Looking for more menu ideas

seeker

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 3:21 pm

Running out of things to make for supper.

- Not chicken or meat. I already know what to do with chicken or meat but it's too expensive for more than once or twice a week, so I'm looking for ideas for the other nights.
- Pasta/cheese/bread/pizza can not be the main dish, they get enough of that category in school plus the nights that I'm REALLY out of time/energy/ideas.
- No nuts or soy due to allergies
- Eggs, tuna, and yogurt are already in the rotation. The kids barely eat eggs and tuna when served because they don't care for them.
- Salad or cut veggies are already always on the menu every meal.
- But I like to serve an additional vegetable as well when possible, but one of my kids won't (seriously won't, she's tried and just can't get do it!) eat sweet potatoes, peas, soup, or squash. We do OK with broccoli and cauliflower but I only use the bodek/equivalent so I limit it to once a week due to cost. Corn is OK but I limit that too because I don't feel it's healthy enough to eat every time I'm feeling lazy and out of ideas. String beans are OK, so that's ONE idea... and for some reason they want to eat every day and not the same thing.

I can't remember what I used to do but I feel like I'm falling back on lazy meals like pasta and eggs all the time lately. Ugh. I wish they ate healthier foods in school so I could be the lazy one! There they have a staff whose job it is to feed kids, at home I have more important things to do - I work all day and then I want to spend time actually parenting my kids, not in the kitchen! Let them serve real food and I'll serve pasta and pizza! But that hasn't happened yet so meanwhile... what?

Simple1

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 3:39 pm

Beans are healthy and cheap.

Roasted vegetables, use any combination. Or steam any type of frozen vegetable. You can get ideas by looking thru the store aisles.

And yeah, I get what you're saying about the school lunches. I'm secretly happy that they're required to serve whole wheat bread.

bamba

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 3:54 pm

roast veg. not sure which veg your kids will eat but tomatoes, carrots. aubergine, courgette, peppers, mushrooms etc. you can make a vegetable lasagne with them or just quick noodles, couscous, with grated cheese on top. its a difference to plain pasta and cheese.
how about a quiche? mushroom/courgette/tomato.
baked potatoes with cheese

applecake

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 3:58 pm

We spiralize all sorts of veggies here. Zucchini for zoodles (toss with pesto and my kids will slurp it up. Zucchini slices? No way.) You can spiralize sweet potatoes and make baked curly fries. Carrots, beets, parsnips, apples -- all sorts of things can be spiralized and somehow that makes them much more appealing to my kids.

We like to roast chickpeas and toss them with a little bit of salt and pepper -- they get crunchy and are very good.

Kale chips are a tasty way to get in more veggies.

Twice baked potatoes are good and popular at our table.

A good veggie stir fry is great. You can mix together peanut butter, some coconut aminos, and a hint of brown sugar and lime juice for a thai sauce.

We like to do "breakfast for dinner" when I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed -- scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit salad.

Good luck! Planning healthy dinners that everyone will eat is such a task!

thunderstorm

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 4:14 pm

You didn't mention anything with rice. Rice and beans and chickpeas is good filling dish and when you combine rice with beans it = to a protein somehow, at least that's what I've been told

Broccoli salad
Salmon
Frozen flounder
Tina patties
Cottage cheese with kirbies, black olives and tomatoes , with whole wheat bread
Avocado and eggs

tichellady

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 4:15 pm

my opinion- your daughter won't be able to eat everything every night. that's life for a picky child. make sure she has something she can eat at each meal but don't deprive your other kids of those veggies.

some ideas: black bean quinoa corn taco salad, I don't recall you saying anything about fish, is that an option? tilapia tacos are not expensive with red cabbage salad and tomato salsa or mango salsa and guacamole, red lentil dal with coconut rice, split pea soup with spinach, red lentil soup with greens, cottage cheese spinach quiche with a little cheddar, zuchinni rice cottage cheese casserole, lentil walnut tacos, etc