“As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.” – Buddy Hackett… “Hey mom – What’s for dinner?” *Sigh* Those can be some of the most stressful words you’ll hear all day, am I right? About six months ago, I started using an online meal planning service, which seriously changed my life – I love knowing at the beginning of the week what I’ll be preparing each night. I plan more labor-intensive meals for the nights where I’ll have more time, and schedule super quick dinners for our super hectic days. And, I’ve got a few tips to help with those crazy-busy days when you need a fast weeknight meal solution….
Simplify Dinnertime
I’ve told you guys before – I’m a “kinda-homemade” type of girl. I hate just using something out of a box or a can – but I do love using packaged foods as a base to help make a meal quicker and easier. And one brand that I rely on often is Ore-Ida potatoes. From classic crinkle fries to the new Steam ‘n Mash bags, we use these at least a couple of times a week – on their own, or as ingredients in our favorite recipes. {See some faves here: Favorite Weeknight Meals.} Since one of the kids favorite foods of all time, ever, are Tator-Tots, I’m always looking for creative new ways to serve them. We make a few different variations of Tator-Tot Casserole, and they love them. But I wanted to do something to kind of “fancy” them up a bit – make them a little more grown-up. We had a few friends over for a game night last week, and I used Tator-Tots to create these awesome Bacon, Steak, Potato & Cheese Kabobs. Huge hit, with the kids AND the adults. Definitely a recipe going into my “to-do again” file.
Bacon, steak, potato and cheese kabobs
These were as simple as you can get – I bought a bag of Ore-Ida Tator-Tots, and a package of frozen Herbed Cheese Puffs. I then cut up some steaks we cooked up on the indoor grill, and wrapped them in bacon. Then I threaded them onto wooden BBQ skewers. That’s it! You can’t get much easier than that – and they looked, and tasted, soooo good. There are so many ways you can think outside the box when using packaged foods like Ore-Ida – find more ideas on Twitter and Pinterest, just search for #OreIdaDinner.
What are some of your favorite dinnertime shortcuts?
{Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Ore-Ida® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Ore-Ida.}
We love Ore-Ida! They have some great potato products!
We love Ore-Ida too! Love the presentation! I’d probably add some veggies to mine to see if I could get the boys tempted enough to eat veggies off a stick when they ate their tater-tots!
These look so yummy!
I love Ore Ida. :) This post reminds me that I need to go get some. I want to make a tater tot casserole. :)
wow! I am not a huge tater tot fan, but my husband would love this recipe. He loves them AND bacon!
I think that anything with bacon added on is a winner! :)
Creative and Clever and looks yummy!! Thanks!