Even though it’s been forever and a minute since I shared some meals with you, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been snapping pictures of them! It just means that it takes me forever to compile them together to share with ya.
It seems like many of you are still very interested in our meals, and I’m happy to share!
Most nights, we’re scrambling to cook up whatever we planned on (or didn’t plan on) for dinner that evening as quickly as possible. Our boys are typically ready to eat (aka, borderline hangry) by 5pm if they don’t get a hefty snack after school/daycare. On a good night, as long as Jay is home from work on time, we’re eating by 5:30pm, although sometimes it’s a little closer to 5:45-6pm.
Since that 4-5pm hour is one of the most hectic, I’m always looking for something that we can cook quickly, with minimal effort. Mostly because, if Jay isn’t home yet, I’ve got two little loves vying for my attention, and making any attempts at trying to cook quite comical.
Jay will occasionally send me links to recipes that look absolutely incredible, but then I look at the ingredients and/or prep/cook time and typically just chuckle. Because, yeah, not happenin’ during the week!
So here’s a look at a few recent dinners…
Pulled BBQ Chicken sliders with Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes and veggies
We use that potato recipe linked above so often that I had to save it to my favorite sites on my phone. It’s definitely our go-to (I do cut back on the salt and olive oil a bit!) and it goes with everything. While pulled chicken isn’t a favorite for the boys, they will usually eat at least some, and a couple of potatoes if we’re lucky. They don’t do buns though (like, ever, for anything), so I constantly question if they really are my children.
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with homemade guacamole
Typically, any time we make a batch of our BBQ Pulled Chicken in the crockpot, we’ll plan on using up some of the leftovers for quesadillas. They’re super quick to throw together when we’ve already got the chicken cooked, and then it usually leaves us both with some leftovers for lunch the next day. The boys aren’t fans of chicken in their quesadillas, so we make their quesadillas with just cheese and serve some chicken and guacamole on the side.
Slow Cooker Pot Roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions
We were so excited to make this meal because the last time we had it, it was AWESOME. But I don’t know whether it was the cut of beef this time, or maybe it just didn’t cook right, but it was not nearly as good as I remember it. In fact, it doesn’t even LOOK as good as the last time…
Ahh well. We really do think it was the cut of beef this time, so I’m not giving up on it just yet because it really is super easy and I know it has the potential to be delish. The boys were not into this meal at all.
Loaded Chicken and Potatoes
This is a meal we’ve kept in our rotation for a while now, and it never disappoints. I love how everything gets tossed into the casserole dish to bake, and it could easily be prepped ahead of time (if I’m on my game, I’ll try to cut up the chicken and put it in a gallon-sized bag to marinate in all of the seasonings! The boys will eat the chicken out of this one, along with the cheese and bacon from the top, but neither of them are big on the potatoes for this one (I know, I don’t get it either…).
We had a Blue Apron delivery scheduled for the end of January, and the two meals that arrived in it were both great (we did the family plan option for this delivery). I couldn’t tell you the last time I had cooked any sort of fish/shellfish in the house, so it was nice to change things up a bit. This one had some great flavor and made a TON. The boys had some of the pasta noodles, but neither of them would try the shrimp (womp, womp…).
Garlic-Lime Chicken & Black Beans over Cilantro Rice
I loooooved this meal! All of the flavors came together so well and the cilantro rice was fantastic. This was a meal that wound up being cooked one night after the boys went to bed and while Jay was away for work (I knew I needed to get it cooked up) so Jay ate it as leftovers and neither of the boys tried it (although I’d be willing to bet Alex would have liked it best).
Creamy Beef and Shells
Ohhhh, do we love this recipe (it’s actually planned for this week, too!). It’s quick and easy, and a great way to use up some ground beef for something other than burgers or burrito bowls. The boys will eat this one, but we have to serve it with less “sauce” for them, and I try to give them some bigger chunks of ground beef and we call them mini meatballs. Because, you know, my kids are totally cool with trying new things. #sarcasm.
Chicken Sausage with Pierogies and Sauteed Vegetables
This is one of our signature “Courtney is busy with something and/or just does not want to cook tonight so Jay is going to take over for dinner” dishes. Since this isn’t anything the boys would eat (unless some major bribery was involved), we’d typically feed the boys some leftovers/something else at their normal dinner time and then we’d eat this meal either after they’re done or after they go to bed. Not the most ideal dinner situation, but sometimes it just happens.
Jay introduced me to pierogies wayyyy back in the days of dating, and they still occasionally show up in our dinner rotations. They’re just so easy to cook up (we first boil/cook through), then just add everything else into a skillet and let it cook until done!
Cheesy Bruschetta Chicken Cutlets
This is another recipe that I can take zero credit for. Jay managed to pull this one together on another night where I had thrown in the towel and was willing to just eat cereal or toast for dinner. Man, I’m a lucky gal. These cutlets were totally delicious and they took like, no time to put together. Another reminder why it’s always good to have some diced tomatoes stocked up in the pantry!
Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now, but I’ll be back with more. Got any recent favorites? Drop ’em in the comments section below!
Julie says
Thanks for posting! THis is just as good as your weekly meal plans! Btw I’m seriously jealous at the amount/variety of food your boys eat. So if you are ever feeling that they don’t eat enough variety of things- think my oldest son who has now recently cut chicken nuggets from his small list of foods and will only eat your “green pasta,” pizza without cheese and not the crust, PB&J, fruit, yogurt, snacks. I’m envious that you can at least kind of eat normal meals with your boys!!!
Courtney says
Awww, thank you! And YAY for him at least liking the “green pasta” haha! Mine have just recently decided they aren’t into pizza at all…I’m like, really? Who ARE you, children?!? lol
Nikki says
So many yummy recipes right there, I am going to try them! Thanks for sharing. Like you, it’s a mass scramble when I get home to feed my son before total meltdown happens and half the time he ends up not eating a thing I make him and I usually just eat a frozen bag of veggies haha. What do you typically make for the boys when you know they wont really eat what you are cooking? Chicken nuggets have been my fail safe but recently I can’t even get the kid to touch them :(
Ciara says
I was just going to ask the same thing! What do you typically do when your kids won’t eat what you’ve made?
Courtney says
Hey Ciara! I just replied above but wasn’t sure if you’d get a notification ;)
Courtney says
Ahhh yes, it can be SO hard sometimes, can’t it!?!? We have a short list of go-tos in our rotation for when we need to feed them something different. We’ve really been trying hard to at least get them to TRY whatever it is we’re making, but some nights I just don’t have the fight in me, and sometimes I know they don’t like what we’re cooking. For those nights, we’ll usually rotate between chicken nuggets, cheesy spinach pasta, butter noodles, hot dogs, pancakes & eggs, or mac & cheese.
If we’re having something that we know they like but just aren’t eating it, then we say that they can make (Lucas) or have (Alex) a peanut butter sandwich with no after-dinner treats. Doesn’t always work and certainly isn’t perfect, but we’ve seen some improvement!
Wendy Bilbrey says
Thanks for the great ideas. Off to the grocery store to make a few. Thanks for sharing….
Lauren says
Thank you for sharing these! I’m going to try a few out to see if I can add any new recipes to our rotation. Here is a recipe my boys (4 & 1) will eat with us guaranteed lol:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Capellini-with-Shrimp-and-Creamy-Tomato-Sauce-241995
I usually change out the pasta to a healthier version like the Brown Rice and Quinoa fusilli from Trader Joe’s.
Carrie says
Thanks for this post! I needed some new dinner ideas and going to try a few!
Lauren says
I love these types of posts. I will be adding these to my dinner rotations!
Steph says
Thanks for the REALISTIC weeknight dinner ideas!! Working full time with kids is no joke when it comes to prepping dinner that is actually somewhat healthy and tastes good! Can’t wait to make the bruschetta chicken, creamy beef noodles, and loaded chicken and potatoes (ok basically everything…)
Nikki says
That crockpot pulled bbq chicken is on the regular in our house! I love to make a huge thing of it and put over salads and in quesadillas for another dinner/lunches!
And 4:00-5:00 is a nightmare time in our house too😱!
Maria says
Love love love these posts. Especially when I find a new go-to recipe. Those oven roasted potatoes are amazing! I’ve tried so many recipes and these are absolute perfection. Thank you!