American culture these days is BUSYNESS. It feels like we start on Mondays conquering kid school days, work days, sports schedules, breakfast meetings, afternoon activities and errands until finally family movie night arrives on Friday and we collapse! 

Trying to make sure we are fueling our bodies and feeding our families balanced, nourishing meals can feel SO overwhelming on top of everything else we are managing. It can feel easier in the moment to phone it in and order pizza or hit the drive through, but here’s the truth: just like there is never a perfect time to have a baby, there is never going to be a perfect time to prioritize your nutrition and health! Life isn’t going to slow down and take a pause so we can collect ourselves; we just have to make sure that if it’s really important to us, it makes it to the top of our list!

These are some ways you can feed yourself and your family well without too much extra time spent in the kitchen. I fall back on these meals and recipes frequently and keep most of them on a steady rotation! 

Breakfast Recipes

Prepare breakfasts ahead of time. Major time saver!!! 

• Overnight oats
• Breakfast burritos
• Egg McMuffin sandwiches (Meal Prep Cookbook 2)
• Green chili egg casserole

Lunch Recipes

Lunches are easy with Krista’s meal prep recipes! Our tried and true favorites are currently bang bang chicken and cowboy cornbread casserole bowls. I also love to stuff a high-fiber tortilla with shredded pork, rotisserie chicken or lunchmeat and some leftover salad or shredded veggies for an easy hand-held meal. 

Dinner Recipes

Dinner does not have to be stressful! In our house, I usually cook 3-4 nights a week and we eat a variety of leftovers the other nights. I love Krista’s recipes because they make plenty for leftovers even if you have a large family! If you haven’t ever made her Chili Mac, here’s your sign to not wait any longer! Dump Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi (Home Cooked Meals Cookbook 2), Chicken Parmesan Muffins, Spaghetti Casserole and Tuna Casserole are all well-received in our household and don’t take too much time to prep ahead (sometimes in the morning to make it really easy!)

I sometimes divide the meals into two dishes and freeze half before cooking. This gives me an easy dinner for weeks when I don’t have time to cook, or can be used to bless another busy mama and make her life a little easier! 

Batch Cook Recipe Ideas

Don’t overthink it! Recipes are wonderful but sometimes we just need to get the people fed! I love to batch prep some taco meat and rice for the week– our family loves nachos and burrito bowls, and everybody gets to customize to their preferences. If you literally have zero time to spend in the kitchen, grab a rotisserie chicken, chopped salad kit and package of instant mashed potatoes. Bam. Dinner is served in less time than you would sit in the drive through waiting for a meal! 

I know it can seem like a thankless job to figure out what’s for dinner every night, but keep it simple, and browse the blog for tons of other ideas that will get you excited about dinner time again if you need some inspiration!