Just Like Mom's cooking class

I wanted to have my 12 year old daughter take a cooking class but after looking around (and finding some very nice options in my city) I decided to take this on...but at home.

The classes were not what I was looking for and the schedule (Sunday afternoon) wasn't the best for our family, also I wanted to drop off and it was a parent stay and pay.

So Wednesday night we agreed would be our cooking class and our delicious dinner would follow.

Tonight we made Boboli pizza with Italian salami (served with salad) and baked chocolate chip cookies.
My daughter wanted to measure, pour, mix, she read the directions and was totally helpful and she said, "this is fun"!

We are going to make it a regular activity together and will get recipes from my fairly decent recipe book collection, the internet, or my just like mom's recipes. We already have some good ideas like spaghetti and garlic bread, chicken and rice (arroz con pollo), and even some very simple and easy (and quick! please I need them quick!) like macaroni and cheese and tater tots. My husband is a big salad eater so we typically have a salad with dinner and with summer we enjoy all of the bountiful fruits.

What are some of your easy dinner ideas for your family? please comment and share, help give me some more ideas!

thanks, xo

Here is a picture (after dinner);