3 super easy + tasty family dinners

The end of last week got a little wild.  On Thursday we celebrated our oldest’s 17th birthday then at the last minute my husband flew out of town.  Which means Friday – Sunday I was a one-woman show with four kids, five chickens (who think they are dogs), and a dog (who thinks she’s a kid).  Not gonna lie, I’m beat.  And I don’t have any magical style post up my sleeve.  So I thought maybe I could do a practical post and share how I fed four kids all weekend without completely losing my marbles.

Even though I’m not a foodie or one who lives for cooking, I try to always prepare fresh and wholesome food for our family.  I think it’s important for their health and also a nice way for us all to be together in a relaxed setting.  Wanted to share with you three easy dishes I made (and regularly make) and how my semi-picky eaters absolutely love them.  Funny, none of them really “get” that all weekend they ate mostly vegetables, garlic, tomatoes, and onions.  All they know is they like it when the kitchen smells yummy and dinner tastes good.

Let me first describe my cast of dinner customers:  one mostly-vegetarian, one veggie-skeptic, one junk-food junkie, and one teenage boy who is a bottomless pit.  Hard to please all of those different tastes when your culinary skills are limited.  But it is doable.

Easy Meal #1:  Martha Stewart’s One Pot Pasta.  Recipe here.  This is no joke delicious and soooo easy to make.  Once you chop the garlic, tomatoes, and onions, then dump it all in the pot, dinner is ready in 10 minutes.  How amazing is that??

**If you have a picky eater who is particularly weirded-out by chunky food textures, do not let this picture scare you away.  This dish ends up smooth and tasty.  Once everything boils down, there are no tomato or onion “chunks.”  I was a chunk-phobic eater the first half of my life and still can’t chew a cooked tomato or onion without cringing!  When I cook this dish, I take my wooden spoon and kind of smash the remains of the tomatoes as everything boils down so my picky ones don’t notice that they are eating whole tomatoes.  No one notices the onion, which I also smash that during the cooking process.  And I always use a sweet onion for the best flavor.

I was excited to use a snip of our very own freshly grown basil.  Proud moment.  I think 9 out of 10 of my plants on the back porch have died at this point, but the basil made it.  Yay!  My Southern Living plants on the front porch are miraculously still healthy. 

I generally serve this pasta with an organic Arugula salad and then cheat by using one of the baguettes from the Alexia garlic bread in the frozen food section.  It’s the only one I can find that doesn’t have crazy ingredients like BHT or soybean oil.  Or at least the last time I checked it doesn’t. 

This one pot pasta is definitely my go-to and favorite with the kids.  And it was funny because my youngest actually requested it on Friday, which was great because I had no clue what I would make.

Easy Meal #2:  Chicken Artichoke Bolognese.  Recipe here.  This was my first time to make – used one of those Publix recipes, which are actually pretty good.  Changes I made to recipe:  doubled the artichokes, used whole grain penne instead of ziti, and deleted the black olives because when I taste tested it at Publix, it was a little too salty.

I also skipped the sun-dried tomato bread and went with ready-made French bread I baked (not the healthiest, I know).  Served it with organic iceberg wedges topped with sliced radishes and blue cheese dressing.

Easy Meal #3:  Crock Pot Cabbage and Beef sausage.  Don’t flip out, believe it or not the kids really liked it.  I was shocked.  They all had seconds.  Made up my own recipe.  Sorry no pic because I didn’t have time to style and make it look beautiful…plus it’s difficult to make cooked cabbage look pretty.  I prepped this and tossed it in the crock pot on high after we got back from church (11:45am), and it was ready to eat by 5:30pm.

SELETA’S  CROCK POT CABBAGE + BEEF SAUSAGE RECIPE

1 head of cabbage, sliced

3/4 onion

1 pack of sliced nitrate-free beef sausage

2 cups of chopped organic potatoes

1 tablespoon Himalayan salt

Pepper to taste

4 cups of filtered water

Directions: pre-heat crock pot, chop all ingredients, and pour water (or chicken broth) over mixture.  Close lid and cook on high for 4-6 hours.  Serve with salad and whole grain rolls.

Cooking trick:  If you’re like me and can’t handle the smell of cabbage cooking in your house, try plugging your crock pot on your deck, apartment balcony, etc. and setting it up on a sturdy table or stand.  I used the side stands on our grill on the back deck and it worked like a charm.

Happy cooking!