10 Easy School Night Meals | Tuesdays with Jacob

10 Easy School Night Meals

August 4, 2017

This is it. The last weekend of summer. Can you hear my tears? They're falling like rain I tell you. Life gets real interesting when our house has two parents working plus little man and all his activities. During the week my one goal is to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible. The reason is two fold: 1. I'm exhausted from teaching all day, and 2. the sooner we eat dinner the sooner we start our bath and bedtime routine. Here are some of our tried and true weeknight dinners. The ones that are quick, easy, and for the most part cheap. They don't take much prep, or they can be prepped the night before. 

1. Spaghetti // I make a simple meat sauce (beef and garlic browned in a pan. drain. add in a jar of past sauce and a cup of grated parmesan) and serve over noodles with garlic toast (butter bread. sprinkle on parmesan and garlic salt. broil until golden) and call it a night. If I plan ahead I make a big batch of Nonna's meatballs on the weekend and freeze them. Then I can just defrost what we need and add those on top. 

2. Pulled Pork // THIS is my favorite pulled pork recipe. I marinate it the night before and then toss everything in the crock pot in the morning. I also make up the salsa the night before. All I have to do when I get home from work is boil a pot of rice and shred the pork. 

3. Flank Steak // another easy crock pot recipe. Toss it all in the crock pot and you're done. Serve over rice or shredded cauliflower or even mashed potatoes. Recipe HERE.

4. Sheet Pan Fajitas // I recently discovered THIS recipe for fajitas and it could not be easier. Everything cooks on one pan and you can use steak, chicken or shrimp. 

5. Breakfast // always a winner at our house. Little man eats breakfast food better than anything else. I will mix up some pancakes or waffles (from a box mix) and then fry up some eggs and bacon to go with it. 

6. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup // a classic. If I know the day is going to be super hectic I'll assemble the sandwiches the night before and keep them in the fridge until I'm ready to put them in the pan. 

7. Baked Meat + Veggie // I'll pop some chicken or pork chops or steak in a pan with some salt, pepper, and maybe garlic powder and then pull a bag of veggies from the freezer and cook them in the microwave. If I'm feeling extra fancy I'll cook some steak fries or sweet potato fries to go with. 

8. Sausage Bake // slice turkey sausage thin, add some diced potato and sliced pepper and toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil and some salt, pepper, garlic powder and any other seasonings. Then I lay it all out flat on a pan and bake at 350 until everything is getting nice and golden. 

9. Quiche // THIS is my favorite quiche recipe and I love to assemble them on the weekend and then bake before freezing, so that all I have to do during the week is defrost in the fridge during the day and then reheat that night. 

10. Chicken Salad Sliders // We pick up premade chicken salad either at Publix or Aldi and spread it on mini hamburger sliders for a fun change from hamburgers. We usually serve with some chips and fruit. 

And of course when things get really crazy we'll pop in a frozen pizza or a skillet bag (Jacob loves Bertolli Chicken Alfredo) or run through the drive through at Chick-fil-a, it's all about balance! What are your favorite quick and easy meals?
1 comment on "10 Easy School Night Meals"
  1. Hi, i heard a lot about this festival from my friends, it must be one of a kind ! I am hopeful i will be a part of it someday. Good luck to you!

    ReplyDelete