Cooking is a great way to connect during meals and it helps children be more tolerant of new food. We’ve created a few meal plans that you can find below. We realize that there is no magic meal plan that is going to make mealtimes perfect. But, these might help take one thing off your plate. We’d love to hear from you with any recipes your family loves or pictures of your family cooking or eating together.

Basic Weekly Meal Plan

We have four weeks of meal plans, but each follows the same basic outline: Sunday Suppers, Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Pasta Wednesdays, Leftover Thursdays, Fast Food Fridays, and Soup Saturdays. On Sundays we cook a double serving of protein, so we can use the leftovers in tacos on Tuesdays. Meatless Mondays are set up like a “make your own” with a grain, vegetable, and protein (you could add sauce). For the grain, you can use any of your favorites - rice, amaranth, couscous, barley, or quinoa. Feel free to use a box or instant version of grain to cut the cooking time. For tacos, we just have "toppings" on the grocery list because we know different families like different things - but each week we have suggestions for sides. Some families might like to add taco seasoning to the meat. We suggest serving Pasta Wednesdays with a salad. We just put salad on the grocery list for you to toss in whatever veggies you have on hand or your family likes. Thursday leftovers are pretty explanatory. Fast food Fridays are easy family pleasers that you can make at home quickly. The Soup Saturdays should make a pretty nice sized serving of soup. You could always cut the recipe down, freeze some, or eat it for lunch throughout the week.

Each of the meals takes about 30 minutes to cook (often less). For most meals, we recommend having sliced bread and a fruit choice available. It can really be an option you know your children will eat, but we find bread and fruit works for most families. This makes for easy division of responsibility feeding.

Weekly Menu

We recommend serving each of these meals with at least one side you know your children will eat, like sliced bread and fruit. Download Week 1 as a PDF.

Roasted Pork & Veggies

Roasting pork tenderloin is super easy. You can buy one with a marinade or just do a simple salt and pepper rub. Preheat your oven to 450. Using an oven-safe pan, seer the tenderloin on all sides for about 10 minutes. Then roast in the oven for another 20 minutes flipping halfway through. The internal temperature should be 140-145. So you may need to cook a little longer depending on your oven. Let the tenderloin rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.  We roasted 1/2 head of broccoli, 1/2 head of cauliflower, and 1/2-1 sweet potato with the tenderloin. The potatoes will cook fast enough if you cut them up small. Just toss the veggies in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir once while roasting.

Roasted Veggies Bowl

For this bowl, we roast broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potato (the same combo as Monday - time to use the other halves) tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed) at 425 for 25 minutes stirring halfway through. Serve with a grain of choice.

Shredded Pork Tacos

Use leftover pork from Sunday for tacos this Tuesday. This week, we partnered tacos with bell peppers and corn.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

You could easily buy frozen meatballs and knock ground beef/turkey and potato off your grocery list. Alternatively, set your oven to 425 and heat some oil in a skillet. Pop a good-sized potato (add some vent holes with a fork) in a microwave for about 5 minutes (until cooked). Mash the potato (peel or no peel) in with ground meat. Then add in seasonings of your choice - we use salt, pepper, parsley, and oregano. Roll the mixture into balls and brown in the oil on each side. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for another 15 minutes. While that's baking, make the spaghetti and serve with salad. The meatballs can also be made with sweet potato, but we prefer regular potato for spaghetti.

Chicken Nuggets

This week we have fries and peas on the grocery list to serve with chicken nuggets. Try sweet potato fries if you want to boost the nutrition. 

Chili

You may already have a go-to chili recipe, but just in case, here is an easy 5 ingredient chili recipe. In a large pot, brown a pound of ground beef (you could use any ground meat or meat substitute). After it is browned, set the meat aside. Keep a little bit of oil in the pan and toss out the rest. Sauté a diced onion for about 5 minutes. Then add 3 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilies, 2 cans of kidney beans, and chili powder to taste. Return the meat to the soup and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve with a choice of toppings (some kids might only eat the toppings—that’s okay).

Weekly Menu

We recommend serving each of these meals with at least one side you know your children will eat, like sliced bread and fruit. Download Week 2 as a PDF.

Flank Steak with Acorn Squash

You can use any steak you prefer, but flank steak tends to be less expensive and is easy to cook. If you can pull the steak out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking, that will be great. You also want to poke holes in it with a knife on both sides. Rub the steak on both sides with salt, pepper, and some butter or oils. Sear the steak in the pan for about 2-3 minutes per side and then pull it off the burner, but keep the steak in the pan for another 5-10 minutes. You want it to be about 130 degrees (medium rare), so if you’re not quite there, cook it a little more on low. The secret to having it be tender is giving it enough time to rest—about 10 minutes before you start cutting it. We suggest serving this with squash. There are a couple of ways to make acorn squash quickly. To microwave, slice the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and then put it in a glass baking dish with about an inch of water. Microwave for 15 minutes. If not quite done, microwave up to five more. Then you can scoop out the squash from the shell and severe it as a mash (a little salt and butter or oil will bring out the flavor). You can also quickly roast the squash. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You will cut the squash into thin slices about 1/3 of an inch. Toss the slices in a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake them on a sheet for about 25 minutes.

Pepper and Onion Bowl

You could make this with one bell pepper, 1/2 a red onion, and 1 can of cannellini beans or double it for a larger family or hungry eaters. Turn on the broiler and chop the vegetables like you would for fajitas. Toss them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Broil for about 12 minutes or so stirring halfway through. If your family can handle a little more flavor, drizzle on some balsamic vinegar. Serve with the grain of your choice. 

Steak Tacos

Use leftover steak from Sunday for tacos this Tuesday. This week, have summer squash and Mexican rice on the grocery list to go with the tacos. 

Ravioli

Ravioli is an easy family pleaser, but any pasta your family likes could be served.

Pizza

Whether you opt for frozen or make your own, pizza night is usually a pleaser. The nice thing about making it yourself is it’s easier to get the kids involved and be creative with healthy options. 

Ham and Bean Soup

We make this soup with the recipe on the back of the bag of beans with two modifications. First, we use broth instead of water when making the soup. Second, we add turnip greens - any hardy green will do (like kale, collards, or mustard greens), but turnip greens have a nice mellow flavor and silky texture that work well in the soup. This makes a big batch of soup so freeze some or eat soup for lunch all week.

Weekly Menu

We recommend serving each of these meals with at least one side you know your children will eat, like sliced bread and fruit. Download Week 3 as a PDF.

Pan-Roasted Chicken

It’s easy for boneless, skinless chicken breasts to be a little dry and flavorless. Here are two tricks for making them moist and flavorful: 1) Pound out the thick parts of the chicken breast and trim off the small ends so it has a more consistent thickness, and 2) pat dry then dip in a mix of flour, salt, and pepper. You can then seer them in a skillet with a little oil until golden brown (about 10 minutes). If you are cooking other food, keep the chicken warm in a 200-degree oven. The chicken will taste good on its own, but you could easily add a sauce (we would suggest serving the sauce on the side). Making sauces is something that is fun to experiment with whatever you have lying around: yogurt & mustard, cream & garlic, herbs & wine. Use the same pan that you made the chicken in for flavor. We suggest you serve the chicken with any of the veggies from the green bowl. We put green beans on the grocery list to go with the chicken, but any veg you like will do to round out the meal.

Mushroom & Bok Choy Bowl

You can substitute spinach for bok choy. In a skillet or wok heat a little oil with garlic and add sliced mushrooms. As the mushrooms begin to soften, add the tofu (if you don’t like tofu you could substitute any bean or pre-cooked protein), then bok choy—it will cook fast. There are lots of different flavors of baked or “toss in” tofu and if you use one of those, you won’t need to worry about making a marinade or a sauce, but if you wanted to you could pick up a teriyaki sauce at the store or make a simple sauce with soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, and cornstarch. This is a great dish to serve with soba, udon, or ramen noodles, but any grain your family likes will balance out the meal.

Chicken Tacos

This week, have zucchini and refried beans on the grocery list to go with the tacos. 

Macaroni & Cheese

It’s hard to go wrong with Macaroni and cheese.

BLTS

It’s pretty common for children to have trouble with eating sandwiches, so I would recommend serving this “deconstructed” so each person could choose what they want on the sandwich or if they want to eat it as a sandwich at all. We have ingredients for a slaw on the grocery list to go with the BLTS.

Potato Cauliflower Soup

This soup will taste creamy, but it doesn’t actually have any milk in it. In a soup pot, sauté one onion for about 5 minutes then add a clove of garlic and sauté a little longer. Add 4 cups of broth, 4 diced potatoes, 1 head of cauliflower diced, salt, and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Let a cool a bit and then puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender.

Weekly Menu

We recommend serving each of these meals with at least one side you know your children will eat, like sliced bread and fruit. Download Week 4 as a PDF.

Roasted Salmon

If you are using frozen salmon, remember to thaw the salmon in the fridge the night before. Preheat the oven t0 400 Degrees. Place the salmon on a baking sheet with a dab of butter on each filet (or if you have one big filet 1 tab every few inches). Season with salt and pepper. You could also add any herbs or garlic to the salmon you like. Use about 1/3 of the snow peas, spinach, and zucchini. Toss them with a little oil, salt, and pepper and arrange along the side of the salmon. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the fish is 145 degrees. Serve with lemon.

Very Green Bowl

We suggested snow peas, spinach, and zucchini for this bowl. You could add in broccoli but you would need to pre-steam the florets in the microwave to keep the cooking time the same. Satué a clove of garlic with little oil. Then toss in the zucchini and snow peas. As they start to soften, add in the spinach. Toss the greens with a little Green Goddess salad dressing (or other dressing of your choice), but you may want to serve the dressing on the side if your kiddos prefer plain. Serve with a grain and sliced avocado.

Ground Beef Tacos

This week, use the last 1/3 of the snow peas, spinach, and zucchini to go with the tacos. We also have black beans on the grocery list.

Skillet lasagna

In a skillet, sauté 1 onion until soft then add 3 cloves of garlic. Add .5lbs of ground beef and .5lbs of ground pork. Sauté until browned. Sprinkle noodles evenly over meat. Pour sauce over the pasta and then top with dollops of ricotta. Cover and heat on medium-low until noodles soften (about 15 minutes). Sprinkle with parmesan and let sit at least 5 minutes before serving.

burgers

If your family is trying to cut down on beef, you could try these as veggie burgers instead of beef burgers. Also, for little fingers, try sliders instead of full-size burgers. We have tator tots on the grocery list to go with the burgers.

Tomato Soup

This easy recipe can be scaled for the size of your family or to keep in the fridge for lunches. For every two servings, you’ll use 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup of broth, 1/2 an onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tsp of brown sugar, and 1 slice of bread. Sauté the onion until softened and then add the garlic. Add tomatoes, broth, sugar, and bread (tear the bread up into small pieces before adding). Cook for about 5 minutes. Let cool a bit before smoothing the soup with an immersion or upright blender.