As you’ll see below, last week’s meals were easy to prepare which is the name of the game in our house, especially during the week. There’s a mix of simple shortcuts (I’m looking at you, rotisserie chicken), leftovers, repeat recipes and a new-to-me favorite meal. I hope something below jumps out at you if you’re looking for a new dinner idea or two to try this week!
Week of Weeknight Meals: March 2024
Also, I brought back notes about what our boys ate each evening at your request! For anyone new to our dinnertime approach with our kids, yes, they do often eat different meals than we do. And yes, I am very much okay with how we handle feeding our kids in our house. It’s not much extra work because they will often eat some part of our dinner paired with a fruit or veggie that takes very little time to prep. (Believe me, I’ve read plenty about only offering your kids what you eat and we do still offer them our dinners and new foods to try all the time.)
Feeding our kids used to be an extremely stressful thing for me, especially as a first-time mom to a smaller child. I let go of a lot of the guilt and anxiety that surrounded their meals years ago (this blog post by a dietician blogger friend did wonders to shift my mindset). I kindly ask for your respect regarding our choices and how we feed our children. You may not agree with it and it might not be the way things are done in your house and that’s okay!
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Monday: Rotisserie Chicken with Roasted Zucchini, Barley and Lentils and Homemade Mmm Sauce
Monday night’s dinner was relatively simple. The most work went into making homemade mmm sauce which was well worth the effort, especially since I tripled the recipe so I could freeze some for future meals. I drizzled the mmm sauce on top of a mix of lentils, barley, roasted zucchini and rotisserie chicken I picked up from Whole Foods earlier that day! Easy and delicious!
On the boys’ plates: Organic white cheddar macaroni and cheese, roasted zucchini or cucumber slices (depending on the kid), apple slices, blueberries
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Tuesday: Air Fryer Chicken Thighs with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Mashed Japanese Sweet Potatoes
There’s a reason Pinch of Yum’s recipe for air fryer chicken made a past Things I’m Loving Friday post! It’s so good and so easy and a recipe I’ve made on repeat since first discovering it earlier this year. I use chicken thighs in place of the chicken breasts and regular paprika in place of smoked paprika because I do not like smoke flavor but other than that, I follow the recipe as written. It’s wonderful and paired perfectly with mashed sweet potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts on Tuesday night.
On the boys’ plates: Scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast with honey and butter, clementines, bell pepper slices
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Wednesday: Air Fryer Salmon Bite Bowls
I’m on a huge salmon bites kick. Have you see the air fryer salmon bites trend? I hopped on that bandwagon a while back and officially have my go-to recipe nailed down. I hope to share it with you guys soon because it’s so delicious. And it’s a perfect simple lunch or dinner option I’ve been loving so much. Ryan and I ate our salmon bites on top of brown rice with diced cucumbers, shredded lettuce, Everything But the Bagel seasoning and a drizzle of homemade spicy mayo. This was my favorite meal of the week!
On the boys’ plates: Shrimp, brown rice, cucumber slices with salt, strawberries
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Thursday: Air Fryer Chicken Thighs with Roasted Delicata Squash, Zucchini, Lentils and Barley
This meal was a hodgepodge meal that somehow worked. I made another batch of our favorite Pinch of Yum air fryer chicken thighs and paired them with roasted delicata squash and roasted zucchini and leftover lentils and barley I had on hand from Monday night’s dinner.
On the boys’ plates: Grilled cheese, raspberries and blueberries, carrot slices
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Friday: Chicken Fried Rice
Friday evening’s meal was a good one! Chicken fried rice called to me and came together quickly thanks to leftover chicken and this recipe from Cooking Classy. It’s a delicious recipe and one I’ve made a few times and highly recommend! The only change I make is to use all sesame oil in place of the combination of sesame oil and canola oil. Yum!
On the boys’ plates: Applegate chicken nuggets with ketchup, peas and carrots, pear slices
Question of the Day
Do you make the same dinners week after week or do you tend to change things up? We change things up but eat similar foods every week, if that makes sense. I also often get completely obsessed with a recipe sometimes and make it on repeat for several weeks until my tastebuds are over here like, “Enough already. Time to move on.” Right now I’m clearly all-in on the air fryer chicken recipe I shared above!
Any new go-to weeknight dinner recipes to share? Drop a link! The easier the better!
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Thank you for sharing what the boys eat, Your meals are giving me inspiration for this week
i’m so glad, ariane!! thank you for your comment!
My son is now 14 and when he was younger, I used to make separate meals for him. I don’t eat meat and would make things he didn’t care for. After years of doing that, I have totally burnt out on cooking and have lost all desire. Some nights we have popcorn for supper now…eep. How are you feeling about making separate meals?
honestly it doesn’t stress me out because their meals are SO easy. most come together in 5-10 minutes and, if possible, i’ll try to prep some things ahead of time during the day when i prep our dinner. (it helps that they prefer raw veggies over cooked!) for what it’s worth, i think feeling burnt out on cooking is SO normal and comes and goes a lot! there are definitely times i feel less motivated in the kitchen but, honestly, that’s usually around *my* meals. anyway, i say this to say some nights all we have the energy for in our house is a yogurt bowl station or breakfast for dinner and that’s okay, too. you’re definitely not alone in feeling burnt out in the kitchen sometimes!
I’ll ask you this again in 7 years and see if you have the same answer. Haha.
Have a great day Julie!
Thank you for sharing what your boys eat! It seems similar to my kids’ dinners and makes me feel better. Your meals look delicious, too. We’ve also been loving salmon bite bowls and they’ve been in the weekly rotation for a while now. My air fryer is the MVP of the kitchen lately!
These all look so good you’re making me hungry! I love this recipe: https://joyfoodsunshine.com/slow-cooker-thai-coconut-ground-turkey/ It’s a short slow cooker recipe that I can start at lunch time. I often leave out some edamame for my kid, because she doesn’t always love this meal but will eat the parts deconstructed.
This looks SO good! Thanks for sharing. I love Thai and Asian flavors and this looks so easy for lunches you can prep ahead too.
We also typically do different meals for our kiddos than what we eat- and it works well for us! I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve been doing Hello Fresh for the adults in our house- I’ve just finally accepted that I really dislike meal planning and this helps us eat healthy(ish) meals. I know it’s more expensive and the packaging waste does hurt BUT I’m a huge proponent of doing what works at whatever stage of life we’re at! And with two parents working full time outside the house and two kids under 6, this has helped weeknight mealtime feel less frantic. Thanks for sharing- I can always use ideas for the kiddos’ meals!
We have been doing Home Chef too for the acults and it is such a lifesaver in this busy season. The way I think about it is it’s still getting me cooking and better than ordering takeout or scrounging in The freezer for something random every night! It takes the work out of “what’s for dinner this week” when right now I don’t have it in me to sit down and plan meals like I’d like to one day or have in the past.
My thoughts exactly! The pros outweigh the cons for me right now.
Thanks for a peek into your weekly dinner rotation, gave me some fantastic ideas. Dinner planning and prepping most nights is the bane of my existence. But you know what is even worse? Cooking a meal for a child and spending the entire dinner time “forcing” them to eat. Ugh, what an awful way to spend your evening with your family! I quit doing that and everyone is much happier. I’d rather spend an extra 10 minutes fixing my child a dinner that they are likely to eat AND enjoying dinnertime together. Thanks for normalizing your approach, I totally agree.
I do the same! As long as the dinner is balanced and doesn’t stress me out then I’m all for it!
Your instant pot butternut squash chicken curry has definitely been on repeat in our house! We love it.
I know you’ve said you prefer tomato base sauces, which I actually do as well, but my kids love Mac and cheese and sometimes it’s fun to make a kid favourite for the whole family. I recently found this VERY easy, 3 ingredient stovetop Mac and cheese recipe that put smiles on all our faces! Win!
https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe
Hi Julie. I did the same thing when my kids were younger. I made different meals for them and me. It wasn’t a big deal. All I cared about is as long as they ate. When they got older is when we started eating the same meals which was fine too. Yours are growing, thriving and healthy. Do what works for you. You’re definitely not alone in this and you’re doing a great job mama!
This is totally random, but prompted by your mention of keeping some of the “mmm sauce” in the freezer – how do you organize your freezer so that you don’t lose track of saved leftovers? I’m always so proud of myself for doubling or tripling a recipe for the freezer….and then, without fail, I open the freezer drawer a year later to find said doubled recipe that I completely forgot about….:)
We use the reminders app for freezer inventory, marking what container it’s in and organized by food type (uncooked protein, cooked protein, veggies, fruits, grains). It’s been so helpful for us. We waste much food and it gives us a better idea of what we’re running low on.
Thank you!!!
This is so helpful!!! Thank you for sharing, Nicolette!