Need easy (and cheap) dinner ideas

[InsaneCdn]

Here's one very easy "eggs" recipe. It has a fancy title, but it's basically variations on scrambled eggs.

Crustless Quiche

Grease a 9 inch glass pie plate. (I use spray oil, but any method of a light coating of some form of grease is fine)

Fill the pie plate 2/3 full of "filling". Fastest and easiest is real cheese - mozza, cheddar, brick, etc. Or a mix of cheeses. Or buy pre-grated cheese. Other fillings we have tried include "broccoli and bacon" (I use leftover cooked), Asparagus, "potato and cheese" (leftover baked potato, cut into fairly small cubes), etc.

In a good sized bowl, beat together eight large eggs (yes, 8). Then beat in a quarter cup of milk (or cream).

Pour egg mixture over "filling". Helps to pour slow so it has time to sink down - if you go to fast, you might get some overflow.

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Reheats well. Does not freeze well.

 

[GoingNorth]

BRAT diet may help short term. It has to be short term as it is not complete nutrition. It consists of Bananas, white Rice, Applesauce, and dry Toast. Beverages should be water.

A week or so on nothing but that should quiet her innards down.

That said, I think the ulcers have just become another tool for manipulation. They made a dandy excuse to miss school for quite a while, which was BS., and now they are making a dandy excuse to get her way when it comes to food.

If you have, have her scoped again. If the results show ulcers,, treat as aggressively and as unpleasantly as you and the doctor can work out. Explain to them the problems you have had with your daughter re: using physical issues as excuses to avoid work and to manipulate people., and then shut up.

You're only response to this should be."The doctor says you can do this." "The doctor says you can eat this." "The doctor says you can't eat that." Put it all on the doctor and refuse to engage her.

As regarding cooking for her, if she needs the BRAT diet, there is nothing in there she can't prepare for herself. You may have to get instant or boil in the bag rice for her, and for this you want white bread. The secret is: NO OTHER TREATS or SNACKS.

While she is on this diet, take the time to clear all the garbage out of your fridge and replace it with good, healthy food.

Your kids will explode. Tough. If they want their own foods, they can get off their backsides, get jobs, and buy their own food...after they have contributed to the household.

 

[AnnieO]

CB, Pat does not eat with us. He will eat... dry Ramen, Pringles, soda pop (he gets these himself as I certainly don't buy them); peanut butter on bread, scrambled eggs (no seasoning - yuck), and whatever carbs he can get his hands on. He refuses to eat with us. He started by saying things I cooked made him sick (BS), then just refused to eat. He's always been picky, but now, it's beyond reasonable.

So... I make dinner for me, Bill, and Rose. If there are leftovers, and Pat wants to eat them, good for him (he doesn't, though - trying to be a martyr)... If not, we have a lunch or whatever.

Take the things they eat that are junk OUT of the house. Buy decent food, cook what you like. They're definitely old enough to fend for themselves. And that ulcer? That's a power play.

Don't you ever believe you're a bad cook. If you like what you cook, it cannot be that terrible!!!

 

[KTMom91]

CB, I would go on strike. Seriously. Call them on their BS. Buy what you normally buy, cook for yourself, and tell them that since you are unable to cook to their satisfaction, they can cook AND clean up after themselves. And stick to it.

Miss KT was cooking for herself when she was about 10 because she was picky and I wouldn't make separate meals. She had several mishaps (like neglecting to put water in the microwaveable mac-n-cheese) but she survived.

I have gone on strike before, and it was remarkably effective. I made a sign that said ON STRIKE - NOT HERE and held it up anytime someone tried to talk to me. Cooperation increased after a couple of days of my just taking care of myself and my dog.

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/453/everyday-cooking/family-friendly/kid-friendly/

http://www.rachaelray.com/2014/01/21-kid-friendly-meal-ideas

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/budget-recipes/top-10-cheap-dinner-recipes

I am at a loss when my grands are here. One time? I was making popcorn with a grand and a friend of hers. And it was so cute. She said to the friend: "My grandma makes popcorn on the stove."

And they were both so surprised, because no one they know does that.

Cedar

 

[HMBgal]

!8 and 15 and complaining about your meals? Have them watch Chopped Junior on Food Network. There are 10 year olds cooking and making great meals. I'm too old and cranky to even take complaints like that seriously. I'm an excellent cook, will try and cook things that my family (hubster down to grandkids) likes, but c'mon now.

 

[HMBgal]

And breakfast for dinner is always welcome. From eggs in flour tortillas (eggy burritos), or French toast and sausage, grits, eggs, and sausage. Egg in the whole (poke a hole in bread, drop it in a frying pan and gently toast both sides, then drop an egg in the middle and fry it how they like it. BLTs and soup, etc.

 

[susiestar]

J started cooking before age 6. Wiz about age 5. thank you never liked it but at 12 was told he had to learn to cook. J took over making dinner at 14. Wiz was refusing to eat anything I packed for his lunch about age 5, so from then on he packed his own lunch (with the same things I packed but if he did it then he would eat it - ODD much? lol). By first grade all of my kids packed their own lunches - it was just normal to them.

The ulcer bit is mostly to manipulate you. If she has an ulcer, she needs certain antibiotics that are NOT fun to take. And if she drinks ANY alcohol while on them, she will truly be in agony. Get her scoped and on the medications for the ulcer, then call her out if she tries to manipulate you with it.

She needs a job and a reason to have to keep it, like bills to pay. It is your job to help her grow up and to take her luxuries away until she can pay for them. Your son needs more responsibilities around the house also.

 

[Lil]

Learning to cook is actually quite educational too, especially baking; with the cups and fractions of cups and how many teaspoons in a tablespoon. They say that cooking is an art, but baking is a science. (A fantastic science experiment where you get to eat the result! )

Realistically, all parts of cooking involve math and problem solving:

You have a jar of pasta sauce that says it serves 5. You have a box of pasta, 16 oz., that serves 8. You have a bag of frozen meatballs that contained 12 servings of 6 meatballs each. Put that together in the proper proportions to make a meal...so you don't run out of sauce and you don't have too many meatballs! A yummy word problem.

When you're baking from scratch, maybe you don't want to make 4 dozen cookies the recipe makes; maybe you want to make 2 dozen (or visa versa). So you have to learn how to add and subtract fractions. If it calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar, you need 3/4 cup instead to halve it...3 cups to double, etc. If it calls for a Tablespoon, most spoon sets don't have 1/2 T's...so you need to know how many tsp. in a Tbsp. so you do that math.

Then there's chemistry. Baking soda is alkaline. Every mix it with vinegar to watch it bubble? That's what makes it work to make things raise! Baking powder is baking soda that has a dry acid (cream of tarter) mixed in. So if you are cooking something doesn't have anything acidic in it, but you want it fluffy, you have to use baking powder, not soda.

What if you don't have eggs? Can you substitute something? Sure! But to find out what, you have to do some research. What if the recipe calls for self-raising flour but you only have regular...what's the difference? Get on the internet to find the answer! Research skills learned right there!

Make your kids learn how to cook! I wish I'd have been more strict with mine about learning this stuff!

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

Baking powder is baking soda that has a dry acid (cream of tarter) mixed in. So if you are cooking something doesn't have anything acidic in it, but you want it fluffy, you have to use baking powder, not soda.

I never knew this about baking powder. Nor did I know that cream of tartar (which needs to go into meringue but I don't know exactly why) is 1) in baking powder and 2) is a dry acid.

How did you learn this, Lil?

So, when I bake with baking soda and add a tablespoon of vinegar, what I am creating is baking powder.

I believed myself to have been being much more clever than that.

Drat.

Cedar

 

[Lil]

How did you learn this, Lil?

You know, I'm not sure. They usually also put some cornstarch in there to keep it from clumping. Probably looking for a substitution for one or the other and just googling what the difference between them is. Just one of those things I've read somewhere. I've still got no idea why buttermilk biscuits have baking powder and baking soda in them. Buttermilk is acidic, so you should be able to just use baking soda...but every recipe I've seen for them calls for both. Then again, I can't make a decent biscuit to save my life. lol

So, when I bake with baking soda and add a tablespoon of vinegar, what I am creating is baking powder.

More or less. In baking powder, the acidic cream of tartar is activated by liquid. So if you want to see if your baking powder is still good, put some in a little bowl and add water and see if it foams. To check your baking soda, do the same but add vinegar.

 

[Malika]

I have to say, I think you're all being a bit harsh/unrealistic. Maybe it's a cultural thing? Many teenagers I know, whether "difficult" or not, seem to complain about the meals they get at home. Of course encouraging them to cook themselves what they like is a GREAT idea

 

[Jabberwockey]

I have to say, I think you're all being a bit harsh/unrealistic. Maybe it's a cultural thing?

Possibly Maklika, it would depend on where you are from. Lil and I live in the mid-west portion of the united states and I was helping to cook the meals by the age of 6 or 7 and was preparing, by myself, simple meals such as spaghetti by the age of 10. Both of my parents worked full time and my mother worked shift work so we didn't know from week to week what her hours were going to be. Because of this, me and all of my siblings helped around the house. If we hadn't then it would have been incredibly difficult for my mother.

You're a single mother and need the help. They're young adults who need the life skills. Make them at least help and see how "easy" it really is.

 

[Jabberwockey]

Oh, as far as the breakfast for dinner goes. Cook a half a pound (if you can only get it by the pound cook it all and freeze half) of your favorite ground sausage and set it aside. Dice up between 25 to 30 oz (approximately 4 or 5) russet potatoes into about a quarter to a half inch square cubes. Leave the skin on the potato. Fry the potatoes in a skillet using as much or as little oil as you are comfortable with. I usually use Jimmy Dean sausage which doesn't have hardly any fat in it so I add about an eighth of a cup of olive oil. While the potatoes are cooking, mix 4 to 6 eggs with about half of a container of egg beaters. I like to mix it up from time to time and use the southwestern style. When the potatoes are almost done, put the sausage back in the skillet and mix it up. When the potatoes are done, use the spatula to scoot the potatoes and sausage over to one half of the pan, then pour the egg mixture into the other side. Add a dash of oil before hand if needed. Scramble the egg mixture on that side of the pan, putting the lid on if needed to get the eggs cooked. This is very different from just making regular scrambled eggs, FYI. Once the eggs are almost cooked, you can start mixing everything together. A couple of different things I do with this, first off I will sometimes put slices of velveeta cheese on top of the potato mixture while the eggs are cooking so it will be pretty much melted and mix in. Your choice on either using, or type of cheese. Just keep in mind that some cheeses melt faster than others. Sometimes I will put salsa on it after its in my plate, usually when I've melted the cheese in and sometimes I will make gravy to go with it. When I make gravy, I usually make Grands Buttermilk biscuits to go with it. Good stuff!

Sorry, should have mentioned that diced ham is a very good low calorie substitute for the sausage and that I tend to put some season salt on the potatoes but not that much. Just a few shakes since we have managed to significantly reduce our sodium intake, adding too much salt to anything is just kinda blech!

 

[Lil]

MMMMMmmmm! I do love my Jabber's Breakfast Scramble. Yummy stuff! Breakfast (and breakfast for dinner) is pretty much all on him. I stay out of the kitchen for that.

 

[donna723]

Malika, it may be true that some teenagers complain about the food they are served at home. But her kids are refusing to eat virtually anything that she can cook at home! They're rejecting pretty much everything that most Americans have for dinner every night in favor of fatty, expensive junk foods from fast food restaurants! And it sounds like some of the foods they refuse to eat at home, they're perfectly willing to eat if they come from a paper bag from a drive-thru window! This reeks of manipulation! But in addition, they're being very rude and cruel to her by telling her that she "doesn't know how to cook" and the undeserved criticism is making her feel bad, like she's failng them! Besides it being very unhealthy, eating fast food all the time gets VERY expensive and she's trying to watch her budget!

 

[Copabanana]

Learning to cook is actually quite educational too

Well. I am scratching my head here wondering if Lil was in a prior life a chemistry teacher, a math teacher or a home Easy Child teacher--or if she is just plan a genius in her current life. Lil. If I ever knew any of this I have forgotten it or repressed it. But Like Cedar, I am impressed:

How did you learn this, Lil?

PS
I meant home economics teacher as in home eck, not home easy child teacher.

 

[Copabanana]

I do with this, first off I will sometimes put slices of velveeta cheese on top of the potato mixture while the eggs are cooking

OMG, Jabber. This sounds delicious, especially with the sausage.

 

[Copabanana]

I used to cook chicken, pot roast

Now that I am back to work I am on a Taco binge. Except I make healthy ones.

This is it:
Rotate each night of the week between fish, shrimp, tiny beef pieces (asada), chicken, and pork (I like Pastor marinade). You do need not a lot of meat so it is cheap. I buy vegetables, most of them, at the 99 cent store, or the Mexican market.

You can freeze meal size bags of cut up meat/fish/protein and put a little bit of made ahead marinades in the bag. As the meat defrosts in the fridge it will marinate overnight and through the day. You can look up easy marinades on the internet and use the same one to marinate several types of meat. It will taste differently.

I shred cabbage, dice cilantro, chop tomatoes and chop onions (separately in bowls) to put on the heated tortillas with the meat and I grate cheese. I like cheddar. But most any cheese will do (fresh mexican or jack or Mozzarella, would be good.)

I use lots of chopped vegetables and not much meat and it is really like salad on a tortilla. I have a comal (griddle) for the tortillas. So I have two pans going at once. For maybe 5 minutes. You could also grill the meat.

I bought a pint of salsa verde and a pint of red salsa at a good mexican joint, but the food is so good it really does not need it. And that is it.

M scarfs this up. We love it. The change of meats make it a variety. It is quick as the meat fries quickly. It is hot food but simple. You are cooking only the meat, if you don't count heating the tortillas.

I like flour tortillas (not authentic), M both corn and flour.

The same principle would work, by doing the same thing, except steaming rice, and making salad dressing for chopped vegetables.

Fresh salad dressing is easy: For one night, put extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Maybe one third a cup. Depending on taste add garlic cloves (I use 3), smashed, and maybe 2 T Balsamic Vinegar or good white or red vinegar or even apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Add kosher salt to taste or regular salt. Let sit for 20 minutes or so and take out the garlic. Mix a little and put on your salad.

As far as the kids liking this, who cares? This is healthy, delicious, fresh, pure food. They eat the part of it they like, or it is on them.

PS I do not fry the tacos until they are crispy crunchy. We eat them soft. This only requires heating a cast iron griddle type pan until hot (no grease or fat). You will see slight ridges on one side. They will not stick if you put the ridge side down on a quite hot comal/griddle. They heat quickly so watch them. You want them soft but quite hot. Be authentic by wrapping the hot tortillas in a pretty and clean dish towel that you reserve for this use.

 

[Lil]

Well. I am scratching my head here wondering if Lil was in a prior life a chemistry teacher, a math teacher or a home Easy Child teacher--or if she is just plan a genius in her current life. Lil. If I ever knew any of this I have forgotten it or repressed it. But Like Cedar, I am impressed:


PS
I meant home economics teacher as in home eck, not home easy child teacher.

LOL. I am a fount of useless knowledge.