When life gets crazy, healthy and homemade meals are usually the last thing I’m concerned about and takeout becomes a bit too much of a staple in our house.
We found this to be especially true after we brought our second baby home 9 weeks ago. And I think on day 12 in a row of takeout for dinner, I finally reached my breaking point and decided that something needed to change. I needed to find a strategy to simplify weeknight meals to make getting healthy and home cooked dinners on the table a possibility, even with a 2-year-old and newborn making things around here absolute chaos at times.
In the past few weeks, I’ve come up with a few different tips to simplify weeknight meals that I wanted to share with you all! Whether you’re in a busy season of life and struggle to find the time to make meals at home, or you just loathe cooking and want to reduce the amount of time you have to spend in your kitchen, I hope you find these tips helpful!
I also created a free meal planning printable pack complete with a weekly meal planner, organized grocery list, and favorite weeknight meals list that will help you to implement the tips I mention below. Be sure to fill out the form below to download it for free! ?
MEAL PLANNING PRINTABLES
Simplify weeknight meals with this free printable pack that includes a meal planner, grocery list, and favorite weeknight meals list!
7 tips to simplify weeknight meals:
1. Embrace easy and quick recipes
Keep things easy for yourself and don’t set out to make overly complicated meals on a weeknight. While it can fun to make a feast to sit down and enjoy, attempting to make an entree and multiple sides for just one dinner might be more stress than it’s worth on a Monday night….especially if you hate washing dishes as much as I do!
Some ideas to incorporate easy recipes into your meal planning:
- Invest in a slow cooker so that you can toss ingredients in the pot in the morning, forget about it, and then have a warm meal ready by dinnertime. I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t usually love the taste of meat that has been cooked in the slow cooker (I think I’m in the minority in feeling this way though), but I find that recipes where you have to pre-cook the meat on the stove top and then put into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients taste much better!
- Make one-pot meals. I just recently discovered the beauty of one pot meals and holy cow am I in love! They typically take 30 minutes or less to make and involve very little clean up after since you are literally using one pot and maybe a cutting board too. I just made this One-Pot Ham & Cheese Tortellini last week and my husband and I both thought it was really good! I’m sure our 2-year-old would have liked it too if she would have even bothered to try it ;). My hubby has also made this One-Pot Chicken Alfredo several times and it is delicious!
Related: 20 Easy & Healthy Snack Ideas
2. Make a list of quick and delicious favorite meal recipes your family loves and that you know how to cook well
A few weeks ago I made a list of all of our favorite meals that take 30 minutes or less to make and are things I’ve made several times, so I know the chances of me messing the recipes up are pretty slim.
It’s been so nice to have a go-to list of meal ideas to reference when I’m in need of dinner inspiration instead of combing through my recipe books or searching online and finding recipes that may or may not turn out well.
While I think it’s fun to add new recipes to your arsenal and be adventurous when it comes to meals you make, I now try to save new meal ideas for weekends when I have a bit more time on my hands (aka my husband is available to corral the kid chaos).
3. Meal plan using your favorite meal recipes list
Now that you have your list of favorite recipes at your disposal, it’s time to put them to use!
I know that carving out the time to sit down and spend 15 minutes planning out dinners for the week may seem a bit counter-intuitive to simplifying your weeknight meals, but I promise you that this one step makes all the difference in the world!
I typically like to sit down on Saturday mornings and come up with my meal plan for the week. I take into account what our schedules look like for the week and what nights we may be a bit more pressed for time, and then plan our meals accordingly. It truly saves me so much time throughout the course of the week when I’m not constantly trying to think of what to make for dinner each night or wondering if we even have the ingredients on hand that I will need.
Another great option to utilize if taking the time to do your own meal planning doesn’t interest you is to use a super inexpensive meal planning service such as eMeals.
eMeals weekly dinner plans include:
- Seven meals based on whatever eating plan you choose.
- A shopping list with all of the ingredients you’ll need that is organized based on sections within whichever grocery store you choose. They also coordinate the meal plan with weekly sale items if you choose which grocery store you like to shop at!
- Recipe instructions that are simple and easy to follow.
You can click here to try out a free 14 day trial of eMeals. I think this can be a great resource if you are super busy and want your meal planning and shopping list done for you every week, while also saving significant money by eating at home and having your grocery list coordinated based on whatever items are currently on sale at your grocery store. I’d say that’s pretty darn convenient!
Related: 5 Steps to Establish a New Habit
4. Make a grocery list and organize it by where the items are located within the store
After I come up with my meal plan for the week, I then sit down and make my grocery list so that I can make sure we have everything we’ll need for dinners for the week. There’s nothing more annoying than getting ready to make dinner at the end of a long day and then realizing you are missing one single ingredient, especially since a last minute grocery outing with a newborn and toddler in tow is like a three ring circus even on a good day š .
When I’m putting together my grocery list, I also like to organize it by categories of where the items are located within the store. This way I can hit each “area” of the grocery store in a progressive and productive manner and not be walking back and forth across the entire store multiple times as I grab each item on my list. This strategy makes for a much quicker shopping trip!
Related: How to Save Money on Groceries Without Coupons
5. Double or triple the amount you’re cooking and make freezer meals with the leftovers
I’m not a huge fan of the idea of spending an entire day just putting together freezer meals, but I’ve found that simply making a little bit more of a meal that I’m already cooking is hands down the easiest way to cut down on my overall amount of time spent in the kitchen.
If you are making a recipe that you really enjoy that you know for a fact would freeze well, consider doubling or tripling the ingredients the recipe calls for and then you’ll instantly have one or two extra meals to stash in your freezer for a future dinner!
We’ve been doing this with meals like lasagna, casseroles, and chicken pot pie filling. I’ll typically save these recipes that freeze well and try to make them on the weekends when I have a bit more time so that I can triple the amount I’m making and then easily have two dinners in the freezer to pull out at a later date.
I also like to plan my freezer meals into my meal plan so then I go into the week knowing I only have to do actual cooking for 3-4 dinners! I pull the freezer meal out the night before we plan to eat it and then let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
Some supplies I like to have on hand for freezer meals:
- Aluminum disposable pans – our family typically can only eat half of a 9×13 casserole meal at a time, so freezing them in these smaller portions makes sure none of the food ends up going to waste!
- Freezer gallon bags – these are great for freezing things like chicken pot pie filling, especially if you have a small freezer like we do!
- Round freezer containers – these are perfect for freezing leftover spaghetti sauce or other types of liquids so that it makes minimal mess during the thawing process.
Related: 17 Tips for Living a Healthier Life
6. Forgo homemade in the name of convenience
I will never claim to be one of those amazing homemakers that makes everything we eat from scratch. I enjoy trying my best to cook healthy meals as much as possible and buying organic when we can, but I’m also all about embracing convenience when it makes my life a heck of a lot easier.
Some of the ways you can utilize convenience foods to simplify cooking:
- Buy rotisserie chicken already cooked at the store instead of making it yourself. I typically like to shred it up for chicken enchiladas, tacos, etc.
- Buy microwavable packages of rice. My hubby likes white rice and I like for my toddler and I to eat brown rice, so instead of making two pots of rice every time we want it, buying the packages I can just throw in the microwave is such a time saver!
- Buy prepared foods like stir fry kits that have the veggies already chopped up and the sauce prepared for you so that all you have to do is throw it into a skillet with some meat and you’re good to go.
7. Plan take out meals into your meal plan
My hubby and I love getting takeout. It’s fun to not only try out new restaurants, but to get a break from cooking and doing dishes too! This may not work for everyone, but I like to actually put our plans to get takeout dinner into my meal plan for the week.
This way, I know that particular night’s dinner is accounted for and won’t need to get groceries for that meal. It’s also a yummy treat that I look forward to all week and is motivation to stick with our meal plan the rest of the week since I know I’ll get a break from cooking when our takeout night rolls around. It also makes me feel good when we use takeout as a fun treat for ourselves instead of something I’ve been forced to resort to because I failed to get dinner on the table for my family š .
Do you have any tips to simplify weeknight meals that you could add to this list? I’d love for you to share in the comments below so we can all learn from each other!
Donāt forget to grab your free printables!
MEAL PLANNING PRINTABLES
Simplify weeknight meals with this free printable pack that includes a meal planner, grocery list, and favorite weeknight meals list!
There are affiliate links in this post. If you choose to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I love myself and that I think would benefit you too. Thank you for helping to support Embracing Simple in this way!
FABULOUS tips!!! I am so bad at meal planning; this is much-needed in my life! I really like the list on favorite weeknight meals. I feel like I make something that we all like, and then completely forget about it and never make it again all too often. Thanks, girl!! I will definitely be printing these out and using them!!
Thanks Sarah! That was my problem too, the favorite meals list really comes in handy for that reason! š Enjoy!!
I like to utilize raw vegetables into my meal. Who says a cut up cucumber can’t be your veggie for the meal? How about sliced peppers or carrots?
If I am cooking/stirring something, it is super easy to pull out a cutting board and slice and serve! No pots or pans or serving bowls. It is enjoyed by my kids more than a green bean casserole!
Thanks for sharing Rita! It’s funny, my Mom actually served fresh raw veggies with dinners quite often when I was growing up and we loved it! Thanks for reminding me about that, veggie platters do tend to go over well with kids! š
I am in total agreement that if you plan “take out” it is better than if you have to get it! I try and make a big meal on Saturday & Sunday and that will make for some good left overs in case I just don’t feel like cooking. My husband and I work together so if lunch is ordered out and is a sizeable feast it is as easy as a left over or a soup and sandwich night š
I love making a huge dinner on a weekend night too for all the leftovers Lisa, great ideas!!
Christina,
Great tips, I like the idea of one pot meals. I’m not a big fan of the slow cooker “taste” as well but I don’t mind using it every now and then. My go-to slow cooker meal is a beef dip. Slow cook the beef with the ingredients for the “dip” and when done, make a beef sandwich and use the liquid to dip your sandwich in! Yum and with fresh veggies on the side it makes for a nice meal.
Thanks for sharing Elna! I’m always looking for good slow cooker meal ideas!
I donāt understand how people get through weekly meals without planning. If I donāt plan my meals Iām left eating canned beans and scrambled eggs, it’s sad but very true. I love all of these tips and will adopt them in the near future. Thanks for the free printable.
Haha Mary, I used to plan meals on a daily basis pre-kids and it actually did work out somewhat fine because I would have time to go to the grocery store several times per week…but that definitely isn’t happening these days! I do think it’s so much more efficient to plan out and shop for several meals at once though!
Good tips for meal planning! I think this is something many of us struggle with.
Thanks Carey!
These are great tips! It might be worth mentioning, too, that for those who are wanting to eat healthier, only shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Fruits, veggies, meat, dairy, and baked goods can normally be found outside of the aisles.
Also, I’ve found that grocery shopping as a family gets everyone excited about what’s for dinner!
Thanks so much Sarah, that’s a great tip!
Love these tips, and used most of them when my kids were home. Since we live in a rural area, when making my menu plan I used the grocery ads to take advantage of the on sale items. Do they even have grocery ads any more? Also, I planned a couple of extra meals in case something came up and the preplanned meal wasn’t a good option. Working on getting back in planning mode now that it’s just me.
Hi, we have been RVing for a year now and we love it. Iāve learned to us crock-pot, plus, we do bbq a lot if weather permits. Pinterest has giving me a lot of information. Thank you and love your page.rluy
I have a mini fall goal to make all seven of these soups and share them with friends and neighbors. I started today with number 1, made one pot for a friend who had a baby and shared another pot with friends we havenāt spent time with in too long. The things you love are the things I love, too. The gospel, family, hospitality, and cooking. Iām not so good at the decorating part.juice
Hi, I know this recipe was posted years ago, but I just wanted thank you for this is easy and delicious meal. food Mixer
Never thought to add cherries to a savoury salad- pinning this, I reckon the tartness would compliment salmon perfectly!Recipe
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It looks like you had a great weekend with so many tasty recipes. I am glad to hear you loved the salad. The dressing is definitely the best part. Thanks for sharing!tasty recipes
This may be a silly questionā¦. do i make the bouillon as it says on the box.. and then just use 1/4 of that broth??? Also i accidently bought huge bok choy should i just chop it up or go back and get baby??salsa ensalada cesar
Ashley, this was great! Loved that I only had to pick up a couple of ingredients on the way home. Will make this again.Wodka
I love these tips. Thanks so much. I need to get one of those single burners. We only have the 3 of us, so I think that would be enough for some simple meals.Apricot Jam
Unfortunately I am not an Instant Pot user and the directions do not reference Instant Pot or pressure cooker instructions. I wish I could help out with your question.Meal Prep
I absolutely do not like to cook (but I like to eat delicious food). That’s why I’m always looking for ways to make it easier to cook delicious meals.
You know, slow cooker is my best purchase. I do not know how I used to live without this device.
And of course I need planning. I always make my diet for a few days in advance.
Thank you! These are really useful tips!
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