Fav dinners? I am in a rut

[lindsayjean]

I am in a rut for quick, easy but nutrient dense dinners. Anyone have any good trad food blogs where I could get ideas? Or a favorite easy dinner? Our favorites right now are getting old! Sloppy joe pot pie (gluten free), meatballs, meatloaf.... I guess I need our side of beef to get here I am SO sick of ground beef and sausage, haha!

Oh- and any yummy simple side dishes? I need to convince my 1 yr old to eat something besides kale chips for veggies. He is currently refusing all other veggies for some reason.

But yeah... I'd love to hear your quick and easy dinners since my 1 yr old likes to be held the entire time I am cooking since he likes to see the action (and he is NOT okay with being on my back in the wrap, unfortunately. Apparently he can't see the cooking that way). I can convince him to be entertained some of the time.... but I still need simplicity in my cooking. Unfortunately since I LOVE cooking....

[Lauren82]

One of my favorites is to put a roast in the crock pot or oven and serve with mashed potatoes, gravy and a veggie. You can season the roast with whatever you'd like and use the juices for the gravy. If potatoes are not okay with a traditional foods diet (it's been awhile since I've read any WAP--forgive me), you could always make quinoa, rice or something else.

What about:

Breakfast for dinner (yum)
Burritos or tacos
Homemade pizza (you can make and freeze dough ahead of time)
Stews and soups

As for easy side dishes, do you have a rice cooker? You can cook rice or quinoa in it. Mine has a steamer basket to steam veggies in while the rice is cooking.

As a busy mom with 3 busy little ones and 3 picky little ones, I know how easy it is to get stuck in a rut. What I try to do is really utilize the slow cooker and oven to slowly cook meats during the day so when dinner time rolls around, I only have to worry about a side dish like rice or potatoes and steaming some vegetables.

[MyLittleWarrior]

My favorite veggie right now is roasted green beans. I am very anti-veggie (I know how good they are for you, but I've had issues w/veggies since childhood) and I will eat these like french fries! I get organic whole frozen green beans. Straight from the freezer to the pan, coat w/ a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven on 400* for 20-30 minutes, stirring after 10, then every 5 or so until they are getting crispy. I like mine really crispy, bordering on burnt. DH likes them slightly less done. Sometimes I'll make them for a snack in the afternoon, and that is not like me.

[rhianna813]

Salmon burgers, with salmon right out the can :-) No buns but I've been paring it with coleslaw made with shredded cabbage/carrot mix from the bag and mayo dressing. Then add a cooked veggie like green beans.

Crustless quiche with bacon and leeks, add swiss if you like cheese. Really good combo! Prechop the bacon and sautee it with the chopped (and rinsed) leeks. While cooking, prepare the egg and milk mixture and preheat the oven. Pour together and add the cheese on top. Bake.

Seasonally, baked winter squash is a good side dish. Acron, carnival, delicata or butternut. We still have zucchnini in the garden (well not for long) and I love to saute it with butter and tons of garlic, instead of steaming.

Rhianna

[philomom]

We do a lot of stir-fry. Meat, rice and steamed veggies with a bit of soy or terayaki sauce.

I have one kid who adores a pot of beef stew. She gets her turn tomorrow night.

We also have pasta in the rotation. With creamy white sauce or with tomato sauce and meatballs.

[cocobean]

Here are my favorite blogs. I have the same problem but with a 2 year old so I feel your pain. I try and cook and prepare during nap. Also picking one day a week for cutting and preparing your vegetables for the week really helps. Good luck!

www.marksdailyapple.com
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/
www.thisprimallife.com
http://nourishedkitchen.com/

[TwilightJoy]

I don't know what I would do without this menu mailer:
http://cookingtf.com/mailer.html

Check it out!

If I had to pick 1 favorite recipe, I'd go with the turkey fiesta skillet. It's in the rush special issue.

[newcastlemama]

Something my kids LOVE and is easy is teryalki stirfry meat and veg with brown rice spaghetti noodles. I made it tonight fast with leftover london broil, frozen broccoli, teryaki sauce (soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar) and coconut oil. I get noodles at Trader Joe's.

[Usually Curious]

I've mentioned before that I make a big pot of brown rice and soak two kinds of beans on Sunday. Monday I cook the beans. I base our meals off of these 'Homemade convenience foods'. It has really helped me. I have a large family, including a 4yo, 3yo and 9mo. I get very little done except during the 9mo nap times.

I second the crockpot. I use mine extensively. It makes life so much easier. I roast chicken in it, remove the chicken and debone and put the bones and skin back in the hot crockpot with water. Cook on low for 24 hours. I get three meals out of a chicken that way.

I also brown ground meat in bulk and freeze 1/2lb to 1lb portions to speed up dinner prep.

I shred a whole block of cheese, dice a whole onion, chop, rinse and spin a whole head of lettuce, etc. all at once to save time at dinner time.

I use these shortcuts to get meals like:

tostados
tacos (shredded chicken or ground turkey)
mexican fried rice (w/or w/out ground turkey)
soup
spaghetti
chili
chicken sopa
chicken spaghetti
broccoli rice casserole

[kallyn]

I used to be a pretty elaborate cook, but since having DD a month ago we've really had to simplify. My easiest dinner so far is italian sausage with quinoa and greens. I stick the sausage in the oven at 425 to roast while everything else is cooking. Saute the quinoa in butter for a minute or two, then add the water (or even better, stock!) and salt and leave it alone for 20 min. While quinoa and sausage are cooking, braise some greens on the stovetop.

Stew is good too, like 20 min of hands on time and then you can leave it alone for a few hours.

[Smokering]

DH and I have recently rediscovered an old favourite, Oriental Beef Stir Fry, adapted from an Alison Holst cookbook.

Cut some decent-quality steak into really thin strips and marinate in soy sauce, sesame oil and minced garlic. Our current bottle of soy sauce is dark - DH finds it a bit strong, so I added a splash of white wine last time to dilute it and it worked well.

The "base" of the salad is just a green salad - we use lettuce from the garden, finely julienned carrot, capsicum and whatever else we have on hand. Then while the pan's heating up for the steak we sizzle some onions to go on top.

Get thefrying pan really hot, drain and dry the steak (save the marinade) and just... smear it across the pan. It doesn't need to cook for more than a few seconds. Chuck a few sesame seeds on the pan, then "wipe" them up with the steak, and it'll be pretty much done. Chuck the meat on top of the salad. Then, just before serving, turn the pan off, pour the marinade over the pan (again, work fast, there won't be a ton of marinade and you don't want it to sizzle away to nothing) and quickly pour the dregs over the salads.

It is YUMMY.

Also, roasts (which I always used to find scary) are really pretty easy and make a very satisfying, yummy meal. You can make super-simple marinades or dry rubs (I prefer the former - even red or white wine by itself is pretty good, done the day before, or a bit of soy sauce and brown sugar), and they pretty much take care of themselves in the oven, although I do turn my chicken once.

Another favourite of ours is a really easy chicken casserole. Brown strips of chicken in ghee (or coconut oil, if you like it, I don't), then pop in a casserole dish with a hefty dose of cream and just a touch of tomato paste and mustard. Onion too, if you want. Cook until done and serve over brown rice cooked in chicken stock. We make this for visitors a lot and it gets rave reviews - we copied the recipe from SIL's wedding reception.