I know my place in the house hold. My time is spent either in the shop making saw dust or in the kitchen making meals that excite me and maybe even the children. It also doesn’t help that I am a firefighter, and yes we all have to cook. Some are better than others. My kids have a few firehouse dinner favorites as well that I have made for them. What are your favorite meals that are home prepared, satisfying, and consumed by picky eaters? My favorite? Grilled balsamic vinegar and garlic pork loin with seasoned oven roasted red potatoes, carrots, and brussel sprouts. Picky firemen and my kids both eat it. Please share! I need some more variety!
My wife came up with a great dish:
Chicken chunks sauted and just before its done, glaze balsamic vinegar on it.
Spinach or herb pasta
Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil chopped over the top as a garnish.
My dish is pork, chops or chunks.
Just before they are done, cover in franks, lime juice, a splash of hienz57 or warchestershire sauce, a splash of honey or apricot jelly, and a generous pinch of sage.
Add vegetable of choice.
Mac and Cheese with brisket.
The cheese sauce is made with Land o Lakes American, Velveeta, Land o Lakes butter with a milk and made separately.
The noodles are elbow shape and pressure steamed instead of boiled.
The brisket is from the same people that make Wolf Brand Chili and Ranch Style Beans.
Put noodles in bowl, place brisket in center of noodles, pour cheese sauce until half of the bowl is full. Stir. Enjoy.
Teriyaki marinated flank steak and parmesan crusted asparagus grilled and served with garlic mashed potatoes. Our family favorite.
I’ll preface that I don’t cater to picky eaters. Don’t have time for that.
I’m a chronic smoker… the standards… pork shoulder, ribs, brisket. I cheat according to my buddies because I use a Traeger, but I also don’t have to dick around with lump charcoal and wood. They all agree that I’m better at it than they are…haha…
On hot days I like to make quick meals on the grill. Whip up a cilantro chimichurri sauce, put a couple steaks on the grill along with a bunch of onions, various sweat peppers and a poblano chili. Slice up the steak and put it all in warmed up tortillas.
One of our family favorites that is easy to size up and down for how many people you have is jambalaya. I hate to admit that one of the best jambalaya recipes that everyone seems to like is one I got out of a Better Homes and Gardens cook book. https://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/jambalaya/
Lately I’ve been messing with Instant Pot recipes. I marinated two pork chops last night in the left over chimichurri sauce for 24hrs. Put two sweet potatoes down in the bottom of the I.P. and a little water. Put the chops on top and cooked them for 15min with a natural depressurization of about 15 minutes. Oddly delicious. We also do country ribs and chili in the IP on a regular basis.
Fried rice I make 
Lots meat Hawaiian style
Slow cooker chili wife makes
Pizza we make the dough sauce from tomatoes etc…
We do not make the cheese though but insane good
We cook from basic or scratch a lot sit down family dinners etc…
I make a big pot of carnitas, the kids put together whatever they want from there…tacos, nachos, burritos, tortas, chimichangas, goes good scramble eggs the next day, too.
My potato leek soup is always a winner
so is my chicken Thia basil
We should put together a cook book! I knew moving to the Midwest would cause a shift in cuisine. Fresh fish no longer an option. My brother on the west coast has the ocean in his back yard. Fish, crab, clams…
But it is also interesting how my local cuisine now consists of recipes that I never heard of in Oregon. Paprikosh, paczkis, babba cake, and other Polish influenced flavors are here and delicious.
I don’t cook my family…
Andy
About a year ago my wife found a very easy yet super delicious pot roast recipe called “Mississippi Mud”.
Put pot roast in slow cooker. Put packet of powder ranch mix on top. Put packet of powder Au Jus mix on top. 1 stick of butter on top. 5 pepperoncinis in the pot. Slow cook for 8 hours.
Salsa Chicken.
Big Crock pot.
4-6 Chicken breasts.
A couple bottles of the salsa of your choice.
1 can of Corn
1 can of diced tomatoes.
Taco seasoning.
Lime juice.
top off with water.
Let it cook all day.
Serve over rice or as a soup.
Easy and damn good. Plus easy to customise for your preference.
Sounds good, I’ll give it a shot.
We do just about the same thing but add some black beans, peppers and onions to the mix. I believe my wife also uses canned chicken broth. Sometimes we shred or chunk the chicken for soup and sometimes we do it over rice as you noted. Generally no leftovers.
I have the worlds greatest shrimp scampi recipe.
My daughter loves shrimp. Can you elaborate on this recipe?
I make 10pounds (of meat) Italian Meatballs and put them in freezer bag dinner-sized portions for when I’m on the road and the wife is stuck late at work. My son will eat anything (outside of vegetables) that I make.
2/3 80% ground beef
1/3 Italian sausage
Cup of bread crumbs per 3lbs of meat
1/2 container of grated parmesean cheese
1 egg per pound of meat
Container of Italian seasoning per 10 lbs
1/2 McCormicks Montreal Steak seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Mix it all, then put 1/2 bread crumbs/1/2 grated parm in a medium bowl and the rest of the McCormicks steak seasoning.
1 1/2inch meatballs that get rolled in the above. Bake them in the oven till the centers are 170F. (Kids eat cooked meat). I cook them at like 425F in a cake pan with a silicone matt on the bottom that is pyramids. You can also use muffin pans.
Cool them on a rack. Ziploc’em and enjoy for the next 3-4 months.
Cut them in half to nuke them. Add sauce and spaghetti. Even my MIL is a fan.
Not saying they are gourmet, but more that my kids like them, it makes my wife’s life easier and it’s funny to watch my kids get older and they still call them “Daddy Meatballs”.
What you will need:
1 Pound FRESH (Peeled and deveined cooked shrip)
1 batch of Green Onion
1 Jar of Chopped Garlic in Oil
2 Sticks of REAL Butter
1 Bag of Parmesian Cheese (No Green Can)
1 Lemon or Lemon Juice
1 Bottle White Zinfandel
First, tail and rinse the shrimp in cold water.
Second, Chop green onions.
Third, in a skillet over low-medium heat (3 of 10) add both sticks of butter, chopped green onions, 1-2 tablespoons of garlic and lemon juice. Let it simmer.
If you want sweet scampi you have it, if you prefer it a bit dry add a shot or two of white zin.
When it begins to simmer, add shrimp and a thin layer of parmesian cheese. Remember, the shrimp is ALREADY cooked, you are only heating it. DO NOT OVERCOOK IT. As soon as the parmesian melts, turn each individual shrimp and recover with more cheese.
When the new cheese layer melts, you are done.
Serve in a pool of butter/garlic sauce.
Another option is to serve over angel hair pasta. A useful trick and will make it seem like more food. Hopefully you know how to boil pasta and have it ready prior to the shrimp. Drain it and stir in a shot of olive oil to keep it from getting sticky.
Look up Heroin Chicken.
I like that and I’m going to try it, but I’m a true garlic lover and every scampi recipe that I’ve ever tried that I really liked started with marinating uncooked shrimp for an hour in a little olive oil, a little salt, and 3-4 grated garlic cloves. Those are the shrimp I’m going to use for your recipe.
Good recipe, but try adding a can of Campbell’s Condensed French Onion Soup and it contributes a little more moisture while it cooks as well as more onion flavor.