Weeknight mealtimes aren’t always pretty y’all. If you’re a parent who cares about bedtime, then timing is everything on a weeknight. And chances are if you care about your kiddos getting enough sleep, then you also care about what they eat. So time, nutrition, fiber so they feel full, and taste matter. Cause let’s face it, if they don’t like it, they won’t want to eat it. And that will just waste more time.

Here is my general plan for throwing together weeknight meals when I haven’t planned ahead, and I only have a half hour to do it.

I think “veggies, protein, carbs.” And perhaps a sweet fruit for a treat at the end.

Thin sliced chicken breast is tasty and quick!

When I go grocery shopping, I look at what meat is available, looks good and could maybe last a few meals. Sometimes it’s chicken breast, sometimes pork fillets and sometimes steak. Other good sources of protein are beans and peanut butter.

So I’ll look in my fridge and grab my chicken. I’ll make sure it’s sliced thin, then sautee it in olive oil. My go-to spices are chili powder and garlic salt. Yum!!!!! Get ready for those olfactory nerves to start quivering when the sizzle sends that smell into the air.

While the chicken’s frying (it only takes maybe five minutes per side if it’s a thin breast), I grab some frozen veggies out of the fridge. We love peas, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower or mixed veggies. I put a half cup of water in a pot on the stove to boil, then throw in enough veggies, cover it and let it cook 7 minutes or so. Stir to mix it up.

For carbs, the quickest solution is a slice of bread with butter. You could also microwave sweet potatoes or potatoes. Stab them with a fork several times first and wrap them in a paper towel. Then nuke them for eight minutes, turning them halfway through. My kids would also gobble up buttered noodles. We try to use the multigrain so we get our dose of fiber.

If we have fresh veggies or fruit we’d also cut them up and put them on the side. Fresh peppers are crunchy and delicious. Baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, even crunchy romaine are all eaten by my girls. If I’m cooking dinner and they’re starving, I’ll put a plate of sliced veggies out on the table before dinner. They’ll munch away happily while they wait- thinking they’re getting away with snacking.

Protein Options	Veggie Options	Carb Options	Fruit Options
Chicken Breast Pork fillets Steak Beans Peanut Butter on Celery or Bread	Frozen broccoli Frozen cauliflower Frozen peas Frozen green beans fresh sliced pepper fresh sliced cucumbers baby carrots romaine lettuce tomatoes	sweet potatoes potatoes whole grain noodles bread and butter rice	sliced mango banana ice cream sliced oranges sliced apples peaches berries with yogurt sliced pear frozen cherry sorbet homemade apple sauce

The best, healthiest, sweetest desserts are ripe mangoes, peaches or oranges. Get them in season and everyone’s happy. Banana ice cream, Greek yogurt or home made apple sauce are also delish and healthy. Stay tuned for more posts to get the recipes for those!

But let’s face it, most days, we give the girls a couple of cookies and call it a night!

What’s your favorite weeknight quick, healthy meal? Let me know in the comments!