43. Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm one of those people who makes homemade chicken soup from scratch. It is so much better than canned there is just no comparison. I love the smell homemade soup makes in your house while it is simmering on the stove.
Learn how to make homemade chicken soup but if you don't want to boil the bones and go the "extra mile" there is a recipe on making a quick chicken soup on the same page.

42. Homemade Salad Bar

Salad Bar Night:
In separate dishes and all lined out like a buffet I line any of the following I have on hand...
Lettuce
Fresh spinach
Chopped vegetables:
(our favorites are carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower)
hard boiled eggs sliced
sliced or whole olives
chopped ham or turkey
chopped cooked chicken
Shredded cheese
Salad dressings
sunflower seeds
bacon bits
croutons

My kids especially like to have the chopped meat and the toppings like bacon bits or sunflower seeds.

41. Sandwich Night

Okay, so some nights are just the perfect nights for a sandwich bar type dinner.
We usually have a variety of choices including:
deli meat
tuna fish
chicken salad
ham salad
egg salad

I usually have 2-3 choices depending on what I have on hand. No matter what the meal is kids like to be able to choose what they have.

You can vary what your sandwich is made from also such as a bagel, mini rolls, sandwich bread, croissant, tortilla, etc.

I serve chopped vegetables on the side.

40. Bacon Swiss Meatloaf

Have you ever noticed meatloaf doesn't make a very interesting picture? Maybe it is me and my lack of food photography skills. At any rate sorry there is no picture with this one.

Sometimes if I feel up to doing extra dishes I like to make mini meatloaves for each person for dinner. On this occasion I made a large meatloaf for a potluck and it turned out really well.

Bacon Swiss Cheese Meatloaf. I substituted Colby cheese because that is what I had on hand and it was still good.

39. Recipes for Panini Sandwiches

What is a Panini? Simply a sandwich pressed in a grill. The sandwich can include any deli type meat, cooked chicken, roast beef, cheese, sliced vegetables or whatever you like.

Try these in the George foreman grill, that is what I use. However you can also buy a Panini grill or toastmaster. If you don't have any of the above just make your sandwich, add butter to a hot pan and grill both sides.



Other Panini Sandwich Ideas
Try adding fresh spinach, tomato slices or pepper strips.
Try a pizza panini by adding spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese and toasting.

Here is a reader's recipe for ham and cheese panini

38. Potato Gnocchi

Ever wondered how to make potato gnocchi? We've made our own homemade pasta and I love it but I think making this gnocchi is a lot faster and a little easier.
Here are step by step directions and pictures on making homemade gnocchi.

Side Dish: Zucchini and Mushroom Saute

You really can't get much easier for a side dish with this Zucchini and Mushroom Saute.
1 zucchini , chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
In frying pan, melt butter. Sauté mushrooms and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until tender.

37. Chicken Quiche

I like to use leftover chicken from a roast chicken or use a rotisserie type chicken when I make this chicken quiche. This time however, I didn't have either so I sauteed chicken in the frying pan and added it to the pie.
It is a simple recipe that you can add shredded zucchini,spinach or other vegetables or leave them out and serve a vegetable on the side. That is what I did this time.
Recipe for chicken quiche.

36. Hamburger Noodle Casserole

A simple and yummy hamburger noodle casserole. A 5 star recipe around here. However several of my kids love anything to do with noodles. I could give it to them plain with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and they'd be happy.

35. Monterey Chicken

This chicken recipe is super easy with a layer of chicken breast, bbq sauce, cheese and bacon. We like turkey bacon the best so that is what we used in this recipe. I served this with a side salad and steamed green beans.
You'll find the recipe for Monterey Chicken on the following page.

34. Tomato Soup

Homemade tomato soup. Truth be told I love this recipe more than anyone except maybe my husband. My kids love it best when I add noodles to it. I love it just as a cream soup.
I also like to top it with croutons.

33. Fried Rice & Egg Drop soup

We love Chinese food at our house. We've tried several different recipes to remake our own different Chinese or Asian recipes. You'll see a few more in the upcoming weeks.
This time we made pork fried rice and egg drop soup. My kids really enjoy the egg drop soup and it is so easy we should probably do it more often.
How to Make Fried Rice
Egg Drop Soup

32. Tin Foil Dinner

We made these up and then made a fire in the fireplace for an indoor campout. We made ours today with hamburger patties but they work great with pork chops or a chicken breast. Here is how you make them, Tin foil dinners.

31. Calzones

These are much like the pizza bites but a larger scale. Calzone's can be made to please each person's likes and dislikes. Here are a few combos to try on our calzone dough page. This time we made pepperoni, shredded mozzarella cheese and sliced mushrooms.

30. Pizza Rolls

A homemade Pizza Rolls recipe that is great dipped in spaghetti sauce.

29. Ham and Vegetable soup

Ham and Vegetable Soup. I usually use a ham steak and cube it but this time I only had lunch meat ham. It is much better with ham chunks. I change the vegetables around sometimes I add potatoes, carrots and sometimes cauliflower and broccoli. We love it anyway and it is a good simple soup.
5 stars

28. Eggs with Spaghetti Sauce

Eggs in Spaghetti Sauce.
This is an easy meal that I love to do on a busy day and days when I have leftover sauce in the fridge. It is also a great frugal recipe because you usually have eggs and spaghetti sauce on hand. I serve it with toast.

27. Beef Stew

Beef Stew in the Crockpot. Add any other vegetables you'd like such as turnips however if you are adding broccoli or cauliflower and you are using a crockpot add 30 minutes or less before serving.

26. Beef Barley Soup

You would think kids would like this with barley in it. However barley is a lot like pasta or rice and my kids don't mind it at all.
I made this beef and barley soup in the crock pot which made the barley even better. I started everything in the crock pot in the morning and about 3-4 hours before dinner time I added the barley.
You can also make this on top of the stove if you prefer.
Beef Barley Soup

25. Roast Chicken in Crockpot

This is one of our favorite's. I like that it is a crock-pot meal and there is very little prep work to it.
I usually have 2 vegetables or a vegetable and mashed potatoes to go with it.
Spicy Roast Chicken
Doesn't it look like a rotisserie chicken you'd buy in the store? It tastes like it too and it is so easy and cheaper.

24. Taco Salad

You can mix your salad together and dish it out or set everything out separately in a serve your own style.
Taco Salad

23. Turkey or Chicken Pot Pie

We love this enough to rate this recipe 5 stars. You can make it with cream soup but it is so much better with a homemade sauce.
If you want to cut back in time use an already made pie crust or even pastry sheets work well. We used turkey in ours since we still have some leftover turkey in the freezer.
Turkey or Chicken Pot Pie

22. Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This is a fun twist to chicken cordon bleu.

21. Meatball Soup

Remember those meatballs I made a lot of and froze half the batch?

This recipe is a 3 /4 rating as some of us like it better than others. It is a simple recipe that you can add a different meat besides meatballs or add different vegetables if you choose.
Meatball Soup

20. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

It goes without mentioning that spaghetti is often a kids favorite meal. I like to "beef" mine up with pureed vegetables such as carrots, onion, green pepper and spinach.
I also make a large batch and freeze it in quart jars.
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

19. 8 Layer Salad

8 Layer Salad Recipe. I really love this recipe. I also like to do this salad in individual servings.

18. Manti

My husband spent sometime in Turkey and loved the ravioli with yogurt sauce. We reinvented it a little and it is one of our favorites. My kids often eat it without the sauce.
Usually we make our own pasta raviolis but we only have those for special occasions.
This time I bought raviolis in the frozen section and made the sauce. It was super easy this way.
4 star/5 star recipe
Ravioli with Yogurt Sauce

17. Turkey Casserole

This casserole is great after thanksgiving using your leftovers but you can substitute chicken for turkey and have it anytime all year.
Turkey Casserole Recipe