Cheap Dinner Ideas for a Family of 8 Kid Friendly

March 07, 2022 Post a Comment

Planning meals for my family of 12 is a feat, but I've found several go-to dinner recipes.
My 10 kids range from newborn to xix. I've created a rotation of easy meals for each month.
Some of my get-to recipes are fish sandwiches, tacos, and kielbasa noodles.

Feeding a family of 12 isn't an easy feat.

Each summertime — when we're not homeschooling — the kids assistance me program the meals for the next schoolhouse year. To keep my family from getting bored, we rotate dinners on a monthly schedule.

My kids, who range in age from newborn to 19, aid me decide on a theme for each nighttime of the week, and nosotros begin four or five meals for each ane to rotate throughout the month.

This way, we consume our dinner options just 12 times a year instead of once a week.

We've enjoyed a variety of themes, just this year they're roast meat and potatoes; Asian-inspired; taco Tuesday; American; noodle night; pizza night; and seafood. Other themes we've used include soup and sandwiches; Italian; around the world; casseroles; comfort food; fry solar day; and breakfast for dinner.

During the brainstorming session, I encourage the kids to think of meals that are fairly cheap, quick to make, and enjoyed by about of the family unit.

Read on for a dozen of my tried-and-true meals that help me become dinner on the table.

My kids are large fans of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes

My kids love the combination of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. The Instant Pot makes the side dish so elementary, even on weeknights.

While the oven preheats for the nuggets, I accept ane of my kids aid me peel the potatoes. Then I cut them in half and put them in the Instant Pot with a cup of h2o for x minutes on loftier pressure.

Every bit the Instant Pot comes to the right pressure, I get the chicken nuggets in the oven. And so I open a bag of frozen vegetables (unremarkably corn or peas for this repast) and commencement cooking those. I also whip up a quick cream gravy with butter, flour, craven broth, milk, common salt, and pepper.

When I plan it out like this, everything is ready at about the aforementioned time, which works out perfectly.

Breakfast for dinner is a favorite in my house

I get my kids to help me in the kitchen.

Breakfast for dinner is a fun change of footstep and a simple repast that the kids can help set up.

The carte du jour varies depending on what we accept on manus, just information technology typically includes waffles or pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

I usually make waffles from scratch, simply I proceed a bag of pancake mix on manus in case I run out of an ingredient correct before dinner.

One of my daughters apace scrambles eggs while bacon cooks in the oven. At the same time, one of my immature sons helps brand the waffles, considering he loves rotating the handle on the waffle maker.

Sometimes I whip upwards a quick syrup by boiling 2 cups of sugar with a cup of water and about a teaspoon of maple excerpt. Other times the kids put blueberries and whipped cream on their waffles.

Spaghetti and meatballs are a classic combo for a reason

The unproblematic meal is a winner at my house.

Since it's so easy to gear up, spaghetti and meatballs is one of the first meals I teach my kids how to brand on the stove.

They put the frozen meatballs in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about xv to 20 minutes. While those melt, they eddy water and cook the noodles.

I aid them strain the noodles one time they're tender, then they dump a jar of sauce in the pot and estrus it all for a minute or two. Marinara sauce is our go-to, but occasionally we try new ones.

When the noodles are washed, we get the meatballs out of the oven and serve dinner with a side salad and a piece of garlic bread, which we make by chop-chop broiling hot-dog buns slathered with butter and sprinkled with garlic.

I like to whip upwards pork tenderloin and potatoes in my Crock-Pot

I get my pork tenderloin at Costco to salve some money.

Dinner doesn't get much easier than this pork tenderloin from Costco.

I chop-chop brown the meat in a pan with a fleck of oil. I wash the potatoes and put them in the Crock-Pot, placing the browned pork on top.

I add generous amounts of salt, pepper, and garlic, and a little h2o to keep it from sticking. Then I put the lid on, plough it on depression, and permit the ho-hum cooker prepare dinner while we get on with our days.

Near half dozen hours subsequently, I put together a side salad and slice the meat. It'due south a simple dinner that everyone eats without complaint.

Fish sandwiches are popular for seafood night at my business firm

I serve the sandwiches with a few sides.

Quick fish sandwiches made with frozen fish fillets, hamburger buns, and lettuce are usually on rotation for seafood nights.

While the fish heats in the oven, I launder the lettuce and tear information technology into sandwich-sized pieces. When the fish is done, I put a petty mayonnaise on the bun, add the fish, and top it with the lettuce.

I typically serve this meal with steamed vegetables and french chips.

I get my kids to assistance set our taco bars full of toppings and sides

My kids tin help me set up a taco bar in no time — and by setting out all the ingredients individually, anybody tin decide exactly what they want.

While my kids prepare the toppings and arrange them on the counter, I brown the meat with a piffling fleck of chopped onion and season it with taco seasoning.

Since most of my kids adopt meatless tacos, one pound of hamburger meat is enough for my whole family.

Fries and salsa, Mexican rice, and corn are some of our favorites things to add to the simple taco bar.

Meatball subs are an easy option for sandwich night

Meatballs are a not bad hot-sandwich option.

When nosotros need a quick selection for sandwich dark only are tired of cold sandwiches, meatballs come to the rescue.

I cook them in the oven, pour marinara sauce on top, and pop them back in for a few minutes until the sauce is nice and warm.

Then I spoon the meatballs over sliced French bread, ensuring that everyone gets several meatballs on their sandwich. Hoagie rolls are some other great bread pick.

I serve these sandwiches with chips and a side salad.

My chicken gravy over potatoes comes together quickly

I employ my Instant Pot for this repast to speed up the process.

For this repast, I plop several boneless, skinless craven thighs in a pot of water and bring it to a eddy. The kids assist me peel potatoes, and we showtime them in the Instant Pot for ten minutes on high pressure level.

When the chicken is close to done, I start the gravy in some other pan by melting butter and sprinkling flour on pinnacle.

I whisk it while it cooks for a few minutes to get the flour taste out and add together nigh a tablespoon of Amend Than Bouillon, nigh a loving cup of water, several cups of milk, and salt and pepper. I mix this all well to leave whatever clumps and permit it thicken over medium-depression estrus.

While that simmers, I drain and dice the craven to add together it to the gravy so information technology all mixes together. Around this time, the potatoes are prepare to drain and mash.

I serve this repast with a cooked vegetable and a roll or slice of staff of life and butter.

I like to spice things up with my uncomplicated kielbasa noodles

This meal adds a bit of diversity to our noodle nights.

I piece Polska kielbasa and cook it in a pan with a chip of oil. Then I follow the directions on the package to boil some egg noodles until they're tender.

During the last minute the noodles are cooking, I dump in some frozen peas. This is the perfect amount of fourth dimension to become them hot merely not mushy.

One time the noodles and peas are done, I bleed them and dump them in the pan with the sausage. I typically add a bit of butter and garlic or a can of Alfredo sauce to continue the noodles from condign too dry.

I serve the noodles with a slice of bread and sometimes a side salad to round out the repast.

Corned beefiness and cabbage is one of my family'south favorite condolement foods

We don't but eat this around St. Patrick'south Day.

I know I'm non the only one who stocks up on this succulent piece of meat each March around St. Patrick's Day. It'due south a family favorite and too good to consume only once a year.

I start by putting the meat fat-side up in the Crock-Pot. Then I add together small-scale potatoes, a sliced onion, and babe carrots.

This takes nearly all solar day to melt on high, so it's swell for when I accept time to plan ahead.

When it's getting close to dinnertime, I slice a head of cabbage and sauté information technology in a pan. My family unit prefers this method to cooking the cabbage with the meat and vegetables.

When everything's ready, I serve it with seeded rye breadstuff.

I like to switch up the sauce when I make roasted craven drumsticks and potatoes

I tin hands transform this recipe with different sauces.

For this repast, I identify chicken drumsticks in a baking dish, season them with a picayune salt and pepper, and allow them cook in the oven.

I also gear up a pan of diced potatoes, diced onions, a little bit of olive oil, and table salt and pepper to melt alongside it.

These both take near 45 minutes to cook.

Once the meat is washed, I add some kind of sauce, commonly either Panda Express' sugariness and tangy Beijing sauce, barbecue sauce, orangish sauce, or sweetness-and-sour sauce.

Once the sauce is on, I cook it for nearly some other five minutes to permit everything become hot.

Some of the kids enjoy staff of life and butter with their chicken and potatoes, but I also set out a side salad.

Cheese quesadillas are one of the easiest, crowd-pleasing meals

Even my younger kids can help with this repast.

My 4-year-sometime son loves helping brand this quick dinner for the family.

It's the perfect option when we accept somewhere to be and need to eat as fast equally possible while fugitive the expense of takeout.

My son is in charge of sprinkling shredded cheese on a tortilla. And so he puts information technology in the microwave and pushes the "add 30 seconds" button. When it beeps, he can take it out with a chip of assist and fold the tortilla in half.

I help him cutting information technology, and he puts one on a plate for each family member.

Nosotros usually serve the quesadillas with quick sides like fresh fruit or carrot sticks and ranch dressing so cleanup can be as simple every bit the repast itself.

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Source: https://www.insider.com/best-easy-cheap-dinners-for-big-families-10-kids-2021-6

Nick Sweeme