:: Feeding your family without a lot of fuss ::
I don't know about you, but my lifestyle doesn't leave a lot of time for meal prep. Seems like dinner time sneaks up on me almost everyday along with the awful question of what to make. I'm not much of a foodie, but in my heart I really do want to prepare something healthy and tasty for my guys.
Over the past five years of parenting I've noticed I developed a bit of a no fuss method to feeding the gang.
- Meal must be easy to prepare, cook, and serve.
- I like to try new things, but I must be able to find everything at one store, recipe should have less than 10 ingredients and must have a photo.
- I make one meal. Eat it, or make your own. [This is a good rule for those preschool years but didn't always work before then.]
I also found a two very helpful resources that help me stick to 1 & 2. (both are available online and in print)
These magazines come about once a month. I scour the pages, and mark recipes that look tasty with a sticky note. And attempt to try one new recipe a month. I also created online accounts at their sites, so I can quickly find a recipe when I can't find the magazine.
Here are a few of our favorites (some of which we eat weekly).
Marvelous Mini Meat-loaves
What tips do you have for feeding your family without a lot of fuss? Have any great fresh summer recipes? I'm ready for a few new menu's for the warm weather.
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LOVE the recipes! Can't wait to try them! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteAnother recipe website I use a lot is allrecipes.com. I love their Ingredient Search feature. If I've got a couple of items left over and just sitting in my fridge I can find a recipe to use them up. And most recipes have a lot of helpful feedback from other users who have already made it.
ReplyDeleteWhat great tips! Thanks for the list of recipe sites, too. We're still in the toddler/baby years with our kids but I'm trying to plan now to make mealtime less hectic. I've started a notebook to collect all my favorite recipes and I'm organizing them by seasons, holidays, and cuisine. This also gives me a resource to draw from when I plan meals/shopping lists.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite no-fuss recipes come from realsimple.com. They also have a great search feature, and each month the magazine features a series of recipes that are quick and easy to prepare and usually only have a few ingredients. For example, right now they are featuring "the Quickest Chicken Recipes" that take only 5, 10, or 15 minutes to prepare.
I also love Kraft magazine. I usually take their recipes and add canned tomatoes, black beans, corn, asparagus, or other veggies to "spruce" it up. And I have chicken cooked and preportioned in baggies in the freezer for easy casseroles.
ReplyDeleteI find myself grilling cheese sandwiches a lot for the little one. I thought he would be a great, adventurous eater. But we eat so many spicy things that he is not too into our meals. Sigh. Thanks for the tips! I think we will try a new method now!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the recipes. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my lack of dinner planning
ReplyDelete