It’s the time of year when school and extracurricular activities are in full swing, and you’re feeling busy 24/7. The temptation to alternate between DoorDash and Dino Nuggets is STRONG. Spending an hour in the kitchen is the last thing that you want to do, but you said you would get into a routine of cooking more and eating together.
Getting healthy weeknight dinners that everyone will eat on the table doesn’t have to take forever. Mix and match is the name of the game on those busy nights. For this, your freezer is your new best friend. Keep it simple! One night, make a frozen main dish and prep fresh sides. The next night, cook the main dish and source the sides from the freezer. Don’t worry! I won’t leave you hanging; here’s my list of freezer must-haves to add to your grocery list.
Freezer Must-Haves
- Mixed veggies: Top with butter & mix with rice.
- Broccoli: Toss in oil and salt & air fry for 10 mins at 375°F.
- Chicken strips or patties: Easy main dish or mix into a casserole.
- Wontons or pot-stickers: Quick, easy side.
- Ground beef or turkey: Base for tacos, meatloaf, or spaghetti.
- Meatballs: Great for pasta or subs.
Meal Planning
I’m sure you’ve heard: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Let’s make sure you’ve got a plan so that getting home late or a toddler meltdown won’t throw you off track. Taking 10-15 minutes at the beginning of the week to plan out your meals can make a HUGE difference. Once you add this to your routine, planning your family’s weeknight dinners will be a breeze!
In your planning time, you want to nail down all the details. First things first, decide what nights it makes sense to cook at home. What nights do you have the most time to spend in the kitchen? On which nights do you need something quick? This will tell you how many meals you’ll have to plan for. Another way to streamline this process is to keep a list on your phone of your family’s go-to weeknight dinners. This way, if you know you need 3 meals, you can take a quick peek at that list instead of wracking your already maxed-out brain for new ideas or getting sucked into a Tik Tok scroll looking for new recipes.
Utilize Grocery Pickup
And if you’re not utilizing grocery pickup, not Instacart with its extra fees, the FREE in-store pickup—what are you doing? Since I started grocery shopping from my couch with my coffee, I refuse to go back! Saves me so much time and the stress of shopping with a toddler. It’s easy-peasy when I need to run in for the couple of things I inevitably forget or things I want to pick out myself.
Have Your Kids Help in The Kitchen
This brings us to the main event…it’s time to start cooking. Something you might be hesitant to do is invite your kids to join you in the kitchen. If you have picky eaters, I highly encourage you to give this a try. If kids are active participants in the cooking process, it gives them a sense of pride and ownership over the food that’s being prepared. This makes them more interested in trying the food once it’s cooked.
There’s an age-appropriate way to get any kiddo involved. My son has been putting the veggies I cut into the pot (off the stove) since he could stand at his toddler tower. Pouring premeasured ingredients, shaking spices, and mixing are all great jobs for a toddler. Older kiddos can chop or wash produce or season meat. It doesn’t need to add a ton of time to the process or make a huge mess to make your kids feel like they’re included.
Once you put these steps into place, I hope this makes cooking at home feel a little less daunting. And that these mealtime magic tips make getting healthy weeknight dinners on the table less overwhelming.
