Is dinner time crazy at your house? Do you find yourself having to get dinner on the table in record time while keeping the peace amongst your kiddos and doing one hundred other things? I hear ya! Dinner time has turned into madness at my house as of late most days. I get 20 minutes of peace whilst my kiddos watch their daily show which I use to get their clothes ready for the next day. After that, all bets are off. Some days, they get into a game that keeps them engaged until my husband gets home from work and we all sit down for dinner. The other day for example they got into organizing a birthday party for one of their cat stuffies. When they go off on a tangent that is working well, I encourage it. Most days though, peace is short-lived.
My toddler will venture into the kitchen for countless refills of his snack bowl. He is a bottomless pit- specially in the evening before dinner. Sometimes, he'll even open up the fridge door and select for himself what he wants to snack on or play with the fridge light. As time progresses, there will be quarrels I need to break up, my toddler will hide in the cabinets, open drawers and walk away with kitchen utensils...It never gets boring.
So how do I navigate this? I do have my nights where I just pop frozen pizzas in the oven and serve them with veggies and hummus. For the most part though, I resort to dinners that don't take long to put together. In this weekly series, I will aim to bring you a healthy dinner that does not take long to put together. I am not reinventing the wheel here. I am just selecting menus that I know are easy to prepare and work well with my family. We eat gluten and dairy-free so the recipes will fit those requirements. I hope you will find my menus helpful or at least a little inspiring. By having them all in one place, it also helps me too. Do you find yourself forgetting about dishes that worked well with your family? I do. I think it's part mom brain, part too much multitasking brain.
Here is how I prepare the cauliflower stir fry:
Ingredients
2 tbsp sesame oil
Trader Joe's cauliflower stir fry mix (1 bag has 5 servings)
Trader Joe's frozen broccoli
Trader Joe's frozen chicken tenders- love these! So convenient.
carrots
garlic (1 clove)
1. Heat the sesame oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and season them to taste. Saute the chicken until cooked thoroughly, about 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and tent with foil.
2. In a separate pan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the garlic finely minced and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the carrots (cut in slices) and the frozen broccoli and cook for a few minutes. Add the cauliflower stir fry mix. Stir-fry for a few minutes. Cover, lower the heat and cook until the cauliflower is soft but not mushy.
Voila! Dinner is served. I know my kiddos will eat the chicken and they don't mind the cauliflower. It looks like rice to them so I do not say it's cauliflower. It's easier that way, specially in the evening.
This is a quick meal that does not require a lot of work to put together. It is healthy and also flavorful. Give it a try! You can make extra for lunch the next day- it makes packing lunches easier!
Hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading!
My toddler will venture into the kitchen for countless refills of his snack bowl. He is a bottomless pit- specially in the evening before dinner. Sometimes, he'll even open up the fridge door and select for himself what he wants to snack on or play with the fridge light. As time progresses, there will be quarrels I need to break up, my toddler will hide in the cabinets, open drawers and walk away with kitchen utensils...It never gets boring.
So how do I navigate this? I do have my nights where I just pop frozen pizzas in the oven and serve them with veggies and hummus. For the most part though, I resort to dinners that don't take long to put together. In this weekly series, I will aim to bring you a healthy dinner that does not take long to put together. I am not reinventing the wheel here. I am just selecting menus that I know are easy to prepare and work well with my family. We eat gluten and dairy-free so the recipes will fit those requirements. I hope you will find my menus helpful or at least a little inspiring. By having them all in one place, it also helps me too. Do you find yourself forgetting about dishes that worked well with your family? I do. I think it's part mom brain, part too much multitasking brain.
Here is how I prepare the cauliflower stir fry:
Ingredients
2 tbsp sesame oil
Trader Joe's cauliflower stir fry mix (1 bag has 5 servings)
Trader Joe's frozen broccoli
Trader Joe's frozen chicken tenders- love these! So convenient.
carrots
garlic (1 clove)
1. Heat the sesame oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and season them to taste. Saute the chicken until cooked thoroughly, about 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and tent with foil.
2. In a separate pan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the garlic finely minced and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the carrots (cut in slices) and the frozen broccoli and cook for a few minutes. Add the cauliflower stir fry mix. Stir-fry for a few minutes. Cover, lower the heat and cook until the cauliflower is soft but not mushy.
Voila! Dinner is served. I know my kiddos will eat the chicken and they don't mind the cauliflower. It looks like rice to them so I do not say it's cauliflower. It's easier that way, specially in the evening.
This is a quick meal that does not require a lot of work to put together. It is healthy and also flavorful. Give it a try! You can make extra for lunch the next day- it makes packing lunches easier!
Hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading!
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