Dinner Ideas for Large Family

Get a crock-pot cook book - tons of recipes and very easy to set it all up in the morning and let it just sit and cook until dinner time! It's easy to do chili, beef stew, chicken and dumplings, clam chowder, pot roast, BBQ pulled pork - yum! And meatballs with pasta sauce can be done in the crock pot too for spaghetti!

Mexican lasanga:
Meat sauce: 1 lb ground beef (drain fat), 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can enchilada sauce
Layer corn tortillas, meat sauce, cheese, mushrooms (I also add olives). I find 3 layers in a 15"X9" pan works well.
Cook at 350 until cheese is bubbly and warm all the way through-about 15 minutes. Or you can make it ahead of time, store in fridge, and cook for about 20-30 minutes.
Easy, fast, yummy, and makes a lot! Can serve with beans, rice, and corn.

Ooo ooo ooo I have an easy dish that impresses everyone I make it for! It's maple roasted chicken and yams. It's so yummy!

Rinse 4 lbs of chicken breasts, thighs, and legs, with skin and bones and pat dry. Cut one or two yellow onions in 1 inch wedges and cut 3-4 yams into 2 inch chunks. Toss and rub the the chicken, onions and yams with a 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper. Arrange in a large baking dish. Drizzle 3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup over the top and lay 6 sprigs of fresh thyme on top.

Roast uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn and flip the chicken and veggies half way through. Rest for 10 minutes before serving. Toss the thyme before serving.

The chicken and veggies will get golden brown and sweet and soooo delicious. Enjoy!

We are in a blended family as well, so I understand. And I don't really like to cook, nor am I good at it. I have a word document of super easy recipes. If you message me your email address, I will be happy to send it to you or anyone else that may want it. Good luck!!!

I'd add Chicken Spaghetti and Chicken and Dumplings, Spaghetti, BLT's and perhaps Salmon patties (my kids have always loved these and they're extremely good for them). Good luck! I'm not much of a cook either but these are well received...

Chili in bread bowls
Meatballs and pasta
Homemade soup & bread
Breaded, baked pork chops
Pulled BBQ Beef in the crockpot
Roast, potatoes, carrots in the crockpot
Hot ham & cheese sandwiches
Meatloaf
Pork tenderloin
chicken/stuffing bake casserole

One of the easiest ones I make for my family is putting a pork loin in the crockpot and adding teriyaki sauce or salsa and green chiles and let it cook for about 4 or 5 hours on low. The teriyaki pork I serve over rice- the salsa pork I use for tacos. Yummy and fool proof. Alos, allrecipes.com has tons of recipes. A lot of them are pretty easy to make. Good luck!!

Sloppy Joe's (usually with Tater tot's and "something green"--brocolli, green beans, salad)

Meatloaf (usually with baked potatoes and "something green") for fun do mini meatloaves in muffin tins

Homemade Pizza! You can make pizza crust from scratch, or use a mix, or pillsbury or boboli crusts, or use tortillas or english muffins. Home Made Pizza is a fun friday night supper. Getting kids to top their own pizzas is a good way to get them started in the kitchen. AND home made pizza is an AWESOME way to use up leftovers! leftover Taco stuff can be used on Taco Pizza. Sloppy Joe pizza is great (leftover Sloppy Joes and co-jack) Leftover beef, pork, chicken or turkey can be shredded and mixed with BBQ sauce for BBQ pizza)

For more ideas two of my favorite blogs are http://www.5dollardinners.com/ and http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/ Lynn just started a series of ground beef recipes-- not only are her recipes good, but there have been some awesome ideas in the comments too!

ETA-- Oh, don't forget "breakfast for supper" for a fun change!

Crockpot recipes are the best. I love having dinner made in the morning then smelling the aromas all day. You can throw frozen chicken breasts in with a jar of spaghetti sauce and let slow cook all day. Boil some water for noodles and you're all done.

My family loves stew! I just throw 2lb of pre cut stew meat in my crockpot, with a white onion, carrots, potatoes, celery, and a pouch of stew seasoning I get at the store! Let it simmer all day, butter some French bread, and we're good to go :-)

I have been watching food network. There are a lot of great ideas on there. My 3 year old will watch a little of the cooking shows too. I made a great meal of Burrito Bowls by Melissa D'Arabian (you can find the recipe if you go to Food Network's website). Slow cook a pork shoulder then fry for carnitas, cook rice and put in some herbs, make pico. It was a little labor intensive, but your kids may like to help. The 3 year old can help mix the rice (mine does), and the older kids can help cut the pico stuff (my 3 year old helps cut peppers/cucumbers with a plastic knife, but I figure it is a great way to introduce knife safety and a love of cooking. Plus, all he wants to do is help.) Plus everyone can make their own bowl with what they want. Hope you find some delicious new things to cook!

Pot roast w/ carrots and potatoes (we like mashed instead of the one you cook w/ the roast), spagettii, homemade pizza, boxed mac n' cheese w/ ground brown burger, soups or stews, tuna noodle cassoral, meat loaf, and breakfast for dinner is always a hit with my kids (16 mo - 7 yrs).

How about pasta w/ alfredo sauce and add veggies - steamed broccoli or zucchini or ham and peas. You can have salad or french bread with it. We cut the french bread length wise and spread olive oil on it and heat it up. Sprinkle w/garlic salt if you want. Stir fry is easy. Cook chicken pieces in skillet, then add your veggies (mushrooms,zucchini, carrots, green beans, onion, celery, water chestnuts, peapods) and saute and add sauce. We like the House of Tsang Classic Stir Fry sauce. You can add pineapple chunks or mandarin oranges too. Serve w/ rice. Chili in a crock pot is very easy. Brown ground beef (1 1/2 lbs.) in skillet and then add to crockpot. Add 2-3 cans of chili beans, diced tomatoes, green chilies (chopped), kindey beans and enough V8 juice to your liking. Add 2 stalks celery and 1C diced onion. Add cumin, chili powder and Old Bay spice (great all purpose seasoning). Sometimes I add other types of beans or use ground turkey. Serve with cornbread muffins. Try the www.myrecipes.com site. Sloppy joes are easy too.

Honestly, I paid a pretty penny for the Deep Covered Baker from Pampered Chef and have been making dinners for a family of 4 (with left overs) in 30 min or less. I am sure you could buy a dutch oven for cheaper and use it in the same manner. I have the recipes that came with mine when i bought it. I can send the file to you. Just let me know.

If you don't have a crock pot- get one! I make pulled pork, bbq ribs, shredded beef, spaghetti, soups, stews and more in mine- and they are very forgiving for beginning cooks. It always makes a lot and then we can add spice (like green chili to the shredded pork) after, since we like it hotter than our girls. My new fav for the crock pot is Muenster Chicken- dip chicken in milk and then in breadcrumbs. Put in the bottom of the crock pot. Put shredded muenster (and mozz if you want) over it. Put sliced mushrooms on that. Then pour a can of chicken broth on that and cook on low for about 8 hours. We had this camping on rice and my 5 & 8 yr old even liked it!