5 Healthy Family Dinners for the Week Ahead
Every once in a while, our daily diet gets a little wayward. We have one too many dinners out or too many cheese plates for dinner and we need to do a hard reset on what we’ve been eating and get more vegetables on our plates.
For my family of four, that means a focus on proteins, vegetables, and whole grains, but it certainly doesn’t mean that there isn’t a little pasta or our regular pizza night. Here are the five healthy meals I’m cooking for my family this week.
Welcome to This Week’s Meal Plan
I believe meal planning is the secret to stress-free weeknight dinners. Since I’m frequently asked by friends and family what I’m cooking for dinner each week, I share my weekly meal plan here. Whether you’re just learning to meal plan and looking for a real-life example of how this works or you’re an old pro on the hunt for inspiration, here’s a peek at how I’m feeding my family this week.
New to meal planning? Start here.
There are actually more vegetables by weight in this pasta than there is pasta, which is one of my favorite strategies for getting my young kids to eat more vegetables! I’m switching things up a little and using a box of Banza chickpea pasta instead of standard penne here.
More about Banza pasta: The Healthy Pasta Alternative That’s Actually Good
Tuesday: BBQ Tofu Salad Bowls
These tofu bowls are ingenious on so many levels. First, the tofu is torn, not cut, to give it a crispier exterior. This method also makes it look more like chicken; I’m not trying to be sneaky, but if they try it first without knowing it’s tofu, my kids are likely to eat more of it. Second, all the vegetables for these bowls can be roasted, which makes prep a whole lot easier.
Wednesday: Vietnamese-Style Chicken & Noodle Salad
Sometimes a dinner makes the meal plan purely because I want to eat it. Do I think my kids are going to love the cabbage? That’s a hard “no.” But there are enough vegetables they do love plus rice noodles and seriously crave-worthy chicken for them to enjoy too.
This grain salad has the healthy, hearty makings of “breakfast for dinner” that my kids will absolutely love. I’m swapping the citrus pictured for first-of-the-season berries, pineapples, and some toasted almonds. We’ll have either fried eggs or hard-boiled eggs on the side.
Friday: Veggie Pizza and Every Pizza Place Salad
A healthy menu also means balance in all things. I’m doing a lot of cooking this week and plan on making Friday easy with a veggie-heavy pizza from our favorite delivery place. I’m making Faith’s amazing pizza place salad to serve with it!