A full month of easy healthy family dinner ideas to spark some new dinner inspiration, plus a printable calendar and tons of recipes to try!
We had such a fun weekend!
We had a play date Saturday morning, followed by a fun bounce house birthday party, followed by an afternoon at the pool and then a movie night -- cause we were wiped! We watched Moana for the first time and it's super cute.
Yesterday, we took the kids to our local amusement park, Carowinds, and had a blast! J (almost 4) was really into the kiddie roller coasters while older sister M screamed her head off. But she still had fun and it was a great, sunny day of rides!
Sooo... don't look now, but tomorrow is August 1st. (Anyone else just scream a little in their head?!)
That's right, depending on where you live, you may have days or weeks left until school kicks back up and we rush head-first into fall.
So today I wanted to help you get ahead a little and get dinner under control.
I gotta admit, too, I’m weirdly excited to bring you this post!
Mostly because I get weirdly excited to menu plan and schedule out our meals.
No really, it brings me joy. ❤️
I love to do it. I’ve got all of our August dinner menu filled out already and I spilled over into September before I could stop myself.
I think it’s the type A scheduler in me coming out in full force.
(If you’re interested, I’ve got a whole post on my official guide to meal planning, with all my tips and tricks.)
Today, I’m trying to make it easy on YOU by giving you 30 days of prompts for easy healthy family dinner ideas.
Yes, that's right, a full month of family friendly dinners so you don't have to even think about it. And these dishes are sure to please even the picky eaters in your family. (Well, most of them at least. Can't win 'em all, right? )
These aren’t specific recipes, though I’m gonna provide you with some of those, too, in case you want to browse for inspiration or a starting point.
Instead, these are general healthy dinner ideas - such as spaghetti, fajitas, chicken curry - that can prompt you to find a recipe that’ll suit your family’s needs.
It’s about breaking out of a rut, maybe introducing some new dishes and flavors and hopefully discovering some new favorites.
I’ve kept these prompts very basic. Most are probably recipes that you’ve had before, maybe cooked before, maybe eat on a regular basis. We’re not reinventing the wheel here. We’re starting slow.
But I have SO many more I can bring you if you like this!
A month of easy healthy family dinner ideas:
So that’s the list of the basic ideas. Hopefully some old favorite and hopefully some can be the new go-to dinner you need for busy nights!
Also, because I love you, and because I am type A and loved putting it together, I made you a free calendar printable with these dinner prompts spaced out - perfect for planning ahead!
I’ve also got a few specific recipes for you below if you want to check these out for a starting place.
Easy healthy dinner recipes to try:
- Homemade spaghetti dinner
- Healthy chicken fajita casserole
- Slow cooker balsamic chicken (quick + easy to prep!)
- Turkey sloppy Joe’s
- Kale and butternut squash mac and cheese
- Balsamic pork tenderloin with thyme (just 3 ingredients!)
- Quick chicken curry (an easy introduction to curry)
- Fast cheesy chicken and broccoli twice-baked potatoes (with a shortcut!)
- Southwestern chicken chopped salad or Asian chicken chopped salad
- Cheesy grits breakfast bowls
- Pork and broccoli slaw stir fry
- Slow cooker Thai pork
- Shrimp tacos with lime cabbage slaw
- Cheddar chicken burgers (just 5 ingredients!)
- Sheet pan chicken with broccoli and bell peppers
- One pot creamy chicken and mushroom pasta with peas
- Pizza-stuffed chicken (a kid favorite)
- Spicy pork fried rice
- Hobo stew (funny/old name, but so good)
I would LOVE to hear what you think about these dinner prompts!
Is this helpful? What do you like or not like about this set-up? What else do you need to help you get organized and plan a menu?
I’ve got so many ideas for more prompts and other types of menu planning posts but I want to do what’s most helpful for YOU!
Or if there’s some other way I could help you with meal planning, please let me know in the comments below or send me an email. (Or follow me over on Instagram and send me a DM there.)
Happy cooking!
XO,
Kathryn
P.S. Here’s the free printable calendar again!
Kathryn Pfeffer
What a great variety of meals! The kale and butternut squash macaroni is calling my name!
Kathryn
Thanks Kathryn! (And yay for spelling our names the same way!) That's definitely a favorite family meal around here 😊
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary
Sounds like you had another great weekend! And I'm SOOOO excited the kids had fun at Carowinds! I looked it up and showed Boy and told him he MUST take me there in the fall. So it looks like I will FINALLY be going to Charlotte.... only took 2 years of living here in NC and the promise of an amusement park to get me there. lol. Anyways, this post is amazing! THIRTY easy dinners!?! Good lord, YES! I'm terrible at planning dinner so thanks for ALL the inspiration! Cheers, doll! XO
Kathryn
You must go - it's a really great park and you will have a BLAST!! And then you can come over for dinner at my house after - or I'll meet you somewhere! Would love to get together! XO