In need of recipies for a single mother with 1 VERY picky child...Easy would be better.?

BEEF OR CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

2 lbs. hamburger or 5 deboned, skinless chicken breasts, boiled & drained

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 doz. corn tortillas

1 can chopped olives (or more)

1 onion, chopped fine

Big bunches grated cheese

1 can diced green chili (sm. or lg. to taste)

Salt, pepper & garlic to taste

Saute meat mix with enchilada sauce, soups, onion, chili, olives, garlic, salt and pepper; mix well. Layer sauce with tortillas and cheese leaving off last layer of cheese. Put cheese on top the last 5 minutes or baking. Cover and bake 45 minutes in 350 degree oven.

HAMBURGER STEAK WITH GRAVY

1 lb. hamburger meat

8 oz. jar of mushrooms, sliced

1/2 c. chopped onions

1 pkg. of McCormick mushroom gravy (mixed with 1 cup water)

2 tbsp. butter

Make hamburger meat into patties. Melt butter in skillet. Saute mushrooms and onions in skillet while hamburger patties are cooking in same skillet. Once all patties are cooked, pour gravy mixture into skillet and simmer for 5 minutes.

CROCKPOT MACARONI - CHEESE

1 (16 oz.) elbow macaroni cooked

1/2 lb. velveeta cheese

1 can cheese soup

4 lbs. butter

1 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 1 hour, stir. Great for family gatherings.

I don't think one recipe is going to answer your question, is it? Let me take a shot at an approach, versus a recipe.

First of all, don't assume picky means bland. Do you know what spices she likes - my daughter did not like onions or garlic for the longest time, but she liked onion powder and garlic powder. Now she's 12, and what do you know? She likes onions and garlic.

Also, what meats or vegetables does she like? Recipes that stem from these preferences are a good place to start your meal planning.

There are some good recipes here. I think the important thing is not to follow them exactly, but to let your daughter have input in what goes in them. If she loves parmesan cheese, do a Macaroni and Cheese with parmesan instead of cheddar or velveeta. If she doesn't like cheap canned tuna for a tuna casserole, try a higher grade of canned tuna (the all white variety). If she is really interested in cooking, try making a basic white sauce like they used to do in the old days, and add that to your tuna casserole instead of canned soup.

I personally think they key is to let the kids tell you what they want to make, and experiment with the tastes. This builds a love of cooking that forcing ingredients on them never will. There is also something about involving them in the process that suddenly makes a picky kid a lot less picky - because they had a hand in making the meal.

My formerly very picky daughter now loves prime rib, sushi, salmon, unusual deli meats, pesto, and lots of other things unheard of for most 12 year olds. She will, however, not eat school lunch anymore. Go figure!

I was pretty much raised on breakfast food, which is in some instances a good thing because breakfast foods are easy to cook and I'm an incompetent cook. Does she like eggs? Eggs are probably the first thing I learned to cook. They're also really not so bad for your health - an excellent source of natural protein. I would eat breakfast food all around the clock, for breakfast and supper. You could try adding blueberries to pancakes to give the normally less-than-nutritional pancakes some vitamins.

What does she have trouble eating? Vegetables, I imagine? One of my favorite vegetable snacks is ants on a log (you've probably had it in the past): cut up some celerey stalks, use a knife to spread crunchy peanut butter on top, add raisins. Very healthy.

Otherwise, if she has trouble eating vegetables, I'd try adding shredded cheese to them (esp. broccoli).

Also encourage her to eat fish. It's really simple to cook a slab of fish - esp. salmon - that you can even cut in half and refrigerate for later. And canned or vacuum-sealed tuna is a lifesaver.

I don't use a skillet very much. Can I provide a single baking dish?

One Dish Chicken Bake

1 2/3 cups boiling water

1 6oz pkg stove top stuffing mix

1 1/2 lbs bonless skinless chicken cut into 1" pieces.

1 10.75 oz can of cream of chicken soup

1/3 cup Breaksone's Sour Cream

1 1/2 cup Kraft skim milk shredded mozzarella cheese.

1 16 oz pkg frozen mixed veggies, thawed and drained.

Preheat over to 400F

1. Add hot water to Stuffing mix, stir until lightly moistened. Set aside.

2. Place chicken in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream, cheese and veggies; spoon over chicken. Top with stuffing.

3. Bake 30 mins or until chicken cooked.

LOVE this, my 3 year old is crazy for it!

Try these free sites:

http://www.homeandfamilynetwork.com/food/kids.html...

Once you're there, click on: Hearty Healthy Kids or any of the other choices. Each section brings up an attractive variety of easy recipes that your daughter might like.

There are cute sites designed for teaching her to cook on-line, too. Examples: Spatulatta.com; amazingmoms.com

Just google; there are so many more.

Good luck!

Tuna Noodle Casserole in a pan

1 12 oz wide noodles (cook as directed)

2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup

1/2 can of peas

salt & pepper to taste

After boiling noodles, drain water then return noodles to same pan. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well. Cook for 10 minutes.

anything with noodles and cheese usually work for picky eaters. mac and cheese is easy.

cook elbow macaroni according to box directions remembering to add several pinches of salt to the boiling water. (it makes a difference in the end product)

melt 3 Tbs of butter and mix in 3 Tbs of flour until bubbly over medium heat. add about 3 cups of milk stirring to thicken. add shredded cheddar to melt. combine mac and cheese mixture and pour into a buttered casserole dish. bake at 400 degress until golden brown. Enjoy! =)

Take a package of ground beef and brown in a pan. When brown add one packet of taco seasoning (use packet instructions). Boil and cook some macaroni (as much or little as you like) and add to pan with seasoned beef. Boil some corn and add to macaroni and beef.

Serve with Mexican cheese, sour cream, salsa, etc.

Black beans are optional.

ok single skillet meal..

beat up two eggs with a tablespoon milk

put into skillet pan.

cut up some ham about 1/4 cup...

grated cheese 1/4 cup..

corn 1/4cup..

put the ham and corn into the eggs..

then fry until the bottom eggs turn white..

sprinkle with cheese and put under grill till cheese is totallly melted and starting to brown....

serve with salad...

Hi

Check out this German recipe site. There is a kids cooking corner with pancake soup. My kids love making it and eating it.

There is also a good meatball recipe.

Good luck