Recipes for Busy Back to School Evenings
Happy September, SIS!
I don’t know what it’s like to be a busy mom (yet!) but I remember being a busy kid.
We were super involved in sports and activities and my dad had a long commute. But most school nights my mom still had a meal for us to enjoy together as a family.
With so many amazing mamas in the Sweat Inspire Sisterhood, I knew a back-to-school meal freebie would be relevant. But when I sat down to think back to the meals we enjoyed as kids, I was honestly stumped.
You guys, I can hardly remember what we actually ate!
Obviously we ate something because family dinner times are some of my favorite memories. You might as well keep dinners quick and simple, especially if they are as good as the ones I share this week.
This week I’m sharing five great recipes for busy weeknights. Each highlights a different strategy for getting meals together quickly:
When you’re stretching it another day until grocery pick up: Quick & Easy Pizza Casserole. Pull some ground beef from the freezer (is this just a Midwest thing?) and add some pantry ingredients. Turkey pepperoni and shredded mozzarella keep for months in the fridge.
When you have 20 minutes total: Hamburger Helper. This comfort food staple is made a bit more wholesome with my homemade version. It’s also very pantry ingredient friendly, so you might have everything you need to make it tonight.
When you have 10 minutes but have some time before dinner: Sheet Pan Everything Bagel Seasoned Chicken with Veggies. Sheet pan meals are my favorite. Their total cook time is more like 45 minutes but 40 of that is just ignoring them in the oven. They are great to get in the oven when you first get home and then you can take time for other tasks before dinner.
When you have 10 minutes but have some time before dinner, but feel like grilling: Chicken Bacon Ranch Foil Packets. These have the same idea as the sheet pan meals of prep and forget. Foil packets are grill-friendly though, so you can ignore them outside instead. I know it’s tempting, but I don’t recommend prepping these in advance because the potatoes will turn black.
A good ol’ Crockpot recipe: Crockpot Lasagna. Omigoodness. Why do we even try to make lasagna the boil-the-noodles way when this way is so darn simple? This recipe uses only five ingredients and seriously turns out better than the “real” stuff. My normal lasagna is hit-or-miss of being too runny but this one is magic.
Scroll to the bottom of this post for your recipes delivered to your inbox. If you’re looking for more recipes to round out your family meal plan, here are some search terms I recommend based on my examples:
Pantry ingredient meals
One pot pasta recipes
Sheet pan meals
Foil packet meals
Slow cooker entree meals
You can add “healthy” to your search as well, but most things are adaptable with swaps like choosing leaner meat or switching to whole grain pasta.
In the Sweat Inspire Sisterhood we’re all about making a healthy lifestyle sustainable long term. So this isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about quick, healthy family meals! Check out some of these posts:
Keep it simple, SIS!