizzas with salad on the side.

cats

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2019, 12:51:38 PM »
Omelet is a go-to for us also.

Pizza (using a tortilla, english muffin, or pita bread as the base) and quesadilla are also popular.  I now periodically make big batches of tomato sauce and freeze ice cubes of them for making these little pizzas in the toaster oven.

bean burgers or bean and rice burgers: mash beans (or beans & rice) with an egg, form into patties and saute in pan.  You could probably make bean and potato burgers also. 

We cook a lot of soup/curry/stew in our instant pot for the adults, these are not always kid-friendly just due to requiring more dexterity with fork/spoon than a toddler typically possesses.  I've now started using whatever the adults are having as a filling for omelets or pita bread, a sauce for rice and beans, topping aforementioned bean burgers, etc.

Omy

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2019, 01:28:18 PM »
Potato hash (with corn, peppers, onions...whatever you feel like)
Scallopped potatoes
Hash browns
Gnocchi
Potato pancakes

StarBright

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2019, 01:41:38 PM »
Yogurt, piece of fruit or cherry tomatoes, and some slices of ham or summer sausage is a meal that both of my children love and feel like they are getting a treat when I give it to them.

I plan it whenever my husband is going out of town!

CNM

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2019, 03:33:36 PM »
Potato bread - either as a loaf or as buns.

For a kid-friendly meal that is not pasta, my kid really likes Indian masala and curries.  This is what I do:
- buy a jar or premade sauce.  Sometimes called "simmer sauce".
- put some raw chicken in my instant pot and put the sauce in there too.  Maybe a cut up onion. Maybe a can of coconut milk if I need more liquid in there.
- pressure cook for 20 minutes (this is what i do when i use frozen chicken)
- eat!
optional: After the pressure cooking is done, add garbanzo beans, add frozen vegetables, and serve with a side of rice.

My kid, who is 6, also really likes soup.  Particularly chicken and vegetable soups, sometimes with rice, pasta, or tortellini.  This is what I do:
- in a large pot or in instant pot, fry chopped onion, celery, and carrot just until soft. (Mirepoix)
- Add either raw chicken or left over already cooked chicken, as well as a bunch of water, chicken stock, or water + chicken bouillon. I also like to add a bay leaf, some salt and pepper, or whatever other seasonings I have and like. 
- cook until the chicken is cooked through. In a pressure cooker, using frozen chicken, 20 mins.  If not using a pressure cooker, add whatever other vegetables you have on hand, keeping aware that softer vegetables, like zucchini, will cook much faster than cauliflower. Likewise, frozen veg will cook faster than raw veg. Optional: Add rice or pasta (cooked or uncooked).  Note- do not pressure cook rice!  it does not turn out well.
-eat!
I know the above sounds difficult, but it really isn't.  It's just a matter of dumping things in at various times and letting it sit.  There's not a lot of hands on time.

« Last Edit: January 31, 2019, 03:44:54 PM by CNM »

Boofinator

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2019, 03:42:21 PM »
Regarding potatoes: I'm not sure what the specific cooking style is called, but if you oil a pan, slice the potatoes using a mandoline (thin), place them in a single layer on the pan, brush some oil on top, then bake at 350 to 400 F, they come out super yummy. That's what we've been doing lately.

As others have said, it is ok to do a lazy meal every once in a while. Just don't make it a habit.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2019, 03:43:23 PM »
My children survive almost entirely on apples and peanut and broccoli and hummus. They do not like entrees.

They do eat tacos, though, which are very easy :-).

CNM

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2019, 05:11:40 AM »
Back when DH traveled M-F, I used to do ramen with frozen veggies and top with a poached egg, green onions and a squirt of sriracha.  Middle school DD loved it.  I'd also make a batches of mini meatloaves (cooked in a muffin tin) or shredded chicken in the crockpot for the freezer so I could just pull things out.  Lots of crockpot dump style meals on the internet, I'd make up those on weekends for the freezer so I could just pull something out and put the whole thing in the crockpot without having to think.  DH normally was not a fan of the those, but he also wasn't around during the week. And a box of mac and cheese from the pantry plus some frozen veggies is not the end of the world. 

ANewLeaf

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2019, 08:22:21 PM »
Our go-tos are:
Pancakes with yogurt and fruit
Bean or scrambled egg burritos (add whatever cheese and veggies your kids will tolerate, plus salsa)
Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (canned, boxed, or made quickly with canned diced tomatoes and a hand blender, lots of easy recipes online)
Canned baked beans on toast with raw veg on the side

Our current heavy rotation are "sheet pan" meals--google for lots of ideas. Basically its a cookie sheet of chopped potatoes and veggies (we use sweet potatoes, bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, etc, squash, carrots, beets, etc are also good) in the oven at 400 or so for 10-15 mins, then add a protein to the same pan to finish off.  We keep good quality sausages in the freezer, salmon, you can do pork chops, any chicken pieces, tofu, all kinds of things.  It's awesome cause it's always tasty, relatively quick, totally brainless once in the oven, and everyone can pick their favorite veg out of the mix, which makes it easy for lots of different taste buds.

nessness

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2019, 07:00:52 PM »
Veggie dogs with steamed vegetables
Scrambled egg tacos/burritos/sandwiches with fruit
Pasta with pesto
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Quesadillas
Madras lentils with instant brown rice
Pizzas with pita bread as the "crust"

(I don't know if pesto and Madras lentils are classically kid-friendly but both my kids like them)

meandmyfamily

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #13 on: February 16, 2019, 04:16:17 PM »
My kids love potato soup!

Bean burritos are our go to.  I make a big pot of pinto beans in the IP and freeze half.  We always have the fixings for burritos/bean quesadillas.  We can also turn it into nachos, tacos or huevos rancheros.


AMandM

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2019, 08:34:54 AM »
When my kids were little, I kept a stock of super-easy pantry or freezer meals for those "aack, it's dinnertime already?!" days.  Pasta and commercial jarred sauce; frozen pizza; frozen ravioli with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan. Add raw carrots or celery sticks and it's a complete meal.  They key is to keep the emergency meals as backups, not to eat them on an ordinary stress-free day.

frugalmom

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #15 on: February 21, 2019, 03:29:43 PM »
Trader Joe's has Turkey meatballs in frozen section

I throw them in a sauce pan with a jar of sauce--boil some pasta

Add something green to the plate and call it a meal

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2019, 09:10:58 PM »
I only cook on weekends. Weekdays are for reheating the leftovers, or other meals from our freezer stash. We rely on frozen meatballs a lot, as well as prepped & frozen taco meat.

We also like naan pizzas (we keep naan in the freezer), quesadillas, breakfast for dinner, etc

StarBright

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #17 on: February 24, 2019, 08:56:49 AM »
I just realized that you are in Italy!

Do your kids like polenta? My kids ADORE grits and I normally wouldn't suggest this since most kids don't, but scrambled or baked eggs with tomato sauce over grits (or polenta) is one of my kids' favorite fast meals. It is a great healthy balance that is really fast. Sometimes I use good healthy homemade sauce that I've frozen, and sometimes I just use jarred sauce.

Either way it gets eaten right up and only take about 15 minutes to put on the table.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #18 on: February 24, 2019, 09:12:02 AM »
I hate to say it, but I HATE polenta.  Can't think of anything more boring in it's pure form and when served with sausages I just want to eat the sausages and not eat the polenta. 


StarBright

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #19 on: February 24, 2019, 09:15:22 AM »
add cheese? Cheese grits with fresh pepper are comfort food in my home.

But I also understand if it is a texture thing!

Hula Hoop

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #20 on: February 24, 2019, 12:13:43 PM »
I've never seen polenta served with cheese but I don't really live in the polenta part of Italy (I live in the pasta part of Italy).  It's always served with sausages here.  Anyway, not a fan of the texture.  I'm fine with couscous, rice and I even like corn muffins but a big slab of polenta - I just don't get the appeal.

JoshuaSpodek

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #21 on: February 24, 2019, 01:40:49 PM »
 I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.

CloserToFree

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #22 on: March 19, 2019, 08:04:45 AM »
Breakfast for dinner, frozen pizzas, omelettes, and simple pasta meals are our go-tos for those busy low energy weeknights. But we're always looking for more ideas and I love the ones suggested in this thread. Definitely will try the muffin tray/ picnic snacking idea, the ramen idea, and the cookie sheet meal idea (need to look into this concept as it sounds incredibly appealing!). Thanks everyone!

SEAK

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #23 on: March 21, 2019, 11:09:50 AM »
Instapot Mac&Cheese has become a quick and easy kid favorite.

https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/instant-pot-mac-and-cheese/

slappy

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #24 on: March 29, 2019, 12:21:57 PM »
I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.

Classic

Cassie

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #25 on: March 29, 2019, 12:55:21 PM »
I would make grilled cheese and soup, hamburgers with fries from the freezer, breakfast for dinner.  I also took hotdogs and wrapped them in pillsbury grand rolls and bake for 17 minutes. Just add a veggie. My kids loved these.

Captain FIRE

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #26 on: March 29, 2019, 01:08:59 PM »
I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.

You are much too modest with your proposal

business325

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #27 on: April 01, 2019, 01:03:55 AM »
What do you do with a kid that eats nothing? sometimes a bit of omlett in the morning, only soup at noon and milk and cereals for dinner. No meat, no fish, no cheese, no cold cutts... Don't know what to do anymore.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #28 on: April 01, 2019, 02:48:11 AM »
business325 - I recommend a book on kid eating called "Child of Mine" by Ellyn Satter.  They probably have it at the library if you want to do it the mustachian way.  I read this book early on as a parent and it's really helped me relax and enjoy meals with my kids - one of whom is a fussy eater (age 7) and one who is no longer fussy (10).

LiveLean

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #29 on: April 01, 2019, 08:19:30 AM »
Grill a ton of burgers, steak and chicken on Sunday and put it in plastic containers. Keep a Rotisserie chicken handy.

Buy ready-made stuff at Costco such as seasoned steak, duck, chicken meatballs, pork that can be cooked in 20 minutes.

Buy frozen broccoli that can be cooked in six minutes.

Cut out all the high-maintenance, long-time-to-cook crap like pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, casseroles.

Don't start on food-like garbage like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, taquitos, etc.

Give kids no other options. They will eat healthy if they have no choice.

StarBright

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #30 on: April 01, 2019, 09:26:03 AM »
Grill a ton of burgers, steak and chicken on Sunday and put it in plastic containers. Keep a Rotisserie chicken handy.

Buy ready-made stuff at Costco such as seasoned steak, duck, chicken meatballs, pork that can be cooked in 20 minutes.

Buy frozen broccoli that can be cooked in six minutes.

Cut out all the high-maintenance, long-time-to-cook crap like pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, casseroles.

Don't start on food-like garbage like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, taquitos, etc.

Give kids no other options. They will eat healthy if they have no choice.

^ business35,  while I think this is (in general) good advice, if you have a true food avoider and not just a picky eater you may well end up with a child that doesn't eat, even when starving. Obviously give this advice a go, but if your child starts dropping weight, rethink it.  We were trying to clean up our picky DS7s diet and almost tipped him into anorexia last year. The doctor told us to give him chicken nuggets and full fat yogurt and ice cream to get him eating again.

FWIW - we also like Ellyn Satter - she is pretty low stress about food and it makes us feel better.

Apple_Tango

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #31 on: April 01, 2019, 09:51:00 AM »
Guys....slow cooker!!! Prep before work,  let cook all day, eat at night.

Chili, soups, casseroles, sloppy joes, Mac and cheese. Growing up my favorite meal was slow cooked bbq ribs.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #32 on: April 02, 2019, 03:11:32 AM »
Grill a ton of burgers, steak and chicken on Sunday and put it in plastic containers. Keep a Rotisserie chicken handy.

Buy ready-made stuff at Costco such as seasoned steak, duck, chicken meatballs, pork that can be cooked in 20 minutes.

Buy frozen broccoli that can be cooked in six minutes.

Cut out all the high-maintenance, long-time-to-cook crap like pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, casseroles.

Ummm...pasta is not a high-maintenance, long time to cook food - it's convenient and healthy.  Since we live in the land of pasta, we eat tons of it and most of our sauces take as long as it takes to cook the pasta (usually 20 minutes total including the time it takes for the water to get to boiling point).  For example, spaghetti carbonara is just raw egg yolks, plus one whole raw egg mixed in a big glass bowl, add some fried pancetta cubes, salt and pepper and saffron powder.  Boil spaghetti and dump it over the egg/pancetta mixture and stir.  Add grated parmesan cheese and serve.  Incredibly easy.  Pretty much every other traditional Italian pasta dish is the same.

nsmustachemom

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #33 on: April 02, 2019, 07:10:57 AM »
Guys....slow cooker!!! Prep before work,  let cook all day, eat at night.

Chili, soups, casseroles, sloppy joes, Mac and cheese. Growing up my favorite meal was slow cooked bbq ribs.

This!  We often prep after bedtime and put the Slow Cooker insert in the fridge overnight.  In the morning rush, we pull it out and plug it in, and then dinner's ready as soon as we get home. Today for dinner we are having slow cooker lentil Sloppy Joes, which is a hit with the 4yo and the 1yo, costs pennies, and is filling and delicious.  For the filling we used the recipe at https://www.makeandtakes.com/kids-kitchen-slow-cooker-lentil-sloppy-joes.  At dinnertime we'll toast buns while making a salad, and dinner will be ready 10 minutes after we walk through the door.  Highly recommend.

We don't use the slow cooker every night, but at least once or twice a week.  Other favourites: salsa chicken, roast beef, pulled pork, squash soup....

slappy

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #34 on: April 02, 2019, 09:56:56 AM »
Grill a ton of burgers, steak and chicken on Sunday and put it in plastic containers. Keep a Rotisserie chicken handy.

Buy ready-made stuff at Costco such as seasoned steak, duck, chicken meatballs, pork that can be cooked in 20 minutes.

Buy frozen broccoli that can be cooked in six minutes.

Cut out all the high-maintenance, long-time-to-cook crap like pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, casseroles.

Ummm...pasta is not a high-maintenance, long time to cook food - it's convenient and healthy.  Since we live in the land of pasta, we eat tons of it and most of our sauces take as long as it takes to cook the pasta (usually 20 minutes total including the time it takes for the water to get to boiling point).  For example, spaghetti carbonara is just raw egg yolks, plus one whole raw egg mixed in a big glass bowl, add some fried pancetta cubes, salt and pepper and saffron powder.  Boil spaghetti and dump it over the egg/pancetta mixture and stir.  Add grated parmesan cheese and serve.  Incredibly easy.  Pretty much every other traditional Italian pasta dish is the same.

I wouldn't say super healthy but certainly easy and definitely kid friendly. I make the tri color pasta and tell my kids its hulk pasta. I wonder if the previous poster was thinking more things like lasagna that take a long time to bake.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #35 on: April 02, 2019, 10:46:34 AM »
My toddler doesn't have patience for spaghetti. Needing to boil water (10 minutes), cook the pasta (10 minutes)- she is HANGRY.

But that's why I usually try to have things ready before she gets home from daycare. Or she gets a snack while I cook dinner.

I took this thread "absolutely no energy" at it's word: that 15-20 minutes was just too much.  There are days like that.  Sometimes food just needs to be on the table in less than 5 minutes.

And that's why we eat a lot of leftovers during the week.  Because I have nearly no time between work and class, and the kid has to be fed.

Wolfpack Mustachian

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #36 on: April 02, 2019, 10:55:43 AM »
My children survive almost entirely on apples and peanut and broccoli and hummus. They do not like entrees.

They do eat tacos, though, which are very easy :-).

+1 on the no entrees. I have some sort of idea that once things settle down we'll get into whole meals with an entrée, two sides, etc., but that's a long way away. We get them to eat pretty well by stocking lots of fruit and raw vegetables, asking them to pick a fruit or vegetable to eat to begin with and give them that, and then moving on to what they really want (turkey slices, cheese, peanut butter sandwich, etc.). None of this is hard to make, and we've had good luck with expanding their tastes this way.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #37 on: April 02, 2019, 11:01:43 AM »
Wolfpack and Im a Red Panda - things settle down a lot when the kids get a bit older.  Mine are 7 and 10 and they're able to wait for dinner without meltdowns.  We usually give them some raw veggies to munch on while we throw dinner together - cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, radishes etc.  They eat them because they're starving.

I figure that pasta must be healthy as Italy has one of the highest life expectancies in the world and around here most people eat pasta for at least one meal a day and often two. 

kanga1622

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #38 on: April 02, 2019, 03:05:49 PM »
Quesadillas (pizza, chicken, or plain cheese)
Canned or frozen soup
Grilled cheese or ham and cheese sandwiches
Frozen ravioli with jarred sauce
Tacos (we ALWAYS have lettuce, salsa, and tortillas around)
Chicken and veggies (I throw 6-7 lbs of chicken in the crockpot covered with water on low for 10 hours - then freeze in meal sized portions)
Pasta with chicken, frozen veggies, and jarred sauce
String cheese, pepperoni/lunchmeat, and crackers with whatever veggies are handy
Chicken stir fry (we ALWAYS have stir fry veggies, cooked chicken, and some sort of sauce on hand)
Crackers and peanut butter
Yogurt with crackers and fruit
Fruit smoothies (frozen precut strawberries/pineapple/blueberries and OJ or apple juice) - you can add yogurt or peanut butter if you like how that tastes

I purposefully make large batches of crockpot veggie soup, chili, beef and noodles, and chicken to have frozen in individual portions. I typically make "sloppy joes" in a large batch and freeze half so that makes a fast meal a couple weeks down the road when we know we are going to have a busy night. We also find it faster to cook up 10 pounds of hamburger on a weekend and freeze in 1/2 lb amounts. Then I can throw together tacos, layer a lasagna, or put together a casserole in minutes.

My kids are 9 and 5.5 so we don't have a lot of time on weeknights as they go to bed early. I often make goulash, a casserole, or some other meal that creates leftovers on the weekends and plan those leftovers to cover a weeknight meal or to freeze and pull out 2 weeks from now as a weeknight meal. We save the time intensive stuff for the weekends.

business325

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #39 on: April 05, 2019, 12:11:38 AM »
business325 - I recommend a book on kid eating called "Child of Mine" by Ellyn Satter.  They probably have it at the library if you want to do it the mustachian way.  I read this book early on as a parent and it's really helped me relax and enjoy meals with my kids - one of whom is a fussy eater (age 7) and one who is no longer fussy (10).
Thank you, will search for the book.

Wolfpack Mustachian

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #40 on: April 05, 2019, 10:43:44 AM »
Wolfpack and Im a Red Panda - things settle down a lot when the kids get a bit older.  Mine are 7 and 10 and they're able to wait for dinner without meltdowns.  We usually give them some raw veggies to munch on while we throw dinner together - cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, radishes etc.  They eat them because they're starving.

I figure that pasta must be healthy as Italy has one of the highest life expectancies in the world and around here most people eat pasta for at least one meal a day and often two.

Thanks, I do look forward to those days. It's nice to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel :).

FIRE@50

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #41 on: April 05, 2019, 11:06:54 AM »
Peanut butter on wheat toast. My daughter is now old enough to make it herself, IF I get the toaster down for her.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #42 on: April 18, 2019, 04:05:07 PM »
business325 - I recommend a book on kid eating called "Child of Mine" by Ellyn Satter.  They probably have it at the library if you want to do it the mustachian way.  I read this book early on as a parent and it's really helped me relax and enjoy meals with my kids - one of whom is a fussy eater (age 7) and one who is no longer fussy (10).
Thank you, will search for the book.

I read another one of hers, Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family. Definitely recommend.

I don't do everything she recommends. But I loooove that she gave me permission not to stare at my kids' plates telling them what to eat.

StarBright

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #43 on: April 18, 2019, 04:49:49 PM »
StarHus wasn't home tonight (he likes a full dinner) so I gave the kids PB toast, apple slices and yogurt. It was balanced, healthy and oh so easy for me!

cloudsail

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #44 on: April 18, 2019, 07:28:56 PM »
What do you do with a kid that eats nothing? sometimes a bit of omlett in the morning, only soup at noon and milk and cereals for dinner. No meat, no fish, no cheese, no cold cutts... Don't know what to do anymore.

I honestly don't know. My daughter was like that, it felt like she survived on sunshine and water. She's six now and eats a little better, but still not what seems to be enough. She's very skinny and in the 25th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height. I'm just hoping it continues to improve with age.

habanero

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Re: Kid friendly meals for when you have absolutely no energy to cook
« Reply #45 on: April 28, 2019, 01:19:41 PM »
Fried rice. Cook more rice than needed and make fried rice the next day.

Heat oil in a pan, add rice and stir for a couple of minutes. Throw in some minced ginger, garlic and scallots. Lightly beat couple of eggs, make a little room in the rice and add eggs. Mix well. Add some leftover meat (might need to pre-heat), scampi or whatever. Season to taste with light soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil. Add chilantros.

Takes like 5 minutes and a great way to use leftovers. And it's actually very tasty.