Healthy Meals For Busy Mamas
•Posted on February 19 2019
Hi! I’m Jillian, a stay at home mommy to 3 littles 3 and under. Like so many other moms, one of my top New Years resolutions this year was to cook healthier family-friendly recipes. Don’t get me wrong, I was already cooking lots of healthy recipes but I’d find myself cooking things I knew my kids wouldn’t eat and then making them chicken nuggets or mac and cheese. I realized 1. It’s silly to be cooking two different dinners (ugh and all those extra dishes) and 2. I want my kids to be eating healthy also and have a positive relationship with food. So for the last several weeks, I have been cooking healthy recipes that my entire family has been loving. To my surprise, I have seen my kids not only eating their fruits & veggies but asking for them. VICTORY!
My kids have been religious blueberry mini muffin eaters for the last year. I have tried so many recipes to get them off mini muffins with no success but this recipe they loved!
Blueberry Bliss Bake
Serves 6-8
- 2 cups oats
- 2 cups blueberries (I use frozen)
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup almond flour
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, blueberries, almond milk, baking powder, and cinnamon until well combined. Add to 9x13 dish.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the pecans, coconut oil, maple syrup, and almond flour until well combined.
4. Top evenly with the crumb mixture.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown.
When it comes to snacks I found that I win the fight against fruits snacks by not buying them. It took a couple of weeks before they stopped asking for fruit snack ALL THE TIME but now they snack on clementines, raw veggies and ranch, or air popped popcorn (thanks Aldis!). For on the go my kids love yogurt covered raisins.
Here are a few dinner recipes that my kids not only liked but asked for seconds. And because it’s not just all about the kids, my husband and I really like these meals too!
Mini BBQ Meatloaf
Serves 4
- 1 lb grass fed ground beef
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup bbq sauce
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 cauliflower head
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease muffin pan with coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, mozzarella cheese, onion, egg, 1/4 bbq sauce,
1/4 almond flour, and sea salt until well combined. I use my hands for this.
3. Form mixture with hands and place into muffin pan. Should make 12 mini meatloaves.
4. Use 1/4 cup bbq sauce and spread over the top of each meatloaf with a spoon.
5. Bake for 20-24 minutes.
6. While the meatloaves are cooking, cut cauliflower into small chunks, removing as much of the stem as you can.
7. Add cauliflower to a medium pot. Then add water until just about covering the cauliflower.
8. Bring water to a boil, turn down heat and let cook for 10- 12 minutes or until soft.
9. Add cooked cauliflower, salt, and butter to the food processor (or blender) and process until very smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
Parmesan Basil Chicken Tenders
Serves 4
Serve with asparagus + sweet potato chips
- 1 lb chicken tenders (or cut breasts into strips)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 bunch, asparagus
- 4 sweet potatoes
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix almond flour, parmesan cheese, basil, garlic powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg.
4. One by one, dredge the chicken tenders into the egg and then dip into the flour mixture. Roll until covered and place on baking sheet in a single layer.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the tenders once at the 10-minute mark.
For the sweet potato chips: Cut potatoes into thin slices. In a bowl, mix sweet potato slices and 1 tbsp olive oil. Arrange on baking sheet in a thin layer. Top generously with sea salt. Roast at 400 for 10- 12 minutes, flip and roast for another 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
Cut ends off asparagus, toss in olive oil, season with salt. Add to baking sheet and roast for 15- 20 minutes or until soft.
Loaded Veggie Nachos
Serves 4
- 1 lb turkey
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- salt, to taste
- 5 oz tortilla chips
- 1 bell pepper, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
3/4 cup organic Mexican cheese 2 green onions, sliced
1/2 avocado, cubed
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1. Add ground turkey to a medium skillet breaking into pieces while it cooks. Add salt, garlic powder, and chili powder.
2. While the turkey is cooking begin to dice the bell pepper and zucchini into small pieces.
3.Slice grape tomatoes, green onions and cube the avocado.
4. Add chips to baking pan, then top with the cooked turkey, zucchini, and bell pepper.
5. Broil on high for 4 minutes.
6. Add cheese and broil for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Watch carefully so nothing burns.
7. Top with green onions, avocado, and tomatoes.
And we can’t forget about dessert! These taste delicious and the kids love helping me make them.
Peanut Butter Cup
- 2/3 cup peanut butter {or almond butter}
- 1-2 TBS coconut flour
- 1 TBS maple syrup
- 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate {I used a dark chocolate bar}
1. Place mini cupcake liners in cupcake tin. 2. Add parchment paper to baking sheet.
3. Mix peanut butter, maple syrup and 1 TBS coconut flour in a bowl. If still runny add another
TBS of coconut flour.
4. Using your hands, mold the peanut butter mixture into small balls. 5. Place each ball on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Once all balls are formed place sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes. 7. Then melt chocolate on low in a small saucepan.
8. Once melted, add a little chocolate to each cupcake liner, then add a peanut butter ball.
Finally, top with more chocolate until covered.
9. Place back in the freezer for 1 hour.
10. Keep stored in the freezer.
I hope you give some of these recipes a try and they are as much a success for your family as they have been for mine. Be sure to check out all of our favorite meal time essentials at STC! Click HERE!
