Struggling with Dinner Ideas: Seeking Easy, Kid-Friendly Meals for a Busy Schedule

[rburdge84]

If you are on Instagram, there are some great accounts that have really quick and easy recipes. Foodfunwithus, eatwiththekids are just a few I follow. Hope this helps

 

[laylamendiola]

I sympathise with you my son is a nightmare with food all these hate comments I’m seeing make me laugh because some people have no idea!
Dinner time really used to stress me out to the point I would cry sometimes, it’s not as easy to say ‘let them starve’ blah blah.
I learnt to just adapt what he eats into our dinners if that makes sense. So if we were having pasta bake, he would have plain pasta, if I made chicken chow mein he will just have plain noodles. Curry night he has everything but the sauce luckily my youngest is easy and will eat what we eat but my son is just a nightmare but I find it adaptable

 

[laylamendiola]

So pasta I always think is a good one it’s easy, can just leave it to cook then add a sauce or meat or cheese or veggies (depending how fussy). Rice or noodles again an easy one to just pop on the stove and leave. Spag bol? Lasagne? All can be made with jar sauces! Jacket potatoes! Burgers? Sausages and mash!

 

[moose645]

Pasta bakes
Spaghetti meatballs
Tuna pasta
Chicken wraps
Slow cooker meals,
Sausage casserole
Sausage pasta
Salmon and noodles

 

[christopher000]

Make your own wraps or pizza

 

[christopher000]

Use bagels for the pizza

 

[kudagap]

@christopher000 we use tortillas too, they’re so nice x

 

[steve7150]

@christopher000 naan bread is really good for a pizza base!!

 

[arundel]

DIY dinners like fajitas/Wraps, tacos are all fun and messy. Quick too. Pasta bakes. Homemade pizzas.

 

[s4g1989]

Essential to avoid waste and also arguments and save money! Plan a weekly menu with the family and do as much batch cooking and freezing as poss on your days off. Get ready made pizza bases and all make your own healthy but yummy toppings. No child on earth hates shepherd's pie, bolognese, toad in hole, fish fingers, schnitzel which you can bulk up with spuds and veg

 

[revertinganglican]

@s4g1989 1 of my children wont eat shepards pie he hates gravy and wont go near anything with gravy on or in it

 

[s4g1989]

@revertinganglican

 

[willywoollove]

I ask my child and husband every week to choose a meal or 2 each that they would like that week and the balance i do what I know everyone will eat....Friday is always something simple eggs on toast, French toast, baked beans on toast with grilled cheese, burgers or Hotdogs....we do alot of oven chips...much healthier and tastier or sweet potatoe oven chips, alot of spuds with fillings and a salad, Mac n cheese, savory mince with spaghetti or brown rice, crumbed chicken and veg in the oven, wraps with stirfry veg, lentils and beans, smoked chicken pasta....and crackers with cheese blocks, salad, rolled up pieces of ham and general finger snacks always goes down well

 

[news123]

A slow cooker can be your best mate. Less hassle, more cost effective and tastier as well. Xx

 

[papakinate]

Do the children need two hot meals a day

 

[lc3]

Baked pots with on rotation cottage cheese/cheese &beans/tuna mayo /egg mayo tortillas on rotation with chicken, prawns, fish, enchiladas, refried bean chilli con coarne, so your making the same base each week just changing the filling, chicken & rice & brocoli & just change the veg each week, then a roast on sunday & do the same just vary the indgredients but you always have that base

 

[shatter94]

Hm pizza, get the kids to make them too.
Fajitas
Meatballs
Hm chicken nuggets (chicken breasts, a little oil and breadcrumbs, so easy) I have salad, kids have veg sticks
HM burgers (mince, grated onion, oxo cube, crushed garlic, salt/pepper) in bought buns.
Hm chicken kebabs (on sticks)with couscous/rice
My oldest is autistic is extremely fussy. I just make his plain... Plain pasta, plain meat ....etc he eats what we have just no sauce or flavour lol I'm lactose intolerant and my husband is diabetic and my Nan lives with us and struggles to chew.
My advice would be don't compare 'normal' meals or what other family's do, do what works for you. If your kids eat healthy snacks (apples, carrot sticks, cucumber, strawberries etc then don't worry about veg/salad too much at dinner time) There is far to much pressure on how we eat, it actually creates eating disorders. Good luck ❤ x

 

[uncutpc]

I hate cooking so the easier the better. Yesterday I did chicken stew in the slow cooker, 6 chicken thighs, a bag of fresh casserole vegetables, frozen chopped onion and a bag of fresh butternut squash and sweet potatoes all ready chopped from Tesco. A pint of chicken stock and 8 hours on low. Tonight we’ll have spaghetti carbonara. My youngest eats hardly anything and rarely eats what the reset of us eat. He eats a lot of beans on toast! But at 15 he can make his own if he doesn’t like what we’re having. Sausage and mash is easy and quick too.

 

[ladyofthegarden]

It all depends on what you kids eat coz there are loads of one pot meals that are delicious.. most of them are pasta meals but if you have a slow cooker then there are so much more roasts, and soups and stews. If they are a bit more adventures then if you go on youtube and look up twisted food they have tones of easy meals im sure you will find some you all love

 

[kudagap]

Pastas and rice dishes are a hit in our house!
Pasta bakes, lasagne sausage casseroles etc
Chicken/ribs in the air fryer, veg and rice and mix together, try different flavours and sauces.. (peri peri, bbq, sweet chilli)
Steak, onions mushrooms in a slow cooker to make gravy and add mash/chips and meat. (That’s what I’ve done today)
We also make pizzas with tortilla wraps , tomato pure/bbq sauce, cheese, meats, veg etc
All really easy to throw together, I just wing it usually! Feel free to msg me if you need any tips x