It’s a little out of my comfort zone to write about food because I’m not the best in the kitchen but what I am is a working Mom with two young girls and getting dinner on the table always seems to be one of my biggest pain points. I pull into the driveway several nights a week without a single clue about what to make for dinner and in an effort to change that and make dinner feel less stressful, I crowd sourced a bunch of family friendly recipes from my internet friends and am sharing them all here along with my go-to easy meals and a printable meal planner because well…I could use one!
Below are the dinners that are on constant rotation at our house:
KOREAN BEEF BOWLS
This one is on heavy rotation around here. It’s super quick and both girls devour it. We serve the beef over rice and pair with a sautéed veggie of some kind or fresh sliced avocado. Often times we switch up the protein to chicken or turkey and eat as lettuce wraps but the preparation of the protein is the same.
RECIPE HERE
PASTA
It wouldn’t be a week in our house if we didn’t eat some sort of pasta dish. Some days its as simple as spaghetti noodles with our favorite jarred pasta sauce and other days it’s a bit fancier – but still super simple – pasta dish like this pasta alla vodka recipe we’ve been loving lately.
RECIPE HERE
SHEET PAN KIELBASA (Or chicken) + VEGGIES (or fruit)
Ok, so funny story about this meal…
I was searching Pinterest for meal ideas as I always do and came across this recipe. It was one of those nights where I was like…I have kielbasa and I have pineapple – what can I make with that? – and this recipe popped up! So I went home to read the instructions and realized that what I thought was pineapple in the photo was actually potatoes (which I didn’t have) but I forged ahead anyway and made the recipe with pineapple instead of potatoes and we love it both ways.
RECIPE HERE
TACOS (or some version of)
We love a taco night around here and admittedly, it’s the easiest and fastest dinner to whip together in a pinch. I usually have all the typical “taco” ingredients on hand so it’s just a matter of how we want to consume said ingredients. I personally love taco salads, Emie prefers soft tacos on her favorite tortillas, and the other two will eat taco meat any which way: burritos, bowls, salads, tacos, or just a deconstructed plate of ingredients, it’s all in heavy rotation here. Also…skip the packaged taco seasoning and use this recipe here.
RECIPE HERE
Sandwiches + Salad (or soup)
I’m home with the girls by myself a few nights a week while Sikmon coaches his softball team so I’m always looking for easy meals that can go together fast and it doesn’t get faster than sandwiches with bagged salad kit. We like this spin on a sandwich paired with a fun salad kit from the store but also love a classic grilled cheese & tomato soup night too.
RECIPE HERE
Now for the important stuff – the printable meal planner! I personally love it because you meal plan for both lunch and dinner or just circle which meal you want and plan for one. There’s space to write out your grocery list and a place to jot down any notes like extra curricular activities for your kids so you know what meals to plan when.
If you’re a busy Mom like me and struggle to meal plan for your family, I hope this printable meal planner and these meal ideas help to make your dinner decisions a little less stressful. For more easy meal ideas, my Pinterest board is full of them!