Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers (pictured above)
This recipe for this amazingly flavorful dinner uses two smart shortcuts: You don’t have to cook the meat in a separate pan first, and by cutting the peppers horizontally you’ll save on cooking time too. Just pair the meal with a big loaf of crusty bread and call the kids to the table.
After living in Italy for four years, my whole brood developed a taste for homemade sauce. This is our favorite variation of a classic, made much faster by taking a few smart shortcuts.
When I’m pressed for time, which is as often as you’d guess of a working mom with four small kids, I sometimes throw a tray of nachos like these into the oven and call dinner done. To bump up the nutrition, I use whole-grain chips and serve a big tray of sliced bell peppers, tomatoes and olives on the side, where little fingers can find them easily.
There’s a reason Bobby Flay’s recipe is deemed “perfect” — it really does yield the best-ever burger. These juicy patties can be made indoors on a grill pan, so there’s no need to brave the chilly air to grill outdoors.
You can save money and time with this one by making these hand pies with leftover meat from another dish, like tacos. It takes only a couple of tablespoons per pie, and all that Mexican flavor will just enhance the whole dish.
These easy lettuce cups are perfect for a family because they’re delicious, nutritious and fun for kids to make on their own plates — but boy, are they messy! Word to the wise: I’ve been known to wrap a whole kitchen towel around each kid’s neck (lobster-bib style) before turning them loose.
I love introducing our kids to new flavors from around the world, and this one incorporates two tried-and-true ingredients they already know (and love). Plus, it’s a simple foray into Indian cooking, which always gets a thumbs-up from this busy cook.
Whether you make these in a muffin pan or mold them into mounds, whipping up mini meatloaves gives you all the comforting flavor of the original in less than half the cooking time.
This is another dish that you could easily split a pound of ground beef making. Use half for these zucchini boats — a meal with a built-in vegetable side dish — and the other half for the cheeseburger hand pies.
Everybody loves taco night, but when a friend of mine turned me on to putting all those fresh flavors into a soup and serving the chips on the side, I was sold — and a new weekly favorite was born.
Made with only a handful of ingredients, this top-rated recipe is a fan favorite. Make it once and you’ll see why.
Charity Curley Mathews is the mother of four small kids and founder of Foodlets.com, a site about cooking only one dinner, teaching kids the fun of trying new foods and enjoying the process together. Most of the time.
from FN Dish – Food Network Blog http://ift.tt/2entHYQ
11 Easy Weeknight Dinners You Can Make with Ground Beef