Family Mealtime Fun: It’s not about the food
You aren’t what you eat.
In the article we shared yesterday on 5 Ways to Improve Family Mealtime, they say not to sweat or stress about the meal itself. I agree. The kids don’t care if you make sandwiches … again, or order in pizza. It’s the time spent together talking that makes the meal essential to family health.
I’ll take it a step further and say that on certain nights where I am really busy and don’t want to spend the evening cleaning dishes, we’ll eat on paper plates. The kids think it is fun and I don’t think I’m any less of a Mom if I would rather spend 20 precious minutes at night reading with kids than washing dishes.
We have some quick, “go-to” meals when we are pressed for time or I just didn’t plan anything for dinner, like panini sandwiches, French Toast, or soup. My new favorite is to mix the Frontera Grill Tortilla Soup Base (available at Whole Foods), mixed with shredded rotisserie chicken (which I buy, shred and freeze extra from other meals or you can buy a whole bag of it at Costco now), grated cheddar cheese, crumbled Ranchero cheese, cilantro, and tortilla strips (I like the thin Salad topping kind but you can use tortilla chips too).
Here’s another of our favorite quick recipes that the kids seem to like:
Spicy Bistro Steak Subs (a Cooking Light Magazine recipe)
1 Tbsp. stick margarine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. thinly sliced lean deli roast beef
2 Tbsp. ketchup
4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. ground red pepper
1 (12 ounce) can dark beer or beef broth
6 (2 ½ oz.) hoagie rolls, cut in half lengthwise
Melt margarine in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic, and sauté 2 minutes. Add roast beef and next 6 ingredients (roast beef through beer), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Use kitchen tongs to parcel out the roast beef evenly amongst the bread rolls. Serve sandwiches with sauce from pan on side for dipping.
What is your “go-to” quick meal?
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Your Bistro steak subs look fantastic
I love the basket too! Here’s our favorite “go to” meal ~ it’s my kids absolute favorite!
The Bultema Family Taco Hot Dish
1 package crescent rolls
1 ½ – 2 lbs. ground beef (I use sirloin)
¾ lb. nacho cheese Tostitos (I use Baked Doritos)
2 pkg taco seasoning (I usually only use 1 pkg)
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
8 oz. cheddar cheese
2 cups water
Put crescent rolls in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Brown and drain ground beef. Add the taco seasoning and 2 cups water. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. While meat is browning, crush bag of Tostitos and put ½ of them over rolls. Next, put on the meat mixture, spread sour cream over meat, layer cheeses next and top with remaining crushed Tostitos.
Bake at 350 degrees ~ 20 minutes covered, 5 minutes uncovered.
Enjoy!
Cindy Bultema
3/12/10
Cindy -
Thank you so much for sharing your “go to” meal with us. I think we are going to try it this weekend because it sounds so yummy! Thanks for always sharing with us.
Sue
Administrator
3/24/10