You can’t do it all. And early on as a parent, I found that out by burning out completely while trying to be the perfect mother. One of the first things I abandoned to reestablish my sanity? Not trying to cook three from-scratch meals for my family every day while also trying to parent, work, and clean.
Let’s face it: if you’re in the parenting business, you better have a few incredibly easy go-to meals up your sleeve and you better be able to produce them in minutes.
Over on Reddit, one parent wanted to crowd source more easy meal ideas, and they were not playing.
“Hit me with your single EASIEST healthy kid dinner!!! If a cutting board is involved it’s too hard. If you’re blending something it’s WAY too hard. If even a single pot or pan is involved, I’m still listening but I’m suspicious.”
Love this. Love that no one is beating around the bush here. We don’t want a mess. We don’t want effort. We don’t want dishes. Just get the bellies full and let’s move on.
The poster also gave an example of their favorite easy kid meal go-to: “Microwave a sweet potato. Scoop out the inside. Microwave some canned chili. Throw together. Meal!”
Down in the comments, parents delivered.
First off all, every listed “kid charcuterie,” although it goes by different names, like “snack dinner” and “muffin tin dinner.” You are familiar with this: a bunch of little snacks on a plate that barely require cutting or effort. Hell, I still eat this for more meals than I like to admit to.
Here are some other brilliant kid dinner ideas from the crowd:
“Costco rotisserie chicken, 90 second rice in a bag from Aldi, frozen veg in a bag. Serve all things directly from bags to plate.”
“Quesadilla. Don’t even cut it.”
“I put a fried egg, half an avocado and seasoned seaweed on top of rice with some soy sauce and sesame oil.”
“Chicken nuggets in an air fryer. Slice up some peppers. Just do it in your hand, a cutting board isn’t necessary.”
“frozen potstickers+broccoli+microwave frozen sticky rice”
“Frozen meatballs and instant mashed potatoes. Toss some veggies on the side if you’re feeling ambitious.”
“Naan, hummus, cut up cucumber.”
“Canned tomato soup and toast with cheese.”
“I get a rotisserie chicken from any local supermarket and throw some in a taco shell with guacamole and shredded cheese.”
“Trader Joe’s orange chicken, bag of frozen broccoli in microwave, bag of rice in microwave.”
“Pizza chicken. Breaded chicken patty. Bake for half time flip add pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese bake for second half. Serve with rice, pasta, Mac and cheese and frozen veggies.”
“Oatmeal with peanut butter, maybe some chocolate or bananas on the side (just to chomp bites out of)”
“Pigs in a blanket.”
“We call it “mac and peas”. Box of Annie’s or Goodles, pour in some frozen peas.”
Hope everyone found some good ideas in there — or at least that you now feel better about your parenting and meal plan. Here’s to another day of keeping our children alive.
