Food Ideas- Brining Dinner over to Large Family Going Through Rough Patch

Make a great big salad with ALLL the goodies in it, and then leave some of the individual ingredients in separate ziploc baggies (if there are younger kids that might not like it all mixed up.... mine like to make it finger food out of fresh veggies and dip pieces into ranch dressing). I'm talking: romaine, baby spinach, black olives, cucumbers, radishes, carrots (slice really thin with the potato peeler), grape tomatoes, red/yellow/green bell pepper slices, red onion etc. Then slice up a grilled chicken for them to put on top: voila... grilled chicken salad.

Toss in a loaf of fresh bakery bread, a bottle of their fav dressing, and they are set. :)

How about a baked potato soup? If you google Hard Rock Cafe baked potato soup, it's delicious and quite simple.

Or baked potatoes, with some topping choices, like steamed broccoli, chopped bacon, shredded cheese, blue cheese, bbq sauce, ranch dressing, sauteed mushrooms, etc. Everyone can choose their own toppings.

I would make a huge pot of homemade Chicken noodle soup and make grilled cheese sandwiches. You could cut them in bite size pieces. Or just buy crackers. I think the sanwhiches would be best. If everyone is sick, that might be just what the doctor ordered. Plus if its homemade that will make the mamma happy. :)

A huge pan of vegetarian lasagna with whole wheat noodles?

vegetarian or meat lasagna.
baked ziti.
spaghetti.
fish or beef taco fixings.
veggie or chicken stir fry.
homemade pizza (using organic foods)

enchiladas are great - you can cook them and freeze them - then they can pull them out and put them in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes to reheat.

You can put cut up lettuce and tomatoes in a baggie for them to cover them enchiladas with after they have been reheated.

Bring a bag of Doritos or Tortilla chips with the enchiladas. I know not "healthy" but I'm sure you can find a bag of them at Whole Foods or some other health/organic store.

Mac & Cheese is always a hit with kids. Simple pasta and sauce works too (my daughter loves Tortellini). Soup and Sandwich. What about a stew?

I second the chicken soup idea- do it in a crock pot and it is really easy! Do that with a loaf of fresh bread(either homemade or a nice store bought one) My kids love chicken soup!
~C.

Eggplant Parmesean

Easy
Good
Vegetarian

Or a big Cobb Salad (just don't add any 'meats' in it).

Oh sorry, you are Vegetarian... she is not.
Well just add some meat to those dishes.
Italian Sausage for the Eggplant Parmesean and
roasted chicken for the salad.

Jessica Seinfeld has a cook book that is very healthy. I just made her turkey meatloaf last night and it was good. The recipes are geared toward getting kids to eat healthy. It was easy to make and was good as left overs even tonight. Highly recommend the book.

How about chili, skillet cornbread, oyster crackers and a dessert for the kids? Or a couple of chicken fryers, mashed potatoes, a simple veggie and a dessert? Or barbecue pork chops, cheesy potatoes, applesauce...and a dessert. Or sliders (without the onions for the kids), with the frozen hash brown potatoe casserole and some cut up veggies with dip...oh, and dessert. It's nice of you to do this.

Buy organic pasta and do a big pan of mac n cheese, using organic ingredients and add some cooked edamame for some protein. Add a salad and bread to round it out.

a great big chicken salad or taco salad. YUMMY!!

veggie lasagna, soup bowls w/ broccoli or potato soup, Turkey Chili,