Stumped for dinner? Here are some easy meals using ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. I like keeping chicken and ground beef around so I don’t have to do as much daily meal planning. Let’s be honest — with 3 young kids, meal planning at our house rarely happens! These dinner ideas are simple to whip up and kid-friendly too!
This post is sponsored by SheSpeaks/Rubbermaid®.
Chicken with Apples & Sweet Potatoes
Everything goes with chicken right? My kids love chicken so I often make spontaneous stir fries using chicken and any combination of ingredients. I recently combined chicken, apple slices, and sweet potato to make a delicious sweet-savory meal that I cooked in minutes in a frying pan. Easy peasy dinner.
Ingredients
Chicken, defrosted and sliced
Apple slices
Cubed sweet potato
Thin slices of bacon (optional)
Salt & pepper
Add a dash of oil to your frying pan and place strips of chicken and chunks of sweet potato on top. Cool 10ish minutes until the chicken starts looking cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Add slices of apple and strips of cooked bacon and continue cooking over medium heat until the chicken reaches 160+ degrees on a meat thermometer. Serve with a side vegetable or dinner salad.
Easy Gourmet Pizza
Pizza is an easy win in our family! I keep balls of homemade pizza dough in the freezer to use for an easy dinner. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface and top with a thin layer of tomato sauce, pizza toppings and mozzarella. Bake on a parchment paper lined cooking sheet at 475 degrees for 12-18 minutes until crispy.
Favorite Pizza Toppings
Pepperoni
Sausage
Olives (black or Kalamata)
Sliced green pepper
Sliced onions
Artichoke hearts
Fresh basil
Fresh garlic, whole or minced
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
My kids love homemade macaroni and cheese and it’s so easy to make that there’s no reason for me to buy boxed mac ‘n cheese.
Simply boil noodles and make a homemade cheese sauce with 3 easy ingredients.
- 3/4 cup light cream
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tbsp. butter
Add 1.4 cup Parmesan cheese to make a richer sauce. I would not recommend substituting the cream for half & half or milk because too much heat will cause your homemade cheese sauce to separate. Cream can be cooked for awhile over medium heat without separating and creating chunky sauce.
Easily store leftovers in Rubbermaid BRILLIANCE food storage containers
Mini Twice-Baked Potatoes
These sumptious potatoes are easy to make in about 1 hour. Bake baby red potatoes in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, turning them over after 10 minutes. Check by inserting a knife and bake a few minutes more if they don’t seem fully cooked.
Allow the baked potatoes to cool and then slice them in half. Scoop out the middle of each potato half, leaving a thin edge to create a “shell”. Mix the scooped potato with sour cream, butter, shredded cheese, cooked bacon bits, and salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon the potato mixture back into each baby red potato shell. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake 10-15 more minutes until slightly browned.
Top with sour cream and chopped chives.
5-Minute Tacos
Tacos are a basic meal that we enjoy almost every week. It’s so easy to throw ground beef into a pan with chopped onion, garlic and taco seasoning. Once fully cooked, spoon the taco meat into a hard shell taco or soft flour tortilla and top with chopped lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa. Yum!
Store leftovers for easy lunches
We love enjoying leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day, which significantly cuts down on family meal prep. My kids love left over macaroni and cheese and taco meat with lots of sour cream. These handy food storage containers from Rubbermaid BRILLIANCE lock in the freshness of your leftovers while also preventing food from spilling in the fridge. The watertight seal makes these leak-proof food storage containers ideal for holding soups and sauces as well as pastas and salads. I received a set of one large and two small Rubermaid BRILLIANCE food storage containers to try out.
Rubbermaid BRILIANCE food storage containers have a tab on each side, allowing you to lock the lid down for maximum freshness. The tabs are easy to push down and unclasp and the lids have wide edges allowing you to easily break the seal and remove the top. I also appreciate the minimalistic design of these food storage containers that are easy to clean and don’t have many crevices for food to get stuck in. Rubbermaid BRILIANCE stain resistant food storage containers are also dishwasher safe for easy sanitizing. They easily stack to take up minimal space in the fridge when storing leftovers.
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Food Storage Container Highlights
- Designed with an airtight leak-proof seal and innovative latches.
- Crystal clear stain resistant material keeps the container looking new and resists odors.
- Innovative vents allow microwaving with the lid on and latches open to help reduce splatters.
- Stacks perfectly for efficient organization in the refrigerator.
- Available in five sizes to hold all types of foods.
- Comes in multi-piece sets which stack perfectly together.
After trying out these Rubbermaid storage containers for a few meals, I’d definitely recommend them for streamlining your refrigerator and pantry. They can be used for cold and dry storage and effectively keep food fresh and seal in or keep out moisture. My husband and I take turns cooking and it’s nice to have go-to meal prep containers to store ingredients, preserve fresh baked goods, and organize our family’s leftovers in the fridge.
What is your family’s favorite meal or helpful meal-planning tip?
Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!
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Try to always have everything cut up and washed a day a head of time.
I love to prep my lunches for the week!
I love to make 10-20 freezer meals once a month to have on hand for a quick and healthy dinner
I prepare my meals the night before to cook in the crockpot the next day.
I typically wash and cut all my veggies on the day I purchased them. I put some in the fridge and some in the freezer. I also try to cook for 3 days on Sundays and then again Wednesday so that we have enough food for lunch and dinner.
I like preparing my meal the day before.
My best tip is to put all ingredients out as you start. I have left some out before in meals by missing a step or 2.
One thing I love to do…is double the recipe and freeze one for dinner the next week! Its nice on a busy night to have a meal ready to pop in the oven!
These look great. I am a big fan of see through storage. It is just so much easier. Plus it looks nice when you serve.
My only tip really is to be neat and organized. When you try to prep and cook at the same time everything gets all cluttered so i do all the prep first, then I wash and put away everything I used for that THEN i cook once everything is nice… Read more »
I like to prep the night before. These look really nice!
Make sure you wash all your veggies and fruit
I recommend to type up or hand write whichever you prefer a meal schedule so you remember which meal was planned for what day. If its a frozen meal you need to pull out you can set a notification on your phone to pull it out rhe freezer the night… Read more »
Give yourself lots of prep time!
I try to set out and prepare anything I can the night before. That way when I get home from work the next day, it is a lot easier.
My best tip is to wash and cut veggies the night before so they are ready for the next day. Freeze what you can freeze for easy prep for soups and stews.
I meal plan during the week for the week ahead, shop on the weekends and prep a lot on weekends for easy weeknight meals. I also portion out snacks like bagged carrots and hard boiled eggs on weekends for the week ahead.
I like to fix the kids veggies and fruit for their school lunches the night before.
Use veggies to bulk up your meat dishes makes it more healthy and filling.
My tip is if there is something you are cooking that you can make more of and use it for another meal, always do it. Like boiling eggs for deviled eggs, cook a few extra for tomorrows egg salad.
My best meal prep tip is to cut your veggies ahead of time and store them in containers.
I usually cut and dice veggies and fruit first.
When making your favorite recipe, double it and have a lot of leftovers for tomorrow so you do not have to cook every day!
Wash and cut your vegetables all at once.
Looks like great leftover storage ideas!