Skillet Chili

Last night I had two hungry little boys and ground beef in the fridge. I didn't want to make the same old thing and wanted to feed my kids - Fast! Came across this recipe and tweaked it a little. In 30 minutes I had dinner and the kids scarfed it down! As always, add flavors to taste, sub meat for whatever you have on hand and noodles too!

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 - 15 oz can kidney beans, drained

1/2 C salsa

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 C macaroni noodles

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Brown meat, onions, and garlic in a deep sided pan (that has a lid). Drain fat. Add all other ingredients, except cheddar cheese. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until noodles are cooked. Sprinkle cheese on top, remove from heat and replace lid until cheese melts - about 2 minutes. Serve.

You could add veggies to this dish if you want to slide in some extra nutrients for your kids. Zucchini, beats, eggplant, whatever.

Chicken Tenders

I love Bisquick. I grew up with the box and just love the taste. Last night I couldn't think of what to make for dinner. I've honestly been slacking in that department. But, that's motherhood. So I looked to see what I had and saw the box of Bisquick. I thought, "eh, there might be an easy, fast recipe on the box", so I looked. This is what I found, made and loved! Scott, 3, helped make dinner last night and he had fun doing it too. You could have up to 4 kids help make this (assembly line) or 1 as I did.

2/3 C Bisquick

1/2 C Parmesan Cheese

1/2 t Garlic Salt

1/2 t Paprika

1 Egg

3 Chicken Breast - slice into 1/2" strips

3 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450 deg F. Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat egg. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with Pam. Dip chicken strip into egg, to coat, then coat in Bisquick mixture. Place on sheet. Repeat steps until all the chicken is on the sheet. Sprinkle butter over chicken. (Careful, the butter may smoke up your oven) Bake for 12-14 minutes.

You can serve with your favorite dip or eat plain. Feel free to add any other spices you may like. This one is kid-flavored but you may add any kind of pepper, chili powder, onion powder, or any other spice you like.

I served this with Harvard Beets and Baked Beans.

A Kid-Dish

This recipe was floating around facebook and is perfect for kids to make!

Spaghetti

Hot Dogs

Slice your hot dogs into thirds. Take your spaghetti and push it through your hot do through the side so that half of the noodle is on each side of the dog. Boil the dogs per instructions on the spaghetti box. You can serve with spaghetti sauce or ketchup or whatever your kid loves.

Great for Halloween!

Almost a cupcake meal

I recently tried a recipe I found on food network to make with your kids. Here's how it goes:
In a cupcake pan place cooked noodles of choice. Sprinkle cooked ground meat and veggies and top with cheese. Bake until cheese melts.

Well, when I went to take it out of the pan it all fell apart! So much for that recipe! But I will not be discouraged. It's all in how it's prepared. I will always follow the recipe to the T the first time around. I want to know how it's "supposed" to taste. Let's just say I'll tweak this one. Next time I'll cook the noodles al forno. Then I'll mix that with the uncooked ground meat, veggies, and an egg and mix-in the cheese (whatever cheese you have on hand will work). That should give me the texture I'm looking for and hold I want in the dish.

This could turn into a fun dish with your kids. Have them mix everything up for you and squish it in the pan. Just make sure you wash their hands after you're done.