Three Easy & Healthy(ish) Family Friendly Dinner Ideas

When I imagined being a parent, I always imagined cooking super healthy and yummy meals for my kids. But the reality is that most nights I am tired and I just want something easy that we all like and something that takes minimal amounts of cleanup. So today, I am sharing three of my go-to easy meals that my family enjoys regularly and are relatively healthy.

I hope these will give you an easy option or some inspiration for your family.

1. Turkey Chili & Cornbread

My husband loves my chili, it was actually the first meal I ever made for him when we were dating. My son is allergic to garlic, so I have to make his a little differently, but he enjoys it too. The best part though with this recipe is it's super easy, cheap, and it lasts a few days.

All you need:

• Ground meat

• Canned Kidney Beans

• Canned Black Beans

• Canned Diced Tomatoes

• Chili Seasoning (you can find packets of pre-made seasoning by other seasonings at the grocery store).

• Chili toppings of your choice (we use sour cream, cheese, and jalapenos at my house)

If you want to make cornbread:

• cornbread mix

• canned corn

• canned diced pickled jalapenos (optional)

• block of cheddar cheese - shredded (optional)

We generally have ground turkey in the freezer because we buy it at Costco or Sam's Club. I like ground turkey because it is a bit leaner than beef, but you could really use any ground meat for this recipe.

All of the other ingredients (other than toppings) are canned (so cheap and easy to store). I like to use black beans, kidney beans, and diced tomatoes in my chili. In addition, I generally go for store-bought chili seasoning - it makes it super easy.

Step 1: brown the meat

Step 2: drain the meat

Step 3: Add the chili seasoning (I like McCormick's or Kinder) and follow the directions on the packaging

Step 4: Add canned beans and tomatoes

Note: Since I buy ground turkey at Costco, it's a lot of meat (just under two pounds), so I add two cans of black beans, two cans of kidney beans, and two cans of diced tomatoes.

Step 5: stir and let simmer for 15 - 20 minutes

Step 6: Put in bowl and top with the toppings of your choice

See, super easy and yummy!

My family also loves cornbread of course. So if you want to add cornbread, I recommend buying a box of the mix at the store (I recently have been using the Trader Joe's cornbread mix, but the basic Jiffy mix is good too). But I like to add to my cornbread - I always add a can of corn (be careful how much liquid you add - I usually try to drain about half the liquid). I have also added jalapenos (1 can) and cheddar cheese (8 ounces or to taste) to the mix, which is delicious.

Here is the real trick to my cornbread that I learned from my mother-in-law. I cook it in a cast iron skillet by preheating the oven according to the directions, then put in my cast iron with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan completely, and I heat the oil for about 20 minutes by itself. After the oil has heated for about 20 minutes, I add the cornbread mix and it starts cooking and sizzling immediately, I then follow the directions on the packaging. I highly recommend this - it makes the cornbread so much better!

2. Spaghetti & Chicken Meatballs

My son absolutely loves meatballs and I have learned from daycare that most kids seem to love meatballs. This is one of his favorite meals and it's pretty easy to incorporate veggies.

All you need for this recipe is:

• Pasta (spaghetti or whatever pasta your family prefers) - I often use Banzaa chickpea pasta because it provides extra protein

• Meatballs

• Spaghetti Sauce

• Veggies (if you want to mix some in with the meatballs and spaghetti sauce) - Squash, zucchini, mushrooms, and peas are all easy to mix in veggies I have mixed in before

• Shredded Mozzarella and/or Parmesan

Chicken meatballs are yummy and leaner (less saturated fat) than their beef counterparts, but any meatballs could be used for this recipe idea.

So I buy meatballs that are pre-made. I have used thawed from frozen and just pre-made in the refrigerated section meatballs (Trader Joe's has some good chicken meatballs in the refrigerated section!). I also use jarred spaghetti sauce - whichever brand your family prefers.

Since my son is allergic to garlic, it can be hard to find meatballs that don't have garlic, but I have found a couple of frozen brands that are garlic free. And Rao's makes a garlic-free marinara (but these are unique challenges for my family).

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Step 2: Put meatballs and spaghetti sauce in a cast iron skillet and bake for 20 (ish) minutes - I recommend keeping an eye on it - my husband and I both are big fans of using a meat thermometer (since every oven is slightly different) to make sure any meat we are cooking meet the recommended guidelines.

Step 3: While your meatballs are cooking, cook your pasta (use directions on the box)

So I have looked up cast iron meatballs on Google and most don't include veggies. But I try to make sure my son is getting veggies with every dinner. And they are so easy to add to spaghetti! You can use any leftover veggies you have or you can roast (or your chosen cooking method) veggies on a second rack in your oven and then mix them in at the end (or when you plate).

Step 4 (optional): cook veggies (directions would vary based on the veggies)

Step 5: Once the meatballs are almost done, grate cheese (or add slices of mozzarella) on top of meatballs and sauce to melt in the oven for the last three (ish) minutes.

Step 6: Combine ingredients in a bowl and serve.

I am lucky because my son likes most veggies. But I have found if it is covered in spaghetti sauce he doesn't really examine it before eating - he just dives in and usually likes it!

3. Tamale Bowls

So a little over a year ago my mom introduced me to frozen tamales from the Texas Tamale Company and my family has been eating them regularly ever since. I buy my tamales at Trader Joe's. You can find selling locations on the Texas Tamale Company website or use any tamale brand you prefer. I have found it pretty easy to find them in the frozen section of the grocery store.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find any tamales that do not include garlic. But my son did like these before we discovered the garlic allergy.

This meal is easy to make, easy to clean up, fast, and super yummy. All you need is:

• Tamales

• Rice or Riced Cauliflower

• Toppings of your choice

• Optional: chips

Step 1: Cook the Tamales according to the directions on the packaging. (I steam the ones we get for 15 - 20 minutes, and I can walk away during that time, which makes it even easier!)

Step 2: Meanwhile, cook the rice or riced cauliflower

We used riced cauliflower from Costco, which comes in one-pound microwavable packages and is really good. All I have to do is microwave it for seven minutes in the packaging. (The riced cauliflower at Trader Joe's is really good too). My mom likes to mix rice and riced cauliflower. If I use rice, I like microwavable in-packaging rice (also from Trader Joe's).

Step 3: Plate it - I make a bed of rice or riced cauliflower, then put the tamales on top, and then toppings. We use salsa, sour cream, guacamole or avocado, and pickled jalapenos as toppings.

It is good to just eat with a fork, but sometimes we like to mix all of the ingredients and use chips to dip in our bowl. (This is what I do at Chipotle too).

So I hope this list has given you a couple of ideas on relatively healthy meal ideas that the whole family will enjoy! I know I need easy options or it's too tempting to just get takeout.

Remember Mama, you are doing a great job! You got this!