Written By: Paige Neely
Do you get into the routine of feeding your kiddos the same meal over, and over, again because you have too much going on? Sometimes working mommies and daddies don’t have the time to get home from work and prepare a luxurious meal, which is totally understandable. But, what if I told you how to make effortless dinners for the weekdays?!
Growing up in a household, where my mom cooked 3 meals a day for our family, I will say I was blessed with the best! I learned how to cook many dishes from breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinners. Although, at the time I didn’t enjoy the process of cooking in my youth, but as I’ve taken on my own household along with a nannying gig, I’ve learned how important hearty and filling meals can be.
Not only do hearty, filling dinners impact your overall nutrition, they affect your mood for the remainder of the night much more than you might think. Think about it: we like to be happy and full. Our bodies don’t overly enjoy microwavable food, or the same pasta dish for the 2nd week in a row. I know for a fact that you don’t enjoy it either, so let’s bring some energy back to the dinner table and bring the family together for a nice meal each night!
Whether you have a huge background in cooking or not, it doesn’t matter. All I ask for is one day of prep work, preferably Saturdays or Sundays.
The First Steps of Family Meal Prepping:
I’m new to this style of cooking as of a couple of months ago, but I never want to go back. I work so much that I’m so tired by the time I get home that all I want to do it order a pizza. Your kiddos need some nutrition in their bellies and so do you!
1. Pick a Day:
I always meal prep on Saturday or Sunday, depending on what I have going on. These are the days I have the most time to take it easy in the kitchen and I have nothing to worry about.
2. Pick a Time:
This is crucial, especially if you’re not an award winning chef, to start early in the morning. I’m not suggesting the crack of dawn but somewhere around 9-10AM. This will give you enough time for step 3.
3. Write Your Meals Out & Pick Up Ingredients:
You can do this the day before if you have the time or have the ingredients sent to you via grocery store delivery. Write out your meals so you can keep a clear vision of what you will be making. As basic as that sounds, it can get a little hectic once you start.
Now that you have those 3 steps down, here three recipes to start with that I highly suggest, and when you are ready, I will begin to feed you more over time (no pun intended).
These are some amazingly healthy and easy meals that your kiddos can eat for dinner and even take as lunches at school, so it saves you the time to make another meal!
These are some of my favorite foods that are my own household faves!
I would recommend to buy local tortillas as they just are way yummier. If there are any lactose allergies, these are great without cheese. I added Rotisserie Chicken, onions and peppers to my recipe.
This Gluten Free dish. I added red peppers along with this dish. It's so delicious for rainy days.
Please leave a comment below to let me know what you think!
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