Dinner Meal Ideas

New Recipes are now posted at the MOMMBY Blog.

I use to think cooking meant heating leftovers in a microwave and now I truly like cooking and finding new healthy recipes my family enjoys. I try to cook with all organic ingredients but I think even more important than eating organic ingredients is to simply cook food yourself rather than buying it pre-made and this is coming from someone who use to eat out about five days a week. I understand that the main problem with cooking food yourself is it takes additional time, something which is limited in every family. That is why most of the recipes I'll add below are not only my family's favorite meals but are also easy meals to prepare from the beginner to an experienced chef. I still consider myself a "beginner" although I have moved from only following recipes to learning how to throw ingredients in a pot and still prepare a good meal.

I will try to post a new recipe as often as possible. Please don't hesitate to contact me with some of your favorite recipes.

• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Crock Pot Mushroom/ Onion Roast
• Ham and Cabbage Soup
• Resources
• Your Comments/ Tips

Chicken Noodle Soup
This is a great meal for my 1 year old and my 3 year old.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes; Cook Time: 10-30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• Chicken (Pre-cooked, roasted, frozen, any type of chicken)
• Chicken Broth or Chicken Stock (approximately 6 cups)
  • If you don't have chicken broth or stock on hand you can simply use about 6 cups of water, bay leaf, onions/ celery and cook uncooked chicken to make a broth. You will need to cook for a few hours if making your broth from scratch.
• Spices: Turmeric (optional), 1 Bay Leaf, Parsley
• Vegetables: Fresh or Frozen such as onions, celery, carrots, peas, green beans, corn
• Noodles: Soup noodles or regular pasta noodles

Directions:

Please refer to video. Add chicken stock/ chicken broth. Add chicken. Add onions, celery, carrots. (If you don't have those items then you can skip but they add additional flavor to soup.) Add spices: turmeric (optional), 1 bay leaf, parsley (fresh or dried), salt/pepper to taste. I usually skip the salt and if needed add it when I serve the soup. We usually put crackers in our soup and that provides enough salt. If your chicken is uncooked you may want to wait until it is fully cooked before adding other vegetables. I like to add frozen vegetables such as peas, green beans, and peas. Cook until your chicken is fully cooked and your vegetables are done to your liking.

While the soup is cooking, boil water and cook your noodles. I use regular pasta noodles such as Whole Wheat shells from Whole Foods such as 365 Everday Value or Bionature or Kids Only DeBoles alphabet whole wheat durum pasta. If you cook your noodles separately they won't absorb all of your chicken broth. Once the noodles are cooked add them to your soup.

Serve with: Crackers with cream cheese (This is my family tradition to put cream cheese on crackers in soup. Try it you may like it.)

Source: Modified from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book (You can buy at the MOMMBY Amazon Store - Feeding Family category.)

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Crock Pot Mushroom/ Onion Roast
This is my husband's favorite meal and my son has loved it since he first started eating real food (around 1 1/2 years old). It is great because the meat is very tender and I found with my toddler the more tender the meat the more he liked it. It is probably definitely my favorite meal because it tastes great, my family loves it, and it is probably the easiest meal to prepare!

Mushroom/ Onion Roast Recipe

Prep Time: 5 Minutes; Cook Time: All Day in Crock Pot

Ingredients:

• Roast (Usually about 2 pounds)
  • I buy any type of roast, like a round roast from Whole Foods
• 2 Cans Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • I use Health Valley Organic cream of mushroom soup and it is not as condensed as Campbell's cream of mushroom soup but I think the end result is just as good if not better
• Dry French Onion Soup Mix or French Onion Dip Mix
  • I use Simply Organic french onion dip mix

Directions:

Put soup and french onion mix into crock pot and mix. Add Roast. Cook until meat is done to desired temperature.

Alternative: You can cook the roast with the mushroom soup and onion dip mix in a regular pot on the stove or bake it in the oven. If cooking on the stove, I'd bring it to a boil and then cook slightly more than a simmer but not a full boil, make sure you have a lid on the pot so your juice does not boil away. If cooking in the oven, then put the roast in the center of two layers of foil, cover with mushroom soup/ onion mix, seal up foil and bake at 300 degrees for at least hour/pound.

Serve with: Mashed potatoes and peas. The hardest part of this meal is preparing the mashed potatoes but I love mashed potatoes with this roast since the roast makes such a great gravy to put on the potatoes. We usually leave the skins on the potatoes. You may even cook some potatoes in the crock pot along with the roast. You may want to add an extra can of soup if you cook potatoes in with the roast. I usually steam frozen peas since I love to steam our vegetables.

Source: Passed down in my husband's family
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Ham and Cabbage Soup
What do you do with all of your leftover ham after your Christmas/ Holiday dinner? There is nothing easier than my family's ham and cabbage recipe.

Prep Time: 5 - 10 Minutes; Cook Time: Approximately 3 hours

Ingredients:

• Pre-cooked Bone-In Ham (leftover ham from holiday dinner)
  • I buy my pre-cooked ham from Whole Foods so it does not have added nitrates and is hormone and antibiotic free - please refer to the "Organic" article
• Water
• At least 1 Medium Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Onions, Carrots (Optional - we don't usually add but I would think it would be a good addition)

Directions:

Put precooked ham in large stock pot and add enough water to cover the ham. (If you have leftover fat juices from when you baked the ham, add to the pot as well.) Cover the pot with a lid. Bring to a boil then simmer the ham for a few hours. I usually cook it for about 2 hours until the ham starts to fall apart. Then I add the vegetables for the last hour.

Remove the outer edge of cabbage, wash cabbage and then cut cabbage into large chunks/ wedges and add to the soup. (Do not add the cabbage core.) My family loves cabbage so I use a very large cabbage or two medium sized cabbages.

Add other vegetables that you like and cook the vegetables/ potatoes to your liking. I usually just add cabbage and potatoes. I do not fully peel the potatoes, I only peel off the brown spots. You can add any other vegetables you like such as onions or carrots. I usually cook the cabbage and potatoes about an hour in the pot with the ham until the cabbage and potatoes are soft.

Serve meal like a soup or just eat the ham, potatoes, and cabbage. Your preference. I love the broth the soup makes.

Source: Passed down in my family

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Resources
Please refer to the "Food Resources" article for some of my favorite cooking resources like the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book You can buy the cook book at the MOMMBY Amazon Store - Feeding Family category. These recipes are general recommendations. Please consult a cookbook to confirm you are cooking your food properly.

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Your Comments/ Tips

Last updated: December 2011