There's nothing to eat!

How many times a day do you hear that?!?!? I love watching my kids stand in front of a fridge or cupboard full of food and exclaim, " there's nothing to eat!". One thing we've done to combat that constant question has been to get our kids individual baskets. Each child has a basket with their name on it, we try to refill them twice a month, but usually our budget dictates that. We go to Wal Mart where they have chips, cookies and soda for about $1 each. We let each kid pick out their favorite of each to keep in their basket and they have to budget their treats to last the 2-3 weeks between shopping trips. This has really cut down on the extra snacking and whining about wanting snacks. When they eat all their snacks, they're done! Again, depending on our budget that month we'll put different things in, favorite cereal, beef jerky, pop tarts..you'd be surprised the snacks kids come up with (like a bag of pepperoni!).
This also helps with mommy snacking :). If the kids have their treats in their own basket and not just sitting on the shelf, it doesn't tempt me. I can keep healthier snacks like fruit, cheese or just goldfish crackers on hand for when they've had enough sugar or have run out of treats. Some of the kids go through their whole basket in a few days and spend the rest of the time eating the healthier snacks and others budget really well and just have one treat a day. It has worked for us pretty well.
So here's my question to all moms...What are some of your favorite quick recipes? A family favorite that is quick, simple and made from ingredients you usually have on hand?
In our house the quickest, most common meal is probably "Italian Casserole". We just cook whatever noodles we have, ground beef with spaghetti sauce, pour it all in a pan, throw some cheese on top and bake it in the oven until the cheese melts. The kids love it, especially as a change from spaghetti.