As someone who loves to cook and especially, to eat, I belong to camp “Everything in Moderation”. At my house we eat carbs, red meat, dessert… but I strive for balance and try not to indulge in everything, every night. Not every meal I cook is a healthy balanced one, but I want those little indulgences to be the exception rather than the rule (for dinner, at least).
This month, like a lot of other people, I’ve been focusing on making healthy choices, and my family (whether they want to be or not) is along for the ride. Here are five healthy, easy, weeknight dinners that we have enjoyed again and again.
{5 healthy dinners – easy and family friendly}
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| Photo by Shayda Torabi on Unsplash |
{Turkey Taco Spaghetti Squash Boats from Skinnytaste} Skinnytaste is one of my go-to websites for healthy, yet delicious and family-friendly meals. I feel like our biggest food-related struggle is getting enough vegetables, so when I find one that Aaron and I both like I try to make it often. I wish I could say that Jona would eat this too but that would be wishful thinking. I love all the things you can do with spaghetti squash, and using it as the base for our favorite taco toppings is one of my favorite ways to prepare it. The recipe calls for ground turkey (another healthy swap) but you could use ground beef or even chicken in these.
{Oven Roasted Fajitas from Rachel Shultz} I’m a big fan of taking anything that is usually made on the stovetop and finding a way to make it in the oven, and this recipe is the perfect example of that. This one is super easy, full of flavor, and it can even be prepared ahead of time and then thrown in the oven whenever you’re ready.
{Quinoa Enchilada Skillet from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe} I think Aaron would be happy eating nothing but rice all the time. I like rice, but I need some variety in my life. I was happy when I made quinoa for the first time a few years ago and he liked it. Now I make it regularly, either in recipes like this one, or as a swap for rice. This recipe (from another one of my favorite, go-to sites, Mel’s Kitchen Cafe) gets bonus points for being a one-pan situation. Those are the best!! I’ve made this before with lean ground beef instead of chicken; I just cook the beef first (in the same skillet) and take it out, then add it back in when the recipe calls for chicken.
{Greek Turkey Tacos from Love and Olive Oil} Sign me up for anything with tzatziki sauce–I can never get enough. I love this marriage between tacos and gyros, and it’s easy to add whatever toppings your family loves. (Like for Jona? Hummus. I can’t get the kid to eat a piece of chicken, but he’ll eat hummus with a spoon. Whatever, kids are weird.)
{Turkey Chili Taco Soup from Skinnytaste} Can you tell we love ground turkey around here? Of course if it’s not your jam just swap for lean ground beef or even ground chicken. This soup is one of our favorites, especially this time of year. Something that makes it surprisingly delicious? The refried beans. They thicken it up and make it taste really rich and creamy. Aaron isn’t a big bean fan and even he likes this one.
We have made all of these recipes multiple times, and they’re always a hit (for most of us anyway–if I made dinner decisions based on the picky preschooler we’d be eating peanut butter toast and cheese tacos all the time). What are some of your favorite healthy dinners? Are there any healthy food blogs you recommend?
