Working mothers have little time to cook elaborate meals, especially when arriving home daily to very hungry little people who demand dinner as soon as you walk in the door. However, creative mothers can make easy main courses and side dishes with potluck recipes.

Potluck recipes originated as easy-to-make dishes for people to bring to potluck parties. These dishes create a smorgasbord of a meal for a party's attendees.

In most cases, potluck recipes result in fun, easy meals that taste great and can feed a large amount of people. Working mothers today use potluck recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or as a dish to bring to a school event, weekend party or barbecue.

Creating your own potluck recipes:

The only essential ingredient to potluck recipes is that they're easy to make. In many cases, potluck recipes are created on the spur of the moment from the products available in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboard.

When creating your own potluck recipes, keep in mind the number of people you plan to feed, and increase the ingredients proportionately. If you're creating potluck recipes from scratch, be sure to jot down the ingredients so you can ensure a repeat performance if it's a hit with the kids, especially if you have a picky eater who enjoyed the dish.

My favorite potluck recipes include:

Potluck Veggie Pasta. Veggie pasta is a great dish to bring to either a dinner party or a weekend brunch.

It can also work for a school function, since kids love pasta in tomato sauce. Feel free to add chicken if your party includes carnivores. Get the veggie pasta recipe.

Potluck Healthy Tacos. Who doesn't love tacos? This potluck recipe works best for a smaller group of people, since you have to assemble each meal individually. It's perfect for hosting a dinner or going to a relative's house. Get the turkey taco recipe.

Potluck Potatoes and Eggs. This recipe is ideal for brunch gatherings or breakfasts for your early-rising hockey players or swimmers. Just remind your athletes not to eat too much right before they exercise, so they don't cramp up. Get the potatoes and eggs recipe.

Use these time-saving potluck recipes, or create your own and make meal-time easy.