Back To School Meal Ideas: The quick, easy guide to help keep you from getting overwhelmed.

I told you she would be back!! That’s right!!! Chef Ashley Shep is back on the blog!! And today she is blessing us with quick, easy back to school meal ideas that we can prepare for our family now that the kids are getting back in the groove of their educational routine.

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but mornings seem to get crazy from time to time and we are not able to prepare that full course that we may have in mind because time does not permit. And then at the end of the day, we are so tired, we may not have the energy to prepare a full meal. That’s why I like the tips that Chef Ashley Shep has to offer. Always quick and easy meals that will help us feed our family in the middle of the normal chaos. I’m ready for these back to school meal ideas, because ya’ll know, your girl always need help in the kitchen.

But before we get into Chef Ashley’s great tips,

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Back To School Meal Ideas

Back to school may look a little different this year depending on whether your kids are returning in person or staying at home. Some of us would prefer to keep their little ones home while others can’t wait to send their pint sized coworkers back to school. Regardless of your decision, there’s one thing that won’t change: your kids eatin’ up all of your food. While you can’t always know how much or how often they’ll eat, you do know that: breakfast, lunch, and dinner happen every. single. day. Your kids want to eat every single day. So figuring out what they can eat is not going away any time soon. Therefore, it’s important to plan for it so that it doesn’t become an extra thing on your already overflowing plate. Knowing what your family is going to eat can be exhausting on a “normal” day. Then pile on a pandemic, working from home, digital learning, oh and social unrest to top it off. But honestly, this is the time where you need a plan more than ever so that you can focus on the big stuff in our lives that we’re facing on a daily basis. Not having a plan in place for dinner day after day is draining your mental energy that you could be spending on your kids, spouse, or even yourself. And at this point of quarantine, you’re probably also having some food fatigue where you are:

• Tired of cooking
• Tired of eating the same things over and over
• Spending way too much money at the grocery store and still paying a ton in UberEats fees

Don’t worry mamas, Chef Ashley Shep is at your service with simple ways to help. 

To help with that, set up some expectations in your house such as the following:

• Make breakfasts ahead of time with options like fruit parfaits with granola, oatmeal jars, breakfast burritos, & mini egg muffins in cupcake pans. These freeze for up to a month and reheat well for busy mornings. And though it’s not the healthiest option, cereal still works. Try an alternative like almond milk if you’re trying to cut dairy.

• Use lighter quick grab and go options like sandwiches, wraps, soups, pinwheels. Personal pizzas in the toaster oven are an easy way for kids to make their own lunches. The key is to keep it simple. Leftovers also make an easy lunch idea.
• Get the kids and/or your partner involved in the meals to take some of the stress off of you. They can do things like take an inventory of what ingredients you already have (so you know what not to buy again), place all your ingredients for a recipe on the counter, open cans, and even make dinner themselves if they’re old enough. Make one or a few nights a week of Mommy’s Night Off. 
• For dinner, use meal cycling to spend less time wondering what’s for dinner. This is where you have the same kinds of meals on certain days of the week. By now, We’ve probably all heard of Taco Tuesday which is an example of meal cycling. You could do Meatless Mondays, Seafood Saturdays, etc. Also, you don’t have to limit Tuesday to just tacos. It could include quesadillas, fajitas, etc. 
• Give yourself options on especially crazy weeks. Add chicken to the slow cooker or pressure cooker at the beginning of the week to have a protein ready to go for quick meals like stir fry, BBQ Sliders, Chicken Salad, and more. Season with onion powder & garlic powder and cook in broth to add a little flavor that you can layer onto later.
• If you would rather have someone figure out what you’ll eat and do your grocery shopping for you, then sign up for my Simplify Meal Time Service here. 

Lastly, because we’ve all had nights where we looked up and dinner popped up out of nowhere, check out my video to know what ingredients to always have on hand to help you to stay ready no matter what. It includes quick options that you can throw together at a moment’s notice. Be sure to check it out, because there’s a pretty good chance you’re gonna need a fast dinner sometime soon. The rest of your day may be hectic, but we can add some calm to your dinner. 

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmLn61tCHb0&t=23sMeal Planning + Grocery Shopping Service http://bit.ly/CASmeals

And that’s why I love reading Chef Ashley Shep’s meal ideas because they are always so helpful. I personally like the mini egg muffins in cupcake pans and being able to freeze them is an added plus. I know this will help with the convenience of food already being prepared and only needing to be warmed up. Talk about a life saver.

I really hope these back to school meal tips from Chef Ashley have really helped you and possibly sparked some more ideas to make feeding your family an easier task because like she said, our kids will need breakfast, lunch and dinner every. single. day…so we just better get with it. Lol.

If you enjoyed this post, check out last month’s post, I’m sure you will love that one too. Quick Tips For A Stress Free And Enjoyable Meal Prep.

Chef Ashley also just wrote a book for new moms that is now on Amazon. Click this link to purchase her new book, “New Mom Thoughts: Real Questions For Moms With Real Feelings.”

Well, that’s it for today. If you enjoyed this post SHARE it with someone else that that would enjoy it, too. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll talk to you ladies soon!!