Easy Family Recipes
This month always brings a deluge of “healthy eating” emails, marketing, and messages and while I’m all for adding more produce, whole grains, and the like, I’d like to remind you that it’s all about the big picture—and kids never need to diet. (P.S. Diets don’t work for adults either.) Our bodies need regular fuel and there’s no such thing as a perfect toddler (or adult) diet. Do your best with the food budget, groceries, time, and cooking interest you have and try to ditch any shame or guilt or comparison. You’re doing a great job! Okay, now on to the meal plan. There are a few recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snack for each week, plus daily dinner ideas. I figure you can sub in easy options for the other meals! With any of these meals, I recommend offering 1-2 simple sides such as fruit, fresh veggies, crackers, or cheese if you are at all worried that your kids won’t like the main dish. That way, they have “safe” foods on the table and you don’t need to get up to make a different meal!
Easy Meal Rotation
I do my meal plans using the idea of a rotation where you use general categories every other week to reduce decision fatigue and also give the kids a chance to see foods regularly to help them learn to like the. I have two options for breakfast and dinner that we can choose from—I usually alternate each week—then a set rotation of lunch ideas. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀This allows me to the number of decisions I need to make since I’m starting with narrow categories— but still have flexibility, variety, and spontaneity with all of the choices available within a category. (Because there are a million pasta recipes we could have on pasta night, for example, which is great since my kids generally like pasta!) Adjust as you like for your family. TIP: Download a printable pdf of this meal rotation in my Free Resource Library.
January Week 1
Use these ideas for each meal of the day to get a bit of a plan in place for the week—even if you just choose one or two recipes to try. Round out any meal with a simple side of fruit or fresh veggies as you like.
Breakfast Ideas
Lunch Ideas
Snack Ideas
Dinner Ideas
January Week 2
I love to make one homemade snack on the weekend to serve throughout the week—so you could try that approach to help you mix up store bought snacks. Or just to try out meal prepping in a way that’s not all consuming!
Breakfast Ideas
Lunch Ideas
Snack Ideas
Dinner Ideas
January Week 3
Having healthy breakfast basics on hand and made ahead can really streamline the morning rush. All of the breakfast recipes (except the smoothie) can be made ahead and warmed up as needed.
Breakfast Ideas
Lunch Ideas
Snack Ideas
Dinner Ideas
January Week 4
Making use of your slow cooker and/or instant pot is a great way to make cooking much easier on yourself. Pull those appliances out and get them into regular rotation!
Breakfast Ideas
Lunch Ideas
Snack Ideas
Dinner Ideas
Easy Sides to Add to Any Meal
Here are some simple sides to consider if you’re looking to round out any meal.
Roasted VeggiesMashed Potatoes and BroccoliCheesy RiceSweet Potato ChipsParmesan CauliflowerRoasted BroccoliSauteed CarrotsBoiled Green BeansCut up fresh fruitCut up raw veggies
I’d love to hear any feedback you have on my meal plans, so please comment below to share.
