You know those weeks where you don't seem to have a minute to spare to make any sort of healthy supper? The ones where you're flying from school drop-offs to errand running to meetings, to soccer practice? We've been having more and more of those lately as the girls grow older, and sometimes I find myself starting to opt for unhealthy supper options like eating out and a lot of greasy foods. Today I want to share with you some of my favourite easy and quick recipes that I've compiled for when I have one of those crazy-busy weeks. These are really fast to prepare, but they're still nutritious and yummy.
Here's a meal plan for a week of family-friendly suppers. These are all nice and fast to prep, and my kids love them. They're all also quite easy to alter if you have some picky eaters in your family.
Busy Week Family Supper Meal Plan
Sunday: Mock Shepherd's Pie with Rice
Our family loves a good comfort food like shepherd's pie. I find it usually really quick to make except for the mashed potatoes part. One new way I've been making it is to substitute Minute Rice for the mashed potato topping. It's delicious, and unlike potatoes, the rice only takes a few minutes to cook! Here's how I make our Mock Shepherd's Pie (based off of the Minute Rice Quick-Fix Beef and Rice recipe):
- 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
- 2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
- ½ can of condensed mushroom soup
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 2 ½ cups cooked Minute Rice
- Prepare the Minute Rice as per the package directions.
- While the rice is cooking, brown the ground beef. Drain it when it's cooked thoroughly.
- Mix the soup, milk and garlic powder into the beef and heat through.
- Pour the mixture into an 8 x 8" casserole dish, top with the cooked Minute Rice, and sprinkle the cheese overtop.
- Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Monday: One-Dish Chicken and Veggies
This is one of my favourite meals to make and you can do all sorts of variations. Simply place some chicken in a casserole dish (I like thighs or breasts) with some chopped potatoes and vegetables beside it. Here I've done carrots and potatoes, but this is also great with beans and potatoes. Drizzle olive oil over the whole thing, sprinkle on your favourite spices, and bake for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Beef Stew
You can prep this stew in the morning and pop the ingredients in your slow cooker to forget about all day long until supper. Here's my slow cooker beef stew recipe. Serve with some buns or biscuits.
Wednesday: Easy Whole Grain Chicken Burritos
Our version of taco night just got a whole lot more substantial since I figured out how to make burritos at home! If you use Whole Grain Brown Minute Rice, they don't take long to prep at all and they're absolutely delicious! Here's my whole grain chicken burrito recipe.
Thursday: Leftovers!
Let's face it, mamas: you've got to have at least one night of the week where cooking is optional. I find that by Thursday I get pretty tired and I'm ready for a night of leftovers. Heat up some of that beef stew from Tuesday and you're good to go!
Friday: Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza
I still love a good pizza, but it tastes so much better and it's a lot more nutritious if you make it at home. My quick pizza tricks? Make a double batch of my whole wheat pizza crust recipe and freeze one half for this busy week. Take the frozen dough out of the freezer in the morning, and by supper it will be thawed and ready to use. Here's my whole wheat pizza recipe. We like to put lots of veggies on ours to make it extra nutritious!
Saturday: Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
This is by far my favourite slow cooker recipe of all time. I think one of the tricks to making supper in a slow cooker is adding a whole lot of spices so that the meal doesn't fall flat. This honey sesame chicken fits the bill - it's flavourful, tender, and the kids love it. Serve it over some Basmati Minute Rice and you have a really tasty and oh-so-easy supper! I follow The Comfort of Cooking's Recipe for Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken here to the letter.
If you give this meal plan a try, please let me know what you think! These have been our go-to meals lately, and we think they're all delicious!
According to some new research, eating wholesome dinners throughout the week makes nine out of ten Canadians feel healthy, like a good parent, and even a ‘winner’. However, close to half of us want these easy, wholesome dinner options but don’t know where to start! To help Canadians approach dinner with ease, Minute Rice has created a digital hub of easy- to-assemble recipes and more at Thirdoftheway.ca. There are some excellent and SUPER easy dinner ideas here that I know you'll love! Try out my easy & quick whole grain chicken burritos this week, and then pop on over to Minute Rice's website to get your next easy dinner idea for next week. It really helps to have a fast and easy plan for healthy suppers.
Happy cooking, mamas!
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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Minute Rice®. As always, all of the opinions here are my own. I only recommend companies that I use and love myself.
These all look delicious and easy- especially those burritos!
Thanks, Lauren! The burritos are my husband's absolute favourite. 😉