Turn Boring Meals into Dinner Extraordinaire

It is all too easy to fall in to a mealtime routine, having the same things every week. Monday is spaghetti, Tuesday is Meatloaf and Wednesday is taco night, right? With school, work and other activities, there isn’t much time to prepare something different. Would you like to make mealtime a bit more fun without a lot of effort? Here are some great ways to spice up your weekly meals, making dinnertime a bit more enjoyable.

Taco Night: Tacos are fun to make and more fun to eat. But once you’ve had them several times a month, Mexican night can become less than a fiesta. To change things up, make flying saucers instead! Fry a stack of corn tortillas for people to use rather than taco shells. Taco ingredients are placed on top, making dinner a bit more messy but much more fun. If you aren’t up for frying, make some tortilla bowls for a taco salad feast. Lightly brush flour tortillas with a bit of your favorite oil. Push the tortilla into an oven-safe bowl and lightly bake it. To keep the tortillas pressed down, put in a pie crust stone, dried beans or another smaller oven-safe bowl.

Meat Loaf: Everyone loves a good meatloaf, but not ten times a month. To spice up your meatloaf dinner, make personal meatloaves for each person in the family. For a whole meatloaf, ask everyone what flavors might be good mixed with the meat. How about chili powder, French onion soup mix or barbecue sauce? Even serving meatloaf differently can make it better. Place a slice on each plate and top it with melted cheese, small pieces of cooked bacon or a dollop of mashed potatoes.

Spaghetti: Boil spaghetti noodles until they are al dente. Put a bit of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add the noodles. Cover with more sauce, croutons and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake until warm. This turns a plate of boring spaghetti into a yummy casserole your kids will love to eat!