Truly can't-even:
canned/boxed soup and sandwiches, rotisserie chicken or frozen chicken nuggets and a bag of microwave vegetables, Trader Joe's "Diner Mac & Cheese" (my kids hate Kraft) or tortellini (dried or frozen) and a steamed vegetable.

Minimal prep but quick and nutritious: sheet pan roasted salmon with microwave brown rice and a steamed or roasted vegetable; sheet pan roasted vegetables with shrimp.

Slightly more prep but still gets dinner on the table in ~30 minutes:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/zucchini-parmesan-chicken-meatballs/ (just the meatballs - the pasta and breadcrumbs aren't worth it. I like to add a couple of cloves of garlic to the meatball mixture, and we eat them with pesto pasta)
https://littlespicejar.com/tomato-baked-chicken/ (serve with crusty bread for dipping in pan juices)

Probably all of my dinners are I can’t even dinners! Lol.

Spaghetti, frozen meatballs, spaghetti sauce

Franks n beans

Store bought pizza dough, sauce, shredded cheese

I’m curious which of you who responded are thin, with normal weight families. I’d like to put some of your meals in our rotation. I suspect some of these meals, if eaten regularly, would make me or my family fat. Some of the chicken and veggie options seemed okay - the pasta, spam, quesadilla stuff seemed too unhealthy to do weekly.

I do a meal kit like home chef. It takes no thought.

A box of Goodles + a bag of frozen meatballs + steamed broccoli was my go to lazy meal when my kids were tiny

Scrambled eggs + waffles or toast is always a dinner treat to them for some reason

In a real jam, I never met a kid who didn’t love Beenie Weenies. Slice some hot dogs up in a can of baked beans, serve with some apple slices or carrot sticks or whatever makes you feel competent as a parent

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good ideas in this thread!

Tonight I microwaved frozen stir fry veggies and rice, and pan fried frozen dumplings

A new favorite is short cut fish tacos - toast your tortillas over the stove, bake frozen and breaded fish, cut up a jalapeño and cabbage, mix lime/yogurt/cilantro. Comes together in under 10 min (not including all the bake time) and is super easy and flavorful. Our kids just eat the fish and a plain tortilla and some fruit on the side.

I do this with butterfly shrimp - cook the shrimp, cut off the tails and throw in tortilla with avocado, maybe black beans, bagged slaw mix tossed with sriracha mayo. Easy peasy.

I also always have quart ziplocks full of homemade spaghetti sauce in the freezer -- I make a vat of it every few weeks. Nothing easier than melting some spaghetti sauce, cooking some pasta and ripping open a bag of salad.

I hate melting frozen bags of liquid. Do you thaw in fridge the night before? Or thaw in liquid (I’ve tried that but often leaks and then you have watery sauce)? Or cut the bag off and put frozen sauce blob directly in a pot on the stove to melt? I need your tips! I’ve always loved the idea of frozen leftover but hate the process of reheating. I feel like it doesn’t really save me any time or energy.

Anonymous wrote:Good ideas in this thread!

Tonight I microwaved frozen stir fry veggies and rice, and pan fried frozen dumplings

A new favorite is short cut fish tacos - toast your tortillas over the stove, bake frozen and breaded fish, cut up a jalapeño and cabbage, mix lime/yogurt/cilantro. Comes together in under 10 min (not including all the bake time) and is super easy and flavorful. Our kids just eat the fish and a plain tortilla and some fruit on the side.

I do this with butterfly shrimp - cook the shrimp, cut off the tails and throw in tortilla with avocado, maybe black beans, bagged slaw mix tossed with sriracha mayo. Easy peasy.

I also always have quart ziplocks full of homemade spaghetti sauce in the freezer -- I make a vat of it every few weeks. Nothing easier than melting some spaghetti sauce, cooking some pasta and ripping open a bag of salad.

Good ideas in this thread!

Tonight I microwaved frozen stir fry veggies and rice, and pan fried frozen dumplings

A new favorite is short cut fish tacos - toast your tortillas over the stove, bake frozen and breaded fish, cut up a jalapeño and cabbage, mix lime/yogurt/cilantro. Comes together in under 10 min (not including all the bake time) and is super easy and flavorful. Our kids just eat the fish and a plain tortilla and some fruit on the side.

Baked sweet potatoes with baked beans on top with cheese.

I'd get home from daycare with the kids at 6:30pm, and these were my rotation meals:
1) Perdue chicken patties (baked 11 minutes), pasta plus thin spaghetti, Raos sauce. You can add mozz cheese or parmesan cheese.
2) rotisserie chicken, bread (baguette from Giant), broccoli (DH would pick up on the way home)
3) frittata with ham and thawed frozen spinach, parmesan cheese
4) spaghetti with quick bolognase (ground meat and Classico tomato basil sauce)
5) meatloaf made the night before (usually a Sunday) and reheated when I got home. My kids favorite meal when they were toddlers.
I can barely eat any of these things now that they are teenagers, but they worked during those tough years.

Pizza: Whole wheat Mediterranean flat bread or Naan topped with tomato sauce, shredded cheese and anything else I have like sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach.

Bake at 425 for 10 min

My young kids loved salmon! (one called it “princess fish” bc I buy farm roased which is pink 😄) You can literally cook salmon in a little over 10 minutes in a 400 deg oven, and there is no trimming or pounding or cutting up the meat beforehand.

I prep it so many ways. I’d think about what would appeal to your littles - if they like chinese food, then a soy sauce marinade - if they like sweet, add honey or brown sugar - if they like plain, just salt/pepper and maybe a little lemon juice.

Sides could be - boxed cous cous, throw in some frozen peas and corn (cooks in even less time than salmon)- or flake into pieces and serve with tortillas and a drained can of black beans and store bought guac or salsa.

Shortcut black bean soup - 2 cans black beans, a can chicken broth, a cup of salsa. Simmer together for a bit, puree with immersion blender. Serve with quesadillas

Ground turkey (or beef)
Frozen chopped spinach
Jar of marinara

Brown the meat, add the spinach and sauce, (garlic /additional spices if you want) and cook for 10-15 min while boiling pasta.

the mirepoix from tj is a life saver for me- I soften the veggies, put in a spoon of herb mix (fresh Italian whatever) pour in chicken broth or water and better than bullion and add spinach tortellini. cook on a simmer for ten minutes. Add in baby spinach and if you have it some pesto stirred in. I used to get the Kirkland but went off it during pregnancy so get Gotham greens or the white squeeze packets from wegmans. will also soften and add in rotisserie chicken and really fine egg noodles fro chicken noodle soup, can get a few servings out of the rotisserie chicken for that. Or soften, add in a can of white beans and a handful of greens and some croutons on top, maybe a few tomatoes. the only caveat is that. if find that it gets gross in etc summer months- I think their trucks aren't as cold as other produce trucks.

I also put tortillas face up in the toaster- put some pre-cooked or canned black beans on one side, sprinkle cheese on top and toast, open the toaster and add some greek yogurt and store bought pico (TJ again ) and fold. If I have a soft avo, put in some slices and chill onion crunch (for myself and spouse) ad then fold and 1 is usually sufficient to fill you up b/c of the fat from the avocado and the protein from the beans. This is the quickest meal- quesadillas basically but no clean up b/c done in the toaster, sometimes served on a paper towel.

I also do a meal that the kids LOVE where I'l toss orzo/ditalina/stellini- something small in a pot of broth, add rotisserie chicken or chicken tenderloins with some Italian herbs and then broccoli once the meat is cooked through until the broccoli is soft. if I have tomatoes I'll add one as of those as well.

boil pasta and throwing in peas or pre cut broccoli the last few minutes and then tossing with olive oil & Parmesan is always good but not enough protein.

I also keep the greek chickpeas from tj's and bagged salad- I just throw them on top of the salad (usually the lemon parm one) Its a totally filling meal and everyone likes it. If no bagged salad- toss them with any greens with something crunchy, some cubes of cheese and any other salad fixings you like. the oil acts as a dressing, I dont even usually use all of it but its very flavorful and a meal is ready within 5 minutes - sometimes we even just eat. out of teh salad bowl I used to make it in b/c its too much work to sit down and eat.