I sometimes get into a rut, repeatedly cooking the same dinners. We do have a lot of family favorites, but it’s always fun to try something new! Dann and I have discovered a few brands of gnocchi that we quite enjoy, so we’ve been introducing that into our meals. Along with gnocchi, we wanted to create some meals that allowed our children to top the bowls themselves, introducing new ingredients that they likely haven’t tired before, but making it their choice. So, we have some fun meals that have a lot of customizations!
Ramen with Toppings
Ramen is often a very inexpensive thing to cook. Kai’s mates have been eating cup noodle and so Kai obviously wants to eat it too. Dann and I feel cup noodle isn’t actually healthy enough or filling enough to make a meal, so we introduced a build your own ramen. I cooked up a bunch of chicken ramen, then made some pork char sui cutlets and other toppings to add to it. We tried bamboo shoots for the first time, had hard-boiled eggs, edamame, corn, spring onions and seasonings that could add more protein and nutrients to the ramen itself.
Pokemon Katsu Curry
I got my hands on a packet of Katsu Curry that was Pokemon themed and really wanted to eat it up! We’ve had Katsu Chicken Curry before, but not from a Pokemon-related packet. This packet also had a sticker and card in it, but was a single serving with corn, carrots and potatoes. I made up a whole batch of fresh curry as well, adding corn into mine (this isn’t something we’ve done before) and breaded some chicken in panko, fried it off, and finished it in the oven to go on top. It was pretty delicious.
Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce
Here is the gnocchi we were mentioning! This gnocchi is actually a little different; they are cheese filled gnocchi, which we paired with a pre-made tomato sauce and some cheese to shred on top for a quick dinner. We also made some cheesy garlic bread to go with it! Everyone enjoyed this meal and it took no time at all to pull together either.
Crockpot Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes are a very American meal to make. While trying to plan some crockpot dinners, I decided on Sloppy Joes. It’s beef, fried off with onion and bell pepper. Then everything is added in to a pot with garlic powder, some tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, cider vinegar, brown sugar, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. We let this go in the crockpot while out, then came back and I spooned it onto some white bread. We had some potato salad, bell pepper slices, and cabbage to go with it.
Build Your Own Sushi Bowls
Another build your own bowl inspired by Kai, he had recently asked for sushi. Sushi is quite a tricky thing to make midweek, so we went with sushi bowls which are much easier. I cooked up some salmon teriyaki, chopped up some imitation crab, and mixed some tuna up with mayo. We also had cucumber, sushi seasoning, green onions, avocado, kewpie mayo, and sriracha that could be added on top. This is something that has been asked for again and again, so was clearly a hit! We also had edamame to go with it.