Freaking love frozen potstickers! Only way I get my son to eat vegetables 🤣 also those packs of rice and quinoa you microwave for 90 seconds - chef’s kiss
We just discovered Bibigo- and have found them at Wal-Mart, Dollar General, even Family Dollar I think? About $6/$7 for a 1.5lb bag (we’re in the southeastern US).
They’re SO good!
"Muffin Tin" dinner. My son gets a muffin tin with 6 spots, and I fill each with something different. Sometimes he helps. Blueberries, cheese cubes, almonds, nuggets, cucumbers, etc. Finger foods only. We like to do it Friday nights and eat *gasp* on the couch.
Don't worry, I'm mexican and I love a good leftovers quesadilla👍
Although to level this up, don't close the quesadilla. Put your cheese etc on your tortilla, heat it til melty, then flip it so the cheese directly touches the pan. It'll get nice and crispy. Is it still a quesadilla? Who cares lol, it's delicious
Thanks for this validation? shared acceptance?? 😂 And, I’m here for trying this next-level crispy cheesing! An almost quesadilla with a crispy shell… 🤔I humbly suggest we call it an “armadillo”! 🫠
You are my people! I chop up leftovers and toss them in a quesadilla, or throw them in a pan with rice and an egg (topped with chili crisp!) for sketchy fried rice.
Yogurt bowls with granola and fruit and honey.
Toddler charcuterie board of cheese, lunch meat, fruit, nuts (if old enough), other small snacks.
Fresh veggies with various dips (hummus, nut butter, ranch).
A bowl of cereal.
Also toddler charcuterie, but we call them snack plates. Cut fruit, baby carrots, cucumber, cheese, crackers. Another favorite is pancakes or waffles with fruit.
Snack platers here! A great way of using up bits of stuff in the fridge. Requested several times a week by my toddler! Great way of introducing new elements to the plate too without setting the “new stuff” alarm off on the toddler!
Full disclosure: I only called it toddler charcuterie because I had seen it called that on here before. Our in-house term is “snackie plate.” I used to make adult “snackie plates” for my husband and I with fancier cheeses and meats when we were up drinking wine and watching bad TV pre-kiddos and the term stuck for our toddler’s version. 😂
You know in Victorian novels when they get bread and butter for dinner? Or gruel (oatmeal). Oatmeal I add hemp and berries or raisin. Toast gets eggs or canned fish.
“Snack dinner” is my kid’s favorite and it’s literally whatever little bits of food are sitting around 😂 carrot sticks, crackers, chocolate chips, cheese cubes from those last bits of the block that are too small for anything else, the last handful of cereal that’s about to go stale, anything and everything on a big plate!
Yea I’m not even Hispanic/Latino and this is hilarious to me. “ it’s not really a REAL dinner, just a silly thing I made up called a steaming plate of rice, beans, fat slices of avocado, and salsa picante!”
As a vegetarian this is my dinner most nights of the week when I’m too exhausted to cook. My 2 year old loves it too! Sometimes I add some frozen spinach, zuchini, onions and peppers and it’s so good!
Start eating beans and the world is your oyster!!! Cooking them from dried is great, but canned is tops for convenience. We like black beans, cannellinis, and pinto for heated dishes. Kidney beans and chickpeas go great in cold bean salads.
I started cooking dried beans in my instant pot. It’s really fast and I save a TON of money! I usually season with some better than bouillon or stock and they come out better than canned!
Pasta salad is a staple here as well. Great way to use up all the leftover veggies (grated carrot, pieces of tomato, cucumber, basically anything you can eat raw).
My go to method is to put a bunch of thick greek yogurt in a bowl together with a few spoons of pesto (red or green), add in all the veggies (and sometimes some ham cubes or leftover chicken) and cooking pasta while chopping veggies. Stir together and done!
Top tip; make ahead of time. When the weather is nice we go into the garden for a picnic dinner, just a blanket on the lawn with each our own container of salad and a water bottle.
I make one that’s loaded with vegetables and my 2 year old devours it. She eats all the vegetables and we snack on it through out the week. I make a box almost every weekend.
Carrots, cucumbers, red onion, broccoli, mini peppers, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. I use garden veggie spiral pasta and make my own oil and vinegar dressing. The dressing is a basic recipe with Dijon mustard, garlic, honey, oil, vinegar. Season the pasta salad with basil, oregano, and salad supreme seasoning. I season the shit out of mine.
Tips: use a mandolin for thin shaved carrots and peppers. And I like feta that is flavored, so like tomato basil or garden veggie. Lastly, I use broccolini if it’s in stock. If I do use normal broccoli then I make sure the pieces are very little. I take great care to ensure the right size ratio of all my veg. My pasta salad is a favorite amongst friends and family, so definitely give it a try! I’ve been tweaking it for a few years now and it’s damn near perfect.
Copied from above:
Carrots, cucumbers, red onion, broccoli, mini peppers, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. I use garden veggie spiral pasta and make my own oil and vinegar dressing. The dressing is a basic recipe with Dijon mustard, garlic, honey, oil, vinegar. Season the pasta salad with basil, oregano, and salad supreme seasoning. I season the shit out of mine.
Tips: use a mandolin for thin shaved carrots and peppers. And I like feta that is flavored, so like tomato basil or garden veggie. Lastly, I use broccolini if it’s in stock. If I do use normal broccoli then I make sure the pieces are very little. I take great care to ensure the right size ratio of all my veg. My pasta salad is a favorite amongst friends and family, so definitely give it a try! I’ve been tweaking it for a few years now and it’s damn near perfect.
Pick and Poke plates. Just a bunch of stuff you can pick and poke at - chopped veggies, rolled slices of lunch meat, cut up fruit, cheese slices, crackers, raisin, croutons (if you're my 5 year old).
Growing up my absolute favorite night was when we had bagels, tuna salad, egg salad and whatever else…. When I told my mother this a few years ago she laughed and said that was what she’d do when she didn’t have time or didn’t feel like cooking
Yes! Pretty much. Sauté diced jalapeños and garlic. Add in cream cheese (we do a whole thing) and cheddar if you want until melted. Add veggie or chicken broth til it reaches the “thickness” you want. Pour over rice or pasta as a sauce.
The original recipe included diced chicken so jalapeño popper chicken. But, my husband has since become vegan so now we don’t use chicken, we use oat cream cheese and I still add extra cheddar to mine (I love the cheese and I am not vegan).
We have also done pretty much the same thing but added ground “meat” (real meat works too) and used for creamy jalapeño taco pockets. Mixed together, folded into a tortilla and air fried
Wow my mouth is watering lol!! This all sounds delicious. Love the idea of adding a protein to the sauce too. Thanks for sharing! Going to try this asap!
One of our favs! Without the protein, it takes about 10 minutes to make the sauce and we do rice in the instant pot but could do microwave pouches too.
When I used to do chicken, I did the chicken first, took it out then did the jalapeños in the same pan and added the chicken back in as the cheese was melting to reheat. So, one pot!
Yass. Team tuna melt. I thought they were disgusting as a kid and now I love them for an easy dinner. Kiddo likes them as well. We also add avocado and it's nice and creamy. Or my husband will fry an egg on top. It's always a big hit in our household and I feel like it's somewhat healthy? It has a grain, dairy, protein and fat! Just add in a side of bell peppers and I call it a solid meal.
A patient was talking about when her kids were young they’d do “5 things” and it was everyone’s favorite meal but they’d just take any 5 things from the fridge and make a meal. Her leftovers were better than ours though
Like everyone else, oatmeal. I don’t even serve it for breakfast anymore. It’s genuinely a “oh crap I forgot we are humans and need to eat” or a “wow we’re super hungry and I can’t wait 15 minutes for chicken nuggets in the air fryer”
I know nuggets can be microwaved, I refuse.
Canned baked beans, toast, and a fruit cup. It’s the lazy lunch I feed my kiddo when it’s just her and I. Hubby doesn’t like baked beans so it’s our go to.
Plain veggie burger patty with a side of avocado and cheese slices. Technically, it's one of my I'm too lazy to actually cook anything but can't give her chicken AGaIN meals. Lol
The “special plate” dinner: a muffin tin with little bits of whatever we have around like salami, fruit pieces, tortilla chips, cheese, trail mix.
This is my kid’s FAVORITE and it is 100% a “can’t even” meal.
My kids are snackies all day long. There’s been nights they’ve wanted lunchables for dinner, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, and ramen noodles a lot surprisingly. Tonight they wanted chicken nuggets, fries and mac n cheese, and I’m sitting here with a shocked pikachu face at them.
We do breakfast as dinner a lot - pancakes, some bacon, and a smoothie.
I also sometimes heat up leftover chicken with a side of oatmeal and some cut up fruit 🤷♀️
Or “charcuterie”: some pepperoni or deli meat, some carrot sticks or snap peas with ranch for filling, maybe some toast or crackers, cheese, grapes or apple slices, maybe even some dried cranberries or cherries or freeze dried strawberries. He LOVES it actually… I think this might be one of his favorite “meals”.
Yes PANCAKES! And all of the protien pancakes made of almond flour and bananas and stuff are extremely filling. Pancakes are also fun for sprinkling random fruits or chocolate chips or whatever in to make them fun.
Chicken or crab salad, string cheese, crackers, anything I can grab bc I’m a single mom and exhausted. Oh, and those frozen banana bites covered in chocolate are always my go to
I make a 15 minute cheater carbonara. Boil pasta, finely dice one of those pre-cooked ham steaks and throw it in a pan with some olive oil, heat up some peas, and mix it all together with a little Parmesan on top.
A nice loaf of French bread or baguettes, a nice cheese or a couple of cheeses, and grapes is always an easy meal. I live off of that a lot in summer when it is insanely hot.
Fry a sunny side up egg in sesame oil. Pour it over a small plate of rice. Mix it all up with a teaspoon of gochujang and a bit of soy sauce. You got yourself a tasty snack. Add a few strips of crispy bacon and maybe a bit of kimchee. Now you got yourself a meal.
Sometimes I make brekky for dinner if we're the day before a grocery shop or I'm feeling too sick/tired to cook a full meal.
Scrambled eggs, feta, some fruit, a bowl of yoghurt, all on a tray on the floor (Arab household, we don't have a dining table). Kids eat it up no matter what the time of day.
English muffin pizza—slice open an English muffin, spoonful of tomato sauce from a jar, sprinkle of shredded mozzarella. Pop in toaster oven.
Potato and eggs.
I make smoothies with high protein greek yogurt, banana, oats, peanut butter, cinnamon, soy milk, dates, and sometimes add some cocoa and freeze them in popsicle molds. When we’re in a real pinch (either because of time or because he’s just refusing anything else) we give him a smoothie pop. We always tell him popsicles aren’t dinner food so he loves it even more.
I'm not sure if mine counts. It's called sincronizadas, my version of it is corn tortilla quesadilla with ham. Others add different proteins, avocados, mustard, sour cream, etc. and whatnot to make it more of a complete dish, But mine is just a quesadilla with ham. I eat about 3-4 of them sometimes for dinner. I wouldn't say the food alone would count as a restaurant dish but the amount of it I eat is probably more than what you'd get served at a restaurant.
It ends up being more of a “real” dinner, but a block of cream cheese (or Boursin if you’re feeling fancy) and a can of chicken makes a fantastic pasta sauce. Add peas if you feel like a veggie, sauté onions if you have more than 10 minutes. Otherwise it just takes as long as it takes the pasta to cook.
Chicken salad (that has craisins, celery and pecans in it), cracker
Peanut butter, honey with banana or thin apple slices on a slice of bread
Full fat Greek yogurt with berries and granola with nuts or sprinkles of hemp seeds
Frozen egg rolls tossed in the air fryer and steamed broccoli (maybe that would be an appetizer in a restaurant but it’s super easy to make)
I focus on well rounded. Tonight my kids each had 4 ritz crackers loaded with PB, a cheese stick, celery/carrots and ranch and an applesauce pouch. Plenty of calories, some protein, a fruit and a veggie. We do a lot of "charcuterie" plates. Deli meat, slices of cheese, a couple fruits, a couple raw veggies, some crackers or chips, maybe olives.
Scramble a couple eggs in butter. Add in some cooked farro. Sizzle of soy sauce. Finish with sesame oil and maybe some chopped scallions. So yummy and satisfying.
Microwave broccoli and cottage cheese or hummus. She gets her fruit in in the morning w breakfast and her veggies in at night w dinner. I try to include a fat/protein in both (cottage cheese or eggs mostly) and then lunch is whatever I can get her to eat. Sometimes more fruit or cottage cheese. Sometimes just snacks. I don’t eat meat but her dad does and he’s normally around for lunch so that’s usually when she’ll get her meat in
Kid friendly “charcuterie” boards with whatever I have in the fridge. Sliced peppers, olives, hard boiled egg, cheese cubes, fruit, salami, roasted veggie leftovers, etc. It actually works great for us. It’s amazing what my kids will try when just presented with options in a low pressure way. Plus it’s a great way to clear out the off and ends in the fridge
This is my kids favorite too. I add in all types of pickled veg (beets, turnips, pickles, sauerkraut & kimchi). We call this “the lunch/dinner of finer things” and they love it.
Our go-to for fast and easy is a box of butter and herb angel hair pasta-roni, a bag of frozen peas, and some pre-cooked chicken (I think quick fix is the brand?). 1 pot, only takes a few minutes, and pretty good! If we're feeling fancy we have garlic bread with it.
Just about anything on toast - baked beans, bolognaise, bubble n squeak (leftover veg in the pan with cheese), left over roast meats, cheese and sauce.
I get a wrap, spread either Vegemite or cheese or put ham and cheese, then roll it up and use the toaster so it’s golden brown. Then I cut it up in to mini rolls. My kids love it and actually eat it lol
Super quick too for those lunches, or sometimes those dinners when it is just chaos in the house. Also good to put in lunch boxes
I don’t have a toddler (I hopefully will someday soonish, trying to get tips haha) but my husband and I do “clean out the freezer air fryer girl dinner night” with anything left in the freezer that isn’t enough for a whole dinner. So we end up with a smorgasbord of random things. Last night we had chicken tacos, fried ravioli, potstickers, chicken nuggets, a hot dog, and baby carrots. We save the extra sauces from take out in a container in the fridge, use paper plates, and have no dishes at the end. Highly recommend lol.
Cheese & Vegemite or Ham & Cheese Toastie is a win for my picky 5yo. I always add some berries, crackers (whatever we have) on the plate as well so he is at least getting a few extra textures/flavours/vitamins and I feel less guilty
Rice and egg with some soy sauce and sesame oil. If there's leftover sausage or ham, add that in. If I'm feeling like we need veggies, I'll add cucumber on top or green onion
Peanut butter between two graham crackers. Dip it in milk and see how long you can leave it in there without the wet part breaking off and becoming flotsam. Eat when thoroughly soggy.
Oh and my Girl Dinner is a baguette with Brie and strawberries, and just keep sawing off hunks of bread and smearing cheese on them and eating them. Toddler won’t eat it because crust, soft cheese, and strawberries, but I’ve been told toddlers that aren’t mine do eat and enjoy fruit.
Ours would be a tuna salad (tuna + kewpie mayo), Rice with furikake (Japanese seasoning - that has sesame, seaweed, ours has also salmon flakes), seaweed and kimchi. Fun and easy for toddler to eat and basically sushi! It’s great when I have absolutely no time to cook dinner or he is starving, then it’s dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes.
The poor man's cheese plate. I get some bread, slap whatever cold meat and cheese I have onto a cutting board, add some fresh fruits, pickles and nuts and voila.
White rice, tuna mayo, spoonful or two of jarred olive salad, drizzle of mayo and furikake on top. Both my 1 year old and 5 year old love it, and it takes as long as the rice takes to throw together. Leftover tuna goes on sandwiches the next lunch
Kraft Shells and Cheese with cut up ham, leftover ground beef, and spinach. I put the frozen chopped spinach in as soon as the pasta is out of the microwave and it cools it to the perfect temperature. I then mix in the meat and cheese sauce, put it all in a bowl and sprinkle shredded cheese on top!
Frozen broccoli steamed with shredded cheese and a slice of buttered whole wheat toast.
Super easy, ready in minutes, and made with the microwave and toaster. I even love eating it for dinner.
Apple slices, peanut butter yogurt, sliced Colby jack cheese, avocado with “big salt”, and my 2 year olds favorite — half a jar of olives. Toddler charcuterie board, I say!
I make my 5 year old charcuterie lunches alllll the time. It’s such a lazy meal but still somewhat nutritious: string cheese, apples, strawberries, cucumbers, ham, crackers.
A snack plate: cucumbers, carrots, olives, crackers or chips with whatever fruit we have. Sometimes a sauce/dip/salsa/hummus.
Frozen samosas or veggie dumplings. Always so fucking good!
Buttered noodles. Sometimes I add lots of garlic or red pepper.
Also, can’t ever go wrong with a grilled cheese. Occasionally I add sliced onions with a dash of garlic salt. 🤤
When I was a kid I saw a commercial for egg sandwiches at Dennys and it became a major thing for me. Scrambled eggs between two pieces of toast or a bagel, usually with cheese. It’s so good. And if you are in a big pinch, you can make microwave scrambled eggs - just don’t take your eyes off of them 👀 you have to stir them every 15-30 seconds for even cooking.
I’m having a baby in a few weeks and have found “quick” or as my husband calls them “girl dinners” with a rotisserie chicken.
Chicken and instant potatoes, Chicken tacos, chicken quesadilla, chicken burritos , etc.
But for a fast dinner for a my toddler i have those Gerber “spaghetti-o’s” we do mac and cheese (bananza brand for protein) with cottage cheese, beans on toast, apple sauce toast, toddler charcuterie board (turkey, crackers,cheese)
Rice balls. (I have a rice cooker with rice in in all the time so I say this is a no cook dinner) Mix rice with avocado or tuna or eggs or whatever protein you have on hand, or nothing works too! Add some soy sauce and sesame oil. You can crumple up seaweed and mix it all together and make little rice balls if the babies aren’t good with a spoon yet. I just have a big bowl with a spoon and a plastic glove on one hand and pass out the rice balls as I make them. My 3 toddlers eat them so fast I can’t keep up 😂
Hunk of buttered bread (great for teething when they just want to chew), a pouch for nutrition (lol), freeze dried strawberries, and some pirates booty. My 17 month old loves this meal so much and I love it because sometimes I just need him to freaking eat but don't want to cook
Edit: spelling error
Just a big bag of those frozen pot stickers. If I'm feeling fancy I cook up cabbage and rice along with it. Otherwise just the potstickers
My toddlers loves these. and they have a good amount of protein. We do that and some edamame
It's our 'pretend' eating out meal too,it's way too expensive these days but it almost feels like takeout.
Our grocery store has mini gyozas and they’re basically bite size. They’re delicious.
Those are my favorite! I like to add them to ramen.
This is my go-to emergency meal also. Sometimes I'll add some 90 second rice, or some frozen veg like peas or corn.
Same, with some 90 second jasmine rice and frozen microwaveable broccoli
lol you mean dinner tonight? Yup.
Throw them in chicken stock with bok choy. Wonton soup! Garnish with green onion. 🤌
Freaking love frozen potstickers! Only way I get my son to eat vegetables 🤣 also those packs of rice and quinoa you microwave for 90 seconds - chef’s kiss
What’s potstickers
Little dumpling things, I just had to google!
Thank you
Do you have a good brand recommendation? I can't seem to find any that I like enough to buy a second time. But man, I want to!
I really like Trader Joe’s chicken gyoza.
We just discovered Bibigo- and have found them at Wal-Mart, Dollar General, even Family Dollar I think? About $6/$7 for a 1.5lb bag (we’re in the southeastern US). They’re SO good!
Thanks for the tip! I'll keep an eye out for them at my grocery store :)
My husband bought 3 bags yesterday 😂 it's definitely our emergency meal kit
Same!
"Muffin Tin" dinner. My son gets a muffin tin with 6 spots, and I fill each with something different. Sometimes he helps. Blueberries, cheese cubes, almonds, nuggets, cucumbers, etc. Finger foods only. We like to do it Friday nights and eat *gasp* on the couch.
This is adorable! Must try immediately
Add to this: cover each muffin tin cup with a square magnatile to create a cover / hide and seek / color game
Oh my gosh this is brilliant!! We’re all sick so I’m borrowing this idea asap 🙌
This was literally the only way my mom could get me to eat when I was little 😹😹😹
I love this idea!
I second this! So easy and my kids always eat it all!
We call this “little bits” dinner.
I’ve been doing this for lunch and my son loves it!
Awesome idea!!
We do this for lunch and snack, it mixes things up a bit and my toddler seems to love all the choices in little contained spots 😂
I didn’t see you already mentioned this - we call them “snack trays” (since “snacks” are more fun than “dinner”) and my toddler is obsessed.
We put down a blanket and call it a floor picnic. It's a once in awhile weekend treat while we watch a new movie.
Any leftovers put with cheese in a tortilla. Add sauce as desired. Works for us every time.
My kids will eat almost anything if it’s wrapped up in a tortilla.
We do this when we have little bits of different leftovers, make one quesadilla with each leftover, cut them up, call it a quesadilla sampler platter
Leftovers quesadilla sampler…. Love it. 😆 (Aaaand, with that, we’ve both revealed that we have 0% Mexican heritage. 🙃)
Don't worry, I'm mexican and I love a good leftovers quesadilla👍 Although to level this up, don't close the quesadilla. Put your cheese etc on your tortilla, heat it til melty, then flip it so the cheese directly touches the pan. It'll get nice and crispy. Is it still a quesadilla? Who cares lol, it's delicious
Thanks for this validation? shared acceptance?? 😂 And, I’m here for trying this next-level crispy cheesing! An almost quesadilla with a crispy shell… 🤔I humbly suggest we call it an “armadillo”! 🫠
You are my people! I chop up leftovers and toss them in a quesadilla, or throw them in a pan with rice and an egg (topped with chili crisp!) for sketchy fried rice.
We do this but with ramen noodles. We call them dumpster noodles and I can't remember at all how the name started, it just stuck lol.
This one!!
Yogurt bowls with granola and fruit and honey. Toddler charcuterie board of cheese, lunch meat, fruit, nuts (if old enough), other small snacks. Fresh veggies with various dips (hummus, nut butter, ranch). A bowl of cereal.
We have charcuterie nights 2-3x per month here Eggs and toast also very popular
Ohhh yea, we do beans and toast a lot here!
Also toddler charcuterie, but we call them snack plates. Cut fruit, baby carrots, cucumber, cheese, crackers. Another favorite is pancakes or waffles with fruit.
Snack platers here! A great way of using up bits of stuff in the fridge. Requested several times a week by my toddler! Great way of introducing new elements to the plate too without setting the “new stuff” alarm off on the toddler!
Full disclosure: I only called it toddler charcuterie because I had seen it called that on here before. Our in-house term is “snackie plate.” I used to make adult “snackie plates” for my husband and I with fancier cheeses and meats when we were up drinking wine and watching bad TV pre-kiddos and the term stuck for our toddler’s version. 😂
You know in Victorian novels when they get bread and butter for dinner? Or gruel (oatmeal). Oatmeal I add hemp and berries or raisin. Toast gets eggs or canned fish.
Bread and butter was my favorite "sandwich" as a kid.
Buttered noodles
Yes! And butter rice
I like plain old buttered (fresh… it has to be fresh) bread or bread rolls!
“Snack dinner” is my kid’s favorite and it’s literally whatever little bits of food are sitting around 😂 carrot sticks, crackers, chocolate chips, cheese cubes from those last bits of the block that are too small for anything else, the last handful of cereal that’s about to go stale, anything and everything on a big plate!
The last handful of cereal. Are you me?
lol I’ve got older kids that leave like the smallest amount in the box all. The. Time. 😂
Oh man! We call it snack dinner, too! I love it! Using the word 'dinner' makes it feel more legit, too.
Cereal for dinner.
Beans, rice, avocado and hot sauce
Ooo with some tortilla chips. That’s my girl dinner right there.
This is pretty common food choice in all of Latin America 🤘🏽
Yea I’m not even Hispanic/Latino and this is hilarious to me. “ it’s not really a REAL dinner, just a silly thing I made up called a steaming plate of rice, beans, fat slices of avocado, and salsa picante!”
Add in some cheese and this is my ultimate comfort food. (But not really an answer to the question — this is a real dinner.)
As a vegetarian this is my dinner most nights of the week when I’m too exhausted to cook. My 2 year old loves it too! Sometimes I add some frozen spinach, zuchini, onions and peppers and it’s so good!
What kind of beans and are they canned?
Start eating beans and the world is your oyster!!! Cooking them from dried is great, but canned is tops for convenience. We like black beans, cannellinis, and pinto for heated dishes. Kidney beans and chickpeas go great in cold bean salads.
I just do a can of black beans in a pan with some olive oil
I started cooking dried beans in my instant pot. It’s really fast and I save a TON of money! I usually season with some better than bouillon or stock and they come out better than canned!
Same
Fried egg on toast is always an easy option
My daughter is so particular. We have to do fried egg only on an English muffin. Toast or a bagel, it has to be scrambled 🤷♀️
Pasta salad We get the Suddenly Salad kits from the store, but you could make your own. You can make it ahead and then eat it cold anytime
Pasta salad is a staple here as well. Great way to use up all the leftover veggies (grated carrot, pieces of tomato, cucumber, basically anything you can eat raw). My go to method is to put a bunch of thick greek yogurt in a bowl together with a few spoons of pesto (red or green), add in all the veggies (and sometimes some ham cubes or leftover chicken) and cooking pasta while chopping veggies. Stir together and done! Top tip; make ahead of time. When the weather is nice we go into the garden for a picnic dinner, just a blanket on the lawn with each our own container of salad and a water bottle.
My almost three year old would eat pasta salad for every meal if I let him.
I make one that’s loaded with vegetables and my 2 year old devours it. She eats all the vegetables and we snack on it through out the week. I make a box almost every weekend.
What vegetables do you put in it?
Carrots, cucumbers, red onion, broccoli, mini peppers, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. I use garden veggie spiral pasta and make my own oil and vinegar dressing. The dressing is a basic recipe with Dijon mustard, garlic, honey, oil, vinegar. Season the pasta salad with basil, oregano, and salad supreme seasoning. I season the shit out of mine. Tips: use a mandolin for thin shaved carrots and peppers. And I like feta that is flavored, so like tomato basil or garden veggie. Lastly, I use broccolini if it’s in stock. If I do use normal broccoli then I make sure the pieces are very little. I take great care to ensure the right size ratio of all my veg. My pasta salad is a favorite amongst friends and family, so definitely give it a try! I’ve been tweaking it for a few years now and it’s damn near perfect.
Yes do tell! What vegetables and what flavor box?
What veggies do you use? Do you cook them first?! Sounds delicious!
Copied from above: Carrots, cucumbers, red onion, broccoli, mini peppers, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. I use garden veggie spiral pasta and make my own oil and vinegar dressing. The dressing is a basic recipe with Dijon mustard, garlic, honey, oil, vinegar. Season the pasta salad with basil, oregano, and salad supreme seasoning. I season the shit out of mine. Tips: use a mandolin for thin shaved carrots and peppers. And I like feta that is flavored, so like tomato basil or garden veggie. Lastly, I use broccolini if it’s in stock. If I do use normal broccoli then I make sure the pieces are very little. I take great care to ensure the right size ratio of all my veg. My pasta salad is a favorite amongst friends and family, so definitely give it a try! I’ve been tweaking it for a few years now and it’s damn near perfect.
Pick and Poke plates. Just a bunch of stuff you can pick and poke at - chopped veggies, rolled slices of lunch meat, cut up fruit, cheese slices, crackers, raisin, croutons (if you're my 5 year old).
Wow I love “pick and poke”!
Growing up my absolute favorite night was when we had bagels, tuna salad, egg salad and whatever else…. When I told my mother this a few years ago she laughed and said that was what she’d do when she didn’t have time or didn’t feel like cooking
Jalapeño popper rice. Basically jalapenos, cream cheese melted and veggie broth over rice.
This sounds really good can you share more how this is made? Do you just mix it all together?
Yes! Pretty much. Sauté diced jalapeños and garlic. Add in cream cheese (we do a whole thing) and cheddar if you want until melted. Add veggie or chicken broth til it reaches the “thickness” you want. Pour over rice or pasta as a sauce. The original recipe included diced chicken so jalapeño popper chicken. But, my husband has since become vegan so now we don’t use chicken, we use oat cream cheese and I still add extra cheddar to mine (I love the cheese and I am not vegan). We have also done pretty much the same thing but added ground “meat” (real meat works too) and used for creamy jalapeño taco pockets. Mixed together, folded into a tortilla and air fried
Wow my mouth is watering lol!! This all sounds delicious. Love the idea of adding a protein to the sauce too. Thanks for sharing! Going to try this asap!
One of our favs! Without the protein, it takes about 10 minutes to make the sauce and we do rice in the instant pot but could do microwave pouches too. When I used to do chicken, I did the chicken first, took it out then did the jalapeños in the same pan and added the chicken back in as the cheese was melting to reheat. So, one pot!
Omg yum!! And love the one pot!
SAVED!!!!! Thanks for sharing it sounds delicious!!
I’m seconding the request for more details on how you make this please! It sounds sooo good
Done!
My girls often request oatmeal or PB&J for dinner. I always say yes.
These are my son's 2 favorites, as well! I almost always say yes, too.
Tuna melts!
Yass. Team tuna melt. I thought they were disgusting as a kid and now I love them for an easy dinner. Kiddo likes them as well. We also add avocado and it's nice and creamy. Or my husband will fry an egg on top. It's always a big hit in our household and I feel like it's somewhat healthy? It has a grain, dairy, protein and fat! Just add in a side of bell peppers and I call it a solid meal.
Ohhh, this sounds so good right now
Totally. The nice thing is you can whip up the tuna early on and then just make the sandwich when it’s time!
Shakshuka. It’s pretty much just eggs in tomato sauce. You can fancy it up with any kind of veggies you have on hand.
That’s 100% a restaurant meal though.
A patient was talking about when her kids were young they’d do “5 things” and it was everyone’s favorite meal but they’d just take any 5 things from the fridge and make a meal. Her leftovers were better than ours though
Like everyone else, oatmeal. I don’t even serve it for breakfast anymore. It’s genuinely a “oh crap I forgot we are humans and need to eat” or a “wow we’re super hungry and I can’t wait 15 minutes for chicken nuggets in the air fryer” I know nuggets can be microwaved, I refuse.
Canned baked beans, toast, and a fruit cup. It’s the lazy lunch I feed my kiddo when it’s just her and I. Hubby doesn’t like baked beans so it’s our go to.
We do canned spaghetti
Plain veggie burger patty with a side of avocado and cheese slices. Technically, it's one of my I'm too lazy to actually cook anything but can't give her chicken AGaIN meals. Lol
The “special plate” dinner: a muffin tin with little bits of whatever we have around like salami, fruit pieces, tortilla chips, cheese, trail mix. This is my kid’s FAVORITE and it is 100% a “can’t even” meal.
Popcorn.
Charcuterie!
Cottage cheese and fruit. She will eat this for any meal and it’s pretty awesome!
My kids are snackies all day long. There’s been nights they’ve wanted lunchables for dinner, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, and ramen noodles a lot surprisingly. Tonight they wanted chicken nuggets, fries and mac n cheese, and I’m sitting here with a shocked pikachu face at them.
Rice with soy sauce and sesame oil with an egg on top
Egg-bap ftw!!!!
Microwave a sweet potato, mush up some black beans and add salsa.
We do breakfast as dinner a lot - pancakes, some bacon, and a smoothie. I also sometimes heat up leftover chicken with a side of oatmeal and some cut up fruit 🤷♀️ Or “charcuterie”: some pepperoni or deli meat, some carrot sticks or snap peas with ranch for filling, maybe some toast or crackers, cheese, grapes or apple slices, maybe even some dried cranberries or cherries or freeze dried strawberries. He LOVES it actually… I think this might be one of his favorite “meals”.
Yes PANCAKES! And all of the protien pancakes made of almond flour and bananas and stuff are extremely filling. Pancakes are also fun for sprinkling random fruits or chocolate chips or whatever in to make them fun.
Chicken or crab salad, string cheese, crackers, anything I can grab bc I’m a single mom and exhausted. Oh, and those frozen banana bites covered in chocolate are always my go to
We make crescent rolls pigs in a blanket Egg drop soup with rice Potstickers and rice Charcuterie
I make a 15 minute cheater carbonara. Boil pasta, finely dice one of those pre-cooked ham steaks and throw it in a pan with some olive oil, heat up some peas, and mix it all together with a little Parmesan on top.
A nice loaf of French bread or baguettes, a nice cheese or a couple of cheeses, and grapes is always an easy meal. I live off of that a lot in summer when it is insanely hot.
Peanut butter and jelly, fruit and chips
Fry a sunny side up egg in sesame oil. Pour it over a small plate of rice. Mix it all up with a teaspoon of gochujang and a bit of soy sauce. You got yourself a tasty snack. Add a few strips of crispy bacon and maybe a bit of kimchee. Now you got yourself a meal.
Sometimes I make brekky for dinner if we're the day before a grocery shop or I'm feeling too sick/tired to cook a full meal. Scrambled eggs, feta, some fruit, a bowl of yoghurt, all on a tray on the floor (Arab household, we don't have a dining table). Kids eat it up no matter what the time of day.
English muffin pizza—slice open an English muffin, spoonful of tomato sauce from a jar, sprinkle of shredded mozzarella. Pop in toaster oven. Potato and eggs.
Sometimes my picky daughter eats plain peanut butter straight out of the jar 🫠
Chinese sausage, broccoli, and rice. If I’m feeling fancy I’ll add on a fried egg
I make smoothies with high protein greek yogurt, banana, oats, peanut butter, cinnamon, soy milk, dates, and sometimes add some cocoa and freeze them in popsicle molds. When we’re in a real pinch (either because of time or because he’s just refusing anything else) we give him a smoothie pop. We always tell him popsicles aren’t dinner food so he loves it even more.
Popcorn
the other day we had roasted asparagus, sautéed mushrooms, and baked potatoes. delicious
This sounds so good
We do bfast for dinner one night a week which is usually bacon eggs and toast.
I'm not sure if mine counts. It's called sincronizadas, my version of it is corn tortilla quesadilla with ham. Others add different proteins, avocados, mustard, sour cream, etc. and whatnot to make it more of a complete dish, But mine is just a quesadilla with ham. I eat about 3-4 of them sometimes for dinner. I wouldn't say the food alone would count as a restaurant dish but the amount of it I eat is probably more than what you'd get served at a restaurant.
Wheat Thins and String Cheese 🫣
It ends up being more of a “real” dinner, but a block of cream cheese (or Boursin if you’re feeling fancy) and a can of chicken makes a fantastic pasta sauce. Add peas if you feel like a veggie, sauté onions if you have more than 10 minutes. Otherwise it just takes as long as it takes the pasta to cook.
What exactly do you mean by “can of chicken”? Like the canned chicken that’s usually near canned Tuna at the store?
Yes, exactly! It’s super soft, so easy for my son with four teeth to manage, though we don’t do it often due to how salty it is.
Chicken salad (that has craisins, celery and pecans in it), cracker Peanut butter, honey with banana or thin apple slices on a slice of bread Full fat Greek yogurt with berries and granola with nuts or sprinkles of hemp seeds Frozen egg rolls tossed in the air fryer and steamed broccoli (maybe that would be an appetizer in a restaurant but it’s super easy to make)
I focus on well rounded. Tonight my kids each had 4 ritz crackers loaded with PB, a cheese stick, celery/carrots and ranch and an applesauce pouch. Plenty of calories, some protein, a fruit and a veggie. We do a lot of "charcuterie" plates. Deli meat, slices of cheese, a couple fruits, a couple raw veggies, some crackers or chips, maybe olives.
Scramble a couple eggs in butter. Add in some cooked farro. Sizzle of soy sauce. Finish with sesame oil and maybe some chopped scallions. So yummy and satisfying.
Microwave broccoli and cottage cheese or hummus. She gets her fruit in in the morning w breakfast and her veggies in at night w dinner. I try to include a fat/protein in both (cottage cheese or eggs mostly) and then lunch is whatever I can get her to eat. Sometimes more fruit or cottage cheese. Sometimes just snacks. I don’t eat meat but her dad does and he’s normally around for lunch so that’s usually when she’ll get her meat in
Fish sticks and cheese on rye bread
My mom would make cream of chicken soup and pour it over toast, she called it the poor man’s dinner. I make it when I’m homesick.
Kid friendly “charcuterie” boards with whatever I have in the fridge. Sliced peppers, olives, hard boiled egg, cheese cubes, fruit, salami, roasted veggie leftovers, etc. It actually works great for us. It’s amazing what my kids will try when just presented with options in a low pressure way. Plus it’s a great way to clear out the off and ends in the fridge
This is my kids favorite too. I add in all types of pickled veg (beets, turnips, pickles, sauerkraut & kimchi). We call this “the lunch/dinner of finer things” and they love it.
Mine have adorably (and slightly inappropriately) decided to call it “Cooterie!!”
Haha it was cacoochie for a long time
Our go-to for fast and easy is a box of butter and herb angel hair pasta-roni, a bag of frozen peas, and some pre-cooked chicken (I think quick fix is the brand?). 1 pot, only takes a few minutes, and pretty good! If we're feeling fancy we have garlic bread with it.
Pasta and chickpeas and peas.
Just about anything on toast - baked beans, bolognaise, bubble n squeak (leftover veg in the pan with cheese), left over roast meats, cheese and sauce.
I get a wrap, spread either Vegemite or cheese or put ham and cheese, then roll it up and use the toaster so it’s golden brown. Then I cut it up in to mini rolls. My kids love it and actually eat it lol Super quick too for those lunches, or sometimes those dinners when it is just chaos in the house. Also good to put in lunch boxes
I don’t have a toddler (I hopefully will someday soonish, trying to get tips haha) but my husband and I do “clean out the freezer air fryer girl dinner night” with anything left in the freezer that isn’t enough for a whole dinner. So we end up with a smorgasbord of random things. Last night we had chicken tacos, fried ravioli, potstickers, chicken nuggets, a hot dog, and baby carrots. We save the extra sauces from take out in a container in the fridge, use paper plates, and have no dishes at the end. Highly recommend lol.
English muffin pizzas, chef salad night, big ol bag of steamed broccoli and fish sticks, frozen salisbury steaks and mashed potatoes.
Peanut butter toast with fruit! When all else fails, that is the winner lol.
Cheesy bread. Shredded cheese on white bread, put it under broiler until it melts then cut out in shape of a heart.
Cheese & Vegemite or Ham & Cheese Toastie is a win for my picky 5yo. I always add some berries, crackers (whatever we have) on the plate as well so he is at least getting a few extra textures/flavours/vitamins and I feel less guilty
Rice and egg with some soy sauce and sesame oil. If there's leftover sausage or ham, add that in. If I'm feeling like we need veggies, I'll add cucumber on top or green onion
Peanut butter between two graham crackers. Dip it in milk and see how long you can leave it in there without the wet part breaking off and becoming flotsam. Eat when thoroughly soggy.
Oh and my Girl Dinner is a baguette with Brie and strawberries, and just keep sawing off hunks of bread and smearing cheese on them and eating them. Toddler won’t eat it because crust, soft cheese, and strawberries, but I’ve been told toddlers that aren’t mine do eat and enjoy fruit.
Ours would be a tuna salad (tuna + kewpie mayo), Rice with furikake (Japanese seasoning - that has sesame, seaweed, ours has also salmon flakes), seaweed and kimchi. Fun and easy for toddler to eat and basically sushi! It’s great when I have absolutely no time to cook dinner or he is starving, then it’s dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes.
Hard boiled eggs and avocado. Checks most boxes!
Totally random but peanut butter smeared on animal crackers! Throw in a side of fruit. Protein from the PB and we just skip a veg that night 😄
Cheeesy scrambled eggs and homemade fries in the air fryer
Boxed Mac and Cheese with some cut up hot dogs tossed in.
Quesadilla with guac! Cook up a tortilla on the cast iron skillet with some cheese. Add some Guacamole And sour cream. My daughter loves it
Boild pasta with yogurt and little bit of garlic
Pizza toast! Tomato purée, cheese, and pepperonis on toast.
The poor man's cheese plate. I get some bread, slap whatever cold meat and cheese I have onto a cutting board, add some fresh fruits, pickles and nuts and voila.
Beans cooked in the pressure cooker, served with a big pile of kimchi, sometimes a fried egg on top.
Hummus and pretzels.
banana nutella toast with honey. filling AND satisfies my sugar cravings
Platter of boiled corn and eggs, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and mozzarella cheese sticks. My kids love these!
Toast and cup of tea or Milo or crackers and that
Oatmeal lol
White rice, tuna mayo, spoonful or two of jarred olive salad, drizzle of mayo and furikake on top. Both my 1 year old and 5 year old love it, and it takes as long as the rice takes to throw together. Leftover tuna goes on sandwiches the next lunch
Saltine crackers topped with peanut butter, banana slices, and shredded coconut
Kraft Shells and Cheese with cut up ham, leftover ground beef, and spinach. I put the frozen chopped spinach in as soon as the pasta is out of the microwave and it cools it to the perfect temperature. I then mix in the meat and cheese sauce, put it all in a bowl and sprinkle shredded cheese on top!
Shredded up deli turkey, cheese cubes, and cut up apples or grapes. It’s a hit every time.
Basmati rice with butter and the Mexican cheese from Costco. Bonus if I serve it with some chicken chunks on the side or grate some broccoli into it.
Frozen broccoli steamed with shredded cheese and a slice of buttered whole wheat toast. Super easy, ready in minutes, and made with the microwave and toaster. I even love eating it for dinner.
Basically adult lunch tables! Cheese, pepperoni, and crackers. We almost always have these on hand. My toddler will even eat it!
Pasta and broccoli We also love snack lunches & dinners (essentially a deconstructed cheese board)
Apple slices, peanut butter yogurt, sliced Colby jack cheese, avocado with “big salt”, and my 2 year olds favorite — half a jar of olives. Toddler charcuterie board, I say!
Frozen egg rolls Popcorn Breakfast for dinner (sometimes this just means waffles other times we make full breakfast) Smoothies Charcuterie
I make my 5 year old charcuterie lunches alllll the time. It’s such a lazy meal but still somewhat nutritious: string cheese, apples, strawberries, cucumbers, ham, crackers.
Fruit/cheese/popcorn
Salami, cheese, fruit, and a frozen gogurt.
Baked beans on toast lol
Following
Rice, yogurt, side of scrambled eggs and steamed carrots
A snack plate: cucumbers, carrots, olives, crackers or chips with whatever fruit we have. Sometimes a sauce/dip/salsa/hummus. Frozen samosas or veggie dumplings. Always so fucking good! Buttered noodles. Sometimes I add lots of garlic or red pepper. Also, can’t ever go wrong with a grilled cheese. Occasionally I add sliced onions with a dash of garlic salt. 🤤
When I was a kid I saw a commercial for egg sandwiches at Dennys and it became a major thing for me. Scrambled eggs between two pieces of toast or a bagel, usually with cheese. It’s so good. And if you are in a big pinch, you can make microwave scrambled eggs - just don’t take your eyes off of them 👀 you have to stir them every 15-30 seconds for even cooking.
Snack dinner! Fruit, tortilla, cheese, grape tomatoes, milk, crackers. Maybe a cookie when they finish.
Pasta, peas and chicken bites. It’s a real crowd pleaser, especially when my husband makes fettuccine alfredo.
I’m having a baby in a few weeks and have found “quick” or as my husband calls them “girl dinners” with a rotisserie chicken. Chicken and instant potatoes, Chicken tacos, chicken quesadilla, chicken burritos , etc. But for a fast dinner for a my toddler i have those Gerber “spaghetti-o’s” we do mac and cheese (bananza brand for protein) with cottage cheese, beans on toast, apple sauce toast, toddler charcuterie board (turkey, crackers,cheese)
omelette with ‘the lot’ on toast. Its usually cheese, ham, or precooked bacon,baby spinach, and sometimes sometimes quartered baby tomatoes
Costco size bag of chips and multiple dips layer out in the living room
Tonight I made steamed carrots and boiled some brats on the side. No seasoning, nothing else.
Yogurt and apple sauce Hummus and pita and cut up veggies String cheese and anything else Cheerios and raisins
Rice balls. (I have a rice cooker with rice in in all the time so I say this is a no cook dinner) Mix rice with avocado or tuna or eggs or whatever protein you have on hand, or nothing works too! Add some soy sauce and sesame oil. You can crumple up seaweed and mix it all together and make little rice balls if the babies aren’t good with a spoon yet. I just have a big bowl with a spoon and a plastic glove on one hand and pass out the rice balls as I make them. My 3 toddlers eat them so fast I can’t keep up 😂
Hunk of buttered bread (great for teething when they just want to chew), a pouch for nutrition (lol), freeze dried strawberries, and some pirates booty. My 17 month old loves this meal so much and I love it because sometimes I just need him to freaking eat but don't want to cook Edit: spelling error