Other Ideas for Dinner

I was driving home yesterday, on the freeway in summer heat (Yay!) while racking my brain as for what to do about dinner. I try to be organized plan ahead, but I'm running on fumes these days and I just can't seem to keep it together. I knew we had at least 11b of hamburger and some Hamburger Helper mixes. Hamburger Helper seems to be the one meal that every kid I know, seems to like. My dad was a picky eater and even he liked it. The idea of cooking though (I'd been awake since 3 a.m.) didn't sound like fun. It's hard to cook when you have a toddler-sized baby that does all his eating in the evenings.

This 5 1/2 month old weighs almost as much as my 4 year old niece.

Then hit me - Kess is ten and I was cooking real food when I was ten so why not supervise and see how she does with making Hamburger Helper? She did awesome! And it was so easy that I just had to help a little. Getting the kids to cook is an awesome idea! (As long as your kids aren't crazy and don't enjoy starting fires. :)

I have one more suggestion for those nights that you are too tired to argue with the picky eaters or don't feel like standing over a hot stove. Try signing up for the email lists for your favorite chain restaurants. Chili's, for example, has certain days where kids under 12 eat for free as long as you buy one adult entree. So tonight, we're going out with friends and we're headed there. I've got two coupons and I'm hoping to feed the family for a pretty sweet deal. As I tell the kids - why pay for something that you can get for free?