Healthy dinner recipes that are easy, can be prepared ahead of time or are prepared in the slow cooker. Recipes that are kid tested with vegetarian options!
At the end of a long day when being tired starts to set in it is time to think about dinner. And at that time the kiddos are probably having their orderly 5:00 hunger melt-down.
I can relate to a child. Can you? Here is why…
I will never forget moments of pregnancy. Those first three months are brutal. But well worth it. Feeling nauseous and having low blood sugar levels in full bloom if you don't eat. Only when you do eat it doesn't go away! It. Never. Goes. Away! Until hopefully about month 4.
One time I was sitting at Pizza Guru in Santa Barbara ordering a large veggie loaded gluten free pizza for myself. I was about to go hysterical and make a disorderly scene if I did not shove that pizza into my mouth promptly! What is taking sooooo long????!!!!
And then I took that one bite of that glorious pizza and it was like the Snickers commercial… oh, she's back with us now!
Gosh, the kiddos are totally the same way! Only when you slave for hours over dinner all you hear at times is “Eww, I don't want that.” Real cool kids. Real cool…
Healthy dinner recipes are probably the last thing on your mind when drive thru meals sound better. I don't blame anyone for grabbing a quick and easy meal from the closest restaurant when needed. And sometimes anything in the freezer that can quickly be microwaved and served before hungry bellies start to overtake the (your) brain will serve well. But fresh is best!
The naked truth is that eating healthy and making quick healthy dinners is easier than one thinks. It just takes a bit of planning and preparing.
How to prepare healthy dinner recipes that are proven easy and delicious:
- Start with preparing in the beginning of the week or over the weekend. Sit down and write out a meal plan for the week. Then do the weekly grocery shopping twice. Once at the beginning of the week and another mid-week. Mid-week is to get veggies that would otherwise expire and be wasted if bought on Monday. Chop all the vegetables for snacks and salads and prepare them in containers to store in the refrigerator. Doing the prepping ahead of time is the best start to healthy dinner recipes – half the work is already done – which is the chopping!
- Quiche. Quiche is a great way to get a balanced diet. And it can be made ahead of time too. If the veggies are chopped, just put everything in the quiche and whisk together the egg and other ingredients. Then pour on the quiche, bake and let cool. Quiches can be frozen or stored in the refrigerator and ready to heat and eat the next evening. Re-heat at 325 Degrees F for about 20-30 minutes covered until heated through.
- Crockpot. Slow cooker recipes rock in the healthy dinner recipes category. They can be made in the morning and ready when you are home from work or activities! I made the Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili recipe for a few friends who had babies and all the families gave great reviews of this recipe! If vegetarian, just do not use chicken and substitute it for 1 can of pinto beans of 1 can or kidney or black beans. Still fabulous and crock pot style!
- Tacos. Tacos are one of our favorite quick and easy healthy dinner recipes for kids. Our kids are obsessed with bean and cheese burritos and anything of that sort. They are healthy too! We saute cabbage and onion or just make cod fish tacos or bean and cheese tacos often. For the kids they are stuffed with lots of cilantro for greens.
- One dish meals. One dish meals are awesome such as lasagna, pasta and tuna casserole. It's a full balanced meal in one dish! Protein, vegetables, and healthy carbohydrates with no added sugar.
- Healthy Tips 101. Chop up vegetables super tiny in all of these dishes. Kids tend to eat veggies in tiny slices in baked goods rather than chunks.
These are my Top 15 Delightful Mom Food Recipes that kids love and I am pretty sure yours will too! Kids go though stages of eating them on and off again- but each recipe is packed with vegetables that will energize the whole family! Some of these healthy dinner recipes are slow cooker recipes that can be thrown in the crockpot in the morning and ready to serve at the end of the day. Winning for sure! And another favorite food of kids are veggie packed pastas and quiches. Quiches can have the vegetables pureed into them for texture purposes. Drizzle in lots of organic ketchup makes a quiche a fun meals for kids too! They can dip food and experience textures!
- Cilantro Basil Pesto Pasta
- Breakfast Quiche
- Cornbread Spring Pot Pie
- Chickpea Salad
- Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili
- Enchilada Casserole
- Crockpot Quinoa Tex-Mex Recipe
- Green Eggs Quiche (spinach, tomatoes, onions pureed!)
- Healthy 10 Minute Vegetarian Taco Salad
- Low Fat Tuna Casserole Recipe
- Sauteed Asparagus With Eggs and Potatoes
- Spinach and Egg Baked Phyllo Cups
- Skinny Roasted Vegetables And Quinoa Salad
- Zucchini Pasta In Marinara Sauce
- Tomato Onion Tart
Bonus: These Portabella Stuffed Mushrooms we served at a dinner party with a bunch of kiddos. Some ate the whole thing and some just ate the filling. Either way- it was the kids eating lots of vegetables at dinner!
One more healthy dinner tip the whole family will enjoy: Make food fun! In colors, in shapes, in textures and in design. Talking about what it does for the body. Pretend you see the muscles growing on a child when they eat their asparagus, it works and makes food fun!
Please Instagram me when you make any of these. Hashtag me at #delightfulmomfood and find me at @delightfulmomfood and show off your stuff!
Enjoy!
xx,
Danielle
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