Cooking is not always as enjoyable as some people make it out to be, and it’s not like the TV shows, although it sometimes feels like it is. A TV show might be the best description for a parent cooking meals I could come up with.
A cooking show often has a competitive aspect to it, featuring judges, set time frames, and limited ingredients. This is sounding more and more like my daily cooking life. I have a competition with myself to see if I can make it as good as the recipe promises. Next, I have my own set of judges in my household, my husband and my two daughters, E and U. Set time frames can be strict, but are pretty standard in our home, breakfast, lunch, and dinner usually landing around the same times each day. Sometimes, though the people in my little family get hangry…(this includes myself), and so food must be offered promptly to ensure a happier attitude.
How Do We Budget For Food With a Family of Four?
There are limited ingredients, because theres only a certain amount of foods that you can cook with on a budget for starters, second, not all foods are year round, so it’s hard to have a bunch of fresh ingredients in the winter which seems to be 9/12 months here, on top of this my toddler doesn’t like to eat a lot, so she doesn’t vary from multiple foods as much as I’d like her too. (Don’t worry, we always offer her new foods, but sometimes she doesn’t want to try them or eat them.) My baby doesn’t eat a bunch of food yet, but she does like to eat! Needless to say, I think I’m on my cooking show; however, I don’t have a production crew to make sure my hair and face look perfect for the camera.
Life with littles often gets a little tricky trying to cook things that the whole family will enjoy and eat, all while getting the nutrients and vitamins our bodies need to stay healthy and strong. Finding the right recipes, the right ingredients, and even the right cooking equipment is not always a simple task, especially for parents. No matter what age your children are, every parent is looking to find easy, simple recipes to follow and have as their ‘go-to meals.’ I share recipes back and forth between multiple family members, such as my husband, my mom, my mother-in-law, and my sister in law. Sometimes I’ll share them with other mom friends that I think would enjoy the recipe as much as I do.
Where Do I Find My Recipes For Meals?
I never thought I would find looking at recipes to be fun and use as a pastime when I have a quick moment to myself. Here we are, almost 23 years old, and I love looking at yummy recipes and saving them to my Pinterest boards, sharing them with loved ones, and even making them myself to find out if they are delicious, or if they are deceiving and a complete flop. Anyways, if this sounds like you, and you are looking for some easy, simple recipes that are bound to be delicious, you’ve come to the right place. I will share some of the recipes that I continue to use almost weekly, with little tweaks here and there to keep them different each time. You can freely change, take out, or add any ingredient as you see fit. I’d love to hear what recipe(s) you used, and what you did to change them up, if anything. Did you like it? Did your family, kids, and significant other enjoy it? Why or why not?
Canned Meat and Rice (Don’t knock canned meat until you try it in this recipe)
*Makes about 4-6 servings, depending on your portion size*
Ingredients:
- 1 can of cooked canned beef (or chicken)
- 2 cups of uncooked rice (we typically use Jasmine rice, but any will do)
- ½ of a head of cabbage (you can substitute with any vegetable of your choosing, I’ve also used green beans, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, etc.)
- Soy sauce (to be honest, I don’t measure this, I just do it until fragrant and how much I think looks good.)
- Sesame oil (I don’t measure this either, use to your preference)
- Salt and pepper to your liking
- 3 cups water
Cooking Equipment:
- Instant Pot (if you don’t have one, you can just use a pot and boil the rice on the stove instead, just might take a little longer, is all.)
- Large skillet
- Meat chopper
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Large spoon
Directions:
- Pour your uncooked rice and 2 ⅛ cups of water into the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid to your Instant Pot, set the valve to sealed, and click the rice button.
- Turn the stove onto medium-high heat, and add the cabbage (or other veggie(s)) and ½ cup of water to the skillet; you can add more if needed.
- Cover, check, and stir it often, cook until veggies are tender and to your liking.
- Once veggies are soft, add the cooked canned meat to your skillet.
- Turn the stove down to medium-low heat, and break up the meat using a meat chopper.
- Once the meat is broken up, cook until the meat is warm/hot to the touch (be careful not to burn yourself)
- Drizzle in the soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and pepper to your liking.
- Stir together until well incorporated and turn off the heat.
- Once the Instant Pot is done cooking the rice, release the valve to vent.
- Once the pin is released, you can open the Instant Pot.
- Scoop the rice into bowls, and scoop the meat and veggie mixture onto the rice in the bowls.
- If desired, feel free to add more soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and pepper
- Serve, and Enjoy!
Olive Garden Alfredo Copy Cat (I found one recipe on Pinterest, and I’ve tweaked it a little)
*Makes 4-6 servings depending on your portion size*
Ingredients:
- 1 box of uncooked noodles (you can use whatever noodle you want, I typically use spaghetti or macaroni)
- 2 Tbsp unsalted or salted butter (I use salted butter, I think it tastes better)
- 1 tsp of garlic paste (I buy the tubed kind from Walmart)
- 1 cup heavy cream (You can also use 1 cup of whole milk and about 1-2 Tbsp of flour to thicken it up)
- 1 ½ cups of Parmesan cheese (or you can use whatever cheese you want, I’ve used shredded cheese as well, and it just tastes more cheesy than alfredo-y, still yummy!)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Cooking Equipment:
- 8-inch saucepan
- Large skillet
- A large spoon to stir noodles with
- Whisk
- Tongs
Directions:
- Fill the saucepan with water, about ½ to ¾ the way to the top.
- Put the saucepan on the stove, add salt to the water, and turn the stove on to high heat until the water begins to boil.
- Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-high heat, and add your uncooked noodles.
- While those are cooking, begin making your sauce.
- In a large skillet, melt your butter over medium heat.
- Once melted, add in your garlic paste and whisk together until incorporated.
- Slowly add in the heavy cream (or milk and flour), and whisk together.
- Whisk until it comes to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
- It will start to thicken. (If it’s still too thin, you can add a little more flour.)
- Stir in your cheese, salt, and pepper until smooth and thick.
- Once your noodles are done cooking, strain them (you can rinse them if you want, or you can leave them as they are) and add them to the skillet.
- Stir noodles into the sauce until fully combined.
- Turn off the heat, scoop into bowls add salt and pepper to your desired taste.
- Serve, and Enjoy!
You can go to my Pinterest board, click on the board titled Tried and True, about eight pins down is the Olive Garden copycat sauce I followed, and changed a little bit. Both mine and the original recipe are delicious! Let me know what you think!
I have so many more recipes that are easy, simple, and delicious that every parent can quickly make in a hurry and pinch. My Pinterest board is full of recipes I have tried that I know to be good and yummy. There are some I have tried that have failed horribly, and that happens. Just remember that it’s not the end of the world if one meal fails. It’s going to happen as you try new things, and especially as a parent trying to appease the littles.
What Do We Do When Cooking Seems To Be Too Much?
Some days we call it a cereal night, while other days we just snag a pizza. As long as you are feeding yourself and your babies are filling meals, I don’t think you always have to have the most nutritious foods. I don’t always eat fruit and veggies constantly, so why would I expect my children to do that? Our bodies need balanced meals, balanced diets, and balanced foods. One family’s balanced food/meals may look different than yours or mine, that’s okay! If I want a sweet treat/snack after dinner, I’m going to have it.
Making dinner shouldn’t be as stressful as we often make it sometimes. You can have the most tasty meal, and have it take only 15 minutes or less to make. Be patient with yourself as you are learning to cook, learning to bake, learning to meal plan, etc. Try that new recipe, try the new ingredients, whatever you do, don’t give up because one meal completely flopped and burned. I’m excited for you to try these recipes. If you need or want more, check out my Pinterest boards, and if you have any questions about substitutions, changes, or anything, feel free to message me, and I’ll gladly help out as best as I can!
“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.”
These are not pictures of the recipes mentioned above, but they are ones we have made and loved!
McKenna Sanders
The Mom, Wife, Dream Life Blog
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