Quick Kid-Friendly Weeknight Meals

As a follow up to last week's "Tuesday Tips", here are a few quick, easy, kid-friendly meals for the week ahead. This sample weeknight menu consistently gets rave results here in the Lyons Den... hopefully you'll agree that a minimum of whining and maximum of consumption is a rave result!  Bon appetit!

·       Monday:  Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and onions:  I prep it before work, which is quick and easy since I usually chop all the veggies on Sunday.  I ask the sitter to pop the one-dish wonder into the oven at 4:00 and by 6:15 we have a crowd-pleasing, healthy meal.  Excellent way to start the week!

·      Tuesday:  Turkey Taco Night!  Tuesday’s are often turkey taco night in our house.  We’ve even made up a little song… It’s Turkey Taco night, It’s Turkey Taco night, Oh what a great delight, It’s Turkey Taco night!  This is a 20 minute meal that’s sure to get smiles.  I add frozen corn while I’m cooking the meat to get in some extra veggies and then serve it up in soft tortillas with cheese and sliced grape tomatoes.  Muy bueno!

·      Wednesday:  Quiche with broccoli, asparagus, salad or fresh fruit.  This is my cop-out night.  I buy store-made quiche, tell the kids it’s “Egg pie”, quickly roast or sauté a veggie and top it off with some fresh fruit.  Quick, easy, nutritious and delicious! 

·       Thursday:  Salmon, roasted potatoes and roasted string beans with cherry tomatoes.  Are you getting the theme here?  “Roasted.”  Roasting is my friend and should be yours too.  Anything that I can pop in the oven and can cook itself is a winner in my book.  Salmon with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper in aluminum foil is a quick, yummy way to go.  And, since most fish is tasty this way, just pick something affordable that your family will eat – and remember, frozen fish is ok… in fact, much of the “fresh” stuff you see in fancy places was previously frozen so why not just cut to the chase and save yourself a few bucks?  Just remember to defrost it earlier in the week.

Hope a bit of planning helps your week get off to a great start and a strong finish... just like dinnertime does when you prep and plan in advance!