Today was the first day of school for my daughter and most of the 640 kids on our block. Every year on the night of the first day I host a “Back to School Dinner.” People sometimes question my sanity in having 20 kids over for dinner but I think kids are easy. For one thing, they don’t really care about the food and for another they don’t notice if your house isn’t immaculate.
I also keep the menu simple (see “don’t care about the food”) and centered around macaroni and cheese. This year I made a slightly different mac and cheese recipe that allowed me to make it ahead and the sides were sliced watermelon and grapes. Dessert was brownies. Mac and cheese seems to work for everyone including my vegetarians. Here is a great recipe from Cook’s Country.
And here are some great kids:
Smitten Kitchen has a mac and cheese recipe to die for! I dream of it…
Laurie
My kids are going back to school, and I feel like I should prepare healthier dinners for them. But I hate cooking, and I’m not a very good cook either. Do you have some basic suggestions?
Hi Margaret!
I think with weeknight dinners you have to think outside the box a bit. “Breakfast for Dinner” is very popular at my house (pancakes, scrambled eggs, etc) and I’m a big fan of main-dish salads, or soup and salad, or one of my favorites: sandwiches and fruit (grapes, sliced kiwi & bananas, etc.). Or even what you might think of as appetizers: who says you can’t eat veggies with hummus for dinner? Or fill a flour tortilla with beans and cheese and microwave it? Dinner does not have to be the “holy trinity” of meat-starch-veg. And my version of “fast food” is to go to the prepared foods counters at Whole Foods.
Hope that helps!