Easy Recipes Needed - Boise,ID

I have 3 kids and we love making chicken caesar pitas in the summer. I marinade chicken breast in italian dressing and put them on the grill. Cut chicken and stuff in pitas with caesar dressing, parmesan cheese and romaine lettuce. Delish.

Super Easy "Fake Fried Rice"
1. Scramble 2 or 3 eggs, set aside,
2. Throw some veggies in the skillet (I use a half bag frozen),
3. Add 2-3 Tbsp stir fry sauce,
4. Add ~2 cups rice (I pre-cook brown rice, but you can use instant or 90sec microwave rice) AND scrambled eggs; heat through. DONE.

My kids really like ravioli bake. You take two packages on frozen ravioli and some pasta saice( I always throw in some veggies) and cheese. Put half the ravioli in a baking dish layer with sauce and cheese then bake 30-45 min and serve with bread and a salad.

If you like Chicken, then you could always make Pan Roasted Chicken.

Take a large frying pan and put olive oil (or veggie too) and then take any chicken you like and put it in the pan and brown the chicken.

Then add one or two chicken bouillon cubes for flavor, and then add some carrots and potatoes. Cover, and cook until veggies are tender.

Serve with bread and done.

Super easy and cheap to make.

My quick go to meal that my kids like are "snow white snow flakes". Take 2 tortillas, fill with white cheese and then take the little tiny cookie cutters and cut shapes into the tortilla. Throw in the oven or micro till cheese melts then top with sour cream, avocado and salsa and serve with a side of apples. Why it's called "Snow white..." I'm unclear, maybe the apple part I guess, LOL, clearly not my original idea. However, it's cheap, quick and a meal you can get the kids involve, especially with the cookie cutter part, my kids LOVE that (except, they aren't as talented to cut it when it's all assembled so I'll usually have them stamp out shapes in their tortilla before the assembly process).

We love homemade baked fries. It doesn't take very long.

2 Tbsp oil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika

4-6 potatoes

-Mix ingredients except potatoes. Slice potatoes in wedges (large french fry strips, skin on). place potatoes in large bowl and sprinkle seasoning mix over and stir till well covered. Bake on a cookie sheet at 450 for 20-30 minutes. Till golden brown and cooked.

Serve this with Chicken nuggets, hot dogs, or what ever fun thing your kids love.

I'm not sure how popular this would be in Boise, but in Texas this is a favorite. :)

I cook a pot of pinto beans (boil 2 pounds of dried beans for about 2 hours with 7 or 8 slices of raw bacon and 1/2 stick of butter and lots of salt and pepper). When beans are cooked, remove the bacon and scoop out some of the beans into another pot. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding juice as needed.

Use the beans (mashing more as needed) all week to make burritos - beans, cheese, and whatever else you want in flour or corn tortillas, tacos, nachos, or add unmashed beans to chili or eat the unmashed beans alone or with cornbread. Add chicken or beef and you have easy fajitas. My family loves beans. They're cheap and a great source of fiber. Enjoy! :)

I just tried this the other night and was actually pretty amazed that everyone liked it and it was so stinking easy! (Including my husband and my almost three year old.)

4 chicken breasts halved (or boneless skinless strips)
1/2 c mayo
about 1 1/2 C Italian bread crumbs
1 pkg dry Lipton's onion soup mix

Mix the bread crumbs and soup mix together. Cover the chicken with a thin to medium layer of mayo and then cover with the crumb mixture. Bake at 425 for about 30 min or until juices run clear.

I seriously hate mayo and even I thought this was a great easy go to main dish. :)

I have loads of kid friendly healthful recipes. What flavors are you looking for?

This one is out of the cookbook Love More Feed Less (available at amazon.com)

Oodles of Noodles and Zuckles:

Serve 6-8
Preheat oven to 350° F

TIPS:
· Parmesan cheese, as well as other hard cheeses (e.g. Romano), have minimal fat in their make-up which explains why they are so very hard and preferred grated rather than sliced. These cheeses are also full of calcium, which helps to maintain healthy teeth and bones. Therefore, an extra little sprinkle or 2 on top of some food is fine for enhancing the flavor.
· A block of cheese is usually less expensive than those varieties previously sliced or grated.

2 tablespoons combined butter and canola or olive oil butter spread
3 medium-large zucchinis
3 cups of your favorite homemade or bottled sauce Tomato Sauce (pg…)
1-2 teaspoons of minced garlic (if using canned sauces)
6-8 ounces thinly sliced or grated Provolone and/or Mozzarella Cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan and/or Romano Cheese
12-ounces package Rotini or Penne pasta,

1. Spread the canola based spread all over the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch pan.
2. Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch slices and layer all over the pan. Pour the sauce over the zucchini, and then very gently mix the garlic only into the sauce. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
3. Prepare the pasta, according to the package directions.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and cover the entire top with the cheese. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking until the cheese has melted and begins to bubble, about 5-10 minutes.
5. Serve over the warm Whole Wheat pasta.

Have you ever stuffed chicken? Super easy, super good! Lasagne is fairly easy to make. What I did a lot when I took care of 5 boys was fajitas or tacos. That way, they can help put all the stuff in separate bowls and they get to make it themselves. Heat up a bunch of tortillas, cook some beef or chicken, and put bell peppers, grated cheese, onions, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, or whatever else they may like in bowls and bam! Dinner!

In expensive good recipes, go to allrecipes.com. Its free and you can type in an ingredient and they will give you recipes to cook with those ingredients.

If you look up saving money on mamapedia ther have been numerous posts about saving money. One of the best is . . . Start a garden. Find someone who is a good gardener and most likely the will be delighted to tell you and show you about gardening.

Good luck to you and yours.

I often cook two chickens in the oven at a time, then use the leftovers for a meal the next day. (cheap, easy).

I have a couple of recipes, but will have to post one later or you can PM me if you want it or it sounds good. I call it Mexican Noodles. It has noodles, beans, chicken leftovers diced up, salsa, chicken broth, some veggies....

The other one we like is fried rice. You can add whatever veggies you like. My son (3yo) gobbles it up. I like it b/c the amounts in the recipe don't really matter. Do more carrots or less. Do extra meat. Whatever.

Have on the side:
4-6 scrambled eggs
½ cup thawed peas
½ cup chopped carrot (they should be cooked –boiled in a little water for 5 minutes in a small pan)
1 clove minced garlic
¼ cup diced green onion
3-4 cups of COLD cooked rice
1 ½ cups cooked meat – leftover chicken, pork, turkey, sausage, shrimp, etc. (if using raw shrimp, cook on the side first in a little water--use the same pan you did the carrot or egg in.)

In a large skillet or wok, add 3 TBS vegetable oil (or sesame oil if you have it). Heat until very hot (toss in a grain of cold rice, it should sizzle). Turn to medium-high heat. Add all of rice and garlic. Cook, stirring to coat the grains with the oil for 1 or 2 minutes. (Scrape skillet with spatula!) Add eggs, peas, carrot, and meat. Stir to heat. Add salt (or soy sauce, or ¼ cup of oyster sauce), pepper, and green onion. Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes, simple and super yummy!!

1 lb ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 small onion chopped
1-2 tbsp worchestire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Brown up the beef with the onion, drain the fat, add the soup, worchestire sauce and brown sugar, cook for about 5 minutes.

I have the cookbook from our local high school band. Everything in there is made from just a few ingredients, very simple, and cheap. If you'd like a copy, they are $5 plus $2 postage. PM me. I'm happy to send them out. Honestly - everything in there is delicious!
LBC

To help stretch your budget, check out angelfoodministries.com

Once a month, you can order and purchase pre-selected food boxes that can save you quite a bit of money. The basic box for $35 can feed a family of 4 for a week..... the cost for those items is usually $55-60 in a grocery store, depending on your location.

There are a number of different boxes to purchase. They've been a real budget-saver for us!

You don't have to be in a certain income bracket to order from them, but they do accept food stamps.

Baked Bacon Mac n Cheese: (Enough for two nights or one BIG meal.)
Preparation - 15 min
Cook Time - 15 min

Bacon bits/strips, cut up and cooked $2.50
1 packet of Macaroni $1.30
Cheese sauce or alfredo sauce - Burtoni's or Ragu's for $1.99
Cheddar cheese - grated
Broccoli cut into fine chunks - if your kids dont like veg..
1 slice of bread, grated or use some bread crumbs

You could add some onion and sun dried tomato/normal tomato

Preheat oven to 375'F
1. Cook pasta thoroughly and strain all the water out
2. In a skillet or a pan, cook bacon and- or add bacon bits and onion, fry for two minutes, add tomato and brocoli and fry lightly on medium heat until cooked.
3. Add all the above together in an oven safe dish (pasta and filling) Stir to mix the ingredients together.
4. Pour over the cheese sauce
5. Sprinkle bread crumbs gently over the top of your pasta mixture - dont mix this in, this will form a nice crust.
6. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top

Optional: add some garlic to the mixture, salt and pepper to taste, oregano, basil and rosemary.

Substitute: Use burger meat or chicken instead of bacon.

Cook for 15 min

Serve warm.

Thats it you're done.

Enjoy

BBQ on a grill.
Just marinate whatever you cook, in a ziplock for a few hours, first.