Family Meal Ideas

Spagetti or Lasagna dinner w/ corn(cob), salad, breadsticks

Chicken Alfredo, green beans, cheese biscuits: http://www.campbellkitchen.com/RecipeSearch.aspx?searchTe...

Chicken & Rice casserole, broccoli/cheese: http://www.campbellkitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID...

Check out these websites for more ideas:
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_tm

http://www.meals.com/Index/Index.aspx?Theme=2

Great sites for quick and easy recipes:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/ch/casseroles.html
http://allrecipes.com/

Chicken pot pie. Something you can mak and freeze left overs are the best I think. I have a fabulous recipe but it is time consuming, I mean it takes an entire afternoon to prepare but it is awesome.

Folks did this for me when I had my kids and I loved the things I could freeze.

I make 'Campfire Stew' for most of my new mommy friends and they all love it, and it freezes well. It's mostly canned stuff but a few "homemade" ingredients are mixed in...
PS-if she's nursing, you might want to be careful to get mild salsas and rotel.

Campfire Stew

Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
½ medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jar corn salsa (or 1 small jar salsa and 1 jar corn)
2 cans beef broth
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can great northern beans (or cannelloni beans)
1 can mixed vegetables
1 can Italian cut green beans
1 large baking potato, diced ½ inch cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup cilantro or green onions, chopped

Directions
1. Brown ground beef in a large pot. Remove beef with a slotted spoon and discard all but 1 T of oil.
2. Saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add ground beef back to the pot.
3. Add remaining ingredients except potatoes and green beans.
4. Bring to a boil. Add diced potatoes and green beans. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are done.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add cilantro or chopped green onions before service.
7. Ladle into bowls and (optional) top with corn tortillas or tortilla chips.

One good recipe is for homemade Chicken Pot Pie. You can make it and then they can bake it when it they want to eat.

Take one pound skinless, boneless chicken breast and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. After the chicken has cooled, cut chicken into small bit size pieces or you can dice the chicken as well. Take a boxed refrigerator pie crust (Pillsbury) and let both crust sit out for about 20 minutes. After the pie crust has softened. place on crust on the bottom of a pie dish. In a large fry pan, melt one stick of butter. Add one small onion to the butter and cook until the one is soft. Add 1/3 cup flour and cook until brown. (This mixture will be thick)Add 1 1/2 cups chicken stock and mix well. Let this cook about 5 minutes until mixture is thick and bubbly. Add 1/2 cup milk and mix well and cook until bubbly. Remove from heat. Add your cut up chicken breast, 2 cups mixed frozen veggies and mix weel. you can salt and pepper the mixture as well if you would like. Take the mixture and add it to the bottom pie crust. Take the other pie crust and place on top of chicken mixture and seal edges. you can tell your friend that they can bake this pie uncovered heated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the top crust is brown. Serve with a tossed salad and they have a great meal.

Hope this is a recipe easy enough for you to make and you may want to try this for your family as well. If you want any more ideas, you can e-mail me for great easy recipes.
Best of luck!
J.

Hi,

Here is the recipe I always use when I am making a meal for a family. It is an all in one meal that is pretty simple and even young children love it. My son is also 12 months old and really loves when I make it. I hope this helps.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 Tbs. Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (or you can use a rotisserie chicken - about 1-2 cups)
1-2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I use peas, carrots and potatoes)
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
1/4 lb or 4 oz Velveeta (cut up)
1 pie crust (I buy the kind near the biscuits, which usually comes with 2 pie shells)
1 egg lightly beaten

Boil chicken and break it into pieces with a fork (try not to shred too much or use your rotisserie chicken)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9 inch baking dish with PAM

In a large bowl, mix dressing and cooked chicken and toss it around enough to coat. Stir in vegetables (still frozen...no need to thaw), soup and velveeta.
Once it is well blended, spoon it into your sprayed 9 inch baking dish.

Unfold pie shell. Place it over chicken mixture. Fold under edges for pastry (press to the inside edges if the dish to seal). Brush pastry with a little lightly beaten egg. Cut slits in top if the crust to allow steam to escape.

Place dish on baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

PS...You can save 40 calories and 5g of fat per serving by using:
Kraft Light Zesty Italian Reduced Fat Dressing
Campbell’s Reduced Sodium Cream of Mushroom Soup
Velveeta made with 2% Milk

Enjoy!

I would suggest preparing a one dish meal like a casserole or something. Rachel Ray has some great easy recipes. Her baked ziti is wonderful and so easy, and it's all in one pan! She also has a great recipe for homemade spagetti sauce that goes with a lasagna pasta toss that is soooo good. I make it all the time and I hate to cook! So I definitely reccomend checking out Rachel Ray;s recipes online!

It's a very nice thing you are doing, I am sure they will appreciate whatever you come up with!