One of the questions we get a lot is:
“What does real-life, family-friendly eating actually look like?”
So we are sharing exactly what we cooked for dinners this week. Our current family rhythm is meal planning on Friday, grocery shopping on Friday or Saturday, and then we do our lunch prep on Sunday. We are usually able to make dinner 3 nights a week, and then the other nights we just do leftovers. So, here’s what we did for dinners this week and loved! 2 of 3 of these the kids loved too, so we’ll count that as a win (hey, it’s over 50%)!
If you’re looking for inspiration, here’s what made the rotation 👇
🍝 Spaghetti Casserole (Makes a TON)
This one is a total win if you like leftovers. We ended up having this for several lunches this week also, as we doubled the recipe. Our daughter calls it “spaghetti lasagna”, since it kind of combines both. This recipe we make often and highly recommend!
👉 Recipe:
https://laurenslatest.com/skinny-baked-spaghetti/
Why we loved it:
- Big batch = less cooking later in the week
- Kid-friendly
- Easy to add extra veggies or protein if you want
🥖 Homemade Dinner Rolls (Better than O’Charley’s)
If you remember O’Charley’s rolls… these might actually be better. Our kids RUN to the kitchen when they smell them in the oven. I bet I’m asked 3x/week to make these. We make these every week, as they’re great to pop into the kids lunches and to have on hand as a side.
👉 Recipe:
https://www.savorynothings.com/easy-homemade-dinner-rolls/
Pro tip:
Make a double batch and freeze half (or you might just go through a double recipe in a week if your house is anything like ours).
🍗 Fried Chicken + Roasted Root Veggies + Kale Parmesan Salad
This fried chicken is AMAZING! We’ve made it two weeks in a row, and it’s very likely we’ll do it again next week. One tip we have is we pan sear it first in a little olive oil and then put it in the oven to finish cooking. You don’t have to do that, but it makes it nice and crispy.
Main:
👉 Dill Pickle Parmesan Chicken
https://tartamour.com/recipe/dill-pickle-parmesan-chicken/
Side:
👉 Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad
https://peasandcrayons.com/lemon-parmesan-kale-salad/
We paired it with roasted root veggies and it was amazing!
🍜 Ramen Night (Flexible & Clean-Out-the-Fridge Friendly)
Ramen is one of our favorite “use what you have” meals.
We loosely followed this recipe and made it our own—added onions, peppers, and fresh ginger. We also didn’t have all the sauce ingredients, so we kind of made one up, but it was still delicious!
👉 Base Recipe:
https://www.recipetineats.com/asian-beef-and-noodles/
Why it works:
- Easy to customize
- Great way to sneak in veggies
- Comes together fast on a busy night
If you try any of them, let us know. Or if you have others we should try, we are always collecting ideas for the next rotation.
– Crissy