I am always on the lookout for yummy, quick, and simple dinner recipes! Especially with little ones around, we are not interested in spending hours making food. You’ll quickly realize that none of these dinners include chicken, and that is because I am allergic to chicken and turkey so we stay away from those. As the years have gone on, we have created quite a ‘go-to’ list of dinners that we keep on rotation. There are meals that I make and there are meals that Josh takes care of. This is amazing because that way neither one of us feels like we are doing all the heavy lifting! Plus parenthood is all about dividing and conquering in our house! While one is cooking, the other is free to play with the kiddos!
What does it take to make the list? While first, it must be yummy. No one wants to eat food they don’t enjoy! The next requirement is it must be quick. If it takes longer than 45 minutes to make it is a no-go for this phase of our lives. We are up against a hard bedtime for our toddler and we don’t want to eat too late! It also must be simple. I mean, few ingredients, not going to create a ton of dishes, and not expensive to put together! Our time is precious, especially during the week! I don’t want to spend any more of it than I have to do dishes or stand over the stove! I’d rather be giggling with my family at the dinner table!
Keeping our weekly menus simple, also makes grocery shopping a lot easier! I already have an idea of the things I will need and what they will cost.
Pro Tip: Lowes Foods Pick up!!! Well worth it in my opinion to not have to drag the kids into the grocery store every week! We love Lowes Foods! Their selection is always great and the prices are awesome as well! Plus the pickup is so simple! One of us just swings by on our way home from work on Mondays and scoop the order up and we are good to go!
Okay, onto the recipes! Bonus: these make great leftovers for lunches as well! Here are our favorites:
- Shrimp Alfredo
- Sausage & Veggie One Pan
- Ham & Cheese Hawaiian Roll Sliders
- Tacos/Quesadillas
- Breakfast for dinner
- Grilled Cheese
- Burgers/pork chops (basically anything you can throw on the grill)
- Lasagna (frozen, of course, we love this one!)
- Pizza (for those super rushed nights)
Shrimp Alfredo
Okay, the key to this being a quick and easy dinner is getting the frozen garlic butter shrimp from Costco! It is so good and so easy to cook! Boil the linguine, heat up the alfredo, and cook the shrimp. Combine and boom!
One Pan – Sausage and Veggies
I LOVE THIS MEAL!! It is so delicious and mindless to make! We use smoked sausage, red potatoes, sweet peppers, asparagus, or zucchini! But you can use any combo you want! Cut it all up, put it in a bowl, and toss it in olive oil, greek seasoning (or your fav), and garlic salt. Dump it out on a baking sheet, pop it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, take it out and stir then pop it back in for another 15 minutes and then you’re done! So good and my toddler loves it too!
Ham & Cheese Sliders
If you haven’t tried these, you are missing out! Not the healthiest but I can’t stop making them! Literally cut the whole tray of rolls in half, set the top off to the side, and layer on cheese and ham. Put the top back on, spread some melted butter on top with some oregano, and put it in the oven covered with aluminum foil at 350 degrees for 20 minutes + 5 minutes with the cover taken off!
Tacos/ Quesadillas
We are a big taco family but quesadillas are easier for my toddler to eat so we have switched to those lately. Come on, you literally brown the meat, throw a tortilla in a pan, add cheese and meat and put another tortilla on top, and let it cook. So quick and easy. Plus everyone can customize them as they please!
Breakfast for Dinner
This is a new addition for us! Brinley will only eat her daddy’s fluffy eggs so Josh usually takes this meal. We mix it up but it always includes eggs, either bacon or sausage, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, or waffles! We actually did french toast casserole the other night and it was so good! Making my mouth water just typing this!
Grilled Cheese
I personally like to get fancy with this one! I always add tomato and oregano to mine! But there are so many fun recipes out there to mix it up and class it up a bit!
Here is to hoping these give you some dinner-time inspiration!
