Kid Friendly Dinners

Studies show that by eating dinner together as families children experience improved health and stronger family ties. If that time is spent in a tension filled battle, some of these positive effects will certainly be reversed. For a happier and healthier meal time, you should try making dinners more kid friendly. This list of 20 kid friendly meals was chosen with the help of a very picky tween who still has the taste buds of a 7 year old.
1. Sloppy Joes are a fun, messy meal that kids love as it is a challenge to eat. Make it more kid friendly by serving it on tiny slider buns.

2. Lasagna is a childhood favorite, but what parent wants to spend hours in the kitchen making it. Well you don't have to with this recipe for Miracle Lasagna. Put it together in five minutes, and leave it in the oven for an hour.

3. If they like Mexican food then you will want to serve Mexican Lasagna. It has all of the great flavors of tacos, with the richness of lasagna. Kids will love this great change of pace.

4. Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches are the chicken version of Sloppy Joe's. It is quick and easy to make for parents, and for children, they will hardly notice the veggies.

5. Chicken-Sesame Stir-Fry will add some ethnic flavor to your meal plan rotation. Serve this meal on rice and give your kids chopsticks for a full Asian experience.

6. Sweet and sour chicken has a sweet and tangy flavor that children will love. Double the sauce recipe and let the kids spoon it over their rice.

7. Crunchy Fish Sticks and Smashed Potatoes allows you to serve them brain food they can pick up your fingers. Paired with the irresistibly colorful smashed potatoes and they will clean their plates.

8. Chicken Fingers is the meal to serve when you know they've had a bad day. No kid can resist it. By using this recipe, you can feel good about serving your kids old favorite.

9. Children love spaghetti, but it can be messy to clean up after. Instead try this Baked Spaghetti recipe that bakes the sauce in giving it all of the flavor and much less of the mess.

10. Campbell's Best Ever Meat loaf speaks for itself. This is a very tasty dish that can be served in a variety of ways. Slice it thin and make a melt, serve a slice on a bed of pasta, or put it next to a mound of macaroni and cheese.

11. Campbell's Beef Taco Skillet is an easy one pan dish that will looks more like a sinful appetizer than a healthy meal. Serve this on a bed of lettuce with sour cream on top.

12. The Classic Hamburger is so yummy that your kids will forget all about it's fast food rival. For small kids, use slider buns and make your patties smaller.

13. Chicken tacos can be made in minutes in the microwave, using leftover chicken and a few simple recipes. Because this is a finger food, or rather, hand food children will have fun eating it.

14. Main Event Marinara Meatball sub recipe will help you turn meatballs into a masterpiece. Meatball subs are a little messy which makes them a lot of fun.

15. Skillet Chicken Parmesan makes what seems like an intimidating recipe easy. After cooking, cut each chicken cutlet into 1 inch strips and serve it with bow tie, spiral shaped, or other fun kid shaped pasta for a fun healthy meal.

16. Mama's Oven Fried Chicken is a health version of chicken friend in oil. Kids will love picking up the chicken legs with their bare hands and biting into it. Serve it with macaroni can cheese.

17. Baked Macaroni and Cheese can be used as a side dish to many of the other kid friendly meals listed here. It can also be served as a meal on it's own. To make it more kid friendly, you can experiment with using different noodle shapes.

18. Whole Wheat Pizza is a health alternative to delivery. With just a little preparation the night before to get the dough started, you can have pizza for dinner. You may find yourself fighting your kids for the last slice.

19. You may have noticed a trend here, but kids will eat anything that looks like pizza. Sloppy Joe Pizza is another fun option.

20. What happens when you combine the two kids favorites of spaghetti and pizza? You get Spaghetti Pizza. Children will love eating this deep dish 'pizza' with their hands.