Top 10 Kids Favorite Dinners

[esgunn]

So, My kids helped me make our menu this week. They each got to pick a favorite meal.

Steph's was Spaghetti
Nicky's was Terriyaki Chicken
Chris' was Chicken Lo Mein (Tonights dinner)

Their other favorties are:
Lasagna
Chicken Lasagna
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken and rice Casserol
Tacos
Wraps - Chicken
Pimento Cheese burgers
Hot Dogs
Manwiches
French Dip Sandwiches


Top Two sides were Mashed Potatoes and Salad. Ok, so more than 10 - and that was their order and list - not mine.

What are or were some of your kids favorites? Or yours when you were a kid?

[foodfiend]

My kid likes his KD diet (special food for kidney problems) for dinner.

Although he prefers the dry, he will accept the canned if I whirl it in the mini-prep until smooth, add some water to thin it, then microwave it until warm... and place the plate on an inverted bowl so it's easier to eat...

[labradors]

Surprised Monte Cristo Sandwiches aren't on the list. Had I known about them as a child, they would have been on my list, but I didn't discover them until my 30s.

When I was a kid, my favourites were:

• Beef Stroganoff (still one of my all-time favourites)
  
• Pot Roast (cooked in a POT, on the STOVE - not an oven roast - and plenty of rosemary in the gravy)
  
• Lasagna
  
• Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
  
• Chicken and Dumplings (real biscuit dumplings - not those fat noodles they use in the South)
  
• Spare Ribs (real ribs with lots of meat om them - not baby-back ribs)
  
• Beef short ribs
  
• Corned Beef
  
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  
• Chicken Pot Pie (even the cheap, frozen ones - I especially liked to break up the bottom crust and mix it all together)
  
• Side dish: Scalloped Potatoes (NO CHEESE - that's au gratin)
  
• Side dish: Green Bean Casserole (with the cream of mushroom soup and the French-fried onion rings)

For take-to-school lunches, I was really picky, and didn't like sandwiches made with luncheon meat or untoasted bread. If I had a sandwich, at all, it would be peanut butter and jelly, but with the bread toasted and with butter spread onto the toast before putting on the peanut butter and jelly; or, it would be cream cheese and jelly (again - toasted bread). Most of the time, though, I took a Thermos bottle of "Tomato Soup and Macaroni." It was just condensed tomato soup, with a can of milk instead of water, with cooked macaroni added to it. Sometimes, just for variety (and protein), my Mom would also add sautéed, seasoned ground beef and onions. It didn't really matter since, to this day, I still never get tired of it either way.

Oddly enough, the Peanut Butter and Pear Sandwiches were something I picked up as an adult.

[esgunn]

Labs, It is not on the list, because they have never had one! I have never made one! Have a good recipe? Is that one of those things there is a recipe - or do you just know how to make them? I know I must have had one at some point, but it sure wasn't memorable...( my mom is allergic to Chicken and Turkey so I didn't grow up with much of it - Live on it now!)

I will have to try the mac and grnd beef in tomato soup. My kids LOVE tomato soup. Their favorite lunch is Tomato soup and quesadillas, second favorite is tomato soup and grilled cheese, third is chicken salad made with mayo and craisins.

[HomeCulinarian]

When we had all the kids living at home, I would have each child and hubby choose one meal per week. That way, I wasn't responsible for all the menu selections, and it made for a more peaceful existence. The oldest would choose all kinds of things - always trying to challenge my skills. #2, now a chef, nearly always chose steaks because he wanted to challenge the budget. #3 almost always chose spaghetti and meatballs and #4 almost always chose fried chicken and the fixin's. Hubby would chose something interesting or something we had on hand. Anyway, the funny thing is they (the kids) seemed to complain if I chose a recycled menu week to week, but if they picked it, it was all good.

My own favorites from childhood, are beef & gravy, spaghetti, pot roast and fried chicken.

Thanx for the topic, Erin.

[cjs]

Wow, it's been so many years, I'm not sure now what were their favorites and what were mine. Maybe madmax will weigh in here - that would be interesting.

Fried Chicken, mashed tatoes (winter) & fried chicken and potato salad (summer)
Tacos
Hot meatloaf and baked potatoes one night and meatloaf sandwiches and soup the next
Beerox (Bierox)
Ham with oj/maple syrup baste and mac and cheese
Hot dogs filled with mashed potatoes and toppped with cheddar cheese
Ring of bologna, fried potatoes & onions, and creamed style corn
Fried fish (mostly catfish and trout)
Waffles and ham (for a real night's treat)
French Dip sandwiches

My two favorite lunches right up to the time I graduated from high school were - summers, tuna sandwiches and grape Koolaide and school time, peanutbutter and honey on 'hippy' bread, bag of corn chips and V8 juice that Mom kept in the freezer for me and by lunchtime it was just super cold!!

My mother and I both used to make Monte Cristos for the family - loved them.

Fun topic, Erin.

[farnfam]

The one all time favorite, most requested for lunch or dinner was, mac and cheese made with cream of mushroom soup and broccoli (boiled right in with the mac). They never got tired of it.
Next was eggplant parmigianna, often requested but kind of work intensive to make often.
Other than that I had it very easy, not one picky eater in the fam

[Trixxee]

I only wish my son would eat such a varied diet as most of your kids!

When I was a kid my favorites were Shake n Bake chicken with yellow rice and niblets corn in butter sauce. Whenever I visited my grandma that was on the menu the first night.

When I was growing up on Long Island, NY my dad had a boat (used for fishing and water skiing) and the flounder he caught was unbelievable. My mom just sauteed it and I couldn't get enough. Another one of my favorites were spareribs baked with soy sauce and crushed pineapple.

My mom wasn't a "foodie" but she did put a nice dinner on the table every single night, seven nights a week.

[cjs]

Oh Crap! I forgot!!! Strawberry jello with sliced bananas!! Oh, I loved and love that still - especially when the jello has not been correctly dissolved and there is that rubbery layer on the bottom?? Oh yeah!

[labradors]

Quote:

---

Have a good recipe? Is that one of those things there is a recipe - or do you just know how to make them?

---

Although I've heard that there can be some pretty big differences, regionally (esp. in the cooking method), the following recipe (supposedly a copycat of Bennigan's) is the most common and, supposedly, the most traditional:

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 6 slices cooked turkey
  
• 6 slices Swiss cheese
  
• 6 slices cooked ham
  
• 6 slices American cheese
  
• 18 slices wheat bread (I've never seen it with wheat - only white, but that's what this particular recipe says)

Batter

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 1/3 cup water
  
• 1 large egg --beaten

Oil --for deep frying

For serving

• Powdered sugar
  
• Red raspberry jelly

Instructions:

1. Assemble sandwiches: Bread, turkey, Swiss cheese, bread, ham, American cheese, bread; cut in half diagonally.
   
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together to blend well. Add water to the egg and add to the flour mixture mixing well. Dip each sandwich half into the batter and deep-fry (oil must cover the sandwich) in oil pre-heated to 360 degrees until golden brown.
   
3. Remove from oil to paper towels. Sprinkle with the powdered sugar. Serve with warm or room temperature jelly, if desired.

The idea is to dip the sandwich into the jelly. I've used strawberry preserves when I couldn't get raspberry, and probably just about anything could be used, but the raspberry really does seem to match up the best.

BTW, there was even a restaurant, in Orlando, that had a Monte-Cristo-Style PBJ! LOL!