Rotini pasta with:
edamame
feta
Parmesan
spinach or arugula
vinaigrette (even just evoo and lemon juice with some salt is good)

Will your kids eat vegetable soup? This soup is incredibly quick, and really really good. It's from some Dr. Oz book my mom gave me. A version of Pasta e fagioli soup. DH and I eat it just with bread, nothing else. I also add edamame, which I buy frozen and shelled to keep on hand. (If canned tomatoes and store-bought broth don't bother you).

http://www.youbeauty.com/nutrition/frisky-pasta-e-fagioli-soup

(I googled, and this is the only website the right recipe came up on...it's about fertility, I don't know why. )

Buitoni tortellini (cooks really fast, fairly healthy, decent protein) with any jar sauce of your choice. I make this pretty quick sauce, but with feta instead of gorgonzola:
http://www.food.com/recipe/gorgonzola-and-walnut-spaghetti-178501

Really good with steamed or roasted broccoli and Italian or French bread. And the leftovers are perfectly fine the next day.

Some of our favorites include:

Pasta with pesto (can make pesto the night before or even in the morning before work to save time)
Crock pot meals (skinny taste has some surprisingly good ones)
Miso marinated salmon (great recipe on epicurious)
quesadillas
Pasta with spicy orange tuna sauce (awesome, easy recipe on washingtonpost.com -- we omit the red pepper flakes when cooking for kids)
Tuna cakes (martha stewart recipe -- super easy, really delicious)
turkey burgers
tofu "braised" in a thrown together mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and some chicken or veg broth, served with rice and a steamed veggie
pasta with tomato cream sauce (which we make)

The following ideas help me to save time: recipe planning and grocery shopping on weekends; prepping as much as possible the night before (for example, tonight we're having broccoli mac n cheese -- I put it altogether last night and will just have to throw it in the oven when I get home and will make a salad); using the crock pot, especially on days I know we'll be rushed when coming home from work; cooking rice in the morning while we're having breakfast so it's ready to heat up for a meal that night; and I've started using more frozen veggie mixes that cook directly in the microwave as an easy side dish. I also regularly steam/roast veggies for the kids to have as side dishes for dinner and lunches -- about twice a week -- so we always have something easy for them ready to go.

Oh, and double any recipe you make to freeze half for another week. Soup, casserole, etc can be frozen and it's not much extra time/labor to double a recipe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Other than crock pot meals, another idea is to make one meal on the weekend like a lasagna, cheesy broccoli chicken & rice casserole, enchiladas, etc. that can cover a dinner or two during the week.

Super quick meals for us are breakfast for dinner and stir frys with pre chopped and washed veggies and usually shrimp since it cooks so fast.

We like convenience foods from Trader Joes - fish nuggets, frozen meatballs in the crock pot with a jar of sauce, frozen turkey bolognese just cook pasta, chicken sausage sauteed w/fire grilled frozen onion/pepper mix, frozen brown rice that cooks in 3 minutes, etc. It's not perfect health food, but it is usually better than take out or fast food.

Not much.

It depends on what you get, but I disagree that it's not much better than take out or fast food. Frozen veggies with chicken sausage and brown rice? Give me a break, nothing wrong with that. The frozen veggies from TJs are literally just that, frozen veggies. Same with the brown rice, it's literally just brown rice. I haven't looked at the frozen pasta sauces, so I don't know about sodium and fat content of those, but there are some GREAT healthy options at Trader Joes for fast meals.

One of my favorites is TJs frozen pizza crust with pesto, a little fresh mozzarella, frozen fire-roasted corn, and cherry tomatoes for toppings. Delicious. With TJs frozen "french" (skinny) green beans, either broiled with seasoning or quick sauteed with olive oil and lots of garlic. This is a fast meal and delicious and not unhealthy.

Another is TJs chicken sausage with roasted veggies. If you've chopped it all in advance and have it in your freezer, throw it on a pan and roast at 450 for 20-30 minutes.

Another is TJs frozen tilapia. Put in the fridge in the morning so it's defrosted by evening. Saute in olive oil with salt and pepper and garlic. Squeeze lots of fresh lemon over it just before removing from the pan. Serve with wilted spinach (saute quickly in pan with olive oil, and I also like this with garlic and lemon and salt/pepper). You can small-dice potatoes in advance and have them roasting at 450 while you cook the rest. Or you could make a quick couscous or quinoa or brown rice to serve on the side.

OP here--thank you everyone for the great suggestions!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Other than crock pot meals, another idea is to make one meal on the weekend like a lasagna, cheesy broccoli chicken & rice casserole, enchiladas, etc. that can cover a dinner or two during the week.

Super quick meals for us are breakfast for dinner and stir frys with pre chopped and washed veggies and usually shrimp since it cooks so fast.

We like convenience foods from Trader Joes - fish nuggets, frozen meatballs in the crock pot with a jar of sauce, frozen turkey bolognese just cook pasta, chicken sausage sauteed w/fire grilled frozen onion/pepper mix, frozen brown rice that cooks in 3 minutes, etc. It's not perfect health food, but it is usually better than take out or fast food.

Not much.

Depends on what you get for fast food, but I do think something like organic chicken sausage with sauteed veggies and organic brown rice is generally healthier, cheaper than fast food, and can be prepared in about 10 minutes. It sounded like OP is looking for some easy meals that aren't pizza or chicken nuggets.

Sounds perfectly nutritious to me, PP.