3 Quick Dinner Ideas For Picky Kids

This post is sponsored by ALDI.

Back to school season is HERE! What a weird summer it’s been! We still have a few weeks before Piper starts virtual Kindergarten and I’ve been doing my best to prepare for the busy season that awaits us. I’m still wrapping my head around how I’ll have time to spend hours a day schooling Piper, caring for Flora and Alice and working! One thing I know I’ll have less time for is cooking. Today, I’ve partnered with one of our favorite grocery stores, ALDI

to share 3 easy and quick dinner ideas that I’ll be using to save myself time and money in the kitchen this fall. 

The best part about these dinner recipes is that they are kid-friendly and utilize my little dinner-time hack that I use to get my girls to eat anything! It’s the lazy-susan trick that works every time! Anything that I can prepare and set out on our lazy-susan at dinner and allows the girls to self-serve their food is a big win! Tacos are a go-to, but lately I’ve been searching for new ways to serve dinner this way and came up with 3 ideas that have been a hit in our home using ingredients from ALDI. 

Preparing our weekly menu on Sunday and shopping for the week is the only way I stay organized with groceries and our meal plan. We love to shop at ALDI because our grocery bill stays low, and ALDI offers such a great value. I especially love all of the organic options they have. 

So… let’s get on with the recipes! Most of these are semi-homemade and don’t take much prep work, making them perfect for busy weeknights! 

GREEK BOWLS

These Greek bowls are a quick and easy meatless meal that pack in a ton of flavor and sneak in veggies! 

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients

Park Street Deli Cucumber Dill Tzatziki Sauce 
Earth Grown Classic Meatless Meatballs
Season’s Choice Riced Cauliflower 
Simply Nature 90 Second Organic Quinoa & Brown Rice 
Cucumbers, Olives
Park Street Deli Greek Feta Salad 

Directions: 

1. Prepare meatballs according to package. 
2. Chop cucumbers and olives. 
3. Prepare 1 cup of the riced cauliflower and entire package of Quinoa & Brown Rice according to the package directions. Once cooked, stir together. 
4. Place tzatziki sauce, cauliflower & grain mixture, feta, cucumbers and olives in bowls on lazy-susan for serving! 

FISH TACOS

We love fish tacos in this house and the Fremont Fish Market Wild Caught Beer Battered Cod filets are soooo delicious paired with an easy, creamy slaw! I could seriously eat these every night and Flora agrees! 

Servings: 4
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients: 

Fremont Fish Market Wild Caught Beer Battered Cod Filets 
Park Street Deli Coleslaw 
Lime, Cilantro
Pueblo Lindo Fajita Size Flour Tortillas 
Avocado 

Directions: 

1. Follow the directions to prepare the fish fillets and while they cook, get everything else ready.
2. Finely chop a handful of cilantro. 
3. Spoon about 2 cups of coleslaw into a bowl, add the cilantro and several squeezes of fresh lime juice. 
4. Slice avocado and limes for serving. 
5. Arrange avocado, limes, slaw, tortillas and hot fish fillets on a lazy-susan and build your fish tacos! (My girls sometimes like to add cheese and salsa to theirs!)

PASTA BOWLS

We usually have pasta once a week and it can get boring, but when I serve it up with an easy cream sauce and broccoli, the girls devour it and it makes mealtime more fun!  We use liveGfree Gluten Free Brown Rice Quinoa Fusili which is an easy way to sneak in some extra protein and I always keep a bag of the Simply Nature Organic Broccoli in the freezer! 

Servings: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients: 

1 bag liveGfree Brown Rice Quinoa Fusilli
1 bag Simply Nature Organic Broccoli Florets
3 tbs butter 
3 tbs flour 
2 cups of milk of choice (we use dairy-free)
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
½ – 1 tbs of seasoning of your choice 
Parmesan Cheese for serving 

Directions: 

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. 
2. Cook broccoli according to directions on package. 
3. Meanwhile start the sauce. Heat a skillet to medium heat and melt butter, stirring gently. Once melted, add in the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. 
4. Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly to be sure it doesn’t burn. 
5. Gently pour in the milk and spices while continuing to whisk. 
6. Add ½ – 1 cup of the reserved pasta water and stir until the sauce thickens. 
7. Place the broccoli, pasta, sauce and cheese for serving on lazy-susan and enjoy!