After an unintentional one-month hiatus, I’m back with my monthly Week of Weeknight Meals series! I began sharing this series on the blog a while back to give you guys a peek into what our real weeknight dinners look like for one week of every month. I used to document my meals on the blog almost every day so this is a fun way for me to give you guys a bird’s eye view of what meals look like over here since I’m no longer able to blog in real time three times a day.
Last week’s meals were simple and utilized the instant pot and air fryer quite a bit! When I shared a breakdown of what our kids’ meals looked like each day back in February that seemed to interest you guys so I included the info this month as well. (You may read more about my thoughts surrounding our boys eating something different for dinner than me and Ryan here. I’m all about doing what works for your family and your kids without guilt or judgment.) If you’d like photos of the boys’ dinners in a round-up style blog post with meal ideas for little ones, just let me know and I’ll try to be better about snapping pics of their plates, too!
Week of Weeknight Meals: May 2022
Early last week we had what we think might be our final hurrah of chilly weather before warmer temperatures are here to stay so I took full advantage of the chill in the air and made a batch of Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew. Our family loves this recipe so much and I also like the fact that it’s flexible and you can easily add more veggies to the mix if you have any on hand. For Monday’s batch, I followed the recipe exactly but added the following veggies and we still loved the flavor: 4 celery stalks, 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes and a bag of frozen riced cauliflower. The best part about this dinner was the fact that it made enough for leftovers for lunch for a few days, too!
For the kids: Rhett ate the beef stew with cottage cheese but Chase and Ryder had grilled cheese, carrots, strawberries and pistachios.
-
Tuesday: Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks + Sautéed Brussels Sprouts + Baked Sweet Potatoes
My love for our 4-in-1 air fryer continues to run deep and I used it yet again to make a batch of drumsticks on Tuesday night. I seasoned the chicken with a rub I found on The Recipe Critic blog and we loved them. Sides looked like Well Plated’s sautéed Brussels sprouts and baked sweet potatoes topped with sea salt and butter.
For the kids: All of the boys ate a little bit of the sweet potatoes but also had Applegate Farms organic chicken nuggets, cucumber slices, peach slices and yogurt.
-
Wednesday: Daily Harvest Brussels Sprouts Pad Thai + Pine Nuts + Wheat Berries
Ryan was out for a work dinner on Wednesday night and since I was riding solo, I kept things extra simple and threw together a big salad. I topped a base of spinach and arugula with a Daily Harvest Brussels Sprouts Pad Thai Harvest Bowl, pine nuts and cooked wheatberries I had on hand. I stirred everything up in the plastic container that held my greens because any time I can save on dishes, I’m all about it.
For the kids: The boys had scrambled eggs with cheese, bell peppers with hummus (Rhett and Ryder) or ranch (Chase), blackberries and yogurt (for the big kids).
-
Thursday: Air Fryer Scallops with Curried Corn and Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Thursday night’s dinner was so simple and came together in 10 minutes. I seasoned some air scallops and cooked them in the air fryer and while they were doin’ there thang, I whipped up some curried corn. I need to share this recipe with you because Ryan and I LOVE it and it’s truly one I can make in THREE minutes. I just combine butter and frozen corn in the microwave and then season it with curry powder and garlic salt. So simple but so flavorful! We topped the curried corn with the scallops and served them with a side of leftover mashed sweet potatoes prepared with butter and salt.
For the kids: The boys had ALDI’s organic Simply Nature white cheddar macaroni and cheese, carrot slices and apple slices.
-
Friday: Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Salsa Chicken Bowls
Chase and Ryder have soccer on Friday evenings so dinner often looks like pizza or something from the slow cooker. Last Friday we went the slow cooker route. We threw together slow cooker salsa chicken bowls made with a base of brown rice and black beans and topped with slow cooker cilantro lime salsa chicken and guacamole. I also crunched up some of ALDI’s Simply Nature black bean tortilla chips on top for a little crunch after I snapped this pic and ate some chips and guacamole with this meal as well. We loved this one!
For the kids: For the boys, we quickly whipped up some quesadillas with a side of black beans, cucumber slices, a clementine and tortilla chips.
Question of the Day
What was your favorite meal of the week last week? Any new must-make recipes to share?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Would love photos of what the littles eat!
Me too!!
Same!
Love that you added what the kids ate! Also I think I’m going to copy most of your meals. They’re so approachable and sound great!
We’re all about EASY over here!
Yes definitely keep including the kids meals! My 13 month old will eat anything (enjoying this while it lasts), but my 3 year old can be a bit trickier. I’d rather offer her an alternative dinner because if she doesn’t eat any part of what we’re eating then she’ll just ask for one million snacks before bed time. It’s a balance for sure!
Yes!! So often I feel like the only parents out there sharing kid meals are parents with little ones who eat exactly what the whole family eats and, at least with our family and many of our friends’ kids, that’s just not reality. I’ve let go of the guilt because our boys eat well-rounded meals even if they’re not into crock pot chicken curry like Mom and Dad!
Love seeing the kids’ meals. I struggle sometimes when planning meals because I’m trying to come up with a meal the toddler will eat too and it’s just not realistic right now. This is a great reminder for me that that is ok!
Thanks for including the kids’ meals! Makes me feel better since my 3 year old will pretty much only eat, mac and cheese, quesadillas, chicken nuggets, and PB&J! My 15 month old will still eat what we eat (for the most part), so taking advantage of that while it lasts.
Thank you for adding in what your kids eat! It’s encouraging to know I’m not the only one who’s kids don’t eat most of the meals I make 😄
Hey Julie,
I was just wondering if you try to see if the kids will eat a bit of what you made for yourself and Ryan first or go straight to a different meal for them? If I remember correctly, the blog post you linked to from the dietician about this always served her kids a bit of the meals she made for herself and her husband all by with whatever she was serving the kids. Just wondering if you do this as well.
That should have said ALONG WITH whatever she was serving the kids. Sorry!
Thank you for sharing Julie. My “children” are now 18 and 20 and I always made an alternate dinner for them if they would not eat what we did. I had plenty of people tell me not to do that, why do the extra work, they will eat if they are hungry, etc. BUT that is not what I believed. I grew up in a family where we had to eat what my mom made and I struggled so much with food textures and tastes. I remember many a dinner running from the table gagging and throwing up and my brothers laughing at me. It was just awful! I don’t hold any negative feelings for my parents and how they approached family meals but I decided I did not want to do that for my children,. Meal time was always so stressful and not enjoyable for me growing up. My husband and I decided to approach family meal time like you and Ryan have and I have no regrets. My children do eat many of the meals we make but for the ones they do not I do still make them an alternate. Adding my son is 18 and has special needs so we do need to still cook meals for him – he can not make his own alternate if he does not like what we are having and I am more than happy to cook for him and watch him enjoy his meals.
Would love the scallops recipe. And love that you included the kiddos plates! Lots of ideas! Thanks!