Quick Dinner Ideas

Happy Monday! Hope you are enjoying your summer! My family took a few days off and went to West Virginia to visit my parents over the 4th of July weekend. They have a beautiful property on a river,

and their little town has a really wonderful parade.

My mother is always in the kitchen creating mouthwatering meals, so we tend to over indulge, and come back with a couple of additional pounds! 😛

If you need some inspiration for feeding your crew,
here’s some ideas for this new week:

To me, “quick” dinner ideas doesn’t necessarily mean a meal you can throw together in five minutes. To me, the quick part comes before dinner time by:

having a plan for this week’s dinners
having the ingredients on hand–(a.k.a. a trip to the grocery)

That is the biggest hurdle to jump in having a quick dinner. Once you do that, for the most part you are set!

For those nights however, that you literally may have minutes to spare, plan a few super simple dinner ideas:

light all beef kosher hot dogs (nitrate free if you can find them)
pasta
scrambled eggs
frozen veggie burgers
burritos with whatever fillings I have on hand
frozen chicken, veggie and pasta “dinner in a bag” from the freezer section of the grocery
a crockpot meal that you started in the morning and is ready at dinner time
keep raw veggies and fruits on hand to add to a less than ideal dinner

Check out my post 10 Ways to Make “Making Dinner” Easier.

To help with menu planning and grocery shopping, be sure to check out my free printables:
Dinner Planner and Grocery List Printable
Weekly Meal Planner
Printable Grocery List

Sometimes we get in a rut for breakfast and lunch, so here’s some ideas to get you started:

Breakfast Ideas:
(Any combination of the following)
French toast
Cereal
Fruit
Waffles
Toast
Eggs
Oatmeal
Poptarts
Egg whites and spinach (hubby’s choice)
Pancakes
English muffins
Muffins
Baked oatmeal
Breakfast cookies
Quiche
Cinnamon rolls
Pumpkin pancakes
Baked eggs and cheese casserole
Toasted peanut butter & banana sandwich
Coconut Quinoa Granola

Lunch Ideas:
(We like to add fruit and/or carrots to any of these “entrees”)
Pasta (my kids love it)
Ravioli
Macaroni and cheese
Vegetarian corn dogs
Vegetarian hamburgers
Hot dogs (We like Hebrew National)
Chicken, turkey or ham sandwiches
Graham crackers and milk
English muffins
Peanut butter and fluff sandwiches
Whole wheat toast
Soup
Yogurt or cheese sticks, crackers
Leftovers

Okie doke, on to this week’s quick dinner ideas:

Hope you have a great week!

Lasagna Soup
Grocery list: Canned diced tomatoes, ground beef, pasta sauce, beef broth, pasta, Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese

Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Red Peppers and Spinach
Grocery List: Ricotta cheese, red peppers, spinach, garlic, lemon and fettuccine noodles

Pesto chicken salad sandwiches
Grocery list: Chicken, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, mayonnaise and Italian bread

Brown beans (Pinto beans) and cornbread

Taco pie and salad
Grocery list: Pie crust, ground beef, taco seasoning, olives, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, corn chips and salad ingredients