Last month, when I asked if you had any dinner dilemmas to address, I was blown away by your comments. How reassuring it was to read about your issues, because goodness knows I have my own despite the fact that I’m a very capable cook. I felt a sense of solidarity in knowing that there are a lot of you who also struggle to get a good dinner on the table sometimes. Actually, it’s not that I really wrestle with making meals for my family, but some days there are a lot of balls to juggle between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and eating almost seems a little inconvenient at times, despite being essential.
I’ve been poring over your different difficulties and am coming up with ideas for things like meals that reheat well, advice for encouraging your kids to try new foods, ideas for meal prepping, showing your leftovers a little love, and more tips and tricks for meal planning. It’s all good stuff, and I’m excited to play dinner doula for a few of you.
Above all else, it seems that what you’re all really looking for are 30-minutes meals, and who can blame you? When there are so many other things to pack into a single weeknight, spending any longer than that to get a meal on the table is definitely a little daunting at times. Fortunately, a quick dig through the recipe archives here pointed me in the direction of 8 dinners that are all quick cooking, healthy, and some of our own family favourites. I even threw in an extra recipe that takes longer than 30 minutes to cook, but the prep is so fast it’s worth having in your recipe repertoire and is something I make almost every week for my gang.
So, what’s for dinner this week?
These are healthy, quick cooking, freezer-friendly, and make a mighty fine weeknight meal that feeds the family well in a short amount of time.
It’s the kind of meal that warms you up from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, and tastes mighty fine while doing so. Plus, it takes less than 30 minutes to make.
The most popular recipe on the blog by a hundred million percent!
This is like a healthy stovetop mac and cheese with sausage, which makes everyone in my house happy.
Double this quick cooking dinner and you’ll be left with extra for the lunchbox.
This makes enough to feed 4-6 people and goes nicely with a side of rice. Feel free to replace the pork with ground turkey or chicken, and if you don't have Chinese five-spice powder on hand you can use allspice in its place.
This recipe is really nothing more than some fancied-up ground beef and rice, staples in my freezer and pantry. The addition of spices, fresh basil, and coconut milk take it up a notch, making it a little more special than something you might usually create with such humble ingredients.
This pasta dish is an example of the types of dinners I have on my menu almost weekly: simple, comforting, economical, and truly tasty.
I’m kind of cheating here because this totally isn’t a 30 minute meal, but it’s SO easy to put together I’m including it because I really think you need to make this weekly. I know I do.
I'm so excited to work my way through these recipes! Thank you so much!
Posted by: Cath in ottawa | 10/22/2015 at 08:41 AM
I hope you like them!
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Posted by: Jan Scott | 10/23/2015 at 12:51 AM
Can you please give us these food's recipes or any reference where we can find these recipes.Is Chinese chicken soup is available in Chinese restaurants near New York.
Posted by: Emma Brown | 12/01/2016 at 01:51 AM