School in France finishes 4.30 PM, and if you add on an after school activity, kids only get home around 6 PM. The deadline of getting children fed, the home work done, kids bathed and off to bed at a decent hour is TIGHT! Try to throw in a bit of down time to wind down their day and it turns into a military operation!
To have dinner made as quickly as possible, I have been focusing on fast recipes and wanted to share some of my favourites with you. (Here in France kids eat a 3-course lunch at school (my 5-year-old source tell me it is DELICIOUS) which takes a little of the pressure off!) Here are a few of my staples:
What about you, do you have any easy, quick dishes? I would love to hear!
-Emilie
Comments (8)
I have a supe easy, super quick and super yummie recipe to share: Pasta alle zucchine (pasta with courgettes).
Put a big pot of salted water to boil, add cut up courgettes, let it boil for about 5 minutes (or more) then add the pasta (yes, in the same water). When the pasta is cooked, drain, dress with butter and parmesan and DONE.
The courgettes fall apart and become all creamy. It has been our family’s “don’t-feel-like-cooking-tonight” pasta for generations and the kids love it
Thanks for sharing! I will definitely try this!
Lucky you! in Holland children don’t eat warm food at school. I found it terribly sad ;-( they come back home around the same time. xxx Agata
Beef stroganoff is also pretty quick…while the water is boiling and pasta cooking, brown 1 lb beef (or buffalo) and 1 chopped onion. Add a bullion cube if you like along with a can cream of mushroom soup, some chopped mushrooms, a dash of worchestershire sauce and a tbsp of chili sauce (our family substitutes a tsp plus more to taste of Asian chili garlic sauce). Simmer 10 min then add 1/2 c. Sour cream and serve over rice or pasta.
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Or, you could mix pizza dough and let it rise in the fridge during the day. It needs about 20-30 min to come to room temperature, then add your favorite toppings (which you can pre dice as needed) and bake for 10-12 min at 450-500 F.
Love the pizza idea. I am sure it makes for very happy kids.
thanks for this – this is one of my struggles at the end of the day. I want to spend the most amount of downtime with the kids…and at the sametime I want them to eat healthy.
I’ll definitely try some of the above.
Thanks for the new ideas! I sometimes substitute sardines for the tune in the pasta recipe. I’m also a big fan of zucchini gratin. Thinly slice two zucchinis. Layer zucchini slices between those tiny French Raviolis, like you would with lasagna. Cover the top with Emmental cheese and pieces of garlic. If you have some, add a little cream around the edges and bake for 40 min. I love this recipe because it only dirties one dish and I can let it do it’s thing while I am giving the kids an bath.
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