My 4 tips for easy weeknight meals ♥

Hello Friends!  How is your week going so far?  All in all, things are well with me.  I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning and organizing.  I love that feeling of starting the week off on the right foot.  The days sometimes rush by so fast, the only way I can stay ahead of the game is to be prepared.  Specifically, dinnertime.  Why is it that all the chaos has to happen between 5 - 7 pm? Probably because by that time we are all tired and hungry. I know I am. 

Mondays are the only day of week that I have off from work so I use that day to do some kitchen prepping.  I wanted to share with you a few things that I do on Mondays to help make my weekly dinners a little less chaotic.  

(I wrote about my love for Monday's in a post here if you want to read why I love them so much! ♥)

I wouldn't exactly call myself a "meal planner" but I always have a loose idea of what I'm going to cook during the week.  For example, this week I know I'm going to have chicken, burgers, and steak,  I'm not exactly sure which nights yet, but I have all the makings for those meals. 

That being said, here are my top 4 tips for weekly meals....  

#1. At the beginning of the week do a meal prep.  Wash and chop all fruits and veggies in your fridge.  John  has a love/hate relationship with veggies.  I never know what he's going to like or not like on any given day (ugh).  One thing I do know is that he'll eat carrots & celery sticks dipped in ranch dressing.  I'll take that any day of the week so I always have them ready.

♥

I've learned to wash fruit right away too.  If I don't rinse the blueberries and cut up the strawberries they will go bad by the time I get around to.  Now we can just grab a handful and not worry about it. 

#2. Next, prepare a few things ahead of time that you can pick on during the week.
It will make dinnertime quicker if you already have done half the work. 

I like to make a big pot of pasta, a homemade pizza, a bean salad, and chicken cutlets.  These are all good starters for hearty dinners. Prepared chicken cutlets can easily become chicken Parmesan or sliced up and put on top of salad for lunch!  Also, Rob will eat pasta as a side dish to any meal. In the winter I'll make a pot of soup on Sunday that we can eat during the week.  When the nice weather finally arrives I'l start making pasta salads.  They are so versatile ♥

#3. (a biggie!) It's OK to make brownies from a mix! There, I said it.  It's totally fine.  Cakes too.  They come out delicious and look at all the time you save ♥  

Perfect for an after school/work snack or add a scoop of ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whip cream and you've got brownie sundaes for dessert! YUM!  

Don't let Pinterest make you feel bad.  This is perfectly acceptable! Trust me :) 

And finally....

#4. Once a week, have breakfast for dinner.  .

We do this every week and it's literally my favorite night of the week.  I usually opt for breakfast dinner on nights when John has a lot of homework or time is tight for some reason.  Maybe I got home late from work and everyone is hungry.... glaring at me as I walk in the door.  What can be whipped up in a snap? Breakfast!  I give John the choice of eggs, French toast, or pancakes.  All are yummy to me.  I beef up the meal with extra fruit (that's already washed : ) or sometimes baked beans on the side. 

And there you have it.  Four easy tips to make the dinner hour easy peasy!

What do you do to make your dinner hour less hectic?  I would love to know!

Have a great day, my friends!

What's for dinner tonight? ♥