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Simplify dinnertime with a Capsule Pantry

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Meal Planning, Recipes · May 1, 2017

7 One Pot 30 minute Kid friendly dinners

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Whenever I have a crazy week (and oh what a crazy one it’s been!), I reach into my arsenal of simple, one-pot meals that I can make quickly (read: 30 minutes or less). A lot of times they’re slow cooker meals but this week, spring is starting to peek through here in New York so I wanted to go with lighter, quicker meals that any busy mom can whip up.

Now, I don’t usually cook every night.

I like to throw one or two leftover days into my meal plan but I have friends that do make a complete meal 7 days a week. I also have friends that don’t love to cook so they “get it over with” by cooking multiple meals one or two days a week. And then I have the friends who do take-out multiple times a week. I’ve tried to convert them to freezer meals, but it just ain’t happenin’! One day…one day!

Just in case you decided to cook every night this week, this menu would certainly be quick enough since each can be made in less than a half hour!

ONE POT PASTA WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Is there anything better than a giant bowl of pasta, some spicy sausage, and gooey cheese? Okay, that might be my Italian side peeking through, but I seriously think there’s nothing better!

I love that the pasta cooks right in the pan with everything else, especially because if you know me at all, I hate dishes! So dinners that use one pot, the crockpot, or the grill are seriously up there on my list, like this ooey gooey masterpiece.

ONE POT CREAMY WHOLE 30 MUSHROOM & SAGE CHICKEN

Now, to balance out that giant bowl of pasta-y goodness up there, I bring you a bowl of healthy yet creamy chicken and ‘shrooms…mmmm….

I like to serve some meals without a grain on the side to balance it all out, even though I grew up with a grain or potato on the side of every.single.thing. After digging into the paleo lifestyle, I’m convinced we don’t need a side of carbs at every meal. So you can serve this one as-is or add some rice, but a nice green salad would be awesome with this too!

BASIL PESTO VEGETABLE PASTA WITH SHRIMP

I think my favorite part of this dish is that the pasta is mixed with zoodles. Pleeeeease tell me you’ve heard of zoodles? If not please get on board with this trend of “noodling” vegetables! It’s a great way to get kids eating more veggies without knowing it – “it’s just colored pasta, kid”. If you don’t have a spiralizer just use a julienne peeler to get those thin little strips! Anyhoo…besides all the hidden veggies in this one… those shrimps (or fwimps as my 3 year old calls them!) – large and sautéed with some parmesan…yum!

HEALTHY VEGETABLE FRITTATA

I love eggs. SO MUCH. I was so sad when I found out my youngest was allergic and since I was nursing, I went without them for 18 (EIGHTEEN!) months.

Back to frittatas though, they are so easy and a great way to use up those leftover veggies. So even though the baby can’t eat this, I would make this for everyone except him and then the leftovers would make a perfect quick breakfast with a green smoothie!

20 MINUTE TACO PASTA

Yay, mexican! I love the bold flavors of mexican – as long as it’s not too spicy (see below!) – and that this taco pasta whips up in no time. With that new no-boil pasta that’s in the grocery stores, this is almost a 15 minute meal!

This is something I make at least once a month and there are a lot of leftovers since my family is small, and I think I might even like the leftover version even better. Especially with some avocado on there and a dollop of sour cream!

WHITE BEAN KALE SOUP

This is a nice and light, spring-type of soup and it’s another one with hidden veggies (score for moms with picky kids!) . So you blend some of the beans and veggies into the broth to thicken it up, so even if your kids only slurp the broth – does that get on your nerves as much as mine?!? – they’re still getting the good stuff.

You could always throw some ditalini or alphabet pasta in there to entertain the kiddos, or some crusty bread for dipping. I might actually make this tonight because it’s rainy and dreary here, and this looks like the perfect cure!

CREAMY ONE POT BUFFALO CHICKEN PASTA

Now, I have not jumped on the buffalo-flavored-everything train, but my oldest son certainly has. His two favorite things are cheese and buffalo sauce, I kid you not. Now, most of the time, I make dinners everyone will like but I occasionally throw in “specials” for each family member. And everyone has to just deal with it 😉 Except me, I’m a big baby with spicy food – sometimes black pepper is too much for me! No, really.

So if this isn’t toooooo spicy for me, I’ll definitely have some and serve it with a salad. But my boy will certainly be in heaven!

So which one (or two… or all seven…) of these are going on your meal plan for the week? Don’t forget, download a meal planner from the Freebie Library to write them on!

In: Meal Planning, Recipes

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The best, true, good love. Nothing can separate us The best, true, good love. Nothing can separate us from it. 
❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day!
Fun fact: I have ZERO poker face. Like none. I’m Fun fact: I have ZERO poker face. Like none. I’m a thinker and have  always lived in my head. It’s the Enneagram 5 in me. 
Bonus: it’s allowed me to be able to talk my way out of any situation. (Except that one time in social studies in 10th grade when a girl was bullying me and I had to fight back. Let’s just say she left me alone after that!😂).
Anyhoo. A friend recently said to me “it makes sense that your face betrays you because you’re so in control of your tongue”. 
My face betrays me 😂 
She’s right, I can hold my tongue pretty well unless it’s something that really gets my goat. 
🐐Fun fact #2: “gets my goat” is one of my favorite phrases ever!
🤢 Fun fact #3: I am not a picky eater and will eat just about anything but don’t you dare make me eat a sandwich with the cheese and Mayo touching!! 
Tell me: are you a thinker too?!? What are some fun facts about you?
One of the most common misconceptions I hear about One of the most common misconceptions I hear about planning for more than one week is that it takes so much time...

But the reason this is such a big misconception is because if you think it take a lot of time to make a seasonal meal plan, think about how much time it takes you to meal plan from a blank slate every week. 
Let's look at it over the course of a year.
1. weekly meal planning 1 hour x 52 weeks = 52 hours
2. monthly meal planning 1 hour x 12 months = 12 hours
3. seasonal meal planning 2 hours x 4 seasons = 8 hours 

And we're not even talking about how much time you're losing by following a weekly meal plan and subsequently grocery shopping. 

Think about how much you're missing out on with your family by spending so much time planning and shopping so often. An hour meal planning + 2 hours grocery shopping every single week is 3 hours a week you could have back to do fun things with them!

I mean, I get it...you NEED to feed your family every day, right? (kinda something we hafta do...).
But you can  do 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 differently 👏🏼
A seasonal meal plan with not only help you spend less time in planning-mode, but also help with your grocery shopping so that you can go to the grocery store less, and stop making emergency trips to the store because you forgot something.

And while you're here, let me tell ya this: avoiding a seasonal meal plan because you don't have TIME is HOGWASH... because I have lots of short cuts and tricks to show you that will maximize your time. 

PS. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - I'm sharing my newest meal planning formula calendar... It's only around for a few days...see ya tomorrow!

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Meet Karyn. She had amazing results as a customer Meet Karyn. She had amazing results as a customer of ours and I need to share her with you.
 
She bought the Daily Dinner Blueprint calendar, dug right in, and told me she was so excited because she got these results:

📆 her meals are planned until SPRING (and she said it was painless!)!
🛒 a streamlined grocery shopping list!
🥣 an ingredient-based plan that doesn't limit what her family is eating!

She also said how every month "will be even quicker and easier"!

Here’s what she had to say about our business in her own words...
"My husband and I just did our first plan using your system and I wanted to drop you a line to say THANK YOU! Once you wrap your head around the process, and you start using it, it's easy to see how it will streamline grocery shopping without limiting what you are eating!

WOW! I would have to say this was pretty painless! Another benefit is I can see a clear way to categorize my recipes for future use! Each successive month will be even quicker and easier!

Back in the day, Emeril would've said "BAM, kick it up a notch!" I love that my meals are planned UNTIL SPRING! 🙌."

Thank you Karyn for being a customer! 💜
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#mealplanningideas #weeklymealplanning #budgetmealplanning #mealplanningonabudget #mealplanningmadeeasy #easydinner #recipesharing #mealideas #quickmeals #mealplanning #simplemeals #mealprepsunday #mealplanner #mealplans #mealplanapproved #mealplan #planningmom #whatsfordinner #minimalistkitchen #organizedpantry #livewithless #simpledinner #minimalistlifestyle #simpleliving #seeksimplicity #familymealplanning #mealplanningmommies #mealplanningmom #mealplanningblueprints #dailydinnerblueprints
One of the most common mistakes I see people make One of the most common mistakes I see people make when it comes to meal planning ​is doing it backwards.
BACKWARDS = planning your meals THEN doing your grocery shopping. 
Honestly, I used to teach it this way. 
But I found this doesn't work because:
🕳 you buy single, hard-to-find ingredients that end up in a black hole after you use it for just one recipe (oyster sauce in the back of the fridge, I'm looking at you...)
💰 you overbuy ingredients thinking this is the week your toddler finally eats broccoli, or this is the week you're totally going to cook every night...but end up eating the same thing over and over anyway.
🤷🏻‍♀️ you have too many options and if your plan gets interrupted (which it WILL), you're left staring at a full pantry or fridge wondering "what can I make???" And then end up ordering takeout!

Don't worry, I've got ideas for you. Check out my stories for 3 things you can do instead of backwards planning!
I could tell you so many things about this girl... I could tell you so many things about this girl... 
...my BFF Cara @apurposedrivenmom 
...but I want to focus on how she KILLS it at going after her goals. And loves teaching other busy mamas to do the same. 
She helped me map out an action plan for my goals on Saturday and wow, guys. Just wow. 
So I asked her if she would help my audience with their goal setting for the new year...
...and she agreed! 
Join both of us this Thursday (LIVE!) for “How to Take MASSIVE ACTION on your Goals (without burnout or overwhelm)”.
Sound like something you want to chat about with us?!? Link is in my bio (just click this picture of Cara and I!).
Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten prod Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten produce at the end of the week as much as I do? 
Focus on an ingredient-based meal plan instead of the other way around. That's what the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar does. Here's this week's meal plan...
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Monday: Dinner Blueprint # 51 (A4+B1+C3)
Homemade Pizza Dough & Pizza Sauce (two recipes)
‣‣‣Tuesday: Dinner Blueprint # 33 (A3+B1+C1)
Blackened Tilapia Tacos
‣‣‣Wednesday: Dinner Blueprint # 10 (A1+B3+C2)
Crispy Lemon Chicken & Veggies
‣‣‣Thursday: Dinner Blueprint # 5 (A1+B2+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 40 (A3+B2+C4)
Baked Fish Sticks (+ leftover veggies or salad)
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 13 (A1+B4+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken Soup (just add a carton of chicken broth to leftovers to make soup)
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 3 (A1+B1+C3)
Chicken Parmesan w/Pasta
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍉🥬Tell me... what fruit or veggie do you always end up throwing away? (watermelon and fresh spinach here!)
I don't know about you, but I can waste time like I don't know about you, but I can waste time like a CHAMP. Like re-drying the same load of laundry 3 times or scrolling IG like a zombie in bed.
Anyone else?
But I don't like it. 
And I definitely try to be more intentional on the things that give me more time back than what I spent on it. 
Meal planning is one of those things. Spend ONE hour a month meal planning, and you'll gain so many more hours each day (and *bonus* - it's during that dreaded pre-dinner time when the kids are maniacs!)

P.S. Please stop weekly meal planning. That doesn't actually save you time. (you can watch the ✨free training✨ in my link in bio if you want to know how often I suggest!)
Tell me...what would you do with an extra 30 mins each day?
New Month...new meal plan! Take an hour and make a New Month...new meal plan!
Take an hour and make an easy, monthly meal plan that focuses on the ingredients you eat and love - not one that tells you what to make (and then you have to go grocery shopping to get everything!) 
That's a backwards-based meal plan, friend.
Here's a sneak peek at my method:
Make a quick grid of 3 rows and 4 columns.
3 rows: A, B, C
A - main ingredient
B - side dish
C - flavor profile
4 columns: 1, 2, 3,4
Assign each space an ingredient and then mix and match... 
Here is each "formula of the day" for the rest of the week (since Jan 1st lands mid-week). Straight outta the January meal plan from the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar... 
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 36 (A3+B1+C4)
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia w/butter pasta
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 14 (A1+B4+C2)
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 23 (A2+B2+C4)
Italian Stuffed Peppers
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍔 Tell me... what's on your meal plan this week?
The 9-gazillion chicken recipes on Pinterest overw The 9-gazillion chicken recipes on Pinterest overwhelms me.
You too?
One of the many reasons I love chicken is because it's just so versatile. I mean, it cooks quick and there's sooooo many options out there. Just search "chicken recipes" and you'll come up with tens of thousands. 
(I'm looking at you again, Pinterest...). 
These are way too many options for me, so I created a simple mix and match method to come up with new dinner ideas.
✔️ limited ingredients means I'm not overwhelmed 
✔️ starts with flavors my family already loves to eat
✔️ less options means I can get dinner on the table quicker instead of staring into the fridge hoping dinner will just jump out at me!
Here's a few of these ideas on my meal plan (right outta my Annual Meal Planning calendar...).
What's your family's favorite chicken recipe?
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