It is hard to believe that we already have a month of school under our belts! Time certainly does fly! Not only do the months fly, but the hours in the day seem to get shorter and shorter as well. The best advice I can give you for dinners is to PLAN AHEAD!
You need to know your busy days – these are my leftover days!
Know the days that you will have an extra hour or two – these are my cooking days!
Lastly, know the days when you have a little extra time to throw something in the oven – these are the days when I usually use something pre-prepared. Yes! I said it! I DO use prepared foods every so often, as long as I know how they are prepared and what is in the package. Other prepared foods are foods that I have made and previously frozen. If I make a chili, stew, lasagna, etc., I always double the recipe and freeze one to pull out on a busy day. It doesn’t take much more effort, but it saves you loads of time in the future for a home cooked meal!
Planning ahead makes all the difference in the world. As long as I know what proteins, veggies, and other sides I have in the fridge, (and always have 3 or 4 days worth of all the above) – I know my family will survive, and even better, be full and satisfied.
For instance, I know that Wednesdays are my worst day. Not only am I in the car for 2 hours in the morning shuttling the kiddos to school, but I am also in the car for 2 hours in the afternoon getting three kids to four different activities. I couldn’t believe it when I timed it! I am actually in the car longer driving around the neighborhood getting kids to gymnastics, soccer, and more soccer than I am taking my children to another town for school. I wouldn’t give it up for the world, but it does take serious planning. Really, though, there is not another better day in the week to have a leftover day! It’s the midpoint of the week, and time to clean out from all that weekend cooking!
Tuesdays are my best day! It is our only day this sports season that we do not have a scheduled regular activity. This is my shopping day and big cooking day.
Mondays I am usually prepared from the weekend before when I hope to have time to prep some things for the week.
Thursdays are always busy so this is usually a pre-prepared day.
Fridays are more relaxed. We either eat out or I cook something easy.
Saturdays are usually cooking days as are Sundays, but this is a good left-over day to clean out the fridge for the week ahead. I generally spend a lot of time preparing for the week ahead on Sundays. This is when I bake for breakfasts, make Keto desserts, my sauces, and my seasonings. It always feels great to start the week prepared.
Here are a few really simple dinner ideas to throw together on those super tough week nights:
The kids favorite:
Taco night – We always have ground meat, and this is super easy with lettuce as your tortilla! We make a taco bar and the kids LOVE it!
This next is a prepared dish: Stuffed Pork Tender (Cream cheese and jalapeño) with a side of zucchini topped with parmesan and bacon brussels.
This one is super fast…Steamed broccolini with butter, alongside broiled salmon and stuffed mushrooms.
Beef pinwheels with a side of asparagus:
Top with queso and you get a thumbs up:
ABC burgers with a side of squash casserole:
Stuffed bell peppers with stuffed mushrooms! Apparently, I was in the mood to stuff!
Keto spaghetti with zucchini and grilled sausage:
Grilled skewers with a veggie…we did grilled asparagus.
I hope that this gives you some easy, quick dinner ideas for your family. These are some of our favorites along with a host of others! Happy cooking!