kid friendly Archives - Makin' it Mo'Betta

30 Minute Kid-Friendly Meals {using biscuits, crescent roll or pizza dough}

Kim

I know many of you are in the same situation as I am…Spring Sports. The constant running of children from school to practice to games, etc. When is practice? Dinner time. So when do you feed the kids? For us it has to be something super quick and easy. Sometimes portable! Today’s round-up comes from my stash of recipes using store-bought biscuits, crescent roll dough or pizza dough. I try not to rely on these too often, but sometimes you just need some shortcuts, and I still think it’s healthier than the choices my kids would make in a drive-thru!

The most popular on the blog are the “Bubble Up” Recipes, using canned biscuits. These are a hit with my kids as well.

Bubble Up Taco Casserole

Bubble Up Garlic Cheese Bread – not a meal in itself, but serve with a salad and fruit; or with soup/chili…

Bubble Up Pizza – add any ingredients your family likes on a pizza. This is one of the top viewed recipes on my blog and I see different versions all over Pinterest.

Ham and Cheese Bubble Up – this could go for breakfast or dinner!

Speaking of Breakfast…or dessert!

Blueberry Maple Bubble Up

Bubble Up Apple Pie

Other recipes using canned biscuits –

Ham and Cheese Melts – basically a hand pie made with biscuits…fill with anything you like!

Chicken and Biscuits Casserole

Pizza Cupcakes

Biscuit Breakfast Casserole – another breakfast or dinner option. We love breakfast for dinner!

And a quick and easy breakfast option – Copycat Burger King Cini-Minis

Pizza Dough is also a great option for quick and easy meals. Obviously you can make traditional pizza, but you can also make some fun variations.

Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Pizza ‘Braid’ – this can have any fillings you want, and you can use pizza dough or crescent roll dough. It’s the presentation that makes this one unique!

“Stromboli”

Stuffed Crust Pizza – this is SO easy and my kids love it. Can you have too much cheese?

And another breakfast option –

Yes, pizza dough to the rescue for Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Crescent Roll Dough

Crescent Roll Pizza Ring – again, fill it with anything your family likes. Throw some veggies in there if your kids will eat them!

Crescent Breakfast Casserole

I also like frozen rolls or bread dough, but it has to be thawed in advance. Both of these can be made with biscuits as well.

Pizza Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread – this is usually a “special occasion” breakfast, and requires prep time the night before, but with Mother’s Day coming soon I thought I would include it!

I also have a shortcut for Caramel Sticky Buns using store bought cinnamon rolls.

So what are your “go-to” meals when there is no time?! I also love the crock-pot, and will do a round up of those soon.

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , , , (Tuesday) , , ,, , , (Wednesday) , , , , (Thursday) , , (Friday) , , , ,, , , , ,

Kid Friendly Salad

Kim

Am I the only mom in a constant struggle to get more veggies into my kids? I feel like it’s a never ending battle. My kids are SO picky. I heard a mom say the other day that her child would eat anything put in front of him…brussel sprouts, broccoli, just whatever. Well, I have had no such luck with any of my three children. My middle child is better about trying new things than my other two, but there is still no lovefest with vegetables going on around here. That’s why I try to be a little creative at getting them to eat more. Especially greens.

My family, and this includes myself, prefer raw vegetables over cooked. This means that we eat a lot of salads. However, my kids’ version of a salad is generally iceburg lettuce, cucumbers and carrots. And cheese. My oldest will drown everything in cheese if I let her.

I decided to change things up one night. I put the things I knew they liked in a salad on a plate, but I also placed some different things on there too. (I also had a few other things in separate dishes, like cheese, mandarin oranges, raisins.) I let them prepare their own salads. They thought it was very odd that I had chicken and potatoes and boiled eggs on the plate, but I told them to just give it a try. I didn’t force the issue or make them choose everything. The plate looked so pretty, I sent a picture to my sister. She responded with “are those chicken nuggets?” Why yes, yes they are. I knew I had to start things off with things they already liked. Grilled or boiled chicken would not have gotten a good response, but I’m working up to that!

My kids devoured their salads! They were much more adventurous when preparing their own salads than had I done it for them. My son wouldn’t eat the potatoes or eggs, but even he did better than I expected. Next time, I’m adding even more variety and see how it goes.

Are your kids good veggie eaters? If not, how do you get them to eat more or try new things? I’m open to suggestions…my 6 year old is my pickiest kid yet! {Of course, he did actually try something new the other night…he put hamburgers in gravy on a bun and called it a crabby patty! But hey, at least he ate it. First time ever eating any kind of hamburger!)

By the way, chicken nuggets and potatoes are actually really good in a salad 🙂

Quick and Easy Stromboli – Dinner in under 30 minutes

Kim

Spring is here, and so are the extra curricular activities for my kids. We have just finished volleyball, soccer is ending soon, and softball and T-ball are beginning. Not only does that mean I’m doing a lot of running around, it also means that dinner time is usually something that can be done quick, fast and in a hurry! With someone having practice almost every night of the week, I’ve been trying to make things with little prep time AND something they all will eat. Which is almost an impossible task. However, things involving bread and cheese are usually winners. Enter the Quick and Easy Stromboli!

Next time I’ll add a little more filling, but my kids aren’t big on meat or veggies, so my options were limited. You can always add more cheese. Mo’cheese is mo’betta 🙂

Excuse the next few pics. They were taken in my gloomy kitchen with my cell phone. This was one of those ‘come on and let’s go’ nights!

All you need is some pizza dough. I used this recipe because I actually thought far enough in advance that I could make it in my bread machine on the dough cycle. Since that doesn’t happen often, a store bought pizza dough is fine. And if you use a prepared dough, this meal can be made in under 30 minutes! Spread it out in a rectangle and fill it with your favorite things – or do what I did and clean out the fridge…I had partial bags of different cheeses, some turkey pepperoni, and Canadian bacon. You could also add peppers, onions, sausage, etc. Make sure you leave about an inch or so border.

Starting with the long side, roll up your dough, like making cinnamon rolls. (Which, by the way, can also be made using pizza dough!) Brush the top with butter or olive oil. Add some Italian seasoning if desired.

Bake, slice, eat, run out the door! At least that’s the way it works here.

Quick and Easy Stromboli

(1) homemade or store bought pizza dough

Meat, cheese, veggies of choice

1 T. melted butter or olive oil

sprinkle of Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Roll out pizza dough into a rectangle shape onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it fairly thin, because it will rise while baking. Mine was a little thick.
Place toppings evenly over the dough, leaving a one inch border around edges.
Roll dough, starting at long edge, pressing the seam together at the end.
Place rolled Stromboli, seam side down, on a baking sheet or hot pizza stone. (I used a pizza stone)
Brush dough with melted butter or olive oil, and sprinkle on seasonings.
Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and the dough is cooked through.
Let rest for 5 minutes, then slice.
Dip in marinara or pizza sauce if desired.

Served with a side salad and some fruit, you have a fast and easy meal covering all the food groups!

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , , , , , (Tuesday) , , , ,,, , , (Wednesday) , , , , ,, , (Thursday) ,, , , (Friday) , , , , , ,, ,, , ,, , (Saturday) ,

Bubble Up Pizza

Kim

If you are popping over from Pinterest, Welcome to Makin’ it Mo’Betta! This is a popular recipe for good reason…it’s so easy to make, and kids love it! (At least mine do) Feel free to look around, and consider following me on any of my social media outlets for more easy recipes.

You’ve probably seen these casseroles floating around for a while – Bubble Up Pizza, Bubble Up Enchiladas, etc. I decided to give it a try since it was so simple to throw together, and totally kid-friendly! With the girls involved in so many activities in the evenings, I need meals that are quick and easy to get on the table. This is one we had when the hubs wasn’t home, since this is definitely not a low carb meal. (for a low carb pizza casserole, you could try this one)

(my original picture, I’ve added some newer ones!)

Bubble Up Pizza

2 cans (12oz) golden layer buttermilk biscuits (Pillsbury Grands! Jr)
1 jar (15oz) pizza sauce *I used this easy homemade sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
your favorite pizza toppings – cooked sausage, turkey pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms *we had mini turkey pepperoni and Canadian bacon
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut biscuits into quarters and place in medium bowl. Toss biscuits with pizza sauce. Add pizza topping and half of the cheese. Toss until well blended. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Pour biscuit mixture into pan and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until biscuits are done.

Recipe Source:

Verdict? The kids loved this! I thought it was pretty good too, just not very calorie friendly. I think I’m going to try it with rolls (like frozen Rhodes rolls) next time and see how that goes. It would be less fat than the biscuits. I’ll let ya know! I mixed everything up before basketball practice, then baked it when we got home, so I had a hot meal on the table in about 30 minutes! We had a salad to go with it. Quick and easy!

I’m linking up today with , , , , , , , , – ingredient spotlight, canned biscuits/rolls/etc,