Kid Approved Recipes

This is a favorite - A HUGE favorite in our house.   Ares, Adam and I love the bagged General Tso from either Walmart or Aldi (Aldi's isn't quite as spicy, and Atlas will even eat it occasionally.) The boys all eat it with white or jasmine rice, personally, I'm trying to get myself to eat it with cauliflower rice.  I have twice now, it's not terrible.  with all the sauce in the general tso bag, it only has a different texture than regular rice, not a different taste. Hopefully cute photos soon!

My kids practically love anything with ranch or cheese in it, and chickit's en is a hit or miss.   Like almost anything, my oldest will try it, and typically like it, my youngest will fight anything new until he's exhausted, then he sits and eats 3 bites but says he doesn't like it just to spite us, even if he really does.  Then he goes to bed without eating dinner.  It's his jive.  I mean, how else do you get a 4 1/2 year old that's a whopping 35lb?  (Oh, that 35 lbs is with boots, coat, hat, gloves and 3 full sized rolls of quarters in his pocket).  I know this, because you have to be 35lbs to jump at the local trampoline place, and that's how we got him in - yes, there's a scale there to weigh the kids. But I digress - here we are - Cheesy ranch chicken.   It's an easy 7 ingredient recipe (because I wouldn't dream of adding onions to something my youngest might actually try).  Well, Ares liked it, Adam and I loved it, Atlas didn't ...

Macaroni and Cheese.   Ahhh....  While Atlas is one of the pickiest eaters ever, surprisingly, he's not picky about his macaroni and cheese.  He'll eat any kind, from any place.  He's not a blue box snob like so many other children are, granted, it's one of his favorites, but he'll eat macaroni and cheese made with alfredo sauce, big or small noodles, whatever, he's game.  So here's the first instant pot version I found online, and while Atlas liked it, and Adam and I loved it, Ares was not a fan.   On the plus side, this has no crazy ingredients that you've never heard of, like some boxed stuff.  1 lb macaroni 7 c water 4 Tbsp butter 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground mustard (I kept this out, because apparently the ground mustard we have is SUPER spicy - so I used regular yellow mustard instead, and a tiny bit less of the water) 1/2 tsp garlic salt (optional) 1 pint heavy whipping cream  4 cups shredded cheddar cheese 2 cups ...

Before the instant pot, I didn't even like to make chicken in the oven or skillet, because I was terrified it wouldn't be cooked all the way through.   So the fact that I attempted this, blows everyone away.   It turned out REALLY good.  Of course, at first, I wasn't sure which side has the breastesses,  OMG, I'm an idiot.  I also, needed to take the little baggie out from inside the chicken.  I kept trying to get at it through the neck hole.   I kept thinking, man, this chicken is tight, hahaha.  3 minutes later, I realized that it was the wrong hole.  OMG, I was DYING!  Hilarious!!!    Ares devoured it, as did Adam.  Atlas was at my mom's house today, so she fed him before I picked  him up after work.  He insisted that it was disgusting though, and he'd never eat it.  Probably so, but the recipe was good enough that we'll DEFINITELY make it again.  AND, we have tons of left overs fo...

I've traded out noodles for spaghetti squash before, and the boys liked it.  Not as much, but they still ate it.  I've done it 2 or 3 times, but OMG, cutting that thing before putting it into the oven nearly severed my fingers  -  twice, so I stopped making it.  Guess what people.... I read a recipe where you didn't have to cut it first!  Insert:  Instant Pot!  Woohoo!! spaghetti sauce spaghetti squash ground meat (optional) tomatoes (optional - I used because of the extra liquid) cheese (for topping) Saute the meat stab the squash with a pairing knife, roughly 12x 1/2" each add sauce, tomatoes and the whole squash, right on top high pressure 15 minutes, or until the skin of squash easily gives when pressed with a spoon  (Original recipe states 15 minutes, mine came out SUPER soft, and next time I think I'll lower it to 12) take out squash, cool for 10 minutes, and cut open remove the seeds, and scrape the squash out...

The first thing  I made  (other than water, as the directions say) in the instant pot was hard boiled eggs!  This was because it was 9pm at night, and I was not about to create a whole meal, but I couldn't just let it sit on the counter unused.   I'd heard great things about doing the eggs in the instant pot, so I was excited to try.   I love hard boiled eggs (no one else in my family will touch them) but they take so much effort to make on the stove, so I rarely make them.   The instant pot is as easy as they say it is, and the shells come off perfectly and EASILY!! Eggs 1 C water Put 1 cup of water on the bottom of the instant pot.  Put eggs either in a steam basket or on the wire tray that comes with the IP (that's what I used) Close the steam thing Press the egg button (or high for 5 minutes) Make sure the warming option is not on Keep in IP for 5 minutes after it's done Quick release and ...