Easy Weeknight Leftover Chicken Quesadillas
Quesadillas are such an underrated meal! Theyre simple, delicious, inexpensive, and are kid and adult-friendly. This recipe uses leftover or store-bought rotisserie chicken to simplify the meal and pairs it with our delicious 5-Ingredient Copycat Chipotle Burrito Sauce!
http://www.forkly.com/recipes/easy-weeknight-leftover-chicken-quesadillas/ PHOTOS AND RECIPE HERE: Forkly
Best Sloppy Joes Ever
If you have kids, youve likely made lots of Sloppy Joes over the years. Its a dish you can throw together in minutes.
But while its tempting to keep using the canned mix, weve found a recipe that tastes so much better than any of the processed stuff on store shelves.
You can also remix this recipe by adding some green chilies to make it spicier or add a bit of BBQ sauce for a smokier flavor.
And if youre trying to cut back on red meat, you can also substitute ground turkey or lamb.
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
I love sheet pan meals because they require very little cleanup and dishes with everything just cooking to perfection on a single pan. These chicken fajitas are a great oven meal served with warm flour tortillas, shredded cheese, avocado and sour cream. My picky eaters love them!
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas Recipe & Instructions
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Apple Bacon And Goat Cheese Salad
Keep this no cook by using pre-cooked bacon bits and allow the kids to slice the apples and crumble the goat cheese. You can always serve the salad and dressing separate so kids can customize their salads.
Allow the kids to pick which fruit they want to use for the salad- they could choose pears, nectarines, or peaches if they would like.
Mango And Mandarin Orange Duck Salad
The salad dressing for this salad is my kids favorite! Although we used duck you could easily swap it for chicken.
Add fried wontons for extra kid friendly crunch. You can often find the fried wontons in the same section as the salad dressings.
The easiest way to make this is to use leftover BBQ chicken or a rotisserie chicken tossed with BBQ sauce. The rainbow of veggies include kid favorite broccoli and there’s yummy chunks of mozzarella too!
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Thats The Best Way Kids Learn How To Cook
They see mom or dad cooking and they cant wait to try to create some recipes themselves!
Depending on your childs age, they may or may not need supervision for these recipes.
I have learned that a 10-12 year-old child can make many dishes on their own, but kids younger than that need hands-on supervision and direction.
Even if my older kids are cooking, I make sure I am always nearby to answer questions or to check on the progress.
Letting the kids cook has been a fun adventure for our family.
The kids feel needed and love the fact that they have learned a skill that many adults are still working on!
Cheesy Baked Tortellini Casserole
Just a few simple and cheap ingredients to make this incredibly delicious pasta casserole with meat sauce! The cream cheese makes all the difference. This meal is incredibly filling and feeds a large family, but is just as good leftover for a few days so you can get several meals out of it.
Baked Tortellini Casserole Recipe & Instructions
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Cheeseburger And Fries Casserole
Take our word for it, Ray Krocs restaurant doesnt need any more of your money!
Instead of dropping your hard-earned cash on mediocre burgers and fries, you can create a dish at home that combines these two kid-friendly foods into one fantastic recipe.
As you probably guessed, this meal is pretty darned simple, combining ground beef, shredded cheese, and fries to form the casserole.
Top it or serve it alongside some popular hamburger toppings such as pickles, lettuce, and tomato.
This is yet another amazing-kid-friendly casserole that your kids will bug you to make again and again.
Chicken & Zucchini Casserole
Ive made this recipe countless times, and its always a hit with my kids. I do recommend the StoveTop brand of stuffing because its packed full of flavor, making any additional seasoning unnecessary. You could also add other soft veggies to the mix if youd like such as squash, corn or mushrooms.
Chicken Zucchini Casserole Recipe & Instructions
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Easy Dinners The Kids Can Make Themselves
Add a the kids are cooking night to the meal plan for the week and everyone wins. Not only is it fun for your kids to get their hands dirty and cook up something for dinner, but it also gives you a break for the evening. These 10 recipes are easy and tasty crowd-pleasers, so everyone at the table will definitely approve.
Tips For Easy Family Dinners
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Tropical Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Packed with tart cherries, pineapple tidbits and macadamia nuts these tropical chicken salad sandwiches are a simple and refreshing dinner option.
Using a rotisserie chicken speeds up the prep time but you could always use precooked chicken you make yourself. Hawaiian Sweet Rolls are a favorite pairing and always popular with the kids.
Chopping all of the vegetables for this salad gives kids a chance to practice their cutting skills. You can keep it meatless or easily add some cooked chicken to it.
Roasted Turkey And Basil Cream Cheese Pinwheel Sandwiches
These colorful pinwheels can be made in the morning and kept chilled for an easy lunch or afternoon snack. For little kids: Let them wash and spin-dry the lettuce. For big kids: Let them layer the ingredients and roll up the sandwiches.
Get the Recipe: Kids Can Make: Roasted Turkey and Basil Cream Cheese Pinwheel Sandwiches
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Quick & Easy Instant Pot Macaroni And Cheese
As a child, macaroni and cheese was always a favorite of mine. If youre like most people and purchased or received an Instant Pot as a gift this year then youll be happy to know you can make your kiddos favorite meal, mac and cheese in it too! This recipe comes together in just 15 minutes perfect for busy nights.
http://www.forkly.com/recipes/quick-easy-instant-pot-macaroni-and-cheese/ PHOTOS AND RECIPE HERE: FORKLY
Baked Garlic Parmesan Potato Wedges
Nothing says easy than dump and bake. This meatball casserole is really that and more. Its a simple 5-ingredient pasta recipe everyone in the family can enjoy, especially your kids.
Watch this video from Dominique Moran for more easy dinner recipes for kids:
When it comes to pleasing kids, you dont need to go gourmet. Easy and simple meals always work best! These easy dinner recipes for kids will get any kid to look forward to dinner no matter what. You can now stop worrying about having to juggle work and cooking for your kids. These meals kids love got your back!
Which easy dinner recipes for kids are you planning to try tonight? Share your experience in the comments section below!
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Cheese Tortellini In Creamy Marinara
Kids love pasta, but it doesn’t always have to be spaghetti. Try this cheese tortellini in creamy marinara sauce! In just 15 minutes, youve got a pasta skillet thats a literal symphony of flavor. The fresh basil-infused marinara sauce is perfectly complimented with pillows of tangy goat cheese. Our 4 year old gives it high marks!
Instant Pot Beef Stew
The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
An instant pot is an essential kitchen appliance for busy parents. Use it to create a rib-sticking, nutritious beef and vegetable stew that kids will enjoy eating for dinner. Pack leftovers in thermoses for school lunches, along with crackers for crumbling it tastes even better the next day!
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Get Your Kids In The Kitchen With These Summer Dinner Ideas
Summer is the perfect time to teach life skills with these dinner recipes kids can make. Use these summer dinner recipes to empower them and build connection, confidence, and creativity in the kitchen.
Katie Kimball Has Been Featured On:
Please remember that Im just a gal who reads a lot and spends way too much time in her kitchen. We at Kitchen Stewardship® are not doctors, nurses, scientists, or even real chefs, and certainly the FDA hasn’t evaluated anything on this blog. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please talk to your health professional before doing anything you might think is questionable. Trust your own judgmentWe cant be liable for problems that occur from bad decisions you make based on content found here. Here’s the full legal disclaimer.
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+ Easy Dinner Recipes For Kids To Make
Get the kids involved in making food for the family with one of these easy low or no cook dinner recipes for kids to make!
Theres so many reasons why kids should be involved with cooking! They can gain confidence as they learn a valuable skill, they become a valuable help in the kitchen, and they will be able to feed themselves when they go off on their own.
If you are just starting teaching your children to cook, check out my guide for tips for cooking with kids. Also, make sure you are choosing age appropriate cooking skills for your young chefs!
Salads of all kinds, whether pasta, couscous, green, or chicken are a great starting point for dinners that kids can make. Wraps, sushi, or boats are also fun ideas they can make.
Oh, and dont forget the dessert! Have them choose one of these easy no bake pies to make and have one amazing meal made all by the kiddos!
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Sloppy Joe French Bread
Another family friendly ground beef recipe! If you like sloppy joes, youve got to try making it opened face on toasted french bread. Its so much better! The cheese gets all toasted, plus I like the smaller serving sizes so everyone gets just the right amount.
Sloppy Joe French Bread Recipe & Instructions
My Kid Still Wont Eatis This Normal
Remember that kids go through stages. There will be days when your child barely eats, and there will be days when the hunger seems nonstop.
Focus on the big picture and ask yourself these questions:
- Is my child eating a variety of healthy foods over the course of the week?
- Is my child undernourished or growing normally?
- Is food interfering with my childs quality of life?
It might be time to see a doctor if you see signs of health problems due to pickiness or lack of eating. The problem may go beyond stubbornness and be a symptom of a medical issue.
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Chicken Recipes For Kids
Mixing up chicken recipes is an easy way to make dinner more interesting for everyone at the table. And whether the kids like nuggets, tenders, meatballs, or chicken sandwiches, there are plenty of options here.
This recipe was updated in September 2019 to add an Instant Pot option.
Keeping Family Mealtime Stress
The less stressed you are, the less stressed your child will be. Forcing food will make the experience negative, leaving kids less likely to experiment.
Here are a few final tips on how to encourage positive eating habits that will follow your child through life:
- Keep meals stress-free
- Offer a wide variety of foods
- Dont force eating
Children are most likely to say that they want to just lounge around or rest for a while after spending hours listening to lecture after lecture from their teachers. There is nothing wrong with this if they had a rough day.
Whats disturbing, is if they deliberately stay away from schoolwork or procrastinate when it comes to reviewing for their tests or completing an important science project.
When it seems that it is becoming a habit for your child to put off school work, its time for you to step in and help your child develop good study habits to get better grades. It is important for you to emphasize to your child the importance of setting priorities early in life. Dont wait for them to flunk their tests, or worse, fail in their subjects before you talk to them about it.
You can help your children hurdle their tests with these 7 tips:
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Instant Pot Chicken And Dumplings
When it comes to the kids, the dumplings may be the main attraction in this dish, but you’ll feel better knowing they’re also eating a good serving of vegetables and chicken. Onions and garlic are sauteed, chicken broth, seasonings, vegetables, and chicken are added, the homemade dumpling dough is spooned on top, and the stew is pressure cooked for just a few minutes. Peas, parsley, and cream finish it off.
Make A List Of Your Kids Favorite Dinners
I found that the best way to empower my kids in the kitchen was to ask them to make a list of their favorite summer dinner recipes. After that, we can choose which ones they want to make and which ones they may need more help preparing.
What skills do they need to learn? Do you have an easy-to-follow recipe they can read and use themselves?
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Favorite Dinner Ideas For Kids
This post may contain affiliate links. If you shop from one of our links, we may earn a commision.Updated: Amy Palanjian
Make family dinner easier with this master list of dinner ideas for kidsthat grownups will enjoy too! These are some of our favorite meals using pasta, chicken, vegetarian staples, pizza flavors, and fast methods to help you feed your family day in and day out.
Quick & Easy Instant Pot Deconstructed Lasagna
While I love to cook, I just dont have the time that goes into a meal like homemade lasagna, even though I adore this dish. Enter, the Instant Pot. It takes a small fraction of the time and tastes exactly the same as traditional lasagna, making it a favorite in my books!
http://www.forkly.com/recipes/instant-pot-deconstructed-lasagna/ PHOTOS AND RECIPE HERE: Forkly
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Muffin Tin Cheeseburger Cups
These mini burgers are made in a muffin tin and because of that, you can whip up a large batch quickly! They would be great for any family dinner, potluck or birthday party and they certainly get the stamp of approval from the kiddos!
http://www.forkly.com/recipes/muffin-tin-cheeseburger-cups/ PHOTOS AND RECIPE HERE: FORKLY
Some Precautions About Letting Kids Cook
Before you let your kids take over the kitchen, heres a few safety precautions!
- Avoid deep frying unless youre continuously supervising
- Teach your kiddos about proper sanitary kitchen rules.
- Teach them the danger of kitchen fires and how to extinguish them.
I teach these safety tips to my kids before we cook or bake.
I also re-emphasize them every time we cook or bake together.
Ready to let your child begin a cooking adventure?
Dig in and have fun!
Psst!
If your child is a preschooler or toddler, just let them help on a much smaller scale.
They can smear mayonnaise on the bread or roll up some cookies.
Those are still important kitchen skills to learn!
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Our Most Popular Family
We can all use a win in the kitchen every now and then, especially when it comes to being able to quickly prepare meals that our whole family will enjoy. With that in mind, weve taken the liberty of rounding up our top 30 kid-friendly recipes that will have everyone leaving the dinner table happy, healthy, and full-bellied. What more could you ask for?
Ham And Cheese Pockets
This is another great take on pizza pockets but with a different filling. This homemade dough will surprise your family and yourself with how easy it is to make. These cheesy pockets are filled with sliced ham and lots of flavors that will definitely quench your comfort food craving. Say goodbye to your box-packaged pizza pockets.
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